TESOL International Association

TESOL International Association — Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages — is the principal North American–based professional body for English language educators. Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, it operates worldwide through a network of more than a hundred affiliates, several Interest Sections, an annual convention, and a research-led publication programme anchored by TESOL Quarterly.

Founding

The organisation grew out of a 1963 meeting at the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (now NAFSA) annual conference, where a small group discussed the case for a specialised body for teachers of English to non-native speakers. A first conference followed in Tucson in 1964, drawing more than 700 participants, and at the third annual conference in March 1966 a constitution and bylaws were adopted, formally creating Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

TESOL Quarterly

TESOL Quarterly (TQ) launched in 1967 with Betty Wallace Robinett of Ball State University as its first editor and is now the most widely cited journal in the field. It is a peer-reviewed quarterly published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the association and covers second language teaching and learning, applied linguistics, the psychology and sociology of language learning, professional preparation, curriculum development, and assessment. The association also publishes TESOL Journal, a more practitioner-oriented quarterly.

Affiliates and Interest Sections

The association's reach extends through formal affiliate organisations on every continent and through internal Interest Sections — themed sub-groups roughly equivalent to IATEFL's Special Interest Groups — covering areas such as Adult Education, Higher Education, English as a Foreign Language, Intercultural Communication, Refugee Concerns, and Second Language Writing. The annual TESOL Convention, held in a North American city each spring, is the field's largest gathering alongside the IATEFL conference.

Standards and advocacy

TESOL International issues professional standards documents that have shaped initial-teacher and in-service training across multiple jurisdictions, including the TESOL/CAEP P–12 Teacher Education Program Standards and the Standards for Initial TESOL Pre-K–12 Teacher Preparation Programs. The association also runs an advocacy programme on US federal language-education policy, including funding for adult ESOL and bilingual education.

Position relative to IATEFL

IATEFL and TESOL are the two largest international ELT professional bodies and are often paired — UK-based and US-based, respectively. Their memberships are global and overlap substantially; many teacher educators and applied linguists hold both memberships and attend both annual conferences.

References

• TESOL International Association. About TESOL. tesol.org/about
• TESOL Quarterly. Wiley-Blackwell. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15457249