Teacher Preparedness and Perspectives on Teaching English Language Learners in a State with a Rapidly Growing EL Population (original) (raw)
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Programs in the United States that certify PreK–12 teachers in English as a second language (ESL) must meet high and consistent standards in their preservice preparation. However, there is little empirical evidence on the degree to which such preparation actually meets the needs of teachers once they begin their careers. Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) programs that do not collect data on graduates have limited information about how graduates are faring in their induction years. This lack of data may prevent TESOL programs from effectively preparing teacher candidates to work with English language learners. Knowledge of actual working conditions and challenges faced by practicing teachers is essential to program self-study and appropriate teacher preparation. This article reports on 77 graduates of one MA TESOL program offering PreK–12 state certification in ESL who have taught in public schools for 1–4 years. Using online surveys, interviews, site visits, questionnaires, and a focus group, this research investigated the work these teachers engaged in, the challenges they encountered, and how the MA TESOL program did or did not support the demands of their work. The purpose was to identify areas of mismatch between program preparation and current workplace demands, both to provide immediate feedback to the program and to generalize about the need for MA TESOL programs to identify the types of demands their graduates may be encountering in U.S. schools.
2011
Most educators who prepare teachers or other professionals in English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) would agree that the teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) is a uniquely distinct academic and professional discipline. Specific linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical knowledge, skills, and abilities need to be acquired and developed to successfully meet the needs of the more than 5 million preschool to grade 12 English learners (ELs or English language learners/ELLs) across the US, representing more than 400 different language backgrounds (Goldberg, 2008), and the approximately 1.5 million in California, where more than 80% of ELs are Spanish speakers (California Department of Education, 2010).
ESL teacher advocacy beyond the classroom
Since parental engagement in children's schooling is known to improve their academic achievement, it is important to know what characterizes those teachers who provide relevant parental support. This study of 34 US elementary-school ESL teachers found that, while of those teachers who engaged in advocacy for and support of immigrant families, most were multilingual and could communicate with them, a small number of monolingual teachers also acted as advocates. What characterized these advocate teachers was intercultural competence (Byram, 1997), gained through substantial intercultural experiences. On this basis, suggestions are made for school organization and ESL teacher recruitment and preparation.
MATSOL Currents, 2018
In this issue of Currents, you can read about recent MATSOL events, as well as the activities of some of our sister organizations. I call your attention, especially, to the reports on recent staffing changes at MATSOL (p. 4), the ESL Model Curriculum Project (p. 6), two recent MATSOL-sponsored mini-conferences (pp. 10-11), and the progress of the LOOK Bill (p. 13) which, as of this writing, is still under consideration in the legislature. There is an important "opinion" piece (p. 26) about
ESL Teacher-Education Programs: Measuring up to the TESOL/NCATE Yardstick
The CATESOL Journal, 2011
English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 schools continue to increase in number across the country. In California alone, about 1.5 million students are not sufficiently proficient in English to per form optimally in mainstream classrooms. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 emphasizes the need for highly qualified teachers, but just who is qualified to apply best educational practices to help ELLs reach their potential in an academic environment? This article will discuss how the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)/National Council on the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) P-12 ESL teacher-preparation standards provide a nationally recognized framework for teacher preparation and evaluation, while at the same time providing for flexibility in the way in which certified ESOL teachers are prepared. Graduates of programs that follow these standards are ready to begin meeting the challenges of educating the next generation of ELLs in American class...