The CATESOL Journal

International students are key players in realizing the goal of internationalizing US colleges and universities, particularly when it comes to engagement on issues of global signifi cance. Th is article contextualizes the phenomenon of the internationalization of higher education and recent patterns of transnational mobility for international students, and then it examines internationalization on an institutional level, both the practices associated with this recognition of global interconnectivity and the discourses that accompany it. Th ough institutions have missed some opportunities to integrate international students into their teaching and learning communities, I argue that these diverse students are in fact rich natural resources for developing global competency in US higher education. Th is article concludes by highlighting some promising practices for integrating international students into teaching and learning environments on US campuses and emphasizing the importance of reorienting status quo approaches.

US universities are admitting higher percentages of international students, bringing into focus concerns with how to best support them once they are at the university. However, less attention has been paid to the preparation they undertake before matriculation. This study looks at how students are prepared before arrival and how this preparation matched their expectations and experiences in their US classes. Information was gathered through interviews of international students in different US universities, as well as from large-scale surveys conducted at the University of California, Berkeley with incoming and current international students. Results suggest the need for additional program planning to more fully support this population.

While many US colleges and universities offer specialized writing courses for multilingual students entering as freshmen, including international students, there is typically little instructional support for the academic English needs of international transfer students. This article describes the development and implementation of a writing course at a four-year university intended for upper-division multilingual transfer students, with focus on international students. Starting with the proposal stage, it summarizes consultations with administrators and faculty to procure funding, identify a target population, and seek input for defining course objectives. Description of course implementation includes syllabi, student profiles, and student feedback from course evaluations and writing portfolio introductions on the most helpful and most challenging aspects of the course. Student feedback offers suggestions for writing instruction in lower-division courses. In conclusion, this article recommends further development of specialized writing courses for upper-division international multilingual writers.

University of California (UC) campuses have recently experienced a dramatic increase in the number of international degreeseeking undergraduate students. This article presents results of a UC-wide survey conducted to understand the perceptions of developmental and 1st-year composition instructors about these demographic changes and to help design professional development for these instructors as they aim to better support international student writers. Results suggest the need not only for inservice training but also for advocacy by UC writing programs within the UC system in general as well as local contexts, specifically regarding placement issues, course offerings, and teacher qualifications.

The dramatically increasing number of international students at University of California (UC) campuses has had a marked effect on its campus writing centers, causing a reconsideration of personnel, pedagogy, training, services, and cross-campus partnerships. In this article, writing center administrators and staff at 3 UC campuses—UC Irvine, UCLA, and UC San Diego—discuss the challenges they are encountering and the possibilities that are emerging as they pursue their mission to serve all undergraduate student writers.

In their 1970 guidelines for teacher-preparation programs (TPPs), TESOL’s founders promoted practicum experiences that include “systematic directed observation, supervised teaching practice and progressive teaching responsibilities.” TPPs with field experiences as centerpieces of their programs have been more effective in meeting the increasing demands teacher educators and their trainees face in today’s performance-assessment and accountability-driven environment. Alternatives to traditional practicum structures that are more learner centered and grounded in practice provide a panoply of possibilities for those who structure TESOL preparation programs. Refashioning the practicum in ways that promote and sharpen teacher-learners’ attending skills and their desire to reflect deeply and systematically on practice is the framework used here to consider the selection of innovative ideas TESOL and other teacher educators are using to strengthen their TPPs. Reorienting such programs so that theory is driven by authentic classroom experiences would align with the intent of TESOL’s founders.

TESOL programs and courses around the world are increasingly offered partly or wholly online. Online instruction offers both new affordances and distinct challenges for effective instruction, particularly when it comes to supervising fieldwork. This article compares 2 distinct online formats for student reflections on their tutoring experiences in the practicum component of a course on teaching second language reading. In particular, the article examines how 2 different reflection formats afforded qualitatively distinct student reflections on how they modified their understandings of learning, learners, teaching, and the contexts of learning through (a) interacting with their tutee, (b) implementing new instructional practices, and (c) interacting with their peers about their tutorial. Findings are discussed in terms of the affordances and challenges provided by distinct ways of configuring the online reflection for these field experiences, comparing student work in blogs, discussion boards, and reports submitted individually to the instructor.

In this reflective piece, we discuss changes made to the practicum at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), a professional graduate school that offers MA degrees in TESOL and TFL. We begin by providing a historical perspective of the practicum as it has evolved in relation to other exit mechanisms. Then, we provide a rationale for moving toward a Dual Capstone Model, in which the former practicum was elevated to capstone status. Finally, we reflect upon the new Practicum Capstone in relation to ongoing issues of washback, rubrics, and feedback, providing our particular disciplinary perspectives on these aspects. Throughout the piece, we highlight how teacher identity can be fostered through a balanced approach to both structure and agency. This discussion of practicum- and program-level changes highlights the importance of responsiveness to evolving student needs through thoughtful deliberation about curricular changes over time.

This study relied on sociocultural understanding of teacher learning, which highlights how teacher candidates construct their own learning and adjust or extend their instructional values, priorities, and beliefs within their teaching contexts (Johnson, 2009). It used activity theory as a conceptual framework (Engeström, 1999) and explored how teaching practicum experiences contributed to 5 ESOL teacher candidates’ learning in a 13-month intensive MA TESOL program. Findings from the study illustrate that the teaching practicum made significant contributions to ESOL teacher candidates’ learning to teach in the program. Through the teaching practicum, teacher candidates (a) learned how to navigate in the school context, (b) learned about the nature of establishing relationships with the other members of the teaching community, (c) used the mediating artifacts with the support of mentors and supervisors, (d) found opportunities for constructing a mutually informative and dialogical relationship between theory and practice, and (e) gained closer understanding of ELLs.

In this reflective essay, I share my experiences as a US-based professor leading graduate students on a 2-month teaching practicum in northern Thailand. I describe the process of arranging the practicum in coordination with the host university and the challenges of teaching 2 teacher-education courses while also mentoring novice teachers and addressing cross-cultural issues. I discovered that leading a practicum in an international context required me to play multiple roles—as supervisor, professor, and personal mentor. The teachers encountered challenges but also experienced empowerment working in a foreign language context; they wrestled with cultural issues such as negotiating among their expectations as teachers, the university’s demands, and my requirements from them as students. The international practicum setting means that teachers need to develop an understanding of a new culture and how they fit personally into that culture. Being far from home requires everyone—teachers and supervisors—to form a new community supporting each other and to redraw previously established professor-student boundaries.

A strong focus on teacher performance is resurfacing in teacher-preparation programs across the US. EdTPA, a teacherperformance assessment designed to determine K-12 teacher candidates’ readiness for the classroom, has become central in teacher-preparation programs in several states and promises to be implemented in more states in the coming months. A multidimensional portfolio compilation, the edTPA requires candidates to submit teaching artifacts (e.g., lesson plans, samples of students’ work) along with narrative writing tasks that detail a teacher’s instructional approach and teaching reflections. This article highlights 3 ESL teachers’ experiences with and perspectives about the New York State requirement of edTPA for English as an Additional Language (EAL) certification over 2 semesters of a student-teacher practicum. These teachers’ experiences provide insights into the nature of certification assessment and the perceived benefits and challenges of completing the edTPA portfolio. This article also offers suggestions for the growing number of educational programs that will experience the impact of edTPA during the coming decade.

As many scholars in the field of TESOL (Danielewicz, 2001; Harlow & Cobb, 2014; Kanno & Stuart, 2011) point out, the development of teacher identity is an ongoing, multifaceted process. Thus, quite frequently, novice teachers feel as though they take on a role when they are in the classroom, as opposed to fully embodying an identity of a teacher. This article chronicles my experience as a MA TESOL student at San Francisco State University (SFSU) during my participation in a volunteer organization called Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders). Project SHINE places student volunteers in ESL classrooms in the local community college and provides the opportunity for novice teachers to gain valuable classroom experience, to engage with professionals in the field, and to work closely with ESL students. Project SHINE has served as a practicum experience during my 1st year as a MA TESOL student and has become an integral part of my growth as a teacher. Through volunteering in the ESL classroom, I have had the opportunity to make discoveries about aspects of my personality that contribute to my identity as an emerging professional in the TESOL field.

This article looks at my reflection as a teacher during a master’s degree practicum for a Second Language Studies Program. This particular practicum differs from the other common student teacher–training courses found in master’s programs as it incorporated a teacher-training session on conducting action research (AR) in the classroom, a practice that has recently become a decisive element of TESOL programs (Ho, 2012). I taught for 8 weeks at a university in Thailand where my class met 4 times a week for 1 hour, and I also partook in teacher-training courses, 1 specifically on teaching training (3 hours a week) and the other specifically on conducting AR in the classroom. Through the AR methodology I was able to conduct meaningful research that contributed to a greater understanding of myself as a teacher, to improve the classroom environment, and also to bring insight into current research in the field of second language (L2) learning through grounding the AR in current theory. Through following the cyclical process of AR, I was able to gain a deeper insight into my own classroom, teaching, and abilities to conduct meaningful research. This reflective article acts as a reference for other student teachers who may be interested in applying a similar framework to their practicum experience, empowering them to go beyond just understanding teaching practice but also to potentially develop research grounded in L2 theory.

Designing and presenting lessons is the center of the teaching process. Every day teachers must make decisions about the instructional process. A teacher’s approach can have an enormous impact on the effectiveness of his or her teaching. Understanding students’ preferences toward teaching approaches and teaching styles can create opportunities for teachers to make adjustments that better serve their students. Many teachers continue using traditional teaching approaches, so the question exists of whether or not these teaching approaches are meeting the educational needs of the learners. This article addresses this question and discusses a qualitative study involving the preferences of 225 Taiwanese EFL university students toward 3 main teaching approaches (instructor centered, student centered, and content centered) and offers pedagogical suggestions. Through a statistical analysis, the research findings indicate that the participants can clearly recognize the differences among the teaching approaches, have a clear preference toward the student-centered approach, and hold more positive attitudes toward student-centered learning.

Much research has been conducted documenting the reading and writing challenges students in precollege courses face (Crosby, 2007; Masterson, 2007). Some colleges label these courses “developmental,” “remedial,” or “basic skills” courses. These “developmental” students comprise both US-born and immigrant pupils from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds (Roberge, Siegal, & Harklau, 2009) and are often institutionally marginalized (Blumenthal, 2002), leaving them often underprepared when matriculating into credit-bearing collegelevel courses (Roberge, 2009). In this article, we report on a case study where a community college ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instructor and three faculty members at a local university worked collaboratively on developing resources to support his struggling readers through leveled, culturally responsive texts. We share a unique approach to mentor texts, employing them both as exemplars for developing reading and writing skills, and also as a means to support avenues for finding “voice.”