TESOL Teacher Education in 2034: Some Predictions

This article compares the answers to four questions about teacher education ten years hencewho, what, where and how -from, on the one hand, twenty experienced teacher educators and, on the other, three Large Language Models (LLMs).The trainers expected comparatively little change in who their trainees will be over the decade, anticipated greater use of technology (mostly in the development of existing practice, however), emphasised the importance of soft skills training, and made it clear (implicitly) that for them TESOL is a vocation.The LLM answers differed significantly one from another but in general foresaw more innovative uses of technology than the trainers did and predicted an even greater emphasis on soft skills.The article ends with the author's own view, which is that more will have changed by 2034 than either colleagues or LLMs have predicted -with the latter perhaps intentionally hobbled by their creators.

Publication Details

Journal
International Journal of TESOL Studies
Published
2025-04-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.58304/ijts.250412
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Second Language Learning and Teaching
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
30.35
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

TESOL Teacher Education in 2034: Some Predictions

2 citations
International Journal of TESOL Studies
Second Language Learning and Teaching
30.35
article

TESOL Teacher Education in 2034: Some Predictions

article en
2 citations

Abstract

This article compares the answers to four questions about teacher education ten years hencewho, what, where and how -from, on the one hand, twenty experienced teacher educators and, on the other, three Large Language Models (LLMs).The trainers expected comparatively little change in who their trainees will be over the decade, anticipated greater use of technology (mostly in the development of existing practice, however), emphasised the importance of soft skills training, and made it clear (implicitly) that for them TESOL is a vocation.The LLM answers differed significantly one from another but in general foresaw more innovative uses of technology than the trainers did and predicted an even greater emphasis on soft skills.The article ends with the author's own view, which is that more will have changed by 2034 than either colleagues or LLMs have predicted -with the latter perhaps intentionally hobbled by their creators.

International Journal of TESOL Studies
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Second Language Learning and Teaching
30.35
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.