Thursday Plenary - Claire Bradin Siskin

Claire Bradin Siskin is an enthusiastic practitioner of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). She is a former member of the Board of Directors of TESOL and has served as chair of the CALL Interest Section of TESOL and the Executive Board of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO). She directed the English as a Second Language Writing Online Workshop (ESL-WOW) project. She has given presentations and conducted workshops in 20 countries. Her principal interests are faculty development, research in CALL, and mobile-assisted language learning. See http://www.edvista.com/claire/vita.html  for more information.

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Friday Plenary - Dr. Janice Pilgreen

Dr. Janice Pilgreen began her career in the Glendale Unified School District as an English, reading, and ESL teacher. After earning a master’s degree in Reading and a Reading Specialist Credential at UCLA, she moved into the position of English Department Chair at Glendale High School, which served a diverse population of non-native speakers from 57 language groups. There she implemented a comprehensive reading intervention program for ESL students, including a school-wide Sustained Silent Reading component. 

 

Later, after recognizing the need for stronger student support in the development of English proficiency, Dr. Pilgreen earned a Ph.D. at USC in Language, Learning and Literacy. She accepted a full-time tenure-track position as Program Chair of Graduate Reading at the University of La Verne, where she developed the Literacy Center, a training ground for reading specialists and a no-cost support center for local school children needing assistance in reading and writing.  More than 65 percent of the center’s tutees were non-native speakers.

 

To contribute professionally to her field, Dr. Pilgreen published various articles, chapters, and books throughout her tenure, including The SSR Handbook and English Learners and the Secret Language of School.  She frequently presents at numerous local, national, and international conferences and is proud to be a lifetime member of the La Verne Academy, an organization that recognizes and promotes the development of scholarship and research.  Currently, she is a consultant for several school districts in Southern California.

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Saturday Plenary 1 - Dr. Kathleen Bailey

Dr. Kathi Bailey is a professor of applied linguistics in the TESOL-TFL Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey (MIIS), as well as a professor in the Anaheim University TESOL MA and EdD degree programs.  She completed her MA and her doctorate at UCLA and has taught at MIIS ever since, with brief visiting professor positions at Georgetown University, Iowa State University, Michigan State University, Northern Arizona University, San Francisco State University, the School for International Training, St Michaels College, the University of New South Wales, Macquarie University, University of Hawaii, and  UCLA. In 1996-97 she spent a sabbatical year teaching EFL at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 

Dr. Bailey has been involved in teacher training programs in Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Singapore, and Trinidad & Tobago. She has also given conference presentations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, France, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, and Uruguay.

 

Dr. Bailey’s research interests include language teacher education, development, and supervision, language assessment, and classroom research.  She is a former President of TESOL, the President of TIRF – The International Research Foundation for English Language Education, and the Past President of AAAL. 

 

 

Saturday Plenary 2 - Dr. Francisco Jiménez

Author and educator, Francisco Jiménez emigrated with his family from Tlaquepaque, Mexico to California and as a child worked alongside his parents in the fields of California.

Dr. Jiménez’s autobiographical books The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (Cajas de cartón, Spanish edition), Breaking Through (Senderos fronterizos, Spanish edition), Reaching Out (Más allá de mí, Spanish edition), La Mariposa, and The Christmas Gift/El regalo de Navidad have won several national literary awards as well as the hearts of his readers. 

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