Dear Part-Time Faculty Hiring and Evaluation Committee:
After I graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Spanish, I
decided to pursue a graduate degree at CSUSB. Having an interest in Linguistics
and Writing, I decided to specialize in both Composition and TESL. While
finishing my Master’s Degree, I participated in the Teaching Assistantship
program under the mentoring of Dr. Sandra Kamisikiri. Her words sum up my
experience in this two quarter mentoring program:
The program is designed to increase your effectiveness as a teacher,
enhance your sense of professionalism and create an organized and supportive
setting in which you can discuss and explore pedagogical issues on a regular
basis with a faculty mentor, and exchange ideas with and receive feedback
from your colleagues.
Since I began my teaching back in Fall Quarter 1995 and up until the present
time, I have continued to benefit from a very supportive setting among the
English Department faculty. After carefully reading through the departmental
guidelines for English 95, English 101, English 306, and English 311, I have
developed effective teaching practices that have helped to serve those students
that I teach. The listed courses below describe my approaches to teaching these
classes:
!
English95 and 101, English Composition. Writing is
at the center of these courses. We write every class period, and we read and
analyze what we write. We also read the work of other writers’ and
consider the context in which those pieces are situated. My goals include
introducing students to the rhetorical nature of language, teaching them
strategies that will enable them to use language more effectively in their
day-to-day lives, and developing in them critical literacy through thinking,
talking, and writing. I encourage teamwork and collaboration and work to
provide students with different perspectives on the many issues we
investigate together. I also teach them the importance of context to
highlight how language changes as the discourse community changes.
!
English 306, Advanced Expository Writing. Centered around the book
by Edward White, Inquiry: A Cross-Curricular Reader, this class first
promotes active reading by encouraging the students to ask questions and try
out answers. The students then transfer their efforts to writing that is worth
reading. The class guides students into a high level of abstract thought and
reasoning by presenting them with two objectives: literature based expository
writing and in-class timed essay writing. With literature based writing, the
students critically examine and write about the many social issues that are
bought out in the multi-disciplined readings. For essay writing, the students
learn how to write under the imposed demand of a one hour time constraint.
!
English 311, Introduction to Linguistics. This course, an
introduction to the study of linguistics and the English language, focuses on
descriptive rather than prescriptive uses of the language. Language is
objectively described by examining what speakers know about a language and how
they use a language. Through the use of a tailored workbook that I designed to
supplement Language Files 7th Edition, we examine the
different variations of language and try to account for them through
descriptive generalizations: Phonetics and Phonology, Morphology, Syntax,
Semantics, Pragmatics, and Psycho- and Sociolinguistics. We look at each area
so that we can view language as a system through which we interact,
communicate, and transmit our culture.
My approach to teaching these classes is based on the premise that a great
instructor is an organizer, a facilitator, and a motivator. I structure my
syllabus and my daily lessons plans with very clear objectives that are
explained to the students. And by giving the proper feedback on all assignments,
examinations, class discussions and workshops, I strive to facilitate the
learning process so that every student can learn and understand what is being
taught. Lastly, motivation is a catalyst that promotes more active learning in
the classroom. Thus, we often discuss how writing affects the way we think and
learn, as well as for our chances of success, our personal development, and our
relations with other people.
The remainder of this portfolio represents my versatility in being able to
teach ESL, Composition, and Linguistics classes. The teaching resume, the sample
syllabi, the writing assignments, the English 306 workbook, the English 311
workbook, and the description of my ESL and English 101Web Sites are indicative
to the careful thought I put into every class I teach. I hold all students in
the highest respect, and I want to serve them as best I can. Lastly, I hope that
this portfolio will enable me to continue to have a professionally rewarding
relationship with the CSUSB English Department.