I've worked in English language education for over thirty years — as a teacher, teacher trainer, academic director, and director of educational technology programs. These days I work one-on-one with graduate students, researchers, and professionals on the communication that actually matters: a dissertation defense, a journal revision, a presentation to people deciding whether to take your work seriously.
My graduate training at Temple University was with Rod Ellis, a foundational figure in...
I've worked in English language education for over thirty years — as a teacher, teacher trainer, academic director, and director of educational technology programs. These days I work one-on-one with graduate students, researchers, and professionals on the communication that actually matters: a dissertation defense, a journal revision, a presentation to people deciding whether to take your work seriously.
My graduate training at Temple University was with Rod Ellis, a foundational figure in task-based language teaching. The core idea is straightforward: adults don't acquire a second language most effectively by studying grammar in isolation. They acquire it by performing real tasks, with feedback, under conditions close to the ones they actually face. After my master's, Ellis recruited me to teach English for Academic Purposes at Temple, and I later joined the adjunct faculty at Drexel University.
That training shapes how I work now. My approach is scenario-based. Instead of drilling grammar in the abstract, we work with the specific situation you have to handle. You attempt it. I listen. We talk about what worked and what didn't, then you do it again with the refinements. The replay is where the change actually happens. I work entirely online and one-on-one with adult learners, mostly graduate students and working professionals.
From 1996 to 1999 I was Academic Director of The Caledonian School in Prague, a 400-student intensive English program where I designed the teacher development framework and built business English curricula for clients including Volkswagen, Philip Morris, and Ernst and Young. I later spent five years at Temple's education research center running regional teacher training programs, then seventeen years as Director of Education at CyberSmart Education Company, leading a national online professional development initiative for K-12 educators. If you're preparing for a defense, a presentation, or any high-stakes communication in English, I'd be glad to talk.
