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Showing posts from February, 2010

Why I teach ESL

This semester, I'm taking a seminar on teacher education. The readings and discussions have prompted me to reevaluate my motivations for teaching English as a second language. I have found it useful to answer the question, "Why do you teach?" because students have come up to me and asked. This question has caught me off guard as I didn't expect them to ask me this question as I met them in the hall. I believe that I didn't give them the best answer I could, so I disappointed myself. Perhaps that disappointed them. So, why do I teach ESL? Or better, why do I choose to remain an ESL instructor? I can answer these questions in a few categories. Intellectually Stimulating I like having my worldview challenged. Living and working in another culture have certainly challenged my American worldview. After living in three different countries for nearly a decade total, I can safely say that my worldview is not the same as it was before I started teaching English. O...