AAUSC (2017).

Statement of policy on the hiring of Language Program Directors

Understanding the Work of Language Program Directors

Language Program Directors (LPDs, also called “language program coordinators” or “teaching
assistant supervisors”) are specialists in different fields. Some have expertise in applied
linguistics, others in literature, film, or culture. The terms of their faculty appointment will
determine to what extent LPDs conduct research, and also their teaching load, but by definition
the LPD position requires a significant amount of invisible labor that often goes unrecognized or
perceived as service. Many universities hire LPDs on a tenure track, but a large number of
LPDs who hold PhD or MA degrees are hired in non-tenure-track or precarious contingent
positions, with sub-par compensation and job security.

Regardless of differences in hiring category, LPDs carry out a number of crucial functions in
departmental operations: 

Research. Language program directors maintain active research profiles, by publishing in their

academic disciplines and/or through in-class/applied research in pedagogy and curriculum
development. Frequently, LPDs are the only faculty members who conduct research in the fields
of applied linguistics or second language pedagogy; their scholarship accrues benefits to the
LPD’s own program or department in addition to the scholarly literature in general. These fields
have sophisticated theoretical foundations and are as intellectually rigorous as other scholarly
disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. They also have diverse publishing venues,
including prestigious, highly selective refereed journals and academic presses. LPDs may also
draw on interdisciplinary expertise to create innovative pedagogical materials (textbooks, on-line
learning resources, simulations, etc.); with the growing need for online and hybrid courses,
LPDs often spearhead and guide the integration of technologies with course design, classroom
teaching, assessments, and curricular innovation. The presence of one or more scholars in
these areas within a department strengthens and broadens its reach and impact, its
undergraduate and graduate programs, and the institution as a whole. 

In some departments, LPDs are literary and cultural scholars whose primary research may be
quite separate from the work they perform in the name of the language program. Working in this
context may require an even more delicate balance of intellectual time and energy, but it allows

1
 AAUSC (2017). Statement of policy on the hiring of Language Program Directors

LPDs to infuse undergraduate programs with innovative and synergistic approaches to

language and literary/cultural studies. 

Graduate student education. Another primary responsibility of the LPD is to prepare new

graduate student instructors/teaching assistants and other teaching-track staff. At PhD granting
institutions, graduate students typically staff lower-division language courses. Solid, ongoing
preparation in both the theory and practice of language teaching is vital to the strength of the
programs, as well as to the graduate students’ future success as teachers and scholars.
Teacher education ideally takes place over the course of several semesters or years and
involves intensive pre-service orientations, workshops, classroom observations, regular
meetings, and substantial interpersonal interaction and support. This preparation and
supervision makes possible the staffing of lower-division courses with teaching assistants,
contingent faculty, and other teaching staff; without the LPD’s guidance and oversight, it would
be impractical, indeed unethical, and potentially harmful to the success of a department to offer
undergraduate courses taught by novice teachers.

Hiring/Staffing. In programs staffed by both graduate students and contingent faculty, the LPD
often oversees or is heavily involved in the recruitment, hiring, supervisorial and professional
development of contingent faculty.

Curriculum and assessment. LPDs are also charged with designing, evaluating, and maintaining
lower-division curricula, which typically encompass at least four different sequenced courses
with multiple sections. In some programs the LPD’s responsibilities extend into the advanced
levels. In addition, LPDs define program goals, select and evaluate textbooks and other
teaching materials, write syllabi for multi-section courses, oversee and often administer
placement exams, conduct other sorts of program/student learning outcome assessments, and
they design and implement co-curricular programs that foster creative thinking about languages
and culture far beyond the classroom. The LPD’s work requires specialized, discipline-specific
knowledge that takes into account recent research in second-language acquisition and
pedagogy, often in addition to another research specialization. 

http://www.aausc.org/