Elizabeth A. Siler
ESL Specialist
Avery Hall 220
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington 99164-5020

Elizabethsiler@gmail.com or

Mejia@wsunix.wsu.edu
509-335-2251


Employment

1996 - Present ESL Specialist, Department of English, Washington State University (Pullman, Washington)

 

Ongoing:  Develop and oversee the implementation of the curriculum in all ESL courses offered by the English Department including those courses taught through DDP; train and supervise all instructors and teaching assistants in the ESL program; choose and order all materials used in the program; advocate for international student concerns and American ESL speakers with the department and the university; advise students; serve on the departmental ESL committee, the departmental Composition committee and the departmental Foreign Language Proficiency Committee.  As requested, serve on the committees of international graduate students in the college of Liberal Arts.

Teach  freshman composition ESL (Engl 105), the prerequisite to 105 (Engl 104), revision workshop ESL (Engl 303), professional and technical writing ESL (Engl 403).  Have taught graduate thesis and dissertation writing (English 500), and conversation and oral production (Engl 106).

 

2004 - present Instructor of Spanish, Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington

 

Developed all course materials and a website for Spanish 600.  Teach Spanish 600, a graduate-level course in reading in Spanish for graduate students in the liberal arts.

 

1986 to 1996 Curriculum Coordinator/Instructor, Intensive American Language Center, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington

Served as the Curriculum Coordinator and assistant to the director. Wrote, developed, and oversaw the implementation of the curriculum. Taught all courses in all skill areas at six levels, from beginner to advanced. Developed and taught special courses on: TOEFL preparation; reading skills; listening via film and radio; trained and supervised a staff of 25; selected, ordered, and cataloged all materials.

1978 to 1986 ESL Instructor/Teaching Assistant in:

Los Angeles Unified School District 1985
Eagle Pass, Texas School District 1981
University of Illinois 1980

Washington State University 1978

Education

MATESL - University of Illinois, Urbana Illinois (1980)
BA Foreign Languages and Literatures - Washington State University, Pullman,
Washington (1978)

 

NOTE:  More than 60 credits post-graduate studies in Spanish, foreign language education, ESL theory and composition.

Publications Co-authored books (DBA Elizabeth Mejia)

American Picture Show, Prentice Hall
102 Very Teachable Films, Prentice Hall
Five Star Films, Prentice Hall
Success Video Workbooks 1-4, Addison Wesley Longman

Edited Translations: The Tale of the Phoenix by Dalip Kaur Tiwana (Adjanta Press/Forthcoming)

Tell the Tale Urvashi of Paths of Fire by Dalip Kaur Tiwana (winner of the Sarswati Samman)

Instructors' Manual: Solving Problems Through Professional and Technical Writing (Prentice Hall)

Presentations

 

2005 - Reading Spanish  for Graduate Studies in English.  A paper presented at the RMMLA (Rocky Mountain MLA) Conference in Coeur dıAlene, Idaho, October 22, 2005.

2000 - Paraphrase or Plagiarism? Reporting speech techniques. A poster session presented at TESOL 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia.

------ Using Popular Films and Film Reviews to Develop Critique Writing Skills a presentation made at the Spokane Regional ESL Conference, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington.

1986-1999 More than 25 presentations at TESOL, WAESOL, and TRI-TESOL Conferences on the following topics: using film in the classroom to develop grammar and listening skills; teaching reading, including speed reading and context clues; teaching listening using radio broadcasts; and teaching writing; ESL students in the liberal arts curriculum; and issues in teaching about plagiarism.


Departmental Committee Service

2005:  Active Service On --

                  Composition Committee, English Department
                  Language Proficiency Sub-Committee, English Department
                  ESL Committee, English Department
                  University 590 (Graduate School)


Graduate Dissertations/Theses Committees

2005:   Masterıs  Committee of  Victor Patricio Unda (American Studies)

                  Honorsı Thesis Director:  Tera Ray (Honorsı College)

             PhD Committee of Maria Jesus Estrada (resigned due to health reasons)

 

PRIOR COMMITTEE SERVICE:


Cheryl Henry (PhD Department of Educational Administration and Leadership)
Wannapa Leerasiri  (PhD Department of Political Science)

 

Andreas Rauh (MA  Program in American Studies)
Zach Blurton (MA Department of English: Literature)

Lauren Vainio (Honors College)

Language Competencies

Spanish: Advanced ability in all four skill areas
Reading ability in Portuguese, Catalan, and French and Gitane

 

Professional Memberships

 

American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages

Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association

Current Research Interests:  Rendering Punjabi texts into English;  developing a course to teach reading in French;   Writing a paper on reading strategies used in deciphering Spanish clitics.

Professional References Available on Request:  Dr. Victor Villanueva (Department of English);  Dr. Lynn Gordon (Department of English and Program in Linguistics);  Dr. Eloy Gonzalez (Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures) Dr. T. V. Reed (Department of American Studies).