Reflections on an ESL Year

As the American Language Review embarks on its second year of publishing, this is a good time to sit back and take stock. It has been quite a year for English as a Second Language in the United States as the debate heats up over issues such as bilingual education (see American Language Review Nov./Dec. 1997) and English only (see the Jan./Feb. 1997 issue).

Few issues in contemporary American politics stir up more passions than bilingual education. In this issue, readers can follow the experiences of one ESL teacher, Doug Lasken, in his struggles to make his voice heard in the political arena. It is clear that, whatever one's opinion is in the Great Bilingual Debate, there should be more in the way of rational debate among politicians and educators on both sides than is currently the case. As President Clinton remarked in a recent speech opposing the California Ballot initiative that would end state sponsored bilingual programs:

"Instead of getting into the fight, could we at least start with dealing with what people's perception of the problem is, then work back to the solution." The President suggested that it wasn't necessary for the bilingual question to become a "wedge issue" and that, at the heart of the debate, lay the unquestionable need of limited English proficient children to learn English in programs that were proven to be efficient and effective. Yes, Mr. President, but whose statistics should we rely on to determine which programs work best?

On the global scene, market instability has caused a sharp fall in the numbers of students from Asia attending Intensive English Programs (see Jan./Feb. 1998 American Language Review), especially in students originating from Korea whose numbers in some programs, have dwindled to zero. But, as some markets contract, others, such as eastern Europe, have opened, as we reported in our last issue, and it is clear that an American education is still an attractive option for many overseas students.

We are proud that we have been able to provide coverage of these important issues, and others, in the pages of the Review and we will continue to do so in the interests of our readers: those teachers who need to know what is happening on a practical level in their field.

Covering the issues that shape our careers is an integral part of the Review's role as the voice of the English language teaching profession. Whether you teach ESL at K-12, secondary, college, or adult level, the Review is a source of information for those who want to develop their professional lives as language teachers.

As an established professional English language teachers' resource, we will be expanding our coverage of career issues, sociopolitical concerns and practical teaching matters for ESL teachers in the U.S. and those who work with American English around the globe. We will continue to reach out to prospective teachers (both native- and non native-speaking) by featuring articles designed to inform and stimulate trainees new to the profession, or those who are seriously contemplating ESL/EFL teaching as a career.

We'd like to thank all of you who have written to us airing your points of view, or offering words of encouragement. Remember, we cannot survive without your feedback: the Review is your forum and we are always willing to publish well-written and informative articles by educators from various academic and professional backgrounds. There are plenty of fine academic journals replete with learned articles about ESL teaching which we would not presume to emulate. Here, at the Review, our job is just to tell it like it is...