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What does a foreign language professor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Larry Herzberg Ph.D.
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Foreign language professor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real foreign language professor resumes:

  • Supervise and manage class; facilitate and teach conversational Tagalog including cultural aspects.
  • Proofread and edit articles for various departments covering different topics.
  • Develop a customize syllabus for independent and non-traditional students to improve student motivation and integration.
  • Experiment with different surface chemistry to improve quality of yields -participate in poster session and presentation to faculty and graduate students.
  • Perform translation, functional and linguistic QA tasks.
  • Partner with the QA department to develop and implement customer service improvement action plans.
  • Create and develop industry-specific EFL courses for school age children, cruise-ship employees and hospitality/tourism workers in Honduras.

Foreign language professor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 51% of Foreign Language Professors are proficient in Course Curriculum, Learning Styles, and ESL. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Foreign Language Professors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Course Curriculum, 51%

    Designed and implemented a Research Method and Interdisciplinary course curriculum on basic researching.

  • Learning Styles, 12%

    Adapted lessons for different learning styles.

  • ESL, 8%

    Assisted, and instructed ESL and disabled students-made, or advocated accommodations for instructional educational goals.

  • Target Language, 7%

    Identified authentic materials from copyright-permitted sources in the target language.

  • Course Content, 6%

    Developed course content for course subjects within the Humanities while maintaining communication with students consistently.

  • Public Speaking, 6%

    Conducted classroom instruction on Rhetorical Theory and Public Speaking for University Required Course.

"course curriculum," "learning styles," and "esl" are among the most common skills that foreign language professors use at work. You can find even more foreign language professor responsibilities below, including:

Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a foreign language professor to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "postsecondary teachers need to work well with others for tasks such as instructing students and serving on committees." Foreign language professors often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "created original syllabus with emphasis on movement experiences to foster intra and interpersonal awareness. "

Speaking skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling foreign language professor duties is speaking skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students." According to a foreign language professor resume, here's how foreign language professors can utilize speaking skills in their job responsibilities: "provide conversation and public speaking classes to university level students as a native english speaker. "

Writing skills. foreign language professors are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to foreign language professor responsibilities, because "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis." A foreign language professor resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "experienced english language acquisition specialist, delivering grammar, writing, and reading instruction to diverse student populations. "

See the full list of foreign language professor skills

The three companies that hire the most foreign language professors are:

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Compare different foreign language professors

Foreign language professor vs. Adjunct spanish instructor

A Spanish teacher is responsible for teaching the Spanish language, including its history and culture, both written and conversational. Spanish teachers follow the curriculum, depending on the students' expertise level and evaluate their progress through oral and written assessments. A Spanish teacher must develop effective lesson plans, focusing on Spanish grammar and composition, identifying students' improvement areas to adjust lesson outlines. Spanish teachers must have excellent knowledge and expertise with the Spanish language and engaging activities to further students' development.

We looked at the average foreign language professor salary and compared it with the wages of an adjunct spanish instructor. Generally speaking, adjunct spanish instructors are paid $29,082 higher than foreign language professors per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both foreign language professor and adjunct spanish instructor positions are skilled in course curriculum, esl, and target language.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between foreign language professors and adjunct spanish instructor. For instance, foreign language professor responsibilities require skills such as "learning styles," "course content," "public speaking," and "teacher training." Whereas a adjunct spanish instructor is skilled in "literature," "instructional materials," "language acquisition," and "professional development." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Adjunct spanish instructors tend to reach higher levels of education than foreign language professors. In fact, adjunct spanish instructors are 34.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Foreign language professor vs. German instructor

On average, german instructors earn a $35,686 higher salary than foreign language professors a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both foreign language professors and german instructors have skills such as "learning styles," "target language," and "course content. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real foreign language professor resumes. While foreign language professor responsibilities can utilize skills like "course curriculum," "esl," "public speaking," and "teacher training," german instructors use skills like "foreign language," "grammar," "classroom discussions," and "instructional materials."

On average, german instructors earn a higher salary than foreign language professors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, german instructors earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $76,418. Whereas foreign language professors have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $44,216.Average education levels between the two professions vary. German instructors tend to reach higher levels of education than foreign language professors. In fact, they're 17.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for foreign language professors in the next 3-5 years?

Larry Herzberg Ph.D.Larry Herzberg Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Associate Professor of Asian Languages, Director of Asian Studies, Calvin University

For those wanting a career in academia, you probably already realize that the survival of East Asian language programs and all humanities programs will depend on offering hybrid courses that will combine online teaching via Teams or Zoom or Blackboard with in-person classes. The more skilled you become at using those online resources, the better equipped you'll be to teach the kind of hybrid courses which schools will increasingly offer to offset the decline in enrollments on their campuses, especially in the humanities.

Foreign language professor vs. French instructor

On average scale, french instructors bring in higher salaries than foreign language professors. In fact, they earn a $19,198 higher salary per year.foreign language professors and french instructors both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "course curriculum," "learning styles," and "target language," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, foreign language professors are more likely to have skills like "esl," "public speaking," "teacher training," and "group sessions." But a french instructor is more likely to have skills like "foreign language," "literature," "grammar," and "teaching methodologies."

French instructors earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $57,989. Foreign language professors earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $44,216.Most french instructors achieve a higher degree level compared to foreign language professors. For example, they're 24.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Foreign language professor vs. Spanish teacher

Spanish teachers typically earn higher pay than foreign language professors. On average, spanish teachers earn a $18,823 higher salary per year.While their salaries may vary, foreign language professors and spanish teachers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "learning styles," "esl," and "target language. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "course curriculum," "course content," "public speaking," and "teacher training" are skills that commonly show up on foreign language professor resumes. On the other hand, spanish teachers use skills like classroom management, student learning, professional development, and public schools on their resumes.The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for spanish teachers, with average annual pay of $53,431. Comparatively, the highest foreign language professor annual salary comes from the education industry.In general, spanish teachers hold higher degree levels compared to foreign language professors. Spanish teachers are 12.8% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 4.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of foreign language professor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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