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AU TESOL Home >Program Values |
| Program
Values
While our program is based on
the belief that a good TESOL education is a balance of linguistics and
methodology, our program focuses more on methodology and has a strong
commitment to preparing our students for the jobs that they will find
when they enter today's TESOL market. Preparing good teachers and good teaching are the primary goals of our program. While we don't neglect to give our students the tools necessary to interpret and engage in research, our goal is to prepare teachers, not researchers. In fact, if your primary interest is in research in Applied Linguistics, our neighbor Georgetown has a very fine program. The curriculum of the AU TESOL Program is designed to bring theory into practice, and stresses experiential learning. Experiential learning is emphasized in the field experience components of our methodology courses, such as in our English Language Teaching III course, and in projects as assignments where students can directly apply what they learn to real world classrooms.
As to the type of teaching we advocate, the AU TESOL Program has a strong commitment to the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching (see above). In addition, the AU TESOL Program emphasizes a discourse orientation toward language learning, holding with James Paul Gee that we're not just teaching language, but "language and all that other stuff" (like nonverbal behavior, like the conventions we take for granted, like assumptions about how we learn and demonstrate learning). Finally, the AU TESOL Program is very supportive of "learning centered classrooms"; that is, creating curricula and classroom environments that respond to students' specific needs, and which pay attention not only to what needs to be learn, but how it is best learned. Opportunities for study in Washington, DC DC offers exceptionally good research and teaching opportunities for TESOL students. The Center for Applied Linguistics, the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, the National Clearinghouse for Literacy Education, and the national TESOL Professional Association are all located in the DC area. You also have access to the Library of Congress and the seven libraries of the universities which make up the DC College Consortium. Opportunities for international connections also abound. In addition to all the embassies based in DC, the State Department Foreign Service Institute, a major branch of the World Bank, and Peace Corps are all located in the DC area. This along with all the museums and other cultural, historical and political resources which DC offers. Internships and Independent Studies The AU TESOL Program has always had a strong commitment to supporting Internships and Independent Study courses. As was noted above, local internship possibilities abound in DC in both research and teaching. Internationally, our program maintains many contacts for internships, and our connections are solid enough that if you want to do an international internship and have a country in mind, we can typically find a placement. The AU TESOL Community The TESOL Program sees itself
as a genuine community–a community of peers and professionals. Working
relationships with professors are close, open, and extensive–they
are only too willing to welcome you as colleagues, even if you are currently
colleagues in training. As such, TESOL courses are as much about modeling
the behaviors and practices of our profession as they are about imparting
knowledge. |
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