ESL Services Administration and Faculty  

ADMINISTRATION

   
Michael T. Smith is the Director of ESL Services. He has taught ESL in Utah, Hawaii, and Mexico. He has a B.A. and an M.A. certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language, a Master's in Linguistics, and he is currently finishing his Ph.D. in foreign language education with an emphasis on aspects of motivation in language learning. He speaks Spanish and has studied both Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.
Email:
mikesmith@austin.utexas.edu 
Teresa Baker Teresa Baker has served as the Program Coordinator of ESL Services since 1999. She received her B.A. in Linguistics and her M.A. in TESL from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has studied Spanish and Japanese, and traveled in Mexico and Thailand. Although her current administrative duties usually keep her out of the classroom, she has taught courses and designed materials in grammar (her true love), listening/speaking, TOEFL preparation, GMAT preparation, oral communication, reading, composition, and English through current events.
Email:
tm-baker@austin.utexas.edu 
Shelley Broussard is the International Advisor of ESL Services. She has worked in the UT International Office since 1993, and is dedicated to international education. She is a strong believer in changing international students' lives for the better through living in and experiencing the "real" United States, as well as making friends with people from the USA, and all over the world. She is more than happy to help the international ESL students in any way she can - whether it be English, US culture, or private advising. She too was once an international student in Italy and Korea, and has also lived in Japan and Sweden. She has traveled to many other places around the world as well. She is proud of being part of this fantastic group of ESL professionals, and is happy to answer any questions about our program, how to apply, immigration/visa matters, or any other topic of concern regarding the UT ESL program or life in the USA.
Email: emichele@austin.utexas.edu 

Ellen Butki is the Academic English Program/Elective Classes Specialist. She has a B.A. in Political Science, History and Geography and an M.A. in Teaching ESL/EFL. She has taught at both university programs and adult immigrant programs in CA, MA and TX. After teaching Business English in Argentina for five years, she returned to Austin in 2002. She enjoys helping students develop all four language skills and tries to constantly challenge her students as well as herself.
Email:
ekbutki@mail.utexas.edu 
Susan Murphy, Ph.D. is the GRS/ITA Specialist. She received her M.A. in French and her Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She taught English as a foreign language in France for two years and has traveled through most of western Europe. Susan has taught courses in ELP, AEP, and oral communication for international graduate students.
Email: slm@mail.utexas.edu

Fotini Terzi

Fotini Terzi, Ph.D. is the ELP Specialist. She holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and an M.A. as well as a Ph.D. in TESOL from The University of Mississippi. She has taught ESL in Greece and in the U.S. for many years. She loves teaching international students because it gives her the opportunity to discover different cultures and meet people from all over. She is a native speaker of Greek and has studied French and Spanish. Although she has taught many different levels and classes, she is currently teaching writing and grammar in the ELP program.
Email: fterzi@austin.utexas.edu


FACULTY

   

Meghan Ackley is from Vermont, a small state on the East Coast. After finishing high school in New Hampshire, she attended Santa Clara University where she earned a degree in French with a minor in German. After completing her BA, she moved to the Czech Republic to teach English at the University of West Bohemia. In her four years there, she learned to speak Czech. In 1996, she returned to the United States and attended graduate school at San Jose State University where she graduated with an MA in TESOL. Upon completion of her MA, she taught at various colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area including: San Jose State, Stanford, UC Santa Cruz and DeAnza College. In 2000, she moved
to Austin, TX. At The University of Texas, she attended graduate school in the department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and finished her MA in 2003. She has been teaching at ESL services since the summer of 2005.
Email: mackley@austin.utexas.edu


Tony Anderson's picture

Tony Anderson holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics. He taught for ten years in Korea and spent four years teaching in the UAE. While living overseas, he and his family spent a lot of time vacationing in Thailand. He is interested in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and enjoys working with beginning level students.
Email: tanderson@austin.utexas.edu


John Ball began his ESL / EFL career upon completion of his Master’s in Education from Oklahoma City University. In May of 1994, he began teaching and coordinating English classes at ITESM Campus Colima. After four years of instruction in high school, university, and extension courses, he started working as an instructor at ESL Services at The University of Texas at Austin. In January 2003 he began work as a consultant to the University of the Americas (UDLA) in Mexico City. After two years of successful service with UDLA, he launched his consulting company in Chihuahua, Mexico. In June, 2006 Mr. Ball began anew at The University of Texas at Austin as an instructor. This semester he is also serving as the ESL Services Computer Specialist.
Email: jball@austin.utexas.edu


Dara Chambers received her BA in Fine Art with a minor in Spanish from Southeastern Louisiana University and her MA in TESOL from the University of Southern Mississippi. She taught EFL at the American School of Puebla in Mexico and at Samsung Human Resources Development Center in South Korea. She loves working with international students and particularly enjoys helping students improve their ability to communicate in a variety of contexts. Her interests include painting, sculpture, cooking, reading, and yoga.
Email: dchambers@austin.utexas.edu


John Duke received his BA in Russian from The University of Texas at Arlington and an MA in Slavic Linguistics from The University of Texas at Austin. He is presently a doctoral candidate (ABD) in Foreign Language Education at UT. He spent six years studying and teaching in Russia; in St. Petersburg he served as Director of the USIA English Teacher Education Program and was an Assistant Professor at St. Petersburg State University.
Email:
johnduke@mail.utexas.edu 
Katherine Fouche

Katherine Fouché holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of South Florida and a B.A. in French from Mount Holyoke College. She is bilingual in English and French, and loves teaching grammar, listening/speaking, and writing. She has traveled to Europe, Mexico, Slovenia, Jordan, Israel, the Caribbean, Russia, and Canada.
Email: kfouche@austin.utexas.edu


David Fox, a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, holds a master's degree in Adult ESL. He was awarded a 3 semester full-scholarship when he was an undergraduate at UT. He began teaching ESL at UT in 1972 and left three years later to become an ESL consultant for the Texas Education Agency for 5 years until he became the director of the ESL Center at Sam Houston State. He taught in Malaysia for 5 years with SUNY-Buffalo, Indiana University, as well as UT. In addition, he taught 2 years in Japan for Texas A&M. He has been with ESL Services since 1999; before joining us, he taught for the U.S. Department of Defense Language Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
Email:
david.fox@mail.utexas.edu 
Tracy Frank received her M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Washington in Seattle and her B.A. in English from Suffolk University in Boston. Before happily settling down in Austin, she lived and taught in Thailand and Japan and traveled extensively throughout Asia and New Zealand. Her greatest source of satisfaction as an ESL instructor is providing her students with the confidence and skills they need in reading, writing, and grammar to reach their goals.
Email:
tfrank@mail.utexas.edu 
Wanda Griffith, Ph.D. graduated with a Ph.D. in Sociology with an specialty in Social Psychology and Statistics from Washington State University. After teaching for a number of years at various universities, she became a certified ESL teacher. She has traveled quite a lot--up to 49 countries on last count--and she travels whenever she can. She came to Austin in 1998 after nearly five years of being in Korea teaching English and culture. These days she also designs web pages when she's not teaching English.
Email: wgriffith@austin.utexas.edu 

Ann Hall's first international experience came when she lived in France for a year as a teenager. Since then, she has always wanted to be involved with international education. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Linguistics from the University of Michigan, where she first taught ESL at the English Language Institute. Her first job after university was teaching adult education and ESL to migrant farm workers for the Illinois Migrant Council. Since then, she has worked in intensive English programs for her whole career. She never finds her job boring for a minute!
Email: ahall@austin.utexas.edu 


Harriet Hoffman received her B.A. in English from Syracuse University and worked as a book editor in New York. She wanted to continue to do work with the English language while also interacting more with people, so she went back to school and received an MA in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas. She has been teaching in intensive English programs ever since. She has traveled in the U.S., Mexico and France, and has lived in Florence, Italy and Vieques, Puerto Rico. In her free time she likes to read, play with her cats, make pottery, and go water walking at the gym.
Email:harriethoffman@mail.utexas.edu


Susan Anderson Kerr, Ph.D., thanks her Swedish grandparents for her interest in cross-cultural communication. After earning degrees in English from Rice University, Indiana University, and The University of Texas at Austin, she has taught English at various universities in Texas and Mexico as well as worked as an academic advisor. Living in Mexico for two and a half years inspired her ongoing fascination with Spanish cultures. An independent scholar as well as a teacher, she writes about art across cultures.
Email:
sak@mail.utexas.edu 

Mary Kracklauer received an M.A. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.A. in Human Services from St. Edward’s University, and a B.A. in English and history from the University of Dallas. She very much enjoys teaching ESL to international students and is particularly interested in helping students understand the interplay between language and culture. Currently she is teaching AEP and Academic Skills for University Extension Courses. Mary has traveled widely in Europe and North America as well as several countries in Asia and South America; Africa is her next travel goal.
Email:mrkracklauer@mail.utexas.edu


Christine McCourt

Christine McCourt holds a BA in Communications from Temple University and an MA in Foreign Language Education from The University of Texas at Austin. Her most recent travel abroad experience was to Korea in 2003-2004, where she taught English to Samsung employees. Apart from teaching, Christine has spent time working in the pharmaceutical, conventions, and deejaying industries. She especially enjoys teaching pronunciation.
Email: cmccourt@austin.utexas.edu


Alison's picture

Alison McGregor, Ph.D. has always been fascinated by language and culture. She received her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and minored in German at Kansas State University. In 1992, she started her ESL career by teaching conversational English in Taiwan. She later earned her ESL Teaching Certificate and an M.A. in Liberal Studies at Wichita State University. From 1996-1999, she taught business English in Japan. Alison specializes in oral communication skills, including pronunciation and accent modification. She has recently completed her Ph.D. in Education Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include adult language acquisition, prosodic features in American English, and skill development in second language acquisition.
Email:mcalison@mail.utexas.edu


Letha McIntire, Ph.D. holds a PhD from the University of Kansas and an MA from the University of Hawaii. She teaches courses in both AEP and ELP. She has traveled abroad extensively and has lived in Germany, Taiwan, and Japan. Her languages are Chinese and Japanese. In addition to teaching ESL, she is deeply involved in the study of East Asian culture, especially the arts of painting, calligraphy, and ceramics.
Email:
letham@mail.utexas.edu 
Estherlene's picture

Estherlene Moya, a native Texan, was fortunate to have grown up in a bilingual family, an experience that helped her understand and appreciate the relationship between language and culture. She holds a BA in English and Spanish, a secondary school teaching certificate, and an ESL endorsement, all from The University of Texas at Austin. After more than a decade as a high school English, Spanish and ESL teacher, she has since devoted her career to teaching English to international students. She has developed curricula for all levels and skill areas, has worked in administration, and has taught American culture, oral communication, and ESL methodology for special teacher-training programs. Estherlene enjoys traveling, reading novels and cookbooks, and spending time with her family.
Email: emoya@austin.utexas.edu


Beatrice

Beatrice Neuhold-Orth received an MA in Foreign Language Education from The University of Texas at Austin, an MA in German Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a BA from Douglas College, Rutgers University, NJ. She also has a teaching certificate from Texas State University, San Marcos. She grew up in Montreal, Canada, and has lived in Germany and Austria, as well as in San Francisco and New York City here in the USA. She has taught both German and ESL and enjoys the time she spends with her students in the classroom. In her free time, she travels in Europe and North America. She enjoys hiking in the mountains, reading mystery novels, and gardening.
Email: bno@austin.utexas.edu


Phyllis Potash holds an MA in Linguistics from San Diego State University, a Lifetime Secondary Teaching Credential in English awarded at UCLA, and a BA in English from UCLA. Phyllis' ESL background draws on graduate course work at The University of Texas at Austin and at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Prior to coming to Texas, Phyllis taught ESL in Lyon, France as well as at UCSD and at a private school in La Jolla, California. In Texas, she has taught in the AEP and ELP programs at UT Austin and in the ESL program at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.
Email:
ppotash@mail.utexas.edu 

Jada Pothina received a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics and French from The University of Texas at Austin. She spent a year teaching English in the People's Republic of China before coming back to UT for a Master's Degree in Foreign Language Education. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and French and is currently working on Telugu. Her goal is to eventually speak 10 of the major languages of the world. She enjoys volunteering with international student friendship organizations and hosting cultural events for international students.
Email: jpothina@austin.utexas.edu


Mary Lou Price, Ph.D. received her MA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. She has taught in ESL Services since 1992 and taught college-level French before becoming an ESL teacher. She has lived in the Philippines and France and has traveled and studied in Europe, Central America, and Mexico. She enjoys teaching all subjects but has most recently been teaching reading, grammar, and test preparation.
Email:
mlp@mail.utexas.edu
Curt Reese  received his B.A. from Abilene Christian University in Spanish and International Studies, and his M.A. from The University of Texas at Austin in Foreign Language Education. He is presently a doctoral candidate in the Foreign Language Education program at UT. He spent three years living and teaching in Costa Rica and one year in Ulsan, Korea. He loves teaching, and he particularly enjoys assisting students in overcoming barriers to their learning. He is interested in the intersection of social psychology and communal learning. His hobbies include swimming, lifting weights, jogging, acting, reading, and journalling. Email: curtr@mail.utexas.edu
Eric Schenk has taught AEP, ELP, and graduate ESL courses. He earned his B.A. in Cultural History from the University of Wisconsin, and his M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University. He has also studied philosophy, education, Spanish, French, Bahasa Malaysia, Kannada, and Hindi, and has been to Europe, Central America and Asia. He loves to travel, and teaches ESL because of the opportunity it affords to meet people from all over the world.
Email:
eschenk@mail.utexas.edu 
Carolyn Thompson, who finds working with international students fascinating, currently teaches listening/speaking in AEP. She holds a B.A. in Spanish and a Master's in Foreign Language Education, both from The University of Texas at Austin. Although she's a Texan, she has studied and traveled in Mexico, Central, and South America and loves New England in the fall.
Email:
  cthompson@austin.utexas.edu
Terri Wells, Ph.D. currently teaches courses for ELP students and UT graduate students. She holds a B.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas, an M.A. in TESL from the University of North Texas, and a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education (Applied Linguistics) at The University of Texas at Austin. She is the co-founder and past co-chair of the Texas Foreign Language Education Conference.
Email: tlwells@mail.utexas.edu 

Vickie Yllander

Vickie Yllander received her B.A. in English Literature and her MA in Linguistics from Louisiana State University. While at LSU, she taught ESL to international undergraduate students. This experience prompted her to seek more international teaching opportunities, so she moved to South Korea and taught EFL at a university in Seoul. After many years abroad, she returned to the U.S. to pursue a PhD in Foreign Language Education. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin. Since moving to Texas, she has taught in both university and adult education programs. She finds teaching a rewarding and enriching experience. She thinks it’s the best job in the world!
Email:vyllander@mail.utexas.edu


  Updated June 26, 2008
Email: esl@www.utexas.edu Telephone: (512) 471-2480