Search

As English has become the language of business, the economy and social media around the world, it is more and more necessary to start teaching English in schools. Countries such as Ecuador have seen the immediate need to review how they prepare teachers of English to meet this new demand. This article shares a reflection on the process of moving from an autonomous university preparation program to a unified approach based on international standards for teachers of English in Ecuador. This transformation is discussed from four perspectives: the US Embassy in Quito that organized the effort; the facilitator who guided the process; the universities that train English teachers and whose programs were to be revised; and the language institutes that provide intensive English instruction to all university students. These last two points of view are provided by two academics that have been part of the group that collaborated in the creation of the proposal. The end result is a new curriculum based on international EFL/ESL teacher standards and, most importantly, created through collaboration among different entities that had not previously worked together.

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 perform 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 classrooms.

On September 30, 2010, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) voted unanimously to approve a set of eight recommendations for authorization to teach English language learners. These recommendations approved by the CTC had been in development for almost two years and they focused on several issues, including: (1) a specific focus on "academic language" and "academic literacy" in the context of teaching English learners; (2) the development of knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for single-subject teachers to successfully use SDAIE; (3) standards that should be reviewed, updated, and revised to assure that the content provided in preparation programs regarding English learners reflects current research and issues in the field; (4) the authorization for 2042-prepared single-subject teachers should be limited to authorizing holders to provide Specially Designed Academic Instruction for English (SDAIE) instruction only and should not include an authorization to provide English language development (ELD); and (5) further study should be given to the issue of the possibility of establishing an advanced EL authorization to provide a resource to all teachers and administrators with respect to teaching English learners in the content areas. For "CATESOL," the most important of the eight recommendations approved by the commissioners was the development of a "New or World Language" credential. The development of this new ELD or "New World" credential will help meet the language and academic needs of California's long-term English learners (Olsen, 2010). This certification will place teachers specifically prepared to teach English learners in leveled ELD or ESL classes at the middle and high school levels. Having specifically certified teachers working with ELs will increase the linguistic and language competency of ELs such that they can be successful in school and as a result be reclassified.

This article documents the development of foreign language (FL) teacher standards in Uruguay. It begins by discussing what it means to be a teacher, what standards are and are not, and how they can be helpful or misused in teacher development. In the proposal, a distinction is made between teacher preparation programs that are course-based and those that are standards-based, where standards cross particular course boundaries. Finally, the collaborative process used to develop the standards for the situation in Uruguay is described, which was based, fundamentally, on the TESOL p-12 ESL Teacher Preparation Standards.

This paper examines the potential for teachers to act as researchers within their own classrooms. It utilizes a four-step process for such classroombased research: observation, reflection, planning, and action. The focus of the research described is the creation of a Communicative Writing Framework (CWF) to aid in the examination and evaluation of linguistically diverse children’s writing. Research by James Cummins, Katherine Perera, and Linda Flower provide the theoretical basis for such a framework. Application of the CWF is made to (a) data from the Language Assessment Scales-Writing, a national assessment tool, and (b) writing activities of students in a first-grade Spanish-English bilingual classroom. Suggestions are provided for teachers interested in implementing and adapting the CWF model to their own writing classes.