ESL+Past,+Present,and+Future+(Lori+and+Jenn)

**Jenn and Lori, you continue to find good material. Are you able to focus clearly?? That will be important in a short presentation. Despite having "more" time this is still a short time...work on the focus. K**

I truly enjoyed working with Jenn on this project. We could have gone in a multitude of directions, but we chose to really focus on where we hope the ESL programs in our schools will go. In thinking about that very pragmatic theme, we had reason to carefully review--and think critically about---the history of ESL, education in general, and the idea of power that is associated with language. We found many sources and I benefitted greatly from looking through the tesol.org site, as this seemed to have very up-to-date and rather "official" positions on various ESL issues. I think our presentation itself went well, and I was grateful for the meaningful participation we had from our colleagues. Overall, this was a very positive experience and again, it was great to work with Jenn.

What is interesting to me, though, is all the behind-the-scenes thought that went into all of our presentations. I can only speak for myself, but I'm certain we all felt this way. We chose a topic, did research, and completed a presentation but in addition---there was all this other "stuff" circling around in my mind and I could have presented on about ten different things today---all of which I'm keenly interested in! I know I'm not alone in this and I suppose that is bound to happen in an environment such as this, where everything is rather intense, we're reading volumes about a variety of subjects, we're thinking critically about what we teach, why we teach, and even--in some cases--who we are as individuals. No light subject matter, there!

So, this was a good experience and I learned a lot through the process of reading and putting together our presentation. The areas that I will continue to focus on, which I hadn't planned on at all, are social reconstructivism, multicultural literacy, and language policy. Thanks to everyone for all your support. I learned a lot! -Lori

Lori's thoughts are very true for me about ideas floating around in my head. This project topic was a great choice for both of us as both of us work in EAL/ESL. I was happy to choose a topic that would allow me to do research and to find things that I would be able to use right from day one of the next school year. I loved working with Lori. Her experience in linguistics and great organization skills gave us a strong backbone throughout our research.

There are so many topics of possible research that have come out of this. When I can into the presentation I really wanted to find new methods for teaching ESL. The journal articles I read did not necessarily help me to do this, as I found that there is no 'magic method' for esl teaching. My research showed me that the standard methods work best when used in combination with each other. I found a strong emphasis placed on reading in large quantities and in teaching grammar. I also found tips for using mordern technology in the ESL classroom.

For future research, I would like to continue to use all of the research done and posted here on the wiki to get deeper into the topic and to find out how to motivate ESL learners, how to correct common and learned errors, and new uses of technology in the classroom. As a branch off topic, I would like to do research into programs for gifted and talented students and ways of bringing out the best in them. Though not directly related to my original topic, I think thinking about groups of students in my classroom has motivated me to think of what other groups I should be thinking of things for.

It was an interesting project, and I really enjoyed the work and working with Lori. Jenn Hi Karen, thanks for checking in. I am using the Wiki as a chance to provide lots of info to everyone for future use when they go back to the schools. We have a good focus and path planned for the presentation. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's! Have a good night, Jenn




 * Thanks Jenn, I'm checking in again!! It would have been earlier if my colleagues were less party people!!! I'm looking forward to your presentation. K **

Hello and welcome to the wiki page for our project.

We are researching the history of ESL and looking at what foundations of education and teaching methods are being used and what impact these have on our students. We will each talk to you about where our schools are now with ESL and where we would like to see them go in the future.

We want to know what has happened in the past to lead us to where we are now in the world of ESL. We invite you to contribute to our wiki with any thoughts, links, or videos on the past, present, and future of ESL in schools and in particular in the world of international schools.

Yours in pedagogy, Jenn and Lori

[] (Are you a good ESL teacher? Go through the inventory. Do you agree with the qualities being described as attributes of good teachers?) [] (Bad teacher!!)

[](A brief history of ESL)

http://tesol.org/s_tesol/seccss.asp?CID=32&DID=37 This site (with the TESOL.org site) was fantastic. It contains all of TESOL's formal statements about everything from rights of the ESL teacher to language policy and diversity. Take a look!

Ok, good...

Have you looked at ESL journals? Are you familiar with:

http://iteslj.org/

Check out this list:

http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/EnglishP/esljournal/

Asian EFL journal:

**http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/**

**Familiar with: IATEFL:**

**http://www.iatefl.org/**

**Wikibook that looks useful:**

**http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/English_as_an_Additional_Language**

[] (cheesy video but a good view of some classrooms at work)

[] (Ah, the canon at work. ;) )

[] (Online ESL journal. Good teacher resources. Check out the article on using Skype in the classroom)

[] (Online ESL Journal)

[](Good source to connect to other ESL related writing and sites) [] (Tips for classroom planning and management) [] (Krashin on language acquisition) [] (more on language acquisition) [] (Larry Ferlazzo's blog. Great updates everyday and videos on teaching ESL) [] (Steve Martin video about learning English) [] (lol. Good times) [] (info video about Larry Ferlazzo) [] (Good site for bilingual families and ESL teachers)

I just finished reading this article from the Iteslj.org online journal [] The issue of whether or not to use ESL textbooks is a hot topic in my school. Many recognized that they tend to be boring and repetitive, but without books, teachers find it hard to come up with new and relevant materials everyday The article stressing the need for extensive reading and additional grammar practice activities but says that ESL textbooks are fine to use IF they are supplemented with additional materials. Makes sense to me.

I am also reading this article [] which is the result of research done following a 2007 workshop about ESL in the United States. The question the article aims to answer are listed on the second page. All valid questions that I think would apply to us teaching overseas as well. The article points out that one fifth of students in American public schools don't speak English at home. That number really stuck with me. It shows that both teachers working overseas and those working in the States have simlilarities in their work with ESL students.