Attending Teachers’ Training In Portland

Established in 1963, TESOL (Teaching English to the Speakers of Other Languages) is an international leader in training programmes and global English language education for new and experienced teachers, planners, and policymakers. Its first conference took place in Tucson, Arizona, in 1964 as ESOL, attracting more than 700 participants. Its third annual conference was held in March 1966 as TESOL. Each year, TESOL celebrates Founders' Day on March 17. It is a global community dedicated to advancing the quality of English language teaching and learning. It has a professional network across the globe, offering online, blended, and face-to-face courses and services in the English language for both personal and professional development of teachers and educators.

TESOL Convention 2023 was held in Portland, Oregon, USA, from March 21–24. Portland, which was officially founded in the 1830s and 1840s, stands between the Willamette River and its confluence with the Columbia River. In 1845, the name Portland was chosen for its community by a coin toss by business partners William Oreton and Asa Lovejoy. It is popularly known as ''The City of Roses'' due to its ideal climate and chilling ambience for growing roses. It is the second-largest city in the Pacific Northwest, with only Seattle, Washington, ranked larger in this region of the US. I, along with seven other Nepali delegates to the 2023 TESOL convention, departed from Kathmandu on March 19 and got to the venue on March 20. 

Training English Teachers

TESOL came into existence with the expanding role of English worldwide and the need to accommodate the influx of immigrants, refugees, and foreign students in the US and improve their English proficiency. We are all teachers in one way or another and learners too throughout life. Teaching is the most important job in the world, and we should bring fun and joy to the classroom. Teaching is a kind of search for pleasure—the pleasure of learning and sharing and encouraging others to explore the diversity of life. TESOL is a professional platform for learning, networking, and rethinking teaching and learning. This platform supports students and teachers in developing their communication skills at work and raising their English proficiency in four major skills. It also helps to be creative, imaginative, and intelligent to generate situations and learning environments conducive to the needs of the learners.

I come from a non-native context of English, as we have spoken Nepali since childhood. We studied English as a subject at both schools and colleges and developed an interest in it. Now, as a university teacher for about 25 years, I feel that English is a must to have access to both home and global community networks. At present, I am associated with American Corner, Ilam, NELTA (the Nepal English Language Teachers' Association), the Access programme, Ilam, and the global TESOL community. I got a professional development opportunity through the RELO (Regional English Language Officer) of the US Embassy. I was given the opportunity in 2019 to attend TESOL Colorado, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I always wanted to connect with and collaborate with English professionals from diverse fields and countries and learn about the best teaching and learning practises. During COVID-19 and after, I took part in several online English training courses, including a 64-hour programme of OPEN (Online Professional English Networks) from US-based educators. This has been one of the most challenging but rewarding experiences in my career so far.

 Participation, Presentation

The TESOL convention was a four-day event organised by the TESOL International Association and held at the Oregon Convention Centre (OCC) in Portland. I could meet teachers and professionals from different countries and organisations across the globe to interact and exchange ideas with other English-language professionals face-to-face. The TESOL Portland 2023 Convention was a mega event with a historic gathering of around 3600 delegates from 110 different countries of the world on more than 1000 sessions, with 20 particular types of sessions such as academic sessions, advocacy and public policy, social justice in ELT, language, power, and the brain, career development, empowering classroom teachers, visualising multilingualism, and so on. We could have so many insightful ideas, reflections, and realisations on the ground. The four-day convention was held from March 21 (Tuesday) to March 24 (Friday) on different topics and areas ranging from partnerships, opportunities, and networking to intercultural communication and essential skills for teacher trainers in different Portland ballrooms and booths in the Expo Hall of the Oregon Convention Centre. Sammy Ramsey gave the opening key note on Biodiversity and Diversity in Bio: What's the Point?" The presidential panel was conducted by Joyce Kling on "Inspiring the Future of Research in ELT with Panellists David Nunan, Peter De Costa, Shondel Nero, and Ozgehan Ustuk.

I actively attended many sessions led by different teacher educators, managing my time and interests. I was also supposed to be presenting some slides on American Corner activities and Access programme activities in my homeland, Ilam, in the stipulated time of two minutes. Unfortunately, due to technical distractions and poor management of slides while transferring them from one computer to another, I could not present them this time. I participated in a question-and-answer session and shared insightful ideas among the session attendees. It gave an impression of the presentation, and I am sure I will be presenting at the next TESOL Florida convention in 2024 on "The Relevance of Eco-Pedagogy as the Future Pedagogy in Modern Education.

Net Workings

TESOL is a professional platform for global English teachers. It is a meeting of the global community of English language professionals, including teachers, researchers, policymakers, and authors. I could share so many insightful ideas and gather multicultural and multilingual experiences among the professionals and teacher educators. David Nunan, Maggie Sokolik, Joyce Kling, Ellini, William Craford, Jack Hardy, Eric Friginal, Kisha Bryan, and Asmaa AbuMezied are some of the high-profile people that we could encounter and share ideas with in the sessions, Expo hall booths, and reception ceremony hall. All professionals were creating knowledge and decolonizing it; learning was happening, research was happening, and teacher identity was emerging while networks were being formed among professionals. The best takeaway from the conference was networking with teachers and educators around the world, knowing the best practises in the classrooms of other countries, and learning strategies to reshape our teaching and learning in the local-global (glocal) nexus. David Nunan says that "good teaching will become better teaching one day", TESOL is a research agenda, Nunan says.

 Main Attractions In Portland

Portland is easy to navigate on foot or by bicycle, if we are inclined to do so. In fact, bike route maps are readily available at places like the Metro station, and bicycles are allowed on all buses and MAX lines. There is also an excellent public transportation system in place. For all-day travel in all zones, an all-day ticket for $4.75 is a great deal and can be purchased at any MAX station. And of course, if we prefer to explore on our own, car rental is widely available.

There is much to see and do in Portland. We can visit the Pittock Mansion or the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; the Pacific Ocean is about 1.5 hours by car from downtown; the Portlandia statue is outside of the Portland Building; and parks and gardens abound in this beautiful city. Some notable stops include Forest Park, Marshalls, Russ, Dollar Tree, Mount Tabor Park, and The Grotto Gardens. The most well-known is Washington Park, which boasts something for everyone, including the Oregon Zoo, the Portland Children's Museum, and the famed International Rose Test Gardens.

 Shoppers will not be disappointed with the shopping options. If we enjoy malls, we definitely should check out Washington Square. For a more eclectic mix, we can wander the Pearl District for various boutiques and shops. Book lovers should check out Powell's City of Books. For a local favourite, we can check out Burgerville or have a 50s-themed dinner at Byways Cafe. Portland offers a colourful nightlife. A couple of notable spots include Escape and The Whisky Bar. Portland International Airport offers nonstop flights to 44 cities. Every week, at least 1,668 domestic flights and 10 international flights depart from Portland International Airport. With so much to see and do, we will be glad we booked our airfare to Portland.

(Baral is an Associate Professor of English at Mahendra Ratna Multiple Campus, 

Ilam and NELTA, Chair)