Report on Academic
Specialist Visit to Mexico:
June 7-20, 1999
By Charles Hall, University of Memphis
About the Specialist
Charles Hall is an associate professor
in the Department of English at the University of Memphis in Memphis,
Tennessee. He came to Memphis in 1984 to help start the M.A. in
English with a Concentration in ESL/EFL Program. Prior to his
appointment at UM, he taught in the German Department and the
Intensive English Institute at the University of Florida. Professor
Hall received his BA degree in linguistics from Oakland University
in 1976 and his MA in Linguistics in 1979 and his Ph.D. in Linguistics
in 1983 from the University of Florida.
Professor Hall has held two Senior
AY Fulbright Fellowships to the Czech Republic [89-90 Charles
University, Prague, and 93-94 University of West Bohemia, Pilsen].
Additionally, he has lectured at the Salzburg Seminar in Austria,
in Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Egypt, and China.
He is the co-author of American Legal
English [University of Michigan Press, 1999] designed specifically
for the EFL environment and several others texts for use in either
ESL or EFL composition courses.
Visit
Charles Hall's home page
Areas of Specialization
English for Specific Purposes (ESP):
legal English and EAP; teacher training for TEFL; curriculum development
Trip Report
At the request of the Centro de Idiomas
[Language Center], I undertook a complete external review of the
staff, the courses, the materials, the goals and the future of
the Center. At this time, the Center houses no degree programs
but rather provides service courses for thousands of students
in the University’s many degree program. I interviewed students,
faculty, support staff about the make-up, structure, reputation,
and successes of the Center.
Since I was extremely impressed with
the organizational skills, the high level of professional training,
and the creative solutions to standard problems of all language
centers, I agreed with the staff and the staff’s Director that
the Center was well-prepared to propose a new B.A. program in
TEFL/TESL targeting mainly in-service secondary school teachers
of English. Working in conjunction with the core faculty, we developed
a four-year curriculum and the necessary supporting documents
for the proposed BA program. That proposal is currently under
review by the University.
This new degree program would be
the first for the Center and would provide opportunities for increased,
systematic professional education not only for the State of Guanajuato
but also neighboring states. The demand by in-service teachers
(no BA is currently required to teach English in the secondary
schools) guarantees that the Program will be both successful and
instrumental in raising the general level of instruction in the
entire region.
Since this degree program has such
significant potential, I have recommended that the Center apply
for a senior Fulbright scholar to help them design the course
content, teach academic writing, and assist in the implementation
of the new curriculum. Additionally, since this was the first
USIA project at the University of Guanajuato, I must add that
extremely pleased with both my reception, the quality of the work
we completed, and the generosity of my hosts.
Recommended
Links
Charles Hall's home page
http://www.people.memphis.edu/~cehall
The University of Guanajuato
http://www.ugto.mx/
The Language Center/University of
Guanajuato
http://www.ugto.mx/Unidades_Academicas/idiomas/LANG.htm
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