ESL instructor: ‘Working with teachers is what I love to do’
Katie Welch, adjunct assistant professor and instructor at The University of Texas at Arlington’s English Language Institute (ELI), led teacher training workshops in Turkey at the behest of the U.S. Department of State.
Welch’s workshops focused on teaching K-12 learners English as a second language (ESL) for a two-week English Language Specialist project at seven universities in and around the capital city of Ankara. She also shared best practices for teaching a subject and building learners’ language skills in English at the same time.
“Being alongside the teachers in Turkey and helping them think about their teaching was an exciting opportunity for me,” Welch said. “I was excited about the content because working with teachers is what I love to do. It’s my joy.”
As both a faculty member and alumna of the Department of Linguistics and TESOL at UTA, Welch said her selection to the specialist program reflects the high-caliber work of faculty and students in the department. Welch is a top-tier TESOL expert and has trained teachers at national and international TESOL conferences. (TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.)
To finish her project abroad, Welch spoke at the International Language Teacher Education Research Group’s third annual conference in Nevşehir, Turkey. Her talk, “From Theory to Practice: Transforming Language Teacher Education Through Explicit Pedagogical Modeling,” focused on bringing teaching theories into practice.
“In teacher education, the research shows that if we want teachers to do these things in their classrooms, we have to do them first,” she said. “At one point in my career, I realized I needed to change my own practice so that those I was helping knew what to do in their classrooms.”
For Welch, the specialist program was also an opportunity to add to her knowledge and understanding of how English is taught globally.
“One of my greatest takeaways was how important it is that we as American scholars think more globally and recognize there is a high level of scholarship across the globe,” she said. “One of the things I’m bringing back with me is this desire to really see more cross-cultural collaborations.”
Cynthia Kilpatrick, director of the ELI, said cross-cultural exchange is an important component of the institute. She said its goal is to continue attracting students from around the globe and help them become better ESL teachers.
“We are so delighted Dr. Welch has the opportunity to collaborate with the Department of State and our TESOL colleagues in Turkey,” Kilpatrick said. “UTA just recently launched a fully online TESOL degree to help train ESL teachers. We hope Dr. Welch’s collaboration with the English Language Specialist program spreads international awareness to the TESOL programs here at UTA.”