Bumjin Choi

TESOL 240
On-going Professional Development Paper
Good English teachers have to apply not only knowledge, but also their materials and
experiences with proficiency to classes. Having knowledge is one thing, but delivering that
knowledge through teaching is another thing. Good teachers are those that can effectively
deliver professional knowledge to their students. What teachers need to do is communicate
with students through encoding and decoding knowledge with professionalism. To be a good
English teacher, I need to prepare professionally beyond simply being aware becoming more
knowledgeable. Through my on-going professional development paper, I will introduce
professional organizations, journals, websites, and additional ways to prepare professional
developments.
First, professional organizations can help me to develop within my profession as a
good English teacher. Professional organizations are divided into local, state, national, and
international groups according to the scale of organizations.
An example of a local-scale professional organization is BYU-Hawaii TESOL
society. It is one of BYU-Hawaiis student chapter clubs. This organization is the most
accessible and effective for students who major in TESOL or want to get a TESOL certificate
at BYU-Hawaii. This organization holds opening socials, food festivals, service projects, and
other activities where students majoring in TESOL gather to share information about job
opportunities and internship programs, as well as share teaching experiences. For example, I
attended the opening social and listened to presentations from students who did internships in
Korean, Japan, and Croatia. They shared the process of the internship program and what they
experienced from their internships. It was really helpful to visualize my future as an English
teacher, and I leaned specific ways to get an internship opportunity in public schools in
Korea. To join BYUH TESOL society, one must sign-up at BYU-Hawaiis world fest, which
is held every semester.
An example of a professional organization on the state scale is Hawaii TESOL. It is
the first organization for TESOL in Hawaii since 1975, and is affiliated with TESOL
international. It is dedicated to building a community of professionals teaching ESL,
promotes the highest standards in employment and instruction, provides ESL professionals in
Hawaii with opportunities for networking and professional development, and offers four
major activities a year. To join Hawaii TESOL as a student, you need to fill an online
application and pay fifteen dollars. Hawaii TESOL offers six major benefits to members: the
word, meeting, professional involvement, discounts, travel grants, and TESOL connections. It
provides a newsletter written and edited by members of Hawaii TESOL, and the newsletter
includes discussions of language learning and teaching, descriptions of practical classroom
techniques, and summaries of relevant state and legislative activities. Hawaii TESOL holds
meetings four to five times per year to meet other ESL professionals and promote
networking. It gives members the opportunities to give presentations and workshops. It also
provides discounts to the Annual Hawaii TESOL Conference, and travel grants for members
to attend annual conferences. Members of Hawaii TESOL can access articles and resent news
from the website. The website (http://hawaiitesol.wildapricot.org/) gives more detailed
information about Hawaii TESOL. This organization is really important for me because it is
easily accessible to participate in activities of Hawaii TESOL. I can make many connections
with instructors, professors, and students from other universities and English education
organizations. I can learn the new strategies of teaching English, learn from the practical
experiences of professors, and share my own experiences of learning and teaching English

with students from other universities. For example, when I attended the opening conference
of Hawaii TESOL, I listened to two presentations, which were about the application of
technologies to teaching English and motivating myself as an English teacher and students to
learn English. I also shared the idea of how English teachers can apply educational activities
to teaching English. Hawaii TESOL can offer me tips, knowledge, and information on a
broad spectrum of topics.
An organization on the national scale is KOTESOL, which stands for Korean
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. The mission statement of KOTESOL is
to promote scholarship, disseminate information, and facilitate cross-cultural understanding
among persons concerned with the teaching and learning of English in Korea. KOTESOL is
an independent national Affiliate of TESOL International Association as well as Associate
member of IATEFL, which stands for International Association of Teachers of English as a
Foreign Language. It is a non-profit organization. It is free to join the membership of
KOTESOL, and All English teachers, regardless of their level or nationality, are invited to
join KOTESOL. The membership of KOTESOL includes elementary school, secondary
school, and university English teachers and professors, as well as ELT teachers-in-training,
administrators, researchers, material writers, curriculum developers, and other interested
persons. KOTESOL holds an annual conference in SEOUL, and twelve chapters based on
regions hold their own conferences. KOTESOL provides five publications: the Korea TESOL
Journal, The English Connection, KOTESOL Proceedings, TEC news, and Chapter's
newsletter. The Korea TESOL Journal (KTJ) is a refereed academic journal concerned with
teaching English as a foreign or additional language and other related issues. The English
Connection (TEC) is news magazine published quarterly. It includes articles about scholars
and classroom rapports such as teaching strategies and articles about living and working in
Korea. KOTESOL Proceedings are compilations of the content presented at KOTESOL's
annual international conferences. TEC News is a quarterly news magazine, which is an online
companion publication of The English Connection (TEC). TEC News includes information
about KOTESOL's Chapters and Special Interest Groups. It also contains a calendar of events
for KOTESOL and ELT conferences in Korea and international. Each KOTESOL Chapter has
its own newsletter. The website (http://koreatesol.org/) contains more information.
KOTESOL is especially important for my future as an English teacher because I want to
teach English in Korea. To get a job as an English teacher in Korea as soon as possible, I need
connections with teachers in Korea who work in the field and can share practical teaching
experiences in Korea. Through them, I can indirectly learn classroom rapports that I have not
felt as a teacher, educational situations and systems, and cultural systems.
An international scale TESOL organization is TESOL, Inc. It is the global education
association established in 1966, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. The mission statement
of TESOL Inc. is to advance professional expertise in English language teaching and learning
for speakers of other languages worldwide. To join the membership of TESOL, Inc., you need
to fill out the online application form or send the application form by fax or mail. The dues
are different according to the membership levels, and it costs thirty-five dollars for the
student level per year. TESOL, Inc. offers five benefits for its members: community sharing
and learning, education and professional development, TESOL publications, a voice for your
community, and leadership and volunteer opportunities. Memberships of TESOL, Inc. are
invited to participate in twenty-one interest sections and other online groups. Through
TESOL community, members can connect each other with universities throughout the world
to share experiences and ideas. The twenty-one TESOL interest sections provide many
leadership opportunities in addition to online networking, professional development, and the
ability to share research and knowledge in various areas of practice. Professional

development programs offer virtual seminars, online courses of TESOL Core Certificate
Program to Training of Trainers, TESOL resource centers, TESOL academics, career centers,
as well as scholarships and grants. TESOL, Inc. annually holds a TESOL Convention and an
English Language Expo, which provides four days of professional development and
networking. All members receive a registration. TESOL, Inc publishes various publications
such as TESOL Connection, TESOL Journal, an English Language Bulletin, TESOL
Quarterly, and TESOL books. TESOL Connections is a monthly online membership
newsletter that features practical articles and useful resources for English teachers as well as
TESOL, Inc. news. TESOL Journal is a refereed, practitioner-oriented electronic journal
based on current theory and research in the field of TESOL. The English Language Bulletin
is a weekly news bulletin from TESOL, Inc. TESOL Quarterly fosters inquiry about English
language teaching and learning by providing a forum for TESOL professionals to share their
research findings and explore ideas and relationships in the field. The website
(http://www.tesol.org) provides more detailed information about membership and its benefits.
This organization will be related to my future proficiency as an English teacher. It is the one
of biggest organizations in the TESOL field, and it has various TESOL sources to help me
develop my teaching skills.
Second, professional journals can help me to develop me within my profession.
There are professional journals including TESL Reporter, The Forum, EL Gazette, and the
TESOL Journal.
TESL Reporter (https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/TESL/) is the most relevant
journal for me. The TESL Reporter is a semiannual publication of the Department of English
Language Teaching and Learning at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and is dedicated to
the dissemination of ideas and issues of interest to teachers of English to speakers of other
languages worldwide. It is the most accessible for me to get information from The TESL
Reporter, and it provides articles on teaching methods and skills, cultural variety, and
professors practical experiences. For example, when I worked on the abstract paper, I leaned
the strategy of practicing native speaker's pronunciation and pausing patterns such as stress,
pitch, and intonation by transcription of what speakers say on media materials. I also learned
how to apply electronic devices to teaching English. I can practice various teaching methods
during the internship, and I will apply the most effective methods to my students.
The Forum is the second professional publication that I refer to because it provides
professional information about teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language. The
Forum is a quarterly journal for professionals teaching English as a Foreign or Second
Language, published by the office of English Language Program, Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs. Trough The Forum, I can search for articles and information by three
different sections: pedagogical categories, skills, and audience. Pedagogical categories
contains ways to develop for practicing teachers such as integrated skills, materials
development, reflective teaching, and more. Skills contains basics such as vocabulary and
spelling to more advanced skills like language awareness and critical thinking. The
Audience section contains age groups and English language proficiency levels. The website
(http://americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum#) provides more details. This
publication will be really useful because TESOL is the study by which Psychology,
Linguistics, and Pedagogy are combined. For example, when I teach young children, I need
not only professional teaching skills, but also something interesting, which attracts the
children. I have to realize what they need in the class. Each age group has different
motivations to study. Moreover, According to proficiency levels, I need to use different
vocabulary sets and use different teaching methods.
EL Gazette is a newspaper for the English language and international education. It is

the London-based international monthly newspaper for the English Language Teaching
industry and the international English-medium education. It provides both printed and
electronic articles for free. It provides job opportunities to the readers of its newsletter. Its
website (http://www.elgazette.com/) provides readers lessons plans and teaching tips.
Through EL Gazette, I can not only look for job opportunities, but can also use it to plan
lessons in my future. Making lessons plans such as the syllabus and the daily schedule is a
really important skill for teachers. I need to prepare materials for teaching, and the specific
plan of what and how to teach.
The TESOL Journal is an electronic journal that contains current theory and research
of TESOL. Only members of TESOL, Inc. can access the full text of the TESOL Journal, and
it costs thirty-five dollars for a year of membership. The TESOL Journal is a forum for
second and foreign language educators at all levels to engage in the ways that research and
theorizing can inform, shape, and ground teaching practices and perspectives. Articles
facilitate an active and vibrant professional dialogue about research- and theory-based
practices as well as practice-oriented theorizing and research. The website
(http://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/tesol-journal) contains more details about
TESOL Journal.
Third, On-going professional development can be accomplished by professional
organizations and publications, Moreover, teachers can get great teaching sources from online
websites such as The English Club, Lextutor, Daves ESL Caf, and English is FUN.
The English Club (http://www.englishclub.com/) is a useful website for English
educators and learners to get materials and sources designed to improve English skills. This
website looks so interesting that such a broad range of people are using it. These people range
from the young to the old and from true beginners to the advanced. The website is
categorized by three major sections for everyone, learners, and teachers. The section for
everyone contains general information about the website and links to other helpful websites.
The section for learners offers English level tests, lessons for four systems of learning
English, and activities like games and quizzes. It also provides learners Seven Secrets that
help to develop English effectively. One useful feature that I am impressed with is that it
offers social connections for students to make pen pals and native-speaking friends. In the
section for teachers, it offers teaching tips, teacher forums, inter-school projects, ESL job
openings, TEFL articles, TEAL training, and ETL management. I can use this website as both
an English learner and as an English teacher. For example, from the point of view of a
student, I can take tests, play English games, and apply them to my lessons as activities. I
also find my teaching materials and lesson planning tips in the Teach English section. As a
learner, I can make many friends from other countries through the website.
Lextutor (http://www.lextutor.ca/) is a helpful website to develop vocabulary skills
for both English teachers and learners. This website has three sections for learners,
researchers, and teachers. The learners can take the English vocabulary level test and sets of
frequency lists with every work linked to a set of learning resources. The website offers the
function to automatically analyze written materials and calculate percentages of which types
of words are frequently used. In the section for researchers, it also offers Vocabprofile and
Concordance, which helps users find collocations. In the section for teachers, it provides the
program called I-D which automatically makes vocabulary quizzes. One of the interesting
functions for teachers is Familizer. It produces a full family list for all the works in the text
that the teacher posts on the board. This is very helpful for both learners and teachers
because learners can figure out which vocabulary level they are currently at and which
vocabulary they need to work on harder, while educators can plan their lessons for
vocabulary, depending on what level of usefulness it serves the students.

Daves ESL Caf (http://www.eslcafe.com/) has four categories of resources in the

TESOL field including jobs, stuff for teachers, stuff for students, and stuff for everyone. The
reason I like this one most is that this websites mostly focuses on job opportunities, especially
in Korea. It also has an international job board and a China job board. I can post my resume
on the website so that employers in Korean can easily watch my resume. In the stuff for
teachers, the website provides an idea cookbook that gives me resources depending on what I
teach. It has a lot of ideas in the areas of business, food, grammar, games, sports, vocabulary,
writing, and etc. For example, if I teach English for business purposes, I can practice business
writing, role-plays for job interviews, basic greeting skills, and business jagon. In the stuff for
students, the website offers correcting service in real time, grammar lessons, idioms, phrasal
verbs, pronunciation power, quizzes, and slang. One that I like in the stuff for students is the
section of phrasal verbs. Many native speakers say phrasal verbs in spoken language, but it is
really hard for non-native speakers to understand because phrasal verbs have various
meanings according to their context. The website explains specific meanings in different
contexts with examples.
I would like to share a community website on Facebook named "English is Fun"
(https://www.facebook.com/EnglishIF). It is not a professional webpage, but it is as useful as
other professional websites. People over the world can freely post any sources that are related
to English. It is really easy to share the posts with my classmates and students. People post
tables, good sentences, and pictures that I have never seen before. For example, I saw the
picture of what are the differences between American and British English. In the future, as an
English teacher, I can share a good sentence every day with my students. For example, one of
my English teachers in high school started his class by writing a sentence, an idiomatic
phrase, or a proverb, and explained how to use them in real life. It was really fun and useful.
In my opinion, learning has to be fun so that students are motivated by something interesting.
The last part of on-going professional development is additional ways to develop my
professionalism as an English teacher. I need to be exposed to people from other cultures and
have many teaching opportunities.
First, the more I am exposed to people from other cultures, the more I have
opportunities to use English. Being more exposed to English helps to develop on-going
professional development as an English teacher. In order to win in the cut-throat competition
in the field of teaching English in Korea, I have to be prepared as a professional English
teacher who has a command of English as fluent and professional as native speakers do.
Being exposed has two major advantages. The first thing is that I can have more chances to
speak and listen to English. The main reason that people study abroad to English speaking
countries is to be more exposed to an English speaking environment. BYU-Hawaii is the best
place to communicate with many people from various cultures in English. I can take
advantage of the School. I can make many friends from various cultures. Not only can I learn
idiomatic phrases and expressions that native speakers frequently say, but I can also figure
cultural differences out. Culture is one of the factors that influences the teaching and using of
English. Through talking with friends from other cultures, I can practice speaking. According
to the students first languages, International students have specific mistakes which they make
frequently. For example, Korean students have difficulty figuring out the differences
between /r/ and /l/, /f/ and /p/, and /t/ and // or //. They also find it hard to pronounce those
sounds. Because many international students have these problems, I need to catch specific
English mistakes. When I work as a tutor or go on an internship to another country, I can
easily know what the students in the country need to correct.
Second, I need as many teaching opportunities as possible in order to develop my
professionalism as an English teacher. In BYU-Hawaii, I can have many chances to teach the

Korean language. As the Korean wave has sparked a fad for Korean movies, dramas and popmusic, many students are interested in Korean culture and language. In order to have them
understand Korean, I have to know the mechanical relationship between English and Korean,
and I need to be well prepared as a teacher who is able to explain the Korean language system
in English. Teaching Korean helps me to practice teaching skills. I must know both the
Korean and English language systems because I want to work in Korea. In order to have
practical opportunities, I will make a study group with EIL students from Korea when I have
a command of English. I can make a reservation in the library study rooms to hold a group
meeting on Saturdays to practice teaching English in Korean. I can teach students from the
intermediate levels to the advanced ones. I can practice writing on the board, using gestures
and natural movements in the class, making eye contact with students, and applying materials
to students. This plan is not realistic so far, but I will materialize this plan when I take
advanced TESOL classes.
To sum up, in order to be a good English teacher, I need to consider many
professional things such as professional organizations, professional journals, professional
websites, and the additional ways to improve on-going professional developments. All the
above resources that I have collected will help me to prepare my lessons in the future as an
English teacher.

References
- Hawaii TESOL, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
http://hawaiitesol.wildapricot.org/
- KOTESOL, Retrieved Now 11th, 2013
http://koreatesol.org/
- TESOL, Inc., Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
http://www.tesol.org
- TESL Reporter, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/TESL/
- The Forum, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
http://americanenglish.state.gov/english-teaching-forum#
- EL gazette, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
http://www.elgazette.com/
- TESOL Journal, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
http://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/tesol-journal
- English Club, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
www.englishclub.com
- Lextutor, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
www.englishclub.com
- Dave's ESL Cafe, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
www.eslcafe.com
- English is Fun, Retrieved Nov 11th, 2013
https://www.facebook.com/EnglishIF