The CATESOL Journal

In this article, the author describes the three stages of his own professional development—puzzlement, endeavor, and empowerment. In describing these stages, he seeks to empower other nonnative English speaking (NNES) professionals in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The article describes the author’s experiences, which range from learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in China to teaching English as a Second language (ESL) in the U.S., from writing and publishing in his native language, Chinese, to writing and publishing in English, and from being a graduate student in a university in the United States to serving as a doctoral dissertation committee chair. The article further reveals the hurdles overcome, the challenges encountered, and the academic success in teaching and research that the author has experienced as a NNES professional. The author concludes by sharing his belief that the success of a TESOL professional does not depend on whether one is a native speaker or a non-native speaker of English.