Vuksanovich and Pope present ESL growth ideas to Illinois teachers

Monica Vuksanovich, North Central College visiting assistant professor of Spanish, and Katherine Pope, director of the English Language Institute (ELI), presented a talk titled “Partnerships for Success: Building and Growing University-level ESL Programs” at the statewide Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages-Bilingual Education (ITBE) conference this spring.  

The annual ITBE conference serves as a forum for sharing practical advice for in-service ELL/bilingual teachers, providing updates on bilingual education policy and highlighting pedagogical best practices in the field of ELL/bilingual education.

The three overarching themes of the presentation were collaboration, advocacy and promotion, featuring the interdepartmental collaboration between the College’s new ELI program and future teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).

The foundation of their work was formed during collaboration between the department of modern & classical languages and ELI to offer internship experiences for North Central TESOL students who plan to teach English overseas. This partnership benefits students in both programs by providing authentic and varied language learning experiences for ELI students learning English, as well as a teaching lab for the TESOL students learning to teach English to adult language learners.

Vuksanovich, on faculty since 2007, teaches Spanish and World Language/ELL Education. She earned her B.A. from Augustana College and her M.A.T. and Ph.D. in foreign language and ESL education from the University of Iowa.

Pope, director of North Central’s English Language Institute since July 2013, earned her M.A.-TESOL and language program administration certificate from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.