Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Faculty

Alex Silverman
MA, Indiana University
BA, Antioch College

Associate Professor
Chair, Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Language Teacher Education

Alex Silverman holds master’s degrees in Slavics and French linguistics. A faculty member of the SIT Graduate Institute since 1974, he serves as a supervisor and teaches in the areas of general linguistics, methodology, culture, sociolinguistics, and English language and linguistics. Alex is a consultant to publishers of English and French language and cultural materials and textbooks, and he presents regularly at conferences in the areas of language and pedagogy. He began his teaching in the New York City public schools, and has taught English at the university level in France. He enjoys working with practicing teachers in methodology and culture training, and which he has done in the US, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. He is particularly interested in the ways cultural presumptions and norms are reflected in language and in helping students build practical teaching tools that integrate culture into the classroom. An avid distance runner, Alex has completed some 40 marathons. He explains this passion: “I love the solidarity and desire to do your best that running shares with the teaching profession.”
Susan Barduhn
PhD, Thames Valley University, UK
MAT, School for International Training
BA, University of Washington

Professor
Chair,Summer Master of Arts in Teaching Program
Language Teacher Education

Susan Barduhn holds a doctorate in English language teaching. She joined SIT Graduate Institute in 2003, where she directs the summer Masters of Arts in TESOL program, teaches in the Masters of TESOL program, and supervises student teachers all over the world. Her experience includes English and Spanish language teaching, teacher training, supervision, management, program assessment, and consulting. She has worked for extended periods in Kenya, Britain, Switzerland, Colombia, Spain, and Portugal and speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Swahili.
Susan is a past president of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language; former director of The Language Center in Nairobi, Kenya; and was deputy director of International House in London. Her professional areas of interest and research are intercultural communication, teacher thinking, and teacher trainer development. She co-authored the book Integrating Language and Content (TESOL, 2010), which provides practical examples of integrating language and content into areas such as conflict resolution, social justice, philosophy, and cultural identity. The book was shortlisted for the prestigious Elton award.

An expat for 25 years, Susan is now deeply engaged in the Brattleboro community, where she sings in four local choirs and volunteers at the overflow shelter for the homeless. She also enjoys camping, and is an invited speaker at conferences around the world.

View Dr. Barduhn's Research
Beverley Burkett
MAT, School for International Training
BA Honours, Rhodes University
BA, University of Port Elizabeth

Adjunct Faculty
Language Teacher Education

Beverley Burkett has been a language teacher educator for more than 25 years. As a full-time visiting faculty member at SIT, she teaches in both the summer and semester MA TESOL programs. She also serves as the academic coordinator of a teacher certification project managed by World Learning Training and Education Services, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Education. Her experience includes English language teaching, teacher training, supervision, curriculum design, research, project management, and consulting.
In South Africa, Beverley was head of the Language in Education Unit at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth for more than 20 years. She engaged in research, teaching, and curriculum development, with a particular focus on teaching and learning in multilingual contexts and the development of the South African language, isiXhosa, in educational contexts. She is co-author of an ESL textbook series, Keys to English, and was team leader of a research project investigating the impact of additive bilingual (English–isiXhosa) curriculum delivery in a rural school in South Africa. She has presented academic papers at international conferences in the UK, the US, Europe, Africa, and Hong Kong, and has been an invited speaker at southern African conferences.

Beverley, who speaks Afrikaans, French, and German, was an active member of a community-based organization that worked for peace and justice in South Africa. When not teaching, she enjoys yoga and has an avid interest in design.
Ray Clark
MA, Brown University
BA, University of New Hampshire

Adjunct Faculty
Language Teacher Education

Ray Clark has been involved in the world of language teaching and learning since 1963 when he was immersed in TEFL training at the University of California, Los Angeles as a Peace Corps Volunteer for Nigeria. Upon his return to the US in 1966, Ray began teaching ESL at SIT and subsequently has spent almost 45 years in various roles at SIT/World Learning. These include serving as director of SIT’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, director of the International Students of English programs, language and TEFL coordinator for several Peace Corps training programs, and Peace Corps language materials project director. He also has held various long- and short-term assignments in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Somalia, Pakistan, Korea, Japan, and Turkey, as well as in Boston, New Orleans, Florida, North Carolina, and in all of the New England states. He holds an MA in linguistics from Brown University and a BA from the University of New Hampshire.
Paul LeVasseur
MAT, School for International Training
BA, St. Michael’s College

Adjunct Professor
Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management and Language Teacher Education

Paul LeVasseur was a member of the SIT Graduate Institute full-time faculty from 1990-2011. He teaches Intercultural Communication, Social Change, Organizational Behavior, Literacy in the ESL Classroom, Teaching the Four Skills, Curriculum Design and Assessment, Way of Council, and Leadership, Community, and Coalition Building. He also advises students in the reflective practice phase of their studies. Paul is co-founder of the Transition Putney movement and has been working as a community organizer for the past 15 years. He continually explores ways to incorporate dialogic practices in a broad range of contexts that enhance deep understanding across differences and foster vibrant and sustainable communities. He is a certified trainer in the Way of Council practice, which he incorporates into his teaching and his work as a community activist. Paul was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chad and has traveled extensively abroad. He is completing his EdD in identity issues in second language writing at the University of Massachusetts.
Patrick Moran
PhD, Lesley University
MAT, School for International Training
BA, University of Nebraska

Emeritus Professor
Language Teacher Education

Patrick Moran holds a doctorate in educational studies. A member of the SIT Graduate Institute faculty since 1977, he has a special interest in courses related to French and to the interface of intercultural communication and second language education, a topic he explores in Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice (Heinle & Heinle). A former Peace Corps TEFL volunteer in Côte d'Ivoire and Fulbright TEFL lecturer in Mali, Moran's second language and teacher education experience includes work in Peace Corps training and materials development, language and culture orientation in France, and refugee resettlement education in Thailand and Indonesia. He is also an accomplished illustrator of language learning and teaching materials, including the highly acclaimed Lexicarry: Pictures for Learning Languages, published by the language teaching publishing house Pro Lingua, which he cofounded.
Elizabeth Tannenbaum
MAT, School for International Training
BA, Mount Holyoke College
Certificate in Nonformal Education, University of the South Pacific
Certificate in Conflict Transformation Across Cultures (CONTACT), SIT Graduate Institute

Associate Professor
Language Teacher Education

A member of the SIT Graduate Institute faculty since 1987, Elizabeth Tannenbaum teaches courses in methodology and applied linguistics, with a special interest in teaching large classes with limited resources, self-directed language learning, and adult literacy. A former VISTA volunteer, Elizabeth has served as a teacher trainer for the US Peace Corps, the US State Department’s refugee education programs in Thailand and Indonesia, the Center for Applied Linguistics, and the US State Department’s English Language Specialists Program. She has lived in Mexico, Fiji, Haiti, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Elizabeth is the co-author of two beginner-level literacy texts, Picture Stories and More Picture Stories (Longman) and a contributor to Multi-Level and Diverse Classrooms (TESOL, 2010). She is active in the Brattleboro community as a board member of the public library and Sandglass Puppet Theater. Her family’s World Learning tradition includes her husband, a SIT Graduate Institute alumnus and former staff member, and their two sons, who have both been on Experiment in International Living and SIT Study Abroad programs.
Leslie Turpin
PhD, California Institute for Integral Studies
MAT, School for International Training

Adjunct Faculty

Language Teacher Education

After teacher-training in refugee camps in Thailand, Leslie began teaching in SIT’s Master of Arts in teaching programs in 1989. Her interests include refugee adjustment, cultural identity and memory, cultural and linguistic revitalization, reflective practice, classroom inquiry, teaching practice, literacy non-formal education, and teaching supervision. She received her PhD in integral studies at the California Institute for Integral Studies in 2004. Her research on intergenerational passing of cultural memory within a Laotian-American community led her to an exploration of the relationship between heritage culture/language vitality and the support of artists in a community. She has served as the tour manager for a Laotian-American Folk Opera Troupe, Sau Sing Pin; she has also worked as the managing director of Sandglass Theater, an internationally acclaimed puppet theater, where she produced two international festivals. She is currently US tour manager for the Georgian ensemble Zedashe. Leslie is a 1985 graduate of SIT’s MAT program.
Elka Todeva
PhD, MA, University of Sofia, Bulgaria

Professor
Language Teacher Education

Elka Todeva holds a doctorate in English applied linguistics and a master’s degree in British and American literature, English linguistics, and simultaneous interpretation. At SIT Graduate Institute since 1993, she teaches and does research in the areas of second language acquisition, English applied linguistics, critical pedagogy, language analysis, multilingualism, teacher cognition, and ecological approaches to teaching. A native of Bulgaria, Elka began working in the US as a visiting Fulbright scholar. Her publications include The Multiple Realities of Multilingualism: Personal Narratives and Researchers’ Perspectives (Mouton de Gruyter, 2009), three ESL textbooks, two English dictionaries, and numerous articles on language acquisition and learning, English linguistics, discourse, brain-friendly teaching, multi-media, and reflective practices.
Elka has taught and supervised in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and Latin America, and is equally enthusiastic about teacher training and working with ESL/EFL students. A speaker of multiple languages, she advocates plurilinguistic approaches to language teaching that take advantage of students’ prior knowledge and experiences. Her various courses and projects encourage teachers to become public intellectuals who initiate or participate in discussions around language planning, language and identity, language and power, multilingualism, and the role of English in the era of globalization.

Elka is an invited speaker at conferences around the world. She has worked as a simultaneous interpreter at over 120 international events, including the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and various UNESCO conferences. She has also been engaged with several international organizations for free and fair elections.

Her passions outside work are modern art, interior design, and music.