Utilizing undergraduate peer teaching assistants in a speaking program in Spanish as a foreign language

Peer teaching instruction has not received much attention in college second language (L2) learning. In this article, an L2 peer teaching program at the College of Charleston is discussed including the role, training, and supervision of undergraduate peer teaching assistants (PTAs). The article also explores the kinds of self-reported benefits students enrolled in the program and their PTAs receive. Data from 183 students and 12 PTAs were collected in the form of an anonymous questionnaire using a Likert scale and open-ended questions. Results show that a high percentage of students reported an improvement in speaking, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. PTAs reported practicing Spanish and reviewing the basics as the main benefit from the peer teaching experience.