Curricular Goals

In this section of my TESOL Portfolio, I will demonstrate how I have met the curricular goals of the Penn State Graduate Certificate in TESOL program, which include the following:

The ability to analyze various domains of language (e.g., phonological, lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic) in relation to adult learner language development and apply these understandings to adult English language teaching.

The ability to design, adapt, and evaluate curricula, technology, media, and other resources that meet the specific instructional and language-related needs and abilities of adult English language learners.

The ability to develop an understanding of the multilingual/multicultural contexts within which adult English language learners live and work and the role of learning and using English in an increasingly globalized world.

The ability to demonstrate effective instructional strategies for one-on-one tutoring, classroom teaching, and learner assessment.

The ability to create a professional TESOL e-portfolio as a final capstone project.

A separate section of this website is devoted to each of the first four curricular goals, while this website itself constitutes evidence that I have met the final goal of creating a professional TESOL e-portfolio.

A Few Thoughts on Task-Based Instruction
I appreciate Belgar and Hunt’s (2002) attempts to integrate a task-based syllabus into the English as a Foreign Language curriculum of the Japanese university where they worked. No doubt, as the researchers pointed out, the students involved benefited from this… Read more: A Few Thoughts on Task-Based Instruction
Focus on Grammar
Although the field of language education has seen many advances during the last two decades, especially when it comes to acknowledging the roles social interaction and cultural identity play in the language teaching and learning process, I fear the same… Read more: Focus on Grammar
Learning to Teach
Left: Richard preparing a “lesson” for great aunt Evelyn (October, 1980: Beckley, West Virginia) Right: Richard and sister Crissy working on a “test” using Aunt Evelyn’s manual typewriter (December, 1983: Beckley, West Virginia) Below: Betty McDorman (image from 1978 Coal… Read more: Learning to Teach
Focus on Pronunciation and Fluency
When I studied phonetics and phonology for the first time in the early 1990s, the academic focus was almost entirely on the segmental aspects of the language’s sound system. We reviewed the articulatory and acoustic traits of each consonant and… Read more: Focus on Pronunciation and Fluency
The Dilemmas of Language Assessment
I would like to share my experiences with language assessment in my current instructional context–an intensive English program for international students at a large language school in Miami, Florida. We conduct formal assessments using a full-length simulated TOEIC (a norm-referenced… Read more: The Dilemmas of Language Assessment