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K-State Today

October 21, 2013

English language instructors present at regional conference

Submitted by Christina Kitson

Three Kansas State University English language program instructors, Ketty Reppert, Wing Wong and Christina Kitson, recently presented at the Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, Oct. 11-12, in Lawrence.

This sold-out conference was targeted to teachers of English to speakers of other languages, and was attended by educators from Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. 

Reppert presented "Building Community Through Accreditation: The Story of One IEP," where she discussed how the accreditation process can be managed to create a shared effort by faculty and staff. Kansas State's English language program received 10 year reaccreditation earlier this year.

Wong presented "Go Beyond Monopoly and Scrabble: Customize your Board Games, in which she discussed two different board games and the multiple ways they can be played in the classroom.  Board games can increase student participation because they are fun and interactive.

Kitson presented two sessions. The first was "Creating an Individual Professional Development Plan in an IEP," where she provided the basic steps to creating an individual plan for professional development and detailed why professional development is important. Her second session, "Teacher Ideas for Using Web 2.0," was about Web 2.0 tools that teachers may find useful. Each participant in the session was provided an online toolbox of resources and ideas for class use.

In addition to the four presentations, the English language program also sent 21 faculty members to participate in the conference.

"This was a wonderful opportunity to provide a regional level professional development experience to a large number of faculty," said Beverley Earles, associate director of the English language program. "In addition to the presentations and workshops it provided opportunities to build collegial networks within a more accessible geographic region."

Reppert has been with the English Language Program since 2006 and served as the self-study coordinator for the program’s recent reaccreditation process.

Wong has been with the program since 2012 and has taught many different skills and levels since her arrival. 

Kitson has been with the program since 2011 and is working on her doctorate specializing in teaching English as a second language. She also serves as the program’s professional development chair and works on standardized assessments for the program. 

View the PowerPoint slides from the presentations.

The English language program provides English language instruction to students who have been accepted to the university but do not meet Kansas State’s English proficiency requirement. The program also offers English instruction to international students who choose to come for language training only or as a study abroad experience. Additionally, the program is involved with international short programs that bring students to K-State, such as Ecuador’s Go Teacher scholarship program.