What does the future hold for the TESOL profession?As the demand for English language teaching and learningcontinues to grow globally, many questions must be answered: What are the qualities of a competent English language teacher? What role should English play in a multilingual global society? What policies should be in place to prepare the future generation of second language speakers? What are the myths currently driving those policies? These are some of the key questions that will be addressed at the Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession.

Hosted by TESOL International Association, this groundbreaking event will take place on 9–10 February 2017 in Athens, Greece. The summit will showcase 12 respected and innovative thought leaders from six continents, whose ideas will challenge common misconceptions and will help re-envision a future grounded in the summit’s guiding principles of equity, inquiry, and professionalism.

The summit will feature an invited in-person audience of more than 200 industry leaders from around the world who influence English language education policy and practice. These summit delegates will hold high-level strategic discussions on what the future holds for an English language professional and take part in creating a roadmap for countries seeking to update or enhance their English language education policies. Mr Qu Yingpu, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and Mr Zeng Qingkai, General Manager & Editor-in-Chief of 21st Century English Education Media, both of China Daily will be delegates at this event.

The Summit is guided by three principles that express the values for both the Summit and the teaching of English worldwide:

Equity: English is an additional language and should not supplant the home language(s). It should be accessible in varying contexts and cultures.

Professionalism: Professional development should promote sustainable, continuous, collaborative, and coherent activities. The TESOL Profession should re-examine its body of knowledge. The focus should be on change and innovation as opposed to only academic outputs.

Inquiry: TESOL practice and policy should be inquiry-based, with practice informing research as well as research informing practice and policy.

The summit will ultimately produce a framework for the future of the TESOL profession that will guide policy, practice, and research. Soon after the summit in Athens, TESOL will post a summation of its initial findings. By the 2018 TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo, TESOL will release a comprehensive “call to action” that will outline how summit delegates and participants can contribute to the improvement of the TESOL profession. TESOL will be asking key stakeholders to work with TESOL in achieving its vision.

TESOL President Dudley Reynolds of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar highlights the importance of an event of this nature, “At a time when educational decision-makers everywhere need a principled understanding of the language competencies required for both global and local success, the TESOL summit promises to provide significant insights into both the content and delivery of effective language teaching. This understanding can be best developed through a deep dive conversation with people who have their finger on the pulse of education around the world.

In Athens, our featured speakers will situate the contextual examples extracted from online discussions and current research to paint a global picture of the current English language landscape.

For more information, please visit www.tesolsummit.org.