Dr. Frank B. "Pete" Brooks, professor emeritus of Spanish and Foreign Language Education at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø, taught for almost four decades.
He earned the BA and MA degrees in Spanish Literature and Language and the PhD in Foreign Language Education, Teacher Observation/Supervision and Spanish Phonetics/Phonology.
Brooks taught Spanish in several different high schools in Virginia, but began his university teaching career at Longwood University in Virginia, where he taught for five years. He later joined the faculty at the Florida State University, Tallahassee, where he taught for 15 years, and most recently at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø for 12 years.
His academic research appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Hispania, the Modern Language Journal, Canadian Modern Language Review, Foreign Language Annals, Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language Learning, as well as in several edited volumes. He regularly presented at professional conferences and was quite active in his field. Most recently he served on the Emma Marie Birkmaier Award for Doctoral Dissertation Research Committee of as well as on the ACTFL Standards Literature Survey Task Force, which was for a three-year term.
His research interests were primarily in the language of the language classroom; that is, how language learners, both beginners and more advanced learners, are provided opportunities to use Spanish by their instructors as well as how those learners talk to each other during different kinds of classroom tasks.
In 2006, Brooks (along with another colleague) was honored by his peers with a national award, the Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education by ACTFL and the Modern Language Journal for their article, "Literary Discussions and Advanced Speaking Functions: Researching the (Dis)Connection," Foreign Language Annals (2004) 37: 183-199.
At IUP Brooks served as co-chair of the IUP Spring Methodology Conference on Foreign Language Teaching. He regularly taught courses in beginning and intermediate Spanish, Conversation in Spanish, as well as courses in the three-times nationally recognized Spanish Education program. He supervised students during their teaching internships in ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø public schools and taught courses in the university's MA in Spanish program and served as its coordinator.
Here is a sampling of Prof. Brooks' publications:
"It takes a department! A study of the culture of proficiency in three successful foreign language teacher education programs." Foreign Language Annals, (2014) 47: 592-613 (Co-written with Mark Anthony Darhower).
"We're just fillin' in the blanks": Access revisited. Journal of Applied Linguistics (2006) 3(3): 305-328. (Co-Written with Elizabeth Plattalthough the date of the journal is 2006, the journal is behind in its production schedule. This journal issue appeared in-press in 2009.)
Task Engagement: A Turning Point in FL Development. Language Learning 52(2) (2002): 365-400. (Co-written with Elizabeth Platt)
My Theory is Intact; however, Reflections on Teaching Spanish to Fifth Graders. Foreign Language Annals, (2002) 53: 73-84.
When Are They Going to Get It' Right? Understanding Learner Talk During Pair-Work Activity." Foreign Language Annals 30 (1997): 524-541. (Co-written with Richard Donato and J. Victor McGlone)
Vygotskyan Approaches to Understanding Foreign Language Learner Discourse During Communicative Tasks." Hispania 77 (1994): 262-274. (Co-written with Richard Donato)
Spanish III Learners Talking To One Another Through a Jig-Saw Task. Canadian Modern Language Review 48 (1992): 696-717.