Summit Outcome
To commit to collaborating on a comprehensive shared vision to guide
policy,
practice, and
research.
Summit Goals
To build an awareness of and commitment to
- Applying the expertise of the TESOL profession by
- Dispelling myths and misperceptions about language policy, practice, and research. Important issues that are greatly clouded by myths and misperceptions include
- Nonnative vs. native
- The role of age in learning additional languages
- English as a medium of instruction
- Portraits of proficiency and success
- The “best” English to learn/teach
- The economic value of English
- Creating clear and accessible examples of innovation that can be seen as applicable in actual classrooms and other contexts
- Embedding concepts of multiple literacies, intercultural communication, critical and creative thinking, risk-taking, reflection, and life-long learning in language policy, research, and practice
- Encouraging stakeholders—including ministries of education, administrators, teacher education institutions, classroom practitioners, researchers, teacher organizations, students, and communities—to be responsive to the multifaceted experiences students bring to the classroom.
- Collaboration among all stakeholders by
- Encouraging language policy makers to establish a transparent mechanism for policy-making that actively involves ministries of education, administrators, teacher education institutions, classroom practitioners, researchers, teacher organizations, community, and other relevant stakeholders
- Encouraging the establishment of local, regional, and national quality systems for TESOL professionals with a shared accountability system among policy makers, administrators, community, parents, learners and teachers that has the following components:
- Teacher identities
- Standards
- Mentoring
- Teacher professional development: both in-service and pre-service, leading to lifelong learning
- Licensure
- Use and forms of assessment
- Learning outcomes
- Professional associations for educators
- Enhance language learner outcomes by
- Promoting and supporting evidence-based policy making and evaluations of the implementation of policies
- Allocating appropriate and adequate resources to ensure maximum learner outcomes
- Developing policies that support language diversity: mother tongues, national languages, and Englishes
- Urging organizations and institutions to be more responsive to changes in needs and standards for English proficiency
- Empowering TESOL professionals to promote and to be actively involved in bringing about innovation
Summit Output
To produce a working document for stating principles that a variety of stakeholders commit to supporting. This document will consist of a comprehensive vision to guide policy, practice, and research and be released at the 2018 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo, 27–30 March 2018 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
To join the TESOL Summit online conversation, please join our
online discussion group.