examples. To the extent possible, these ideas should be specific to your country, and
demonstrate that you understand the kinds of challenges faced by English Language
Learners whose mother tongue is the language of the country to which you are applying.
ETA 5. Explain how you expect to benefit from the assignment. Note well: this should
not be primarily about how a Fulbright will advance your career, get you a better job, or
provide a great springboard for graduate school. It will, in fact, probably do all these
things! Nevertheless, this in itself is not a reason for the National Screening Committee to
consider spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to send you abroad for a year. You
should mention your future plans, but the accent should be on how your Fulbright year will
make you a better, more internationally-aware, more culturally-competent person as you
pursue these plans. Describe what you hope to learn from your Fulbright experience.
ETA 6. Describe your plans for civic engagement outside the classroom. This is a very
important part of the Fulbright experience, particular for the ETA awards. Teaching
assignments are part-time, and the Fulbright Commission will want to know how you will
spend the rest of your time. More specifically, they will want to know that you are going to
go out and get involved with people from your host country, and not just stay in your room
and Skype with your friends. You should build on your own interests and abilities, and
then do some research about how being involved in these things would differ in your host
country than they do here. Explain how you’ll find your points of engagement and what
you hope to do. Keep all this in the conditional/subjunctive mode, because of course you
can’t be sure that you’ll be placed in a location that will have exactly what you need (an
orchestra you want to join, a social services agency where you want to volunteer, a soccer
club — okay, never mind, everyplace has a soccer club, except for some cities in the United
States . . . . :). Many people try to focus on what they’d do at their school (start an after-
school club or whatever), but we generally advise against this; the Committee knows that
you’ll get pulled in to do a million things at your school, and they’re more interested in how
you’ll make cultural connections beyond that environment.
ETA 7. Do not make your Statement of Grant Purpose location-specific within the
host country, unless specifically requested to do so in the country summary. ETAs will be
placed by the Fulbright Commission or the U.S. embassy in the host country; nothing
addressed in your statement should be location-specific, since you will not know where
you will be based and what particular resources will be available.
ETA 8. Make sure you identify what you plan to do (which will be: teach English in your
country) early in your statement of grant purpose. Think of this as the “thesis statement”
of your essay. It might be part of the first sentence (if it’s a well-crafted first sentence), or
perhaps the last sentence in your first paragraph (which would come as a logical
culmination of the claims in your first few sentences). The Fulbright Commission should
not have to search for an explanation of what you want to do.
ETA 9. Remember that you applying to teach English. This means that general rules 9 and
10 (in the previous section) are especially important for your application. Your writing
ability will be, in every sense, an important demonstration of your qualifications. Your
knowledge of English should be displayed to your best possible advantage.