Grand challenges and great potential in foreign language teaching and learning

This article argues for the field of foreign languages to begin to identify and define our Grand Challenges, which are difficult yet solvable problems facing our field. Seeking answers to these challenges can provide new opportunities for collaboration and can spur new directions and innovation within language learning and teaching. Researchable questions that emerge from these Grand Challenges can form a research trajectory, build community support, and contribute to changing public opinion about the role of languages in greater society. Challenges What will foreign language education look like in 5, 10, or even 50 years? How can our field create an organized and interconnected path into the future? This article contemplates our grand challenges, which are difficult yet solvable problems facing foreign language teaching and learning.