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Course Developers
Click on any name below for a brief biography.
Helaine W. Marshall - The Adult Learner and Core Issues
Pilar Blitvich - Second Language Acquisition in Adulthood
Elizabeth Miller - Second Language Acquisition in Adulthood
Naomi Migliacci - Teaching Practices
Greg Walters - Lesson Planning
Robert Oprandy - Observation and Reflection
Editorial Staff
Gilda Rubio-Festa, Managing Editor
Rebeca Fernandez, Senior Editor
Dixon Yard, Media Editor
Judy Cheatham, Editorial Consultant
Dr. Helaine W. Marshall is Director of Language Education Programs and Assistant Professor of Education at the Westchester Graduate Campus. She began her teaching career as a French teacher in the Newton Public Schools having completed her master’s degree in French/Humanistic Studies at Tufts University. She then earned her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University in TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages). She has extensive experience in language program administration, instruction, and teacher education.
Prior to joining LIU in January 2003, she held a number of positions in the field of language education. Most recently, she was Chair of the ESL Department at the ESL Institute of Westchester Community College. Previously, Dr. Marshall served as Resource Specialist at the Southern Westchester BOCES BETAC (Bilingual/ESL Technical Assistance Center). As Assistant Professor of Linguistics and ESL at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, she received a National Institute for Literacy Grant to develop a Hmong/English Biliteracy Program, and a Wisconsin Educational Opportunity Grant to develop a pre-college program for Southeast Asian students in the local high schools. In addition, she has taught graduate courses in TESOL, Bilingual Education and Foreign Language Education at the College of New Rochelle, Fordham University, Queens College, Teachers College, and Vassar College. During her career as a teacher educator, she has supervised hundreds of preservice and inservice teachers in a variety of school settings. Dr. Marshall has conducted research on such topics as the learning paradigm of students from oral cultures and nontraditional approaches to the teaching of grammar.
As a consultant to Literacy Volunteers, Dr. Marshall reveiwed and revised the EL/Civics Curriculum: Civics for Immigrants - From Native Language to English Literacy, and developed and implemented the training for this curriculum, as well as the Training of Trainers. She is also active in professional educational organizations, such as TESOL and NYS TESOL and has held leadership positions, serving in NYS TESOL as Regional Coordinator, 2nd Vice President, and Conference Proposal Chair. For TESOL, she co-designed and co-moderated a course in the Electronic Village Online (EVO) 2008 and serves as EVO Team Leader for the 2008 TESOL Convention.
Helaine W. Marshall, Ph.D.
Director, Language Programs
Teacher Education
Westchester Graduate Campus
Long Island University
Voice: 914-831-2713
Fax: 914-251-5959
helaine.marshall@liu.edu
www.liu.edu/westchester
Dr. Pilar Garces Blitvich is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she teaches applied linguistics. She holds a PhD in Anglo-Germanic Philology from the University of Valencia (Spain). Prior to her appointment at UNC Charlotte, she held positions at the University of Valencia and the University of Seville, where she founded a research group on intercultural pragmatics (EPICS). Her research interests include second language acquisition, discourse analysis, pragmatics and intercultural communication. She is especially interested in Identity, Politeness and Relevance Theories. Recent publications include "Studies in Intercultural, Social and Cognitive Pragmatics" (Cambridge Scholars Publishing).
Pilar Blitvich, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English, Applied Linguistics
University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC)
Charlotte, NC 28223
Phone: 704-687-2126
pblitvi@uncc.edu or pgblit@bellsouth.net
Dr. Elizabeth Miller is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she teaches applied linguistics. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include critical applied linguistics, discourse analysis, and second language learning, focusing primarily on sociocultural theories of learning. She has published in The Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly and in several edited book collections.
Elizabeth Miller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English and Applied Linguistics
University of North Carolina, Charlotte (UNCC)
Charlotte, NC 28223
Phone: 704-375-3577
ermiller@uncc.edu
Naomi Migliacci is currently an Assistant Professor at Southern Connecticut State University in the School of Education, Department of Special Education and Reading. She has a background in Linguistics in Education having studied at The University of Pennsylvania, The Claremont Graduate School and San Diego State University to marry her interests in educational policy, technology, and linguistics. Her current research interests include language planning and policy in various settings. Recently, she has evaluated language programs and policies in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Maine, and Connecticut. Out of this work, she has developed professional development programs for school districts and universities, and has served as an expert witness in diversity and discrimination cases for the US Government’s Civil Rights Division in Education. In addition, she has done extensive teacher training with teachers in the United States, Argentina, China, Iceland, Japan, Peru, Philippines and France. In addition to long-term teaching experiences in China and Japan, other experience include teaching ELLs from K-12, ESL students in colleges and universities, and adult ESL and basic literacy. On-going interests include effective uses of technology for English language teaching. She has been the Chair of the Video Interest Section for TESOL, Inc. and has written on and given numerous talks on using technology in ESL/EFL settings. Through her association with the Educators for Social Responsibility in Cambridge, MA, Naomi continues to be an advocate of school reform and redesign for all learners. She is passionate about changing the school experience for young people. She is co-editor with Lorrie Verplaetse of Inclusive Pedagogy for English Language Learners: A Handbook of Research-Informed Practice.
Assistant Professor, Reading Department
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street, Davis Hall Rm 204
New Haven, CT 06515
Phone: 203-392-6426
migliaccin1@southernct.edu
Greg Walters has been teaching at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina for five years. He helps high-level ESL students in the adult education program classes transition to GED study, career training programs, and curriculum classes. His interest in TESOL began with a background in the study of geography at McGill University in Quebec and a lifelong interest in language, expression, and writing. After working in a literacy program as part of a VISTA assignment in New Hampshire, he taught in the Peace Corps in Thailand. Following there were positions at a junior high school in rural Japan and at Northwest Minorities University in Lanzhou, China. Upon completing his M.Ed. in TESOL at Boston University under the direction of Steven J. Molinsky, he joined the U.S. State Department English Teaching Fellows Program and for two years taught and developed ESP curriculum at The College of Sharia and Law in Muscat, Oman. At Central Piedmont Community College, he has worked on the development of an ESL program for technical careers as well as taught the full range of ESL class levels. Greg writes, I’ve been and remain excited to go into each class with renewed interest maintaining the belief that it will be an even better class than the day before. This is what keeps me energized. Now, having settled in the U.S., I don’t have to travel to the ends of the Earth to experience the world’s rich cultural, geographic, and linguistic diversity. I just walk down a few streets to the college and go to my class.
Greg Walters
Instructor
Central Piedmont Community College
P.O. Box 35009
Charlotte, North Carolina
Phone: 704-330-6065
greg.walters@cpcc.edu
Dr. Robert Oprandy is Professor of Education at the Benerd School of Education, University of the Pacific, in Stockton, California. A former member of TESOL’s Board of Directors, Chair of TESOL’s Interest Section Council and member of TESOL since 1976, he began his career as a 5-year Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Ghana and Thailand. Before leaving Thailand, he was a Peace Corps trainer of TEFL and cross-cultural awareness. He earned his M.A., M.Ed. and Ed.D. degrees, all in TESOL, at Teachers College, Columbia University while teaching ESL to adults at LaGuardia Community College and at Columbia and supervising teachers at Teachers College. Prof. Oprandy joined the faculty at Teachers College, where he taught for eleven years and directed the TESOL Masters K-12 Program. He also trained ESOL, foreign language, and bilingual teachers at Eastern Michigan University and at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He continuously taught adult ESL while training teachers. A planetary person, Dr. Oprandy has trained teachers in 1-6 week courses in Colombia, England, Greece, Guatemala, Japan, Peru, and Spain as well as shorter sessions in Croatia, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, and Uruguay. Having taught over 30 different language education courses to B.A., M.A. and Ed.D. students, his areas of greatest interest are classroom observation, listening, humanistic approaches to language teaching, and instructional supervision. His book, Language Teaching Awareness, co-authored with Jerry Gebhard and published by Cambridge University Press, was translated into Basque. Dr. Oprandy has published many teacher education articles and is currently working on a book entitled The 5 P’s: A Conceptual Framework for Teachers and Teacher Educators. Another research interest is the impact of U.S. immigration legislation and policies on Mexican migrant workers and other recently arrived immigrants in California.
Dr. Robert Oprandy
Professor of Education
Benerd School of Education
3601 Pacific Ave.
University of the Pacific
Stockton, CA, 95211
Phone: 209-946-2671 209-952-5642
roprandy@pacific.edu
