Dr. Amanda Lanier

About this Site

This site includes my professional portfolio as well as sets of resources on language teaching, teaching language teachers, online instruction, and my own forays into teacher inquiry as well as work I have done with my students as a mentor and collaborator.  I am an applied linguist by training, which means that I focus on language learning and use as well as foreign language pedagogy and teacher development.

Academic Position

At Michigan State University, I am the Program Director of two graduate programs in Foreign Language Teaching. Because the Master of Arts in Foreign Language Teaching and the Graduate Certificate are both fully online, I have spent the last ten years working with language teachers and programs across the U.S. and around the world, representing 20 different languages. I have taught nearly every course in the FLT curriculum, though in recent years I primarily teach Culture and Intercultural Competence, Program Development and Administration, and the course in which our graduating students complete their Final Portfolio websites.

Engagement and Advocacy

Moving into the position of program director has meant a reassessment of my role and identity as well as my work-life balance and career path. Strategic, Learner, and Achiever are among my Clifton Strengths, and certainly I value thinking strategically and helping my teacher-learners and colleagues to think strategically about how they can improve their programs. However, Individualization and Ideation are also strengths, and I value every opportunity to encourage language teachers as they travel their own paths toward excellence and leadership.