The traditional MATESOL practicum course involves placing teachers-in-preparation under the supervision of mentor teachers. While this arrangement allows individual teachers-in-preparation to develop a strong relationship with their mentor teachers, it often prevents them from engaging in a collaborative relationship with their peers. This paper describes how computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools have been integrated in a practicum course in order to promote peer support and collaboration. The paper concludes that the integration of CMC tools into the practicum course allows teachers-in-preparation to give and receive such support, to assume more responsibility for their own learning, and to be provided with increased opportunities for self-paced learning.

According to Eskey (1993, 2002), second language (L2) reading and writing teachers have a dual role: teaching reading and writing as sociocultural practice and as a psycholinguistic process. The former involves motivating students to read and write and the latter involves helping students to develop strategic competence. This article argues that Eskey’s views are relevant to the teaching of reading and writing using the Internet. The article describes the theoretical rationales for integrating instruction on the Internet into the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classroom and presents the pedagogical principles relied upon to integrate the Internet into the EAP classroom. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for the classroom.

This study compared the perceptions of two groups of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) practitioners, native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), in relation to their professional preparation, their level of job satisfaction, and their degree of comfort teaching various skill areas. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of a survey administered to 55 NESTs and 32 NNESTs in Southern California showed that a complex set of similarities and differences characterized the K-12 NESTs and NNESTs who participated in this investigation. The similarities identified included the positive views of the two groups about their professional preparation and the support received from formal networks (e.g., mentoring programs) and informal networks (e.g., colleagues, friends, and relatives). The two groups were also similar in their positive self-reported level of job satisfaction and their positive perceptions of their English language skills. One of the differences was the grades they taught, with a higher percentage of NNESTs teaching early elementary grades. Additionally, NNESTs were slightly more negative than NESTs in their evaluation of school administrators, exhibited more positive self-perceptions about their instructional abilities, and saw their nonnative status as contributing to their professional abilities. The results of this preliminary investigation suggest the need for further research on NNESTs and for the development of collaborative projects between master of art (MA) degree programs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and K-12 programs designed to benefit future teachers, regardless of their language background.

Immigrant adults in the United States often have limited opportunities to learn English. To address this issue and to strengthen the preparation of future English language teachers, a practicum course offered in a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL) program in California was modified to engage student teachers in the design and implementation of a community-based ESL program. This article describes how a teacher educator and three student teachers collaborated to design and implement the program; identifies the program's teaching philosophy, centered around the communicative approach; and discusses the program's learning outcomes, ranging from introducing oneself to participating in the Individualized Educational Plan meeting. As explained in the article, breaking down the walls that existed between the MA TESOL program and the community of students about whom the program theorized not only helped the ESL students the community-based program served, but it also strengthened the MA TESOL program as a whole.