From student to teacher:: A successful transition

This article seeks to contribute to the emerging body of research on learning to teach a second language (L2). Specifically, it examines the learning-to-teach experience of a preservice German language teacher from her own perspective illuminating the contextual, biographical, academic, and cognitive factors affecting her development (Freeman & Johnson, 1998; Freeman & Richards, 1996; Richards & Nunan, 1990). Multiple data collection instruments that generated relevant and rich data were used. They included open-ended interviews, participant observation, class videotaping and stimulus recall procedures, and lesson plans. Analysis of the data revealed that the interplay of factors, such as the learning background the participant brought with her added to her knowledge of the subject matter, her level of commitment, and an effective mentoring relationship contributed to the participant's successful, productive, and meaningful experience.