Teaching and learning a second language is a complex task which requires, among other things, a sense of humor, motivation, and the belief that one can effect change. I’m Pete Swanson, and I’m Professor of Spanish and the Division Chief for Spanish and Portuguese at the US Air Force Academy. In addition to serving in an administrative position, I coordinate the curricula for Spanish 131/132.

I began my teaching career as a Spanish teacher in Colorado and Wyoming (1989-2004) prior to completing my doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in foreign language education in 2006. I accepted tenure track employment at a Research 1 university (Georgia State University) as Assistant Professor of Foreign Language Education that same year. Together with Dr. Carol Semonsky we built the largest world language teacher education program in the nation.  In November 2014, I was elected by the membership of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), an international organization with 14,000+ members in 39 countries, to serve as President in 2016. As President, I worked with the board on several important projects, two of which are (1) developing a national agenda for language teacher recruitment and (2) establishing the ACTFL Strategic Plan. Two years later I was promoted to full professor and invited to the United States Air Force Academy as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2017-2019. In July 2019 I resigned my position at Georgia State University, and a few days later a position opened at the US Air Force Academy.

My research focuses on the world language teacher characteristics, the shortage of language teachers, and student proficiency in the target language as well as the shortage of language teachers. Over the past couple of years I’ve been working with two graduate students at different universities. The newest member of our profession, Dr. Jessica McConnell (University of Texas – San Antonio), and I have a new article published in the NECTFL Review about world language teacher burnout. In April 2025, Shannon Borum (University of South Carolina) and I have an article in the Rural Educator about Georgia world language teachers’ sense of efficacy. On this site, many of my publications can be accessed as well as on GSU’s ScholarWorks.

On this site, you will find specific information about my work. I can be contacted via email (peter.swanson@afacademy.af.edu).