Research

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Research
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As a leading professional organization for English language teachers, learners, and researchers, TESOL is often called upon to identify research priorities for professionals in the field and for other organizations. TESOL requires an accessible and flexible research agenda that can be readily consulted, regularly revised, and made easily available to multiple audiences, from graduate students and advisers searching for thesis and dissertation topics to corporations seeking to fund high-priority research and governmental agencies considering major policy decisions.

TESOL welcomes comments and suggestions concerning the research agenda. Please send them to research@tesol.org.

Explore the Research Section:

Research Symposia

Access the Latest Research Documents:

Key Issues and Questions in English Language Learners Literacy Research (October 2007; PDF)
This report is the result of a collaborative effort led by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) to look at key issues in reading and make recommendations to the field for further investigation. With contributions from TESOL and other organizations, the report addresses the pressing need for research on instructional approaches and interventions for English language learners. Specifically, its asks what adjustments need to be made to produce ELL students who become successful readers and writers, what strategies can effectively enable teachers to differentiate instruction within classes, and how teachers can best assess students and develop accessible assessments.
TESOL Award for Distinguished Research
Any TESOL member who has completed an empirical research project and a subsequent scholarly paper that will be published in 2009 in TESOL Quarterly or another scholarly journal is eligible to apply. This award recognizes excellence in any area of research on language teaching and learning. The award is sponsored by Heinle, a part of Cengage Learning.
Developing a Research Agenda for TESOL
The TESOL Board of Directors formed a Research Agenda Task Force in late 1998 and charged it with writing a broad, topically and methodologically pluralistic research agenda for the TESOL association.
2004 TESOL Research Agenda (PDF)
The TESOL Board of Directors approved this research agenda in October 2004.
2000 TESOL Research Agenda (PDF)
The TESOL Board of Directors approved an initial research agenda in 2000. This version has been supplanted by the research agenda approved in October 2004.
Position Statement on Research and Policy (February 2005; PDF)
A strong commitment to research as a means of improving professional knowledge is vital to the field of teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). This paper discusses the association's position on research and policy.
Selected References and Web Sites
References on standards and assessment policies and practice, teacher and classroom discourse analysis, and language and literacy development.
Mary McGroarty -- Northern Arizona University (PDF)
Rigor does not mean mortis: Uses and abuses of quantitative information in L2 research

Visit the Research Links:

Research Standing Committee

Home : Issues : Research