ADMINISTRATION

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 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

Jennifer Carmichael earned her BA in English and Art History from Rice University and her MA in Foreign Language Education from The University of Texas at Austin. She taught English for one year n the People's Republic of China where she began learning to speak Mandarin Chinese. She enjoys learning about other cultures and meeting people from other parts of the world. Jenn has traveled to Europe, South America, and throughout Asia. In her free time she enjoys reading, cooking, and visiting art museums.
Email: jcarmichael@mail.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

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

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

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

Meagan Madariaga-Hopkins grew up listening to her father and aunts speaking Spanish at home, and was always interested in language.  As a junior in high school, she was selected to be a Rotary Exchange Scholar to Brazil and spent her senior year of high school there, learning Portuguese and Brazilian culture.  Upon returning to the States, she entered the University of Nevada, Reno and earned her B.A. in International Affairs.  She then studied at Sierra Nevada College to earn her teaching credentials.  After several years of teaching, Meagan earned her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, with a focus on post-secondary TESL from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  Meagan has taught junior high school, high school, community college, intensive English, and is now happy to be teaching at UT.  Her passion is travel and learning about new cultures.  She has traveled to Europe, Central and South America, Israel and Egypt, as well as around the U.S.  She has studied in Brazil, Spain and Guatemala. Her other hobbies are music, reading, gardening, cooking, "momming" and eating at great restaurants.  Meagan loves making the world a smaller place by meeting and helping international students achieve their goals.
Email: meagan@mail.utexas.edu

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 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

Amanda McKinley holds a B.A. in English and Spanish from the University of Texas and an M.A. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas. She spent a year teaching English in Guayaquil, Ecuador while continuing to study Spanish. She is interested in language and culture and enjoys meeting people from around the world. She has traveled to Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, India, Bangladesh, China, Turkey, and western Europe. In her free time, she enjoys running, biking, reading, and entertaining friends and family in her home.
Email: amandamac16@hotmail.com

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 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

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

Hilary Sheppard earned her M.A. in TESOL and her B.A. in Spanish Education from the University of Northern Iowa. Since 1998, Hilary has been teaching in a variety of settings and places. Her experiences in language instruction include teaching Spanish (K-12) and ESL (7-8) in Iowa and Texas public schools and teaching academic intensive English courses at Kirkwood Community College, the University of Northern Iowa, the University of Tarapaca in Arica, Chile, and at the Texas Intensive English Program. Since joining the faculty at ESL Services, Hilary has taught in both the ELP and AEP programs. Hilary's love for people and her desire to bridge cultures have taken her around the world. Her first international experience was as a student of Spanish in Colima, Mexico. Soon after, she decided to spend her summers abroad, leading programs for students living in Moscow, Russia; Cadiz, Spain; and Davao City, Mindanao in the Philippines. Over the past 10 years, she has also traveled extensively throughout Morocco, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, and Egypt. Her interests include cheering on the UT ESL soccer team, hosting guests in her home, mentoring, reading, being active outdoors, and spending quality time with her fiance, family, and friends.
Email: hpepper@mail.utexas.edu

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