The state of the art in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is characterized by diversity in philosophies, activities, and materials. It has been summarized in a variety of reports. The perspectives developed here are a supplement to the other reports rather than a summary. Aspects of the state of the art are examined through sets of categories gleaned from the literature on second language teaching in order to provide perspectives on TESOL today. The categories discussed are the following: (1) approach, method, and technique; (2) learner-centered and teacher-centered activities in the language classroom; (3) skill-getting and skill-using activities; (4) the distinction between mechanical, meaningful, and communicative activities; (5) the concepts of real and realistic use of language; (6) the distinction between language use in teaching settings and language use in non-teaching settings; (7) application to lessons of the categories of usability, organization, responsiveness, responsibility, and pluralism; (8) the distinction between formal and informal linguistic environments; and (9) the distinction between linguistic competence and communicative competence. (AMH)