Teaching Idea Sources and Work Conditions in an ESL Program

W here do ESL teachers get their ideas for teaching? Many in the academic world of ESL might like to think that ideas come from research or research-based sources.! but in the field of second and foreign language education, there is little evidence indicating whether such research is available, being used, or even appreciated as a source of teaching ideas by its intended audience of classroom teachers and program administrators. This study concerns the idea sources of a group of ESL teachers in an intensive English program in the western United States. As such, its conceptual context is teacher beliefs and cognition. a research area that was more active in mainstream education in previous decades (Clark & Peterson, 1986) and, only recently, is beginning to have an impact on TESOL (cf., Woods, 1996). What ESL teachers think in generaltheir values. the concepts with which they approach teaching, where they get these concepts from. and how they develop them-are obviously important areas we, as TESOL professionals, need to understand. However, the literature provides few accounts of the paths running, in whatever direction, between ideas in published research and classroom practice. on the one hand, and among teachers, on the other. ln addition, the study addresses a major concern that emerged from participants, namely, their working conditions as teachers. Although we did not begin our study focusing on this issue, our research ultimately forced us to look at how difficult working conditions affect the professional behavior of teachers.