Our Students Have Come From All Over the World!

Student News

Maritza Medina Gonzalez, a Fulbright scholar, received a Tinker Field Research Grant from the MSU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies to conduct her thesis research in Colombia on teaching American English sounds to the visually impaired using assistive technology.

Quy Pham, a Fulbright scholar, received a 2019 SCRAM (Special College Research Abroad Monies) fellowship to conduct his thesis research in Vietnam on the application of goal setting in teaching writing in EFL contexts.

Alyssa Bulow, Maria Buttiler, Steve Gagnon and Elena Vasileva were each awarded a Pronunciation Instruction Fellowship in 2019 from the English Language Center and the Graduate School to work in the area of international teaching assistant preparation and pronunciation instruction.

Alyssa Bulow and Steve Gagnon were each awarded a 2019 Shigeo and Isako Imamura Graduate Fellowship for their teaching in the English Language Center.

CONGRATULATIONS to our 2019 graduates!

Alumni News

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From the 2019 graduating class:

• Marisol Masso will pursue a doctoral degree in the College of Education (Program in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education) at MSU.
• Amr Ahmed and Kiyo Suga will continue their education in the Ph.D. program in Second Language Studies at MSU.

From the 2018 graduating class:

• Chad Bousley accepted a position as a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant in the Czech Republic.
• Ghulam Rasool and Abeer Noor, Fulbright scholars, returned to teaching positions in their respective countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

From the 2017 graduating class:

• Erin Degerman is a Global Recruitment Officer for Duke Kunshan University.
• Bilqis Albarrak is Project Director of the English Program for the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia.
• Paola Romero Molina is teaching at UNICA, a bilingual Spanish-English university in Bogota, Colombia.
• Kunti Adhikari is involved in teacher education through the Ministry of Education in Nepal.

From the 2016 graduating class:

• Rachelle Oh accepted a teaching position with the Kaplan International English School at Whittier College in California.
• Laura Eickhoff accepted a teaching position at Bilkent University in Turkey. See her recent article in ELT Journal on collaborative teaching.
• Jennifer Brooke is an ESL Senior Specialist at Saginaw Valley State University. She recently published a review of the book Creativity in Language Teaching (eds. Jones & Richards, Routledge) in The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning. Along with Larry Zwier of the English Language Center at MSU, Jennifer has a forthcoming encyclopedia entry entitled Teaching Signs, Warnings, and Notices, to appear in the TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching (Wiley).
• Jean Baptiste Nzanana is teaching at the University of Rwanda.
• Teopolina Kanime is a teacher trainer in Namibia.

From the 2015 graduating class:

• Laurel Waller and Kinsey Wethers (M.A. 2014) collaborated on a paper with Peter De Costa for TESOL Journal. The title is A Critical Praxis: Narrowing the Gap Between Identity, Theory, and Practice. It was developed during one of their courses in the TESOL program.
• Nycki Cuddie accepted a position teaching English at the Community College of Qatar in Doha.
• Hima Rawal is continuing her work in the Ph.D. program in Second Language Studies at MSU.
• John Eitel is Community Center Manager at the University of Michigan.

From the 2014 graduating class:

• David Martinez Prieto is a doctoral student at the University of Texas – San Antonio.
• Lianye Zhu received a fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. degree in linguistics at the City University of New York.
• Yangting Wang accepted a position teaching ESL at Marshall University.
• Lauren Kinter (Kelley), who is now Program Director for the Office of Intercultural and Educational Experiences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, writes the following about her time in the TESOL program:

“The M.A. TESOL program is a tight-knit community with many opportunities for engagement and professional development. I have grown substantially in my knowledge of theory and practice. During my time in the program, I taught in the English Language Center which allowed me to immediately apply what I was learning in class. The practicum (LLT 896) was particularly beneficial for me because I was interested in teaching community English classes after graduation. I feel confident in my abilities as a teacher, and the TESOL program has left me well prepared for future opportunities.”  -Lauren Kelley, M.A.

From the 2013 graduating class:

• Ben Martin-Bean accepted a position teaching English at Seoul National University of Science & Technology.
• Yue Wu accepted a position with the Asia Headquarters of Education First in Shanghai as a content development editor for online classes.
• Jake Reed is an English lecturer at Kanda University of Foreign Studies in Japan.
• Chris Garth is the English Language Program Coordinator for the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU).

Other notable alumni accomplishments:

• Anne Desiderio (M.A. 2011) continued her doctoral studies at Oxford University having received a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship.
• Mariah Shafer (M.A. 2010) works with the Refugee Development Center in Lansing and teaches at Lansing Community College.
• Ayano Sueyoshi Valvona (M.A. 2004) and her husband Chris Valvona co-authored an ESL textbook entitled Lessons from Leaders: Buffett and Gates Go Back to School, published by Cengage Learning, 2014.