Wheaton College TESOL & Intercultural Studies

06/03/2026

Congratulations to Sarah Taylor, Regional Director of Adult Education for World Relief. Sarah, a Wheaton TESOL Grad, received the Administrator of the Year Award for Adult Education from the IACEA (Illinois Adult and Continuing Educators Association).

Sarah writes, "I love the work of language, literacy, and workforce education--the creativity, the purpose, the budgets and the grants, the hard work and dedication of my team and our students. Adult Education, Literacy & Workforce Training changes lives, strengthens families, and builds communities, and I am humbled to serve alongside so many who lead this work with purpose and heart."

05/28/2026

What does a typical day for a TESOL Grad student look like?

05/28/2026

TESOL Faculty and Staff gathered together for an end of the year retreat. We evaluated the past academic year's program and worked on future plans. There are exciting things coming! What a great team!

05/18/2026

Well done!! The 2026 Lonna Dickerson Award in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages was awarded to Corie Jakes and Kerry Yu during the Commissioning Service on May 9th. They were recognized for excellent academic work and professional preparation.

Corie continues teaching ESL to newcomers in a community-church based program in Ohio. Long term goals include training others for church based programs.

Kerry will be moving to Thailand to teach in an International School in Bangkok.

05/13/2026

Congratulations TESOL Graduates!

05/11/2026

Saturday May 9th: the best day of the Academic Year!! TESOL faculty, staff, students and family gathered for a very full day. We started with an early commissioning service for graduating students, an open house brunch, then full commencement in Edman Chapel. Here a few photos from the Commissioning Service where some joined virtually. Commencement photos are coming later!

05/04/2026

Dan Wang started our MA program as a residential student. With only 6 credit hours to go, his family is relocating to Taiwan! Because our program can be completed online, residentially, or in combination, Dan will be able to finish the program and earn his MA while in Taiwan. Amazing flexibility!!

04/16/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Pam Barger, who was recently promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. She will be celebrated at the Wheaton College Honors Convocation on April 29th. Here Dr. Barger is flanked by colleagues Dr. Cheri Pierson and Dr. Alan Seaman.

04/09/2026

TIP: What are your students' specific learning needs? Use real-world items. More below....

We always encourage learners to use real-world items to practice their language learning, rather than just textbooks or other items made for learners. But we'd also like to remind you to think about what's most relevant to YOU!

For example, most learners will find that a grocery store sales flier will be much more relevant to their everyday lives than the vocabulary from fairy tales! That doesn't mean that fairy tales can never be useful tools for learning, but rather, that you'll likely want to master the language in everyday, nonfiction texts before you move on to language that is rarer, more complex, or fictional. Think about your specific learning needs!

Learn more about our courses for language learners and coaches at wheaton.edu/icct