What's a typical day like for you as both Coordinator and Instructor in the TES/FL Program?

It's a mix of doing the routine - marking papers, preparing lessons, teaching - and spending time on our new initiatives. For example, developing new courses and finding the right people to teach them.

There is a lot that's going on right now. For example, we're developing some new courses for the program. One of them will be an Independent Learning Project course, which we hope to start this fall. In this course, a TES/FL student will be working one-on-one with an Algonquin ESL student - or former ESL student - tutoring them and compiling a learner profile. There are a lot of students who have gone through ESL, here or somewhere else, and have gone into full-time programs at the college and are struggling. We did a survey and some are struggling with oral communication with professors and cultural issues such as group work.

With the new course, our TES/FL students will be involved, keeping track of the student's errors and areas of difficulty. So they'll be learning, while helping the student to improve their English.

We're also developing a course called Teaching Listening, Speaking and Pronunciation. In the past, teaching these skills has always been integrated into the Methodology courses. Soon, we'll have a separate course that focuses specifically on these skills.

One trend that's already with us is Teaching Advanced ESL. This includes occupation-specific language teaching, English for academic purposes and enhanced language training - all geared to foreign-trained professionals. We're adding a course to our program on teaching the advanced levels and programs of ESL, so that our students will be prepared for it.

Another feature of the TESL landscape that we need to respond to is the use of technology. We're adding a course called Educational Technologies in Second Language Teaching. With TESL Ontario working on a post-TESL certification program, this course will fit right in with it. Graduates of the program can come back and take the course.

What I've seen in the ESL field is also relevant to TESL, because that is what we have to teach our TESL students. There has been this gradual shift towards advanced-level courses and specialized courses. When I started teaching, all LINC programs had levels 1 and 2 and only ran to Level 3. These days not all programs start at Level 1 or 2, including Algonquin College's. Like many LINC programs, it starts at LINC 3 and now goes to LINC 7. I think this shift has occurred because of the changing immigration policy.

Another tendency that I've seen doesn't concern the ESL population but rather native speakers: their language proficiency is going down. Students that have graduated from Grade 12 English classes are struggling at the college level with communication courses that they shouldn't be struggling with.

With the Internet, there is a shifting modality of obtaining information. It used to be auditory and now it's visual and it's fragmented. You skim and scan because of time issues. I'm finding that because of how I read at work, it can carry over when I read a fiction book. I start skimming and scanning and then think, "What am I doing? I’m supposed to be reading for pleasure!"

I'm concerned about the decline in literacy and it's not just an opinion. I'm involved in research that is showing this.

Professional memories always have to do with the effort you put in with your students and what you get back from them. The end goal is to improve language proficiency and, as a teacher, I get to watch it develop in a lot of students. There’s a moment when I realize that the student has really improved, even though they may not realize it. My best memories are around student feedback. So, for example, with ESL students, when a particular strategy that you taught has really helped them.