The 2011 Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conference will be held on March 16th-19th in New Orleans.  As an official blogger for the convention, I’m sharing information about the job opportunities at their Marketplace.  If you’re an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, I encourage you to register and attend this wonderful opportunity for professional development.  Furthermore, you must be registered to attend the Job Marketplace.

The Marketplace consists of 84 companies with jobs both stateside and abroad.  Some jobs are local to the Gulf Coast, like the ad I saw for an ESL instructor for the University of Alabama.  Others are in places where English is not spoken.  Certain government jobs are also available through fellowships.  For example, Georgetown University is looking for 125 Junior or Senior Fellows to place in countries around the world.

I’ve been an English Language Fellow before and was placed at a university in Mozambique, Africa.  I received a monthly stipend to cover my living expenses and the host country provided housing.  In addition, I had round-trip travel paid and medical benefits.  Personally, I grew professionally from this fellowship, in that I learned to speak Portuguese, I garnered overseas teaching experience, and I was able to implement my ideas on teaching as a trainer.

If you’re interested in attending this conference, the fees are high, as with any professional organization.  Here is the link to the convention: [1] http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/convention2011/ .  If you go, leave me a message on the TESOL Blog at: [2] http://blog.tesol.org/  I’ve been to several of these conferences, as this is my profession, and I can tell you that it’s well worth the time and money spent!

P.S. The US Peace Corps will be recruiting at this event, as well.

Best Wishes,

Sandra Annette Rogers