Training in sociolinguistics has solidified my deeply-rooted belief that as an ESL instructor it is my responsibility to be politically, culturally, and historically informed in order to understand my students’ needs and unique perspectives better. This also allows for planning lessons which incorporate students’ lives and interests. I believe that this incorporation of individual interests provides an atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect more so than a class that excludes aspects of personalization. Being a socially aware instructor whilst making sure that all the specificities of pedagogy and student goals are met is my ultimate goal. I am continually inspired by the potential that language classrooms have to be models of mutual respect—crossing political, cultural, and religious boundaries. My life has been undoubtedly enriched by the students I have had the privilege of teaching.
My professional interests are focused on critical language pedagogy, EAP speaking and reading instruction, assessment, and technology’s role in academia.
My Professional Interests
- Teaching pronunciation
- EAP reading instruction
- Implementation of academic discussions in the L2 classroom
- Importance of motivation in learning
- Educational technology
- Curriculum development & best assessment practices
- Corpus linguistics
- Critical discourse analysis
- Discursive manipulation & extremism
- Lexical and frame semantics
- Sociolinguistic realities of non-standard dialects
- Development of AP Linguistics course offerings in public schools