Second Language Education & Culture (SLEC) Program
TESOL & Foreign Language Education
Faculty Information
Program Director |
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Dr. Perla Blejer has joined the University of Maryland, Department of Curriculum and Instruction at College Park as the Director of the Second Language Program, TESOL and Foreign Language. Dr. Blejer teaches Foreign Language Methods I and Methods II classes (EDCI 330 and EDCI 433). She has traveled and lived in many countries around the world, such as Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, Israel and South Africa. These international experiences have widened her cultural awareness and sharpened her sensitivities to the unique educational needs of all individuals and of diverse populations.
Dr. Blejer holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and sociology form the Hebrew University, two graduate degrees, a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Loyola University and an educational specialist degree in Curriculum Development from the George Washington University. She holds a doctoral degree from the George Washington University in educational leadership with a specialization in higher education administration. Her dissertation study examined the reforms undertaken by Israel’s higher education system in the 1990’s in an attempt to provide its disadvantaged population with equal access to higher education.
Dr. Blejer has taught courses in foreign language methods, curriculum design, educational psychology and sociology at the college level. She also taught foreign languages at the secondary level. Her professional experience includes teacher training in the field of teaching foreign language and curriculum design. She also has over 15 years of experience in the administration of foreign languages department.
Her expertise and research interests are in second language acquisition, foreign language education methodology, language program administration in higher education, and issues of equal opportunity for at-risk students and disadvantaged populations. Throughout her career Dr. Blejer has been committed to academic excellence and student success. She believes in the value of inclusion, teamwork, and professional growth. Click here to see Dr. Blejer's curriculum vitae. |
Faculty |
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Dr. Kushner's research interests are in the areas of oral and literacy development of English Language Learners with and without disabilities. What distinguishes students who experience academic difficulty due to their developing English proficiency from those who experience difficulty due to reading-related disabilities.
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Rebecca L. Oxford, Ph.D., is Professor and former Director of the Second Language Education Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously she has led language programs at Teachers College, Columbia University; the University of Alabama; and the Pennsylvania State University. She was Associate Dean of the College of Education at the University of Alabama. Dr. Oxford holds two degrees in Russian (B. A., Vanderbilt University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; M. A., Yale University) and two in educational psychology (M. Ed., Boston University; PhD., University of North Carolina). With Robin Scarcella of the University of California at Irvine, Dr. Oxford co-edited Tapestry, a large series of student texts for the secondary and postsecondary level. She was the Series Editor of the twelve books in the second edition of Tapestry, Tapestry is widely used around the world, particularly in North America, South America, and the Far East (China and Japan). Tapestry and its "flagship" teacher's book, The Tapestry of Language Learning: The Individual in the Communicative Classroom (Scarcella and Oxford, available in English, Japanese, and Chinese) were published by Heinle / Thomson Learning.
Two of Dr. Oxford's other books, her well-known Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know (available in English, Japanese, and Arabic) and Simulation, Gaming, and Language Learning (with Crookall), were originally published by HarperCollins and then by Heinle / Thomson. The University of Hawaii Press published Dr. Oxford's other books, including Language Learning Strategies around the World: Cross-cultural Perspectives and Language Learning Motivation: Pathways to the New Century. She won the Carl Shaner Award for Best Research on Psychological Type (with Jacqueline Nuby), the National Award for the Best Distance Education Article from the American Conference on Distance Education, and the Army Research Institute's Sustained Superior Performance Award and Special Service Award.
She has published over 100 refereed articles and chapters. Her articles have appeared in Modern Language Journal, International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, American Journal of Distance Education, Foreign Language Annals, Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, Simulation and Gaming: An International Journal of Theory, Design, and Research, and other refereed journals.Dr. Oxford has presented keynote speeches at conferences in Argentina, the Baltic States, Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, Guatemala, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and elsewhere.
With Dr. Oxford's encouragement and guidance, her current and former students have published in major journals such as System: The International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Educational Technology, and the International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching.
Click here to see Dr. Oxford's curriculum vitae.
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Dr. Peercy's research interests include: 1. The theory-practice relationship and knowledge base for teachers working with English language learners (ELLs). 2. Ways to develop ELLs’ academic language and literacy to improve school success. 3. Culturally responsive teaching, and critical frameworks for second language education. 4. Preservice and inservice teacher education regarding the teaching of ELLs.
Courses that Dr. Peercy teaches are: 1. Accelerative and Critical Issues in Second Language Literacy 2. Critical Frameworks in Second Language Education 3. Issues in preparing teachers to work with ELLs 4. Teaching ESL Reading and Writing in the Secondary Content Areas 5. Teaching ESL Reading and Writing in the Elementary Classroom Areas 6. Theory and Research in Second Language Teaching
Click here to see Dr. Peercy's curriculum vitae.
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Lecturers |
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Dr. Dora F. Kennedy has been an adjunct professor in Foreign Language Education since 1991 when she retired from the Prince George's County School system, after forty years. She originally worked with Dr. William DeLorenzo now retired.
Dr. Kennedy (Dora) worked as a teacher in the system for eight years before being asked to serve as the first Supervisor of Foreign Languages for the county schools. She served in this position for thirty-one years. In this position Dora supervised and coordinated programs in Spanish, French, Italian, Latin, German, Russian and Japanese. She and her later colleague, Dr. Pat Barr-Harrison, her successor, directed the writing of curricula and the inservice of teachers.
Dora taught for eighteen years (Ohio, New York, Maryland) before becoming an instructional supervisor. Her experience spans grades 4-12. She graduated from Ohio University summa cum laude with a BA in Romance Languages (Spanish, Italian, French), and a minor in Latin and English. She later studied Russian, German, Portuguese and Japanese. She also worked as a Portuguese translator during World War II. She received both an M. Ed. in Elementary Education and a PhD in Foreign Language Education from UMCP, College of Education.
Dora has published many articles in foreign language journals as well as curriculum and instructional guides for various languages. She is the main author of a student text, Exploring Languages, with teacher's Manual, which has been adopted by schools nationwide. As a result of her doctoral research in curriculum Dora created a middle school language course for the Prince George's County Schools, called Foreign Language Exploratory (FLEX), which has been implemented since the early seventies. It is also used in other school systems. She co-authored a teacher text based on her dissertation with Dr. DeLorenzo: The Complete Guide to Foreign Language Exploratory Programs. Also Dora has worked with several publishers as a consultant for Spanish textbooks.
In 1986 she and Dr. Barr-Harrison launched the French Immersion Program for the Prince George's County Schools, a K-12 program nationally recognized. Dora also teaches in the UMD Senior University (now called Legacy College), which she helped to launch in 1998. She has designed and taught a number of foreign language courses including Introduction to Italian through Opera. Dora greatly enjoys teaching and helping to launch young people into the profession, and also giving something back to her graduate Alma Mater.
An article about Dr. Kennedy in the National Museum of Language Newsletter
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Holly Stein is an adjunct lecturer in the Second Language Education Program, where she teaches EDCI 415, Methods of Teaching ESOL Reading and Writing in Elementary Content Areas, and EDCI 631, Assessment in the Second Language Classroom. She was Supervisor of the ESOL/Language Minority Program in Prince George’s County Public Schools for 12 years, after teaching ESOL at the elementary and secondary levels and working as ESOL Diagnostician/Resource Teacher. In addition to her adjunct work at University of Maryland, she serves as adjunct faculty at UMBC and as a consultant for the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C.. |
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Howard (Howie) Stein is a lecturer in the Second Language Education Program, teaching EDCI 436, Teaching for Cross-Cultural Communication, since 2002. He also works for the Second Language Education unit to support the “Training for All Teacher Program”, publicizing off-site classes for non-ESOL teachers.
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Staff |
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Program Management Specialist Graduate Admissions 2311 Benjamin Bldg. |
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