TESOL Standards of Best Practice - Report Example

TESOL Standards of Best Practice

TESOL is the largest international language teachers’ organization. The organization was formed with the purpose of improving the understanding of English among English as a second language (ESL) students. In the bid to achieve its vision, the organization came up with five standards that would ensure that teachers who teach non-English students offer the best for their students. In this paper, the author provides a summary of the five TESOL standards and then provide examples that illustrate how the five principles are applied.

The first TESOL standard requires that an English teacher who is teaching students of another language must demonstrate an understanding of the English language structure and system (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). This means that the teacher must be able to identify the linguistic structure and components. They must demonstrate knowledge of the English language system to help the ESLs to develop the oral and reading skills. They should also be able to relate the structure of the student's language to that of the English language to understand how the student's first language affects his or her mastery of the English language. After understanding the similarities and difference in the English language and the learner’s first language, the teacher should build on similarities and also apply knowledge of language variation to their instructional practice. The standard also requires the teacher to understand that learning a language takes a long time, hence, they need to be patient with the learner and should be willing to assist the learner in developing the language competency.

The second TESOL standard regards language and culture. This TESOL principle obliges ESL teachers to understand and apply theories and research that is related to culture (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). An ESL teacher should be able to give instructions that value and adapt to the learner’s cultural perspective. They should appreciate the fact that culture and cultural identity of the learners affect their learning environment. In other words, the teacher should recognize that the student’s cultural identity is related to the student’s self-worth, which is in turn related to the academic performance. According to TESOL standards, the candidate for ESL teaching should demonstrate an understanding of knowledge about cultural conflict and apply the knowledge to solve conflicts that are related to bullying, racism, discrimination, and stereotype (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). An ESL teacher should also be able to engage in practices that can impact on the ESLs learning. They need to employ cultural appreciation techniques such as keeping contact and maintaining communication with the student’s family. This way, the teacher will be able to help the learner towards the transition between home and the learning environment.

The third standard concerns planning, managing and implementing instructions. A teacher member of TESOL must understand and know how to apply the teaching concepts and TESOLbest practices in organizing and planning for the class. They should be able to use the standards-based ESL and content curriculum to prepare for classrooms with learners from different backgrounds in a manner that is appropriate for individual student's needs. The teacher should be able to tailor the learning tasks in a way that they meet the needs of students with interrupted formal education (SIFE). Regarding the implementation of instructions, the TESOL standards require that the teacher should provide activities and materials that assist the learner to speak, read and write in English. The teacher should also be able to nurture the student’s speaking and listening skills that are useful in the learner’s social and academic life. TESOL foresaw the role of technology in the world. As such, they designed a standard requirement in which an ESL teacher is required to familiarize himself or herself with a wide range of materials, resources, and technology, before they can assume the role of teaching (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). Besides, the teacher needs to be in a position to apply these resources and technology to carry out the teaching exercise.

In every teaching activity, there is need to assess whether or not the students understood what they were taught. The English-language learners (ELL) teachers are also required to evaluate the level of progress as far as far as the understanding of the English language is concerned. The TESOL standards obliges teachers to be in a position to conduct an assessment in the teaching area (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). Intrinsically, the TESOL standard requires the candidate for the position of ELL teacher to demonstrate the ability to conduct a proper assessment of the student's progress. They are also expected to have an understanding of various assessment issues that affect ELLs. Such problems have been identified to include accountability, biasness, accommodation in the formal testing situation, and language proficiency. A good ESL teacher must be knowledgeable about assessment procedures and instruments. They also need to be able to determine special education needs of the learners after the assessment.

The fifth TESOL standard is about professionalism. Teaching is a profession with an excellent reputation worldwide. This is because the teachers conduct themselves with dignity and professionalism. ESL teachers are expected to maintain the professionalism; they are required to establish professional goals and participate in professional growth opportunities. In the TESOL standards, the teacher is expected to demonstrate knowledge of how language teaching methods have evolved from the historical times to the state it is in today (TESOL/NCATE P-12 ESL, 2010). As a professional, the teacher is required to work in collaboration with other teachers and stakeholders to provide educational opportunities to the students. They should, thus, serve as professional resource persons in the community and help the student's family on matters of Engish language.

The TESOL five standards are also applicable in other educational areas. Edutopia (2017) provides numerous examples in which the TESOL standards are applied. For instance, in the Editopia resource, the piece name literacy practice at work illustrates how the use of morphology instructions can be used to teach the language. The resource also has measures to curb bullying, which falls under the second TESOL standard. The third standard is addressed under the topic, The Cornerstone of Social and Emotional Learning, in which the author talks about how the teacher can plan and manage learning activity. The assessment standard is illustrated by the discussion about students choosing how they will demonstrate what they have learned. Finally, the standard of professionalism is discussed under the five principles of outstanding classroom management.

The teachertube resource provides an example of the use of a range of material, resources, and technology in education. The third TESOL standard requires that a teacher should be conversant with these resources and technology in a manner that he or she can employ them in the teaching program. Intrinsically, the teacher tube resource can only be used by people who are familiar with technology; those who know how such sites work. Therefore, this provides an example of the standard that the teachers are required to reach in terms of technology.

Ted.com provides illustrations and examples of how the TESOL standards are applied in the field of education. The illustration about the capacity to overcome obstacles is an example of how a range of resources and technology are necessary for teaching exercise. The illustration touches on the third standard of TESOL. There is also a demonstration of the first TESOL standard in the video about the need to simplify the spellings. Providing learning opportunities for students falls under the fifth element of the TESOL standards. This element is demonstrated in the video of how to make kids want to read. An example of professionalism is the ted talk education video in which the author gives aspiring talks about matters of education (Robinson, 2013). As such, an education professional is to serve as a professional resource person in the society. The youtube resource through JamesESL English Lessons (2017) also supports the TESOL standards, precisely the first standard, by presenting three ways of learning to speak English.