March 25, 2009
St. John’s University’s School of Education (SOE) hosted a
delegation of visiting English professors from Beijing Union
University (BUU) last month for several meetings between February 9
and 27 on the Queens Campus. The meetings with these educators
focused on learning about and experiencing, first-hand, the School
of Education’s graduate programs in Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages (TESOL) and its English as a foreign language
(TEFL) curriculum.
The Chinese scholars scheduled their trip for three weeks to the
United States to visit several American universities to observe and
evaluate which institutions could offer the best preparation and
innovative practices in teaching English as a foreign or second
language for their faculty. In China, undergraduates must pass a
difficult national English examination in order to
graduate.
Beijing Union University is also interested in developing a
partnership with St. John’s for student exchange programs.
Zhongping Wu, Deputy Dean of International Programs of BUU met with
Jerrold Ross, Dean of the School of Education at St. John’s, Dr.
Gene Geisert, Chair, Department of Administrative and Instructional
Leadership and John Spiridakis JD, PhD, Professor and Coordinator
of Graduate Programs in TESOL, to discuss a possible joint MS TESOL
program, joint undergraduate and graduate education programs, and a
doctoral program in Instructional Leadership. Wu also met with Dale
Gardner, representing St. John’s International programs to talk
about various potential university-wide exchange program
initiatives.
Singee Li Lam, Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate
Admissions, who was on hand to greet the delegation upon their
arrival, also linked Dean Wu to St. John’s Peter J. Tobin College
of Business where a possible partnership was also discussed with
Linda Sama, Associate Dean in TCB, who met with Wu to look at
possible future endeavors between both universities.
“The Beijing professors were thrilled with their experience of
our TESOL graduate education program, the dynamic level of faculty
involvement, stimulating faculty research and excited about the
research ideas and exemplary strategies they learned to bring back
to their students,” said Dr. Spiridakis. “Our faculty and students
also benefited immensely from the cross-cultural knowledge sharing.
Dean Ross has strongly encouraged and supported the globalization
of our programs, consistent with the University’s mission and our
graduate TESOL program has always been a perfect fit for such
development, especially given the global need for English
proficiency. We already offer summer graduate TESOL courses and
language study in the Dominican Republic and have our sights set on
Greece, Rome and, of course, Beijing next.”
For more information about the TESOL program and these
initiatives, contact John Spiridakis, JD, PhD, Professor and
Coordinator of Graduate Programs in TESOL by calling (718) 990-6407
or e-mail inquiries to spiridaj@stjohns.edu.