In our globalised world, modern language teaching is in the centre of attention. Foreign language assistants are part of many language education systems but little information on their work and the benefits of their presence in the language classroom is available. The present book provides a theoretical as well as an empirical presentation of the foreign language assistant programme and its benefits on the example of Austrian assistants and schools.It highlights the history of the programmes, their special features, nomination criteria, and selection and training procedures before turning to the intriguing topics of the effects of a stay abroad on language gain, intercultural competence and personality development. The findings of the theoretical part are then compared with the results of a thitherto unique survey that asked 330 assistants about their experiences and what effects the assistantship had on their language skills, intercultural competence and personality. The impact of assistants on Austrian students is then analysed using interviews with Austrian language teachers. This book is an important source for teachers, parents,future assistants and linguists alike.
