Spotlight on CETC Members
Tarun Kumari Bamon, lils09@yahoo.com, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How are you connected with the world of TESOL?
Friends call me Lily. I am from Shillong, Meghalaya, a hill station in North East India, and I have been teaching English for the past 28 years at different levels: undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate. For 12 years I have also been involved in teacher development, training, and research at the Teaching English and Foreign Language University (TEAFLU) in India. Presently I have been deputed by the government of India under the ASEAN Initiative for Integration to teach and coordinate the Cambodia-India Centre for English Language Training (CICELT), in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
2. What do you especially appreciate about TESOL and/or CETC?
I have been a member of TESOL for a long time, and it is a platform for practitioners in the field to interact and exchange ideas relating to learning, teaching, and research in ELT. I have personally benefited from reading Essential Teacher and from participating at the annual TESOL convention in Seattle this year. The opportunity has immensely enriched my knowledge of ELT.
3. Is there a relevant joy or challenge you experience which you could share with CETC Newsletter readers?
Attending the CELT conference in Chiang Mai and then again just before TESOL 2008 in Seattle was a joy and blessing, for which I am grateful. Listening to experts in the field at conferences has exposed me to my own limitations but also inspired me to learn and research so I can be of service to people within my own tribe and especially to the Cambodians who are now my immediate responsibility. These experiences have also helped to make me aware of my role and responsibilities, especially as a Christian teacher.
4. What is your favorite Bible verse, and why?
Psalm 121 is my favorite Bible passage. I claim its promises in every walk of my life and in whatever situation I find myself. In the darkest moments of my life, it is this psalm that has inspired me to move ahead—to carry on despite the odds.
5. Is there a book, article, or individual related to TESOL that has influenced you and/or your teaching? If so, could you explain how?
Don Snow's book English Teaching As Christian Mission: An Applied Theology has influenced me and my teaching. Before reading this book I had never really linked ELT with Christian mission. But the book is an eye-opener. I now look at teaching English not only as a profession but also as a mission. It helped me understand that I can reach out to the world not just through a full-time ministry but even through my teaching in classrooms every day. I am now doing what God has commissioned each one of us to do, to "Go and make disciples of all nations . . . and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." I now teach the same lessons but I do it with an added joy because through them I can also testify of my love and humble service to my Lord and Savior.
Andrew Bowdler, bowdlerfamily@xalt.co.uk, Dinas Powys, Nr Cardiff, South Wales, United Kingdom
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How are you connected with the world of TESOL?
I qualified as an English teacher (BEd) in 1978 and taught English in the United Kingdom and India between then and 1984. In 1988-89, I did a Diploma in TEFL course at Cardiff University, and then taught English and ESL at a school in Newport, South Wales, for 3 years. Between 1992 and 1999, I worked for the International Nepal Fellowship (INF) in Nepal where I was involved in teaching English to nursing students, teacher trainees, and INF's own Nepalese staff. During this period, I also started an MA in Applied Linguistics from a UK university—by distance learning—that I finally completed in 2001. In my last 2 years with INF, I also ran the in-house language school that taught Nepali and Nepalese culture to ex-pats. For the past 7 years, I have had a variety of jobs, some within ESOL, some not. I just started a new job as administrator to a Christian training group, and hope that my ESOL experience will be able to be used within this.
2. What do you especially appreciate about TESOL and/or CETC?
I originally joined TESOL back in 1996. At the time, I felt that it would be a useful link as many of the International Nepal Fellowship's senior Nepalese staff went to American-based universities (in the Philippines, especially) to do further study. I joined CETC because I felt that being able to share things with other Christian ESOL teachers would be a useful support mechanism both professionally and spiritually. TESOL, through its Caucus and Interest Section facilities, has allowed me to network, virtually and face-to-face, with other ESOL professionals and share issues of concern and interest to me and them—something that I would not have had access to otherwise. Other groups are able to give the "trade"-related support, but none with the added spiritual element that is CETC. Being part of TESOL and CETC has also allowed me to take part in, and learn about, the management and development of such a professional organization. Sadly, though, TESOL in itself has not been a great support as much of the material it produces is for the American market—something that I and other members find problematic. However, the groups I belong to are far more valuable anyway.
3. Is there a relevant joy or challenge you experience which you could share with CETC Newsletter readers?
While working with INF, we were not allowed to publicly preach the Gospel ("proselytize," as the agreement with the government put it). We could preach within the churches we attended, and we could talk about our faith to our neighbors if they asked. One year, I was asked to help with the English Literature course at the teacher-training college, and the list of set texts included T.S. Eliot's The Three Magi. The timing was such that we started to study the poem in early December! Once we had read it through a couple of times, one student said: "Now we've read it, what's it all about?" How does one turn down such an opportunity to tell the Christmas story? I have had a number of comparable experiences with students asking questions that effectively require me to explain my faith in such a way.
4. What is your favorite Bible verse, and why?
Not so much a verse—nor even a passage. More a topic. Starting with Psalm 121 ("I lift my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?")—which we did while living in Pokhara and under the shadow of the Annapurnas on a daily basis—my mind then turns to the passages that speak of God bearing us up on his wings—wings like those of eagles (Ex 19:4), or renewing our youth (by which I understand "our strength") like the eagle's (Ps 103:5), or that most wonderful of passages, Isaiah 40:30-31: "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men [and women] stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
5. Is there a book, article, or individual related to TESOL that has influenced you and/or your teaching? If so, could you explain how?
When I first started teaching, my father (an Anglican clergyman) reminded me about Romans 10. We can't confess "Jesus is Lord" with our mouths without our hearing about Him, and we can't really hear about Him without having the stories about Him in our own language as well as someone being a model of Him to us. That is what I have tried to base my whole teaching career on—being a model of Christ to my students, ESOL or otherwise. Not necessarily talking about Him verbally, but being Christ to them in my attitudes and approach to them.
Meredith Bricker, meredith.bricker@gmail.com, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How are you connected with the world of TESOL?
I am a relatively recent member of TESOL and have been involved in the world of applied linguistics only for the past 4 years, but I often feel that I've been pulled in this direction for my entire life. In college, I developed my love of writing, language, and culture by majoring in English and Spanish, but it was several years of postcollege searching before I found my way to a master's program in applied linguistics at Georgia State University. As a now full-time teacher in the Intensive English Program at Georgia State and coeditor of the CETC Newsletter, I feel blessed to be in a career I love, and I have enjoyed learning about my profession by being involved in TESOL and CETC.
2. What do you especially appreciate about TESOL and/or CETC?
For me, one of the most valuable aspects of TESOL and CETC has been the strong sense of community I have gained from both organizations. I believe that the collaborative effort that comes from being united by our passion for language and teaching causes us all to grow, and my own perspective has developed immensely from connection with the efforts of so many professionals in the field. Getting to know other Christian ESL professionals through CETC has added a deeper dimension to this sense of community. This depth of connection strengthens and builds our relationships with God and with each other, and I am truly blessed by the communities and relationships I have gained as a result.
3. Is there a relevant joy or challenge you experience which you could share with CETC Newsletter readers?
Some of my most influential challenges have included the endeavor to be bold enough to connect my spiritual life with my professional life and to accept the way others might view me as a Christian. I feel troubled by the history of English language teaching as it has been influenced by colonization, cultural takeovers, and deception in the name of Christianity, and I realize why this background may affect other ESL professionals' view of my faith. On a personal level, I struggle with my concern that if I identify myself as a Christian in my professional environment, my personal human failures may succeed in promulgating the negative stereotypes of the past and present. However, being in CETC has helped me to see many others who have successfully integrated their faith and profession, moving beyond while not denying the effects of the negative images of Christianity and Christians. I believe that God has strengthened my confidence in His power to overcome my weakness in this issue through the example of others in CETC. I continue to pray that He will work through my actions so that I may truly demonstrate the unfailing love and mercy that Christ has exemplified for us. By trusting in Christ, I have hope that my failures will not turn others away from His peaceful, merciful love.
4. What is your favorite Bible verse, and why?
Although many "favorite" Bible verses have spoken to me at different times in my life, the one I have been referring to recently, especially as I find myself seeking direction for my personal and professional actions, is Micah 6:8: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." The simplicity and directness of this verse help me keep my life in perspective and remind me that my role in life is to try to do God's will; I am not the One running the show.
5. Is there a book, article, or individual related to TESOL that has influenced you and/or your teaching? If so, could you explain how?
In addition to enjoying the collaboration with other TESOLers at the international conventions, I especially enjoy the opportunity to see and listen to, in person, the researchers and writers whose articles and body of work most influenced my graduate studies in the field of applied linguistics. Even more influential was the opportunity to see many of these same TESOL scholars discuss their research and faith at the Christian in English Language Teaching (CELT) conference at Seattle Pacific University last March. It was refreshing to hear their personal perspectives on their faith as it related to their professions, and I found myself inspired as much by their spiritual revelations as by their professional scholarship.
SLW & CALL October 2007 Volume 11 Number 3: Table of Contents
