As I outlined in my October 2018 message last month, increasing our Global Presence and Connectivity is one of the most important outcomes that we are working to realize through the association’s new Strategic Plan.

TESOL has always been an international association. When the original constitution and bylaws of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) were adopted in 1966, our founders deliberately avoided terms such as “American” or “National” because they saw our organization as one that would be international and welcoming of members from throughout the world. We made this commitment even more explicit in 2012 when we updated our name to TESOL International Association. In 1978, we held our first annual convention outside of the United States in Mexico City, Mexico; in 2003, we held our first symposium in Italy; and we have held more than 30 events outside of the United States since. This year, we held our first TESOL China Assembly.

In 2018, our members represent more than 150 countries. Our top five countries include the United States, Japan, Canada, China, and Brazil. Our Board of Directors, whom you elect, reflect this diversity. Counting countries of birth, citizenship, and residence, our 11 board members represent 10 different countries: Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States, and Uruguay.

There are also more than 115 associations across six continents that are members of TESOL’s Affiliate Network. This network not only illustrates both the field’s and the association’s global presence, but our connectivity as well. Affiliate associations serve as valuable partners to TESOL International Association in connecting members, providing expertise and resources, and serving as important contributors and partners in the association’s many events.

Last week, the board met at the TESOL office in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Intertwined throughout our meetings were discussions about what TESOL’s global presence means to the board members. Luciana de Oliveira (also known as Lu), our first Brazilian and first Latina and Latin American president, spoke movingly about her first experiences as a graduate student facing discrimination as a nonnative English speaker. She spoke about how the experience showed her the power that leaders can have in righting wrongs and also led to her involvement first in California TESOL (CATESOL), and later TESOL International Association. “[The experience] has led me to where I am today,” she said, “in terms of really advocating for nonnative English speakers, members of the LGBTQ community, and in general those who may seem ‘different.’”

Lu and many board members talked about the mentors they encountered in TESOL, who helped them grow and flourish professionally. Equally as important, they talked about how they have provided the same support to others. As Deborah Crusan, professor of English language and literatures at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, USA, noted, “I think that it’s really important to make people feel like they have a home in TESOL and that they belong to a community.”

Silvia Laborde, academic director of the Alianza Pocitos-Punta Carretas at the Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos in Montevideo, Uruguay, said that

for a long, long time after I started teaching I felt that we were like an island, professionally speaking, very disconnected from the rest of the profession down in Uruguay. Colleagues would say everything was impossible. Either too difficult, too far, or too something.

By joining TESOL, attending the Convention, and encouraging colleagues to relate more to others outside the country, she was able to help bridge the distance and the disconnect. 

Christel Broady, professor of education at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, USA, noted that TESOL’s global presence means bringing the world to her aspiring teachers, many of whom have not traveled anywhere:

How can we bring the world to them so that they can understand what the Chinese English learner needs, what the Mexican English learner needs, and what their backgrounds are? TESOL helps me do that—bring the world to them.

These voices, among the thousands of TESOL members, reflect what so many of us feel when we think about the work we do, the places we do it, and the people for whom we work. As one of our staff members summed up, “TESOL makes a small world bigger, and a big world smaller.” I’d love to hear what TESOL’s global presence means to you. I’m looking forward to connecting with you—whether in your home country or mine, face-to-face or online.

Christopher Powers
TESOL Executive Director
Email: cpowers@tesol.org
Twitter: @TESOL_Powers