For Instructors

The Language Center provides access to several classrooms and study spaces for course meetings, section meetings, and language-centered events. Please consult the room calendars for availability and note that your room is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email from the room scheduler. Please allow as much advance notice as possible as we may not be able to process reservations made fewer than 24 hours before requested time.
Food is not allowed in B09A. If you have specific technology or A/V needs for your reservation, please email Education Support Services at ess@fas.harvard.edu or call 617-495-9460.

The Language Center hosts several professional development events throughout the semester. Please see our Events Listing for more information.

If you would like for us to explore a particular topic, host a specific speaker, or demo classroom tech, please contact us at language@fas.harvard.edu or fill out our feedback form.

Since the fall of 2025, the Harvard Language Center has hosted the Certificate in Teaching Language and Culture, through which GSAS PhD students (Teaching Fellows) and Teaching Assistants may demonstrate their commitment to excellence in the teaching of language(s) and culture(s).

The certificate is open to GSAS PhD students and TAs who teach courses in language, culture, and literature in Harvard College and who want to deepen their knowledge of language pedagogy.

Teaching Language and Culture participants must fulfill requirements in three areas: teaching, research and practice, and professionalization.

Please plan ahead to make the most of each component of the Certificate; they are meant to be completed over time, especially the departmental pedagogy courses, which are offered on different schedules. If you have questions about any of the requirements, please contact us at language@fas.harvard.edu. Please find more information on the Canvas course page.

Teaching

Teach a minimum of two semesters of foreign language/culture/literature courses at Harvard.

At least one of these courses must be a language course.

Research and Practice

To fulfill the course requirements, you must:

• take one (1) departmental foundational pedagogy course (example courses listed below),
• take one (1) advanced language pedagogy course (departmental offering or GSE language-focused course, e.g., ROM-LANG 230, EDU T549, or equivalent),
• attend three (3) scholarly presentations sponsored by the Harvard Language Center, a Title VI center, or similar entity. (See below for more information.)

Examples of foundational pedagogy courses:

ROM-LANG 210: Language Pedagogy: Theories, Practices, and Approaches
CELTIC 350: Teaching Colloquium
CLASSICS 360: Teaching Colloquium
CHINESE 280: Teaching Chinese as a Foreign/Second Language (J. Liu)
GERMPHIL 280: Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching (Parkes)
LINGUISTICS 173: Structure of Japanese (W. Jacobsen)
SLAVIC 126: Structure of Modern Russian (S. Clancy)
One advanced language pedagogy course:
ROM-LANG 230: Teaching Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
EDU T549: Technology-enhanced Language Learning and Teaching (N. Mills)
Equivalents may be approved from Linguistics or the Graduate School of Education.

Advanced language pedagogy course:

In addition to advanced language pedagogy courses offered within Harvard language departments, language-focused courses offered through the Graduate School of Education Language and Literacy program may also fulfill this requirement. (Search for courses in the course catalog. Confirm that the course fits the criteria before proceeding.)

Scholarly presentations:

Please visit our Language Center Events page to determine which offerings will fulfill this requirement. You may also sign up for our mailing list, which will also alert you of external events that qualify as pedagogy-focused events.

Professionalization

Submit a teaching portfolio. You should design a portfolio that will be useful for your individual goals. For the purposes of the Certificate, your portfolio should include at minimum:

teaching statement,
prospective syllabus, and
sample assignment prompt, lesson plan, or class activity.

Submit a reflective essay of approximately 1000 words that integrates what you have learned from your experience pursuing the Certificate in Teaching Language(s) and Culture(s). Candidates should write a reflective narrative about their trajectory through the certificate, incorporating any or all of the following: the connections between the pedagogy courses, Language Center events, and scholarly presentations attended; theory-meets-practice applications to their instruction; and/or particularly noteworthy take-aways that they will apply to their future teaching of languages, cultures, and literatures.

Below you will find a non-exhaustive list of language learning organizations outside of Harvard that offer targeted resources. Please reach out if you would like more specific guidance.

• ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) sets professional standards for language teaching, creates proficiency guidelines for language learners, and provides assessments used by academic institutions, government agencies, and corporations.
  • ACTFL Resources
  • ACTFL Standards for Foreign Language Learning: A set of guidelines for language learning that are organized around the "World Readiness Standards."
  • Oral Proficiency Interview: A valid and reliable means of assessing how well a person speaks a language.
• Title VI (National Foreign Language Resource) Centers create language learning and teaching materials, offer professional learning opportunities for language instructors, and conduct and disseminate research on language learning and teaching. Please find out more about the centers through the NFLRC website.
• International Association for Language Learning Technology: IALLT offers guidance and resources for the integration of instructional technology into the language classroom.
  • The FLTMAG is a free magazine on technology integration in language teaching and learning.
  • Webinars:
    • The IALLT webinar series offers engaging, interactive professional development workshops on topics related to language teaching, technology, and language centers.  While participation in the webinars is open to all, access to archives of the sessions are restricted to IALLT members.
    • Contact us if you would like to screen one of IALLT's monthly webinars at the Language Center!

The Language Center staff has compiled resources from around the country into a LCTL repository, accessible to Harvard community members. Please send us feedback, updates, and additions!

Harvard is a current member of the CLTL, whose core mission is "enhancing the quality of language study on its member institutions' campuses." The Consortium hosts a fall workshop and a spring symposium on member campuses each year. For more information and campus updates, please visit the CLTL site.

The Language Center hosts a speaking practice program called the Language Exchange. After registering in the Language Exchange database, students can request a match with a partner with whom they can "exchange" language practice.