This paper outlines the general influence of Halliday's (1994, 2014) systemic functional linguistics on TESOL curriculum. Halliday's explanation of language as a social semiotic and language learning as learning to mean has been applied internationally in genre and textbased teaching. The concept of register in systemic functional linguistics…

Starting in 1948, Australia's Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) has continued to deliver language education to migrants for the purposes of settlement and attaining employment. Both in Australia and internationally, the AMEP and its related developments in English language education have had a profound impact on the teaching and learning of…

Aboriginal English, the language many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students bring to the classroom, represents the introduction of significant change into the English language. It is the argument of this paper that the linguistic, social and cultural facts associated with the distinctiveness of Aboriginal English need to be taken into…

Indigenous learners of English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) have historically not been the central focus of TESOL expertise here in Australia, or overseas. Despite moves towards inclusion increasing over the last two decades, there is an ongoing tendency for Indigenous EAL/D learners to remain on the periphery of current TESOL…

Indigenous children living in the more remote areas of Australia where Indigenous languages continue to be spoken often come to school with only minimal knowledge of English, but they may speak two or more local languages. Others come to school speaking either a creole, or Aboriginal English, non-standard varieties which may sound similar to…

English as an Additional Language (EAL) students are increasingly taught by non-specialist, mainstream teachers. This trend calls for a reconceptualization of teacher education to explicitly and purposefully include linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy in their curriculum. In the United States, several frameworks have been proposed to…

25 years ago, "TESOL in Context" published a paper on the ethics of TESOL. In this paper, Alan Williams, who was the ACTA Councillor and Policy Committee Convenor at that time, reminded the professional community of some moral predicaments in teaching English to others. On the one hand, he recognised the "productive and socially…

Discussion of ethical considerations in Australian TESOL began 25 years ago, with arguments about the need for TESOL professionals to be aware of the potentially harmful consequences of their work, the loss of first language proficiency, and even the loss of languages themselves (Williams, 1992, 1995). The intervening quarter of a century has seen…

A historical perspective of English as a second or additional language (ESL/EAL) in Australia reveals the field as in a constant state of flux, in spite of Australia's status as a nation of immigrants. This paper provides a contemporary review of the various phases of English language teaching in Australia for both adults and school-aged learners.…

The paper outlines a practical six-hour workshop and assessment activity for students enrolled in a Graduate TESOL/Applied Linguistics program at La Trobe University, Australia. The program attracts teachers from preschool to university contexts from many different countries. The workshop draws explicit connections between in-service teachers'…

Currently each state and territory in Australia offers its own range of ESOL services and programs, guided by policy and supported by funding from both national, state and territory authorities, with some variations occurring across jurisdictions (government, independent, Catholic). The National Curriculum Board (now renamed the Australian…