Rethinking pedagogy and practice in TESOL and languages

It is March and today is the beginning of the Australian academic year. I am meeting the students who will belong to this year’s English as Additional Language (EAL) and Teaching English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL) pedagogy classes for the first time. In front of me are students from a wide number of contexts: China, Iran, Syria, Thailand, Vietnam, New Guinea, Germany and Ireland. There are also a number of local, Australian-born students who make up a small percentage of my class.