Abstract
English for Speakers of Other Languages. The field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) usually requires academic preparation and practical experience, however such training does not always result in securing positions that reflect the level of training (Litzenberg & Fraser, 2023). Examining this mismatch between training and positions has been complicated by the recent pandemic as job seekers face a shift in job requirements and desired qualifications. Such an analysis can be useful to identify the gaps between the content in a teacher preparation curriculum and qualifications sought in positions (Mankki, 2023). This article will review previous studies of TESOL position advertisements before exploring how the pandemic has changed the field as reflected in job announcements. One hundred job full-time job announcements from 2016 were compared with 100 recent job announcements from 2024 to highlight the differences between the ads as far as the qualifications desired, the responsibilities expected, and the context in which the positions occurred. Findings in the study showed a shift from teacher education positions in the earlier data set towards adult ESL positions in the second batch of advertisements. After describing the different trends from the two periods and situating the trends with prior research on job announcement analysis in TESOL (Bailey et al., 2013; Slagoski, 2023), the presentation will provide advice for TESOL teacher educators and ESOL job applicants to make them more competitive in today’s job market.
Author Information
Gwendolyn Williams, Auburn University, United States
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