Letter from the President
Yilin Sun

Dear WAESOL Members,

New Year’s greetings to you all!  On behalf of the new executive board, I wish you all enter the New Year with invigorated energy and courage to continue exploring new ideas and opportunities to strengthen our profession, to inspire our students, and to educate the general public about who we are and what we do.

In year 2008, your WAESOL board will be very busy promoting and assisting the TESOL 2008 Convention in Seattle.  The theme Spanning the Globe- Tides of Change for TESOL 2008 Convention well reflects the issues and challenges that TESOL educators face in the global society.    In response to the convention theme, WAESOL will use the same theme for the ESL Awareness/Bilingual Education Month in March in the state of Washington.  If you are planning an event to promote the TESOL profession and ESOL learners in your organization or community, please let us know and apply for the ESL Awareness mini-grants from WAESOL at www.waesol.org.

In the changing global society, TESOL educators are facing new responsibilities and challenges if we want to ensure quality education for our students and maintain our professional integrity. We must continue our campaign to keep bilingual education. We need to speak up to refute the misconception that English is threatened or that those immigrants who maintain their native language are somehow less intelligent or reluctant to integrate. We must do what we can to raise the awareness of the importance of ESL and bilingual education among the policy makers and the general public. WAESOL, as an association of professionals, must join with other likeminded associations to protect and ensure quality education for all our English learners.

We have a strong responsibility to inform policy makers and the public of the complexities and the challenges of teaching and learning in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms. We must educate the public sector and our colleagues about how long it takes to learn English as a second language. We must get across the message that we are not just about teaching English, but that students need a solid base in language, literacy and subject areas in order to succeed at school and in the society.  It is our mission to prepare our students to successfully integrate in the society not just to get a quick fix and put them into poorly paid entry level jobs.

We also have a strong commitment to putting our principles into practice and work for equity for our profession. We need to engage in professional development at all levels and to continue sharing effective teaching ideas and strategies to prepare our students to achieve to the best of their abilities. And we need to continue our campaign to win respect for the professionalism of our field throughout, from K-12 through higher education in the global society.  We have a lot to do…

The good news is that we have a team of very committed board members to work with you all.  This year there were three new members at-large who joined the WAESOL Board along with many dedicated returning board members. We will work together to make our organization stronger and most importantly, we will need your support to make the TESOL 2008 Convention a success.  May the new year bring us together to fulfill our important missions and responsibilities.  Very best wishes to you all! 

Warmest,

Yilin