TESOL Careers
Goshen College Alumni
Here is a sampling of current positions held by TESOL alumni:
- English Teacher
- Professor
- ENL Teacher
- Voluntary Service Worker
- Reading Recovery Teacher
- ESL Instructor
- Special Education Teacher
- Translator
- ESL Coordinator
- Spanish Teacher
- English Tutor
Overview
TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. In our diverse society, the ability to communicate with speakers of other languages is an increasingly valuable skill. The TESOL major uses a strong intercultural framework to prepare students to teach and serve in many different educational settings.
The TESOL major makes it possible for students to have a Goshen College major which will be compatible with many states’ requirements for ENL (English as a New Language) teachers. If students take the TESOL courses and some Teacher Education courses they can obtain an ENL teaching license for elementary or secondary schools. Of course, it will also be a great major for non-teacher education students who wish to learn how to teach English as a Second Language. The TESOL major without additional teacher education courses can help graduates secure ESL/ENL teaching jobs or work with non-English speakers in various settings both in the U.S. and abroad.
About the Coursework
The major requires five basic TESOL courses plus courses in teacher education, foreign language, communication, and some electives related to intercultural studies.
Students work with the TESOL director to set up a field experience either in Goshen or wherever else in the world they want. The required Methods course and the Field Experience both involve actual tutoring experience so that theories are combined with opportunities for supervised teaching.
Potential courses include:
- Methods of TESOL
- English Grammar
- Literacy
- World Literature
- Introduction to Linguistics
- Communication Across Cultures
- Global English
- Children’s & Adolescent Literature
For a full list of requirements and courses, refer to the course catalog.
Possible Career Paths
Goshen TESOL graduates have found English teaching jobs all over the world: in U.S. public schools and adult education centers, with church agencies and missions, as well as at ESL schools from Paraguay to Egypt to Japan.
The list below provides several career options, but it is not exhaustive. Please note that some positions require additional education.
- Audiologist
- Computational Linguist
- Consultant: Endangered Languages
- Corporate Trainer
- Curriculum Developer/Evaluator
- Editor
- Educational Therapist
- English Test Editor
- ESL Teacher
- ESL Program Director
- Foreign Services Officer
- Forensic Linguist
- Guidance Counselor
- International Development Worker
- Journalist
- Language Fieldworker
- Language Specialist
- Lawyer
- Librarian
- Linguist
- Linguistic Anthropologist
- Peace Corps Volunteer
- Professor
- Reading Tutor
- Social Services Volunteer
- Special Agent Linguist
- Speech Pathologist
- Standardized Test Preparer
- Teacher-Trainer
- Technical Writer
- Translator/Interpreter
- Writing Instructor/Tutor
Additional Resources
- Beginning a Career in TESOL from Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.
- Teacher from the Occupational Outlook Handbook