Language Background & Professional Competencies in Teaching ESOL

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to ESOL teachers' second language Learning experience, despite much research in teacher cognition on the importance of teachers' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and experience as contributors to their teaching. The paper identifies elements of the development of ESL and EFL in Australia to show how and why English continues to be taught monolingually, thereby rendering teachers' other languages irrelevant. Through an examination of teacher education curricula and statements of TESOL teacher competency in Australia and other English-speaking countries, the author shows that L2 experience does not feature as a necessary or desirable attribute. The paper argues for the recognition of bilinguality and L2 learning experience as key contributors to the formation of ESOL teachers' linguistic and sociolinguistic knowledge, and calls for research to illuminate such contribution.