Every year the TESOL President, in collaboration with the President-Elect and the Past President, selects a recipient for the annual Presidents’ Award. The award honors individuals and organizations outside of TESOL who have demonstrated a commitment to English-language instruction, helped TESOL further its mission, and supported education in general. Past recipients of the TESOL Presidents' Award come from diverse backgrounds and include The British Council, UNICEF, and the Peace Corps.
2018 Presidents' Award Recipient: Jim Cummins
Jim Cummins is a professor emeritus at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on literacy development in educational contexts characterized by linguistic diversity. In numerous articles and books he has explored the nature of language proficiency and its relationship to literacy development with particular emphasis on the intersections of societal power relations, teacher-student identity negotiation, and literacy attainment.
Commenting on the selection of Cummins to receive this esteemed award, TESOL President Ester de Jong noted, “Jim Cummins’s scholarship has paved the way for assets-based and dynamic approaches to working with bilingual learners from minority backgrounds. His work revolutionized bilingual education and has greatly contributed to our understanding of bilingualism and classroom practices that affirm students’ linguistic and cultural identities. His research shows how classrooms that are constructed along collaborative, rather than coercive, principles empower learners and support their success in school."
Past Recipients
View a list of
TESOL Presidents Award recipients.