This report examines the language competencies that research indicates are important for elementary and secondary teachers in English and French first-language schools to have for effective professional practice and teaching excellence.

Electronic reproduction. External link. Available online at: http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/320/Speaking_for_Excellence.pdf.

Language competencies: Introduction -- Review of the literature: Why teachers' linguistic competence matters -- Teaching in French -first-language contexts -- Teaching in French: some common challanges -- Teaching in francophone monority contexts -- An overview of language in the classroom: General competencies of teachers -- Types of language used by teachers -- Language forms -- Language modalities -- Teachers roles in the classroom and beyond: Teachers as instructors -- Teachers as evaluators -- Teachers as managers -- Teachers as Communicators -- Teachers as models of academic language and culture -- Teachers as members of a professional community -- Instructional strategies: Setting instructional goals -- Advance Organizers -- Direct Instruction -- Reciprocal Teaching -- Problem solving -- Metacognitive strategies -- Instructional language: categories of instructional language -- Classroom discussions: teacher questioning -- Teacher feedback.