HPU’s MA TESOL students and faculty members were an active part of Hawaii TESOL annual conference this year, which took place February 11, 2012 at Tokai International College.

Andre Langevin, Yanping "Melody" Bai, and professor Brian Rugen delivered a presentation on inner speech and ELT materials development. Saeko Tsukimi, Corey Gonzales, Hong Le, Wen-Pei “Beryl” Lin, and Linh Bui presented in a double panel on “Bridging the gap between textbooks and naturally occurring conversations” organized by professor Hanh Nguyen.

Professor Jean Kirschenmann led a mini workshop to close the conference. She told the story of an exciting project undertaken Peace Corps Volunteers and TESOL Ukraine and invited HI TESOL members to participate in a Hawaii-themed response to that project.

HPU’s strong presence at Hawaii TESOL 2012 was also contributed to by 17 MA TESOL students who volunteered at the registration desk and as session chairs. (HPU student volunteers made up more than a third of all the volunteers at HI TESOL this year.) MA TESOL student Sandy Kirkoski served as the volunteer coordinator for the whole conference.

Among the attendees were Professor Ken Cook, Professor Ed Klein, and many TESOL students.

Participating at Hawaii TESOL is an excellent opportunity to extend the learning that takes place in TESOL classes as well as to practice the kind of professional activities that enable TESOL students to be life-long learners.

HPU MA TESOL students Sandy Kirkoski, Hanh Dinh,
and Emily Moore volunteering at HI TESOL registration desk

HPU MA TESOL students Kri Howland and Nhat Thao
volunteering at at HI TESOL registration desk

HPU MA TESOL students Elise Davis, Cris Vicentini,
and Monica Smith in the audience at HI TESOL

AL Talks: Developing Learners' Second Language Inner Speech

On Oct. 21, 2011, the TESOL program held its biweekly “AL Talks” seminar featuring a faculty and student panel presentation called “Developing Learners’ Second Language Inner Speech.” Dr. Brian Rugen presented a theoretical overview of inner speech, that little voice we use when we talk to ourselves. Then, four of his graduate students showed how they would cultivate inner speech in language learners using materials they developed in his course on materials development. The featured students were Mary Brinkman, Andre Langevin, Yanping(Melody) Bai, and Lajlim Yang.

AL Talks explore issues of interest to language learners and teachers. The next seminar will be on Friday, Nov. at 3:05 in MP 326. Everyone is welcome.

(L to R) Lajlim Yang, Yanping Bai, Mary Brinkman and Andre Langevin.

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 HPU Spanish Students Win Award at Latin American Research Symposium

The six students of Spanish 3320 Culture and Literature of Mexico and Central America received a "Best Overall Contribution" from a panel of faculty judges for their group presentation, entitled "Border Blues," at the Third Annual Latin American and Iberian Studies  (LAIS) Undergraduate Research Symposium at UH Manoa on Thursday, April 21, 2011.  The group presentation was given by Rachel Ballard (Senior, Video Production), Kayla Dunn (Senior, International Studies), Justin Garcia (Junior, Psychology), Aja Harbert (International Relations), Therese Oriola (Sophomore, Humanities), and Alix Reichert (Junior, International Studies).

 
Justin Garcia, Aja Harbert, Alix Reichert, Therese Oriola, Rachel Ballard.            Not pictured: Kayla Dunn

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TESOL students Ai-Ly Dinh, Phuong-Thanh Nguyen, Hanh Dinh, and Hong Le on stage with the other Vietnamese Student Association (UH) members.

TESOL Students Winning Prizes at HPU’s 2011 Intercultural Day

TESOL students shone at this year’s Intercultural Day. Several students helped win the First Prize in Booth Display for the Taiwanese Club. They were Debbi Wang, (Taiwanese Club vice-president), Bella Lee, Jas Chuang, and Beryl Lin (Taiwanese Club members). Their booth featured Taiwanese traditional costumes, mask painting, and ethnic dolls, among others.
Another international group, the Vietnamese TESOL students, won Third Prize in Performance with their dance “Beauty of the Highland.” They were Ai-Ly Dinh, Phuong-Thanh Nguyen, Hanh Dinh, and Hong Le. The Vietnamese booth showcased Vietnamese traditional bamboo tools, musical instruments, dresses, and images of Vietnam.
Also helping present a colorful and interactive Canadian booth were TESOL students Jenifer Brook, Sandy Kirkorski, Andre Langevin, and Karl Hopkins-Lutz. TESOL Certificate student Sung Kyung (Sunny) Kim was helping with activities in the Korean Club booth.

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HPU Well-Represented at Conference of HI TESOL (Hawaii Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)

Faculty and students (both graduate and undergraduate) from Hawai‘i Pacific University’s TESOL programs gave presentations at the recent HI TESOL conference, which was held at Brigham Young University, Hawai‘i in Lâ‘ie on Saturday, February 19.

Presenting were students Jay Ahn, Decky Baimadeji, Karisma Gonzales, Wen-Pei (Beryl) Lin, Dung (Win) Nguyen, Sachiko Sawamura (in absentia), Sue Lynn Shinsato, Hoa Tran, Liang (Diana) Wang, and Lajlim Yang, and faculty members Jean Kirschenmann, Ed Klein, and Candis Lee

Also, Nicole Otero, a graduate of HPU’s MA TESOL program, who now teaches at Kauai Community College, received a travel grant from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to attend the conference.

HPU was well-represented at the conference: out of 47 presenters, 13 (27.7%) were from HPU. Besides those who presented, approximately 15 additional HPU TESOL students and faculty members were in attendance as well.

Prof. Ed Klein presenting his talk on teaching English in English at HI TESOL 2011

Prof. Jean Kirschenmann presenting with students Karisma Gonzales and Baryl Lin on the Open Mic project at HI TESOL 2011

TESOL graduate student Lajlim Yang presenting his poster on learner identity at HITESOL 2011

Prof. Candis Lee and students Decky Baimadeji, Diana Liang, Hoa Tran, Win Nguyen, presenting their talk on participatory learning at HI TESOL 2011.