The CATESOL Journal

This research article summarizes and discusses differences found in the use of linking adverbials, such as so, yet, and however, between first-year composition students and final-year students. The methods describe both automated and manual identification of linking adverbials using computerized learner corpora, and the results include pedagogical and further research implications. Assignment particulars and other learner objectives appeared to play a role in the relative overuse of certain adverbials in addition to conversational adverbials occurring more often in the compositions of the first-year students. The findings also show an increase in academic transition use during the semester-long period of the study. Significant differences were found in the use of adverbial pairs with nuanced differences, such as yet and however. The article concludes with pedagogical implications and suggestions for how how to improve teaching practices based on the improvement found across the course of the semester.

Many graduate students come from different careers, educational backgrounds, and areas of expertise. This theme invited students to share how they have implemented their passions and unique fields of knowledge into their TESOL teacher training and experience in creative, interesting ways.

In this article, I explain how I used my interdisciplinary expertise in a TESOL classroom. The class consisted of 24 high-intermediate students ages 25 to 35, with a 65/35% male-to-female ratio. Of the students, 75% were Spanish speaking, while the remainder consisted of Farsi, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Mandarin, Korean, and German speakers. The class met at a Bay Area adult school 4 nights a week with an optional Saturday class. To achieve authentic cross-cultural communication, I used cooperative learning (CL) and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The results showed that students gained cross-cultural awareness, improved computer skills, and developed authentic speaking skills.

This article discusses practical ways to incorporate theater concepts into the ESL classroom. The notion of a theater ensemble lends itself well to group work in language learning. I have used my experience auditioning, participating in theater games, and improv techniques to encourage second language learning through public speaking, group collaboration, and giving students the power to speak.

Vast amounts of daily news content are widely available and easily accessible, and they can be converted into materials for intermediate and advanced ESL classes. This article will describe the why and how for integrating news media sources into a multiskills ESL classroom. Through the news, students are immediately engaged with the material because they are viewing articles and news stories that are happening in the world. Additionally, the authentic nature of the material presents a broad spectrum of vocabulary and sentence structures. While students are not expected to understand every word or phrase, the exposure to authentic text in an ESL class is tremendously beneficial. This article will take a 1st-person perspective on the implementation of the news-based course, as well as ideas on how to use the news as a supplemental resource in other ESL classes, such as speaking, composition, or grammar/vocabulary classes.

The issues surrounding native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) as teachers (NESTs and NNESTs, respectively) in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) are a current topic of interest. In many contexts, the native speaker of English is viewed as the model teacher, thus putting the NEST into a position of privilege and the NNEST into one of prejudice. Recent scholarship has attempted to address these issues (Mahboob, 2010; Medgyes, 1994; Phillipson, 1992b). This paper will draw from some of this research as well as provide insights into the privileges enjoyed by NESTs in contrast to the discrimination faced by NNESTs. It will then discuss various practical ways that might help to mitigate the inequity between NESTs and NNESTs.

With a background in the teaching of Spanish in the US and the teaching of English abroad, the authors had spent a great deal of time contemplating both linguistic diversity and the internationalization of college campuses. Considering that we found ourselves studying TESOL and had an opportunity to design our own English language course for international students in the Linguistics Department, we decided that tackling some of these issues as part of the course would be an intriguing challenge. Thus, using the knowledge we had gained through our international experiences, we organized a World Englishes course around the discussion of the concentric circles of English (Kachru, 1985), moving from inner-, to outer-, to expanding-circle Englishes with a focus on phonology, positioning, and the expansion of English. Throughout the course we aimed to explore student perceptions of the native-speaker model and inner-circle privilege by means of critical writing reflections, an exit questionnaire on English as an international language (EIL) opinions, and a pre- and posttest on accent recognition. With what we learned through teaching this course, we hope to inform and encourage EIL pedagogical design, specifically in inner-circle contexts in which the internationalization of English teaching has only recently taken hold

This article describes a three-step pedagogy aimed at developing college ESL students’ ability to assess and evaluate their own writing through intentional learner training. The three pedagogical steps are teacher modeling, guided peer assessment, and independent self-assessment. To illustrate, a set of scaffolded instructional procedures are delineated and demonstrated. The article then concludes with an argument that with intentional teacher modeling as well as consistent guided learner practice, college ESL student writers are capable of monitoring, assessing, and evaluating their own learning progress competently, confidently, and systematically.

This article discusses the state of the art in the field of “adult ESL” in the US. It identifies the size, characteristics, and settings of adult education and discusses relevant professional standards, assessment procedures, and teacher preparation. Three approaches to noncredit adult ESL education will be presented (Functional Literacy, Critical Literacy, and New Literacy Studies), each of which has relevance to current status and funding of adult ESL within the Department of Education. A broader view of curriculum design and expansion of technological applications are recommended to address the growing needs of immigrants from Latin America and around the world.

This article provides an in-depth analysis of a play that I wrote centering on 4 international students’ experiences studying and living in the US. It consists of 5 scenes, which delve into the topics of cultural differences, first impressions of the US, university systems, friendship, time and personal space, stereotyping and discrimination, and culture shock. Central to this article was highlighting the rationale behind this play and the reflective processes that were instrumental to creating the story line, script, and characters. Moreover, the objective of this play is to promote intercultural awareness through drama in order to strengthen students’ relationships with each other and to foster dialogue. By incorporating materials that focus on cross-cultural communication into curricula designed for English immersion programs, I hope that students will develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for cultural differences. A suggested lesson plan regarding ways of teaching the play is included in this article as a means of showing the stages that lead to a final performance performed by the students.

This case study explores how strategy-based instruction (SBI), assisted by multimedia software, can be incorporated to teach beginning-level ESL learners metacognitive writing strategies. Two beginning-level adult learners participated in a 10-session SBI on planning and organizing strategies. The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) was implemented with the aid of graphic organizer software. Our findings show that technology-supported SBI has brought multiple benefits for the learners. Comparisons of writings before and after SBI indicate that there is noticeable improvement in learners’ ability to generate ideas and in logical organization of their essays. Researchers’ observation notes and learners’ reflections suggest that learners’ engagement and motivation are boosted during their prewriting activities using the graphic organizer software. A close examination of the semantic maps generated from the writing software also reveals how learners practice metacognitive planning and organizing strategies for their writing. Finally, recommendations are made for future instructors and researchers investigating this topic.

This article reports on a qualitative case study that explored the literacy and disciplinary experiences of 4 Taiwanese/Chinese students learning to write in a US graduate TESOL program. A combination of writing research methods was employed—case study techniques of interview and document collection, combined with discourse and text analysis of students’ written language—within Bakhtinian perspectives on discourse socialization (Bakhtin, 1981; Gee, 1989/2001, 1992). The findings suggest the complex interplay between students’ previous educational experiences outside the US and their current literate processes as they engage in reading-to-write, perceiving of self, and exerting strategies that show their individuality as well as group membership when interpreting and accomplishing field-related texts. Implications for theory, research, and practice are also discussed.