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[Mishelle]

I am looking for advice on how I might convince a humanities chairperson that my M.A. in French literature, TEFL (teaching English as a second language) Peace Corps training, and four years TEFL/ESL teaching experience should be enough to be hired in her department at a community college. This is the first college I've come across that requires specifically an M.A. in English or ESL in order to teach ESL. Usually, in my experience, the requirements state "linguistics, English or Foreign Lang." My argument is, in theory, that an M.A. in English has no greater qualification in teaching English to non-native speakers than an M.A. in French -- in my opinion, the person who has learned and taught a foreign language is better equipped to teach ESL than someone who has never taught non-native speakers of any language (of course, I've never said this to her!).  

Does anyone have advice how I might tactfully convince her, or is this simply out of her hands, since she must adhere to her college's policy?

[Steven]

You've convinced me, but then that's preaching to the choir.

Talk to her about second-langauge acquisition theory and Stephen Krashen (an expert in the field of linguistics and second-language acquisition). A regular M.A. in English probably wouldn't even know who he is.

And I think the "requirements" for any job are only ideal; in real life, they often choose candidates who don't exactly match the ad.

Good luck.

[Nancy]

Oh, how I agree with you, Mishelle. I am a fluent Spanish speaker and learned Spanish before I learned English. I majored in Spanish for my B.A. and have an Ed.D. in multicultural education. I taught English as a second language as a bilingual teacher and resource teacher, have given ESL classes and training workshops to hundreds of teachers, aides, and parents, presented at conferences for CABE (the California Association for Bilingual Education) and NABE (the National Association for Bilingual Education), and still, people don't understand what knowing a second language has to do with ESL. This boggles my mind.  

My advice to you is talk to the chair again and tell her exactly how you feel and publish something about it!

[Anny nomus]

Depending on what state or region you want to work in you might find different rules, but in general this is what you might be facing. If you are wanting to teach in a credit English-for-speakers-of-other-languages program, you might be out of luck, as there are accreditation requirements that must be met by the colleges, including community colleges. If you want to teach in the continuing-education department, you most likely don't need to worry about this so much.

What might be maddening also is that many deans apply this rule as they see fit; more exactly they use it when they want and ignore it when they want, and can often even write or apply for exeptions to the rule. I have worked in departments where they ignored the rule for white, male good-ole-boy types ... and even let one be a lead teacher, without appropriate SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) credentials. The same area college district had one school that had to cancel many classes because they were caught allowing many of their favorite good ole white pals teaching without appropriate credentials. They then slid in some with the most minimal credentials just to fill the positions with the kind of "fit" the school needed ....

Unfortunately, if you are not the right color or ethnicity, they will not make the exception for you.