Welcome to Volume 42, Issue 1 of MinneTESOL Journal! While each article in this volume addresses diverse contexts, collectively this issue concerns access: access to academic texts, school systems, digital learning, and the professional knowledge teachers need to support learners within these contexts. Please enjoy and share with your colleagues. In “Language learning as educational partnership: A blended model for…
Current Issue
Language learning as educational partnership: A blended model for engaging multilingual immigrant Haitian families
This article describes the English for Education and Empowerment Certificate Program, a university–school district partnership serving multilingual Haitian immigrant families. Drawing on bilingual education, family engagement, and critical TESOL scholarship, the program integrates contextualized language instruction, translanguaging, and culturally responsive pedagogy to support parents’ English development and participation in family–school partnerships. Keywords: Haitian Immigrant, Family Engagement, Adult Learning, Language Learning,…
Teaching English through TiNi: Integrating environmental education with language learning
This article describes integrating TiNi – a UNESCO-recognized environmental education methodology – into English instruction with 500 elementary students in Ecuador. Through hands-on gardening, values-based learning, and playful pedagogy, students developed vocabulary while cultivating environmental consciousness and community responsibility. Keywords: environmental education, ESL integration, UNESCO TiNi methodology, playful pedagogy, sustainable development goals, elementary English learners, experiential learning, values education, translanguaging…
Beyond content: Teaching the hidden curriculum for newcomer students
This narrative inquiry explores how newcomer students navigated the hidden curriculum of U.S. high schools as they learned English and academic content. Participants’ stories show that unspoken classroom norms and school-system rules can become gatekeepers when they are assumed rather than taught. The manuscript argues that teaching these expectations explicitly is an equity practice that helps newcomer students thrive. Keywords:…
Designing GenAI prompts with purpose for mentor text creation
This article demonstrates how a Google Sheets-based prompt generator can support teachers in using GenAI to create intentional, genre-aligned mentor texts for multilingual learners. Drawing on the WIDA 2020 ELD Standards Framework and genre-based pedagogy, the article includes elementary classroom examples that model how teachers can use structured prompts to generate mentor texts aligned to language and content goals. Keywords:…
Expert Pathways in multilingual classrooms
This article presents Expert Pathways, a classroom framework that helps multilingual learners interpret complex texts by drawing on their existing knowledge and interests. The approach supports academic discussion and writing while maintaining shared texts and rigorous inquiry. Keywords: multilingual learners; disciplinary literacy; academic discourse; text interpretation; adult and secondary ESL; classroom practice Developing the ability to interpret complex texts and…
Our bots, ourselves: An argument for the importance of online teacher training in ESL
This research article argues for the importance of including educational technology training, including learning how to teach online, across the entire teacher education curriculum, especially ESL. Keywords: teacher education, online teaching, educational technology, language teacher training In the contemporary landscape of teacher education, educational technology training is sometimes viewed by pre-service teachers (PST) as irrelevant, dismissed under the assumption that…