The discourse of ESL advocacy in a simulated environment.

• Effective advocacy efforts incorporated most of the components of relational trust. • When most of the components of relational trust were present, teaching candidates utilized inclusive pronouns and future-oriented verb tenses. • Teaching candidate that focused on the relational trust category of competence utilized second person pronouns and the imperative tense. • ESL advocacy requires 1) interpersonal skills that help an ESL teacher know how to advocate, and 2) the content knowledge that allows them to know what to advocate for. Research supports the notion that ESL teachers should not only be language teachers but also English Learner (EL) advocates. Despite evidence that suggests these skills are honed over time in the field, ESL teachers are often asked to exercise these skills immediately in their first year teaching. Thus, preparing individuals for EL advocacy before they become ESL teachers is a necessary component of ESL teacher education. In this paper, we examine a technology-driven simulation experience for ESL teaching candidates (TCs) as part of an online ESL teaching-methods course. We analyze the language of three TCs as they attempt to (re)establish social trust between themselves and the simulated colleague. We found TCs utilized linguistic indexicals to frame the context of the dialogue, and they used components of relational trust to advocate for an EL. We discuss the role of interpersonal skills, content knowledge, and relational trust in advocacy efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]