English Language Fellow, Specialist, and Virtual Educator Program 2024 (US)

The English Language (EL) Fellow, Specialist, and Virtual Educator Program builds bridges of mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through exchanges of U.S. English language educators. Through U.S. embassy designated projects, EL Fellows, Specialists, and Virtual Educators share their expertise, build English teaching capacity abroad, hone their skills, and gain international experience.

Purpose

• The EL Fellow, Specialist, and Virtual Educator Program sends talented, highly qualified U.S. citizens in the area of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) or a closely related field on approximately ten-month Fellow exchanges; or short-term (two weeks or more) Specialist assignments; or supports their participation in virtual projects at educational institutions in all regions of the world. Projects are carried out with host-country ministries of education, universities, teacher-training institutions, NGOs, binational centers, and other English language teaching institutions. Upon completing their projects, the U.S. participants share their experiences and acquired knowledge with their home communities and professional colleagues.
• Through the EL Fellow, Specialist, and Virtual Educator Program, students and teachers at foreign host institutions benefit from the U.S. participants’ knowledge and perspectives on pedagogical issues and gain a better understanding of U.S. culture and values, representative government, sustainable economies, and media literacy. EL Fellows and Specialists provide foreign educators, professionals, and students with the communication skills they need to participate in the global economy and to improve their access to accurate information and U.S. perspectives on a broad variety of issues.

Funding Information

• Approximate Total Funding: $20,000,000, pending the availability of funds
• Approximate Number of Awards: 1
• Approximate Average Award: $20,000,000, pending the availability of funds
• Minimum “Floor” of Award: $15,000,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Maximum “Ceiling” of Award: $20,000,000, pending the availability of funds.
• Anticipated Award Date: June 1, 2024, pending the availability of funds
• Anticipated Project Completion Date: December 31, 2029

Program Specific Guidelines

• Description of the English Language (EL) Fellow Program
  • Fellows are placed at academic institutions around the world for 10-month assignments. Projects are typically 20 classroom contact hours per week plus 10 hours of preparation per week. The remaining 10 hours a week can be dedicated to secondary duties. Typical duties include teaching, teacher training, materials development, and extracurricular English language activities and programs.
  • EL Fellows are requested by U.S. embassies overseas that respond to an annual call for proposals from ECA.
  • EL Fellow requirements:
    • U.S. citizenship
    • A master’s degree or Ph.D. in TESOL, Applied Linguistics, or a field related to English language teaching
    • Minimum of five years of education experience, and three years full-time classroom TESOL teaching experience
    • The ability and desire to live and take part in an intensive exchange overseas.
    • Cross cultural sensitivity and respect for different cultures
    • A demonstrated commitment to the field of English language teaching
    • Personal qualities deemed necessary for a successful project, e.g., resourcefulness, determination, teamwork, adaptability, and flexibility
• Description of the English Language (EL) Specialist Program
  • EL Specialists are highly experienced U.S. academics and professionals in the field of TESOL or related disciplines who participate in programs that contribute to the host country’s capacity to teach English. English Language Specialist projects can include in-country activities overseas, virtual activities, or a combination of both. The length of in-country projects ranges from 10 working days to a maximum of three months. The length of virtual-only projects varies – with no minimum or maximum number of hours.
  • EL Specialist assignments include international conference plenary presentations, conducting intensive teacher training workshops, advising ministries of education or other highlevel educational consultations, developing university curricula, or other English capacity building activities.
  • The EL Specialist Program is an on-demand program, which means that proposals from U.S. embassies are accepted at any time throughout the year.
  • EL Specialist requirements:
    • U.S. citizenship
    • A master’s degree, Ph.D., or equivalent graduate-level degree in TESOL or a closely related field
    • Minimum of 10 years conducting English language teacher training
    • Cross cultural sensitivity and respect for different cultures
    • A demonstrated commitment to the field of English language teaching
    • Experience presenting at English language teaching conferences
    • Publications of refereed presentations, journal articles, or books in the field of TESOL
• Description of the Virtual English Language Educator Program
  • Virtual Educator assignments are completely online and part-time. Projects are a maximum of 10 contact hours per week plus preparation time, and project lengths range from a few weeks up to a semester. Typical duties include teaching, teacher training, and extracurricular English language activities and programs.
  • Virtual Educators are requested by U.S. embassies overseas on a rolling basis throughout the year.
  • Virtual EL Educator requirements:
    • U.S. citizenship
    • A master’s degree or Ph.D. in TESOL, Applied Linguistics, or a field related to English language teaching
    • Minimum of five years of education experience, and three years full-time classroom TESOL teaching experience
    • Cross cultural sensitivity and respect for different cultures
    • A demonstrated commitment to the field of English language teaching
    • Personal qualities deemed necessary for a successful project, e.g., resourcefulness, determination, teamwork, adaptability, and flexibility.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants
  • U.S. public and private academic and cultural institutions, exchange-of-persons, and other notfor-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit applications for this competition. Applicants must have nonprofit status with the IRS at the time of application.
• Other Eligibility Requirements
  • The following additional eligibility requirements apply to this NOFO announcement:
    • ECA’s grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $130,000 in ECA funding. ECA anticipates making cooperative agreement, in an amount of $20,000,000 to support all costs required to implement this exchange program. Therefore, organizations with less than four years of experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition.
    • All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO, POGI (if applicable), and the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI); non-compliance will result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
    • In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number.
    • Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.
    • Please note: Applicant organizations are defined by their legal name, and EIN number as stated on their completed SF-424 and additional supporting documentation outlined in the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) document.
• Cost Sharing or Matching Funds
  • There is no minimum or maximum percentage of cost sharing required for this competition. However, ECA encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of cost sharing and funding in support of its programs. When cost sharing is offered, it is understood and agreed that the applicant must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in its proposal and later included in an approved agreement. Cost sharing may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs. For accountability, you must maintain written records to support all costs which are claimed as your contribution, as well as costs to be paid by the Federal government. Such records are subject to audit.

For more information, visit ECA.