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Elms College to Host Two Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants During 2012-2013 Academic Year

Monday, June 25, 2012

Two Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistants have been assigned to Elms College for the 2012-2013 academic year. Ciara Cosgrove of Monaghan, Ireland will teach novice and intermediate courses in the Irish language and Yu Katsurashima of Sendai, Japan will teach a novice course in the Japanese language and assist with a course on Japanese culture.

Cosgrove holds a bachelor's degree in Irish education and a master's degree in Irish language and literature, both from St. Patrick's College in Dublin. She will work closely with the Irish Cultural Center to help build long-term ties between Ireland and the college community. Cosgrove studied education at University of Northern Colorado through the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus) program and taught in a Colorado elementary school. She is in her fourth year of teaching Irish at a primary school in Ireland and fifth summer of teaching high school students at Coláiste Sheosaimh in Galway, Ireland. She will be the college's third Irish FLTA.

Katsurashima holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics and culture from Tohoku Gakuin University. He has studied abroad in Sydney, Australia, and at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Penn. He has worked as an English teacher in Japan and with English-speaking tourists in the Japanese hospitality industry. In addition to instructing the Japanese class, Katsurashima will assist Joyce Hampton, Ed.D., Elms College director of English learning language and international programs, in teaching classes in the Asian studies minor. He will act as a liaison between the college community and the University of Kochi faculty and students during their February 2013 visit to Elms College. He will be the college's second Japanese FLTA.

As part of the Fulbright FLTA program requirements, Cosgrove and Katsurashima will take two Elms classes each semester at either the undergraduate or graduate level, including one American-based course. After a week-long orientation for U.S.-based FLTAs at Arizona State University, Cosgrove and Katsurashima will arrive at Elms College in September for the nine-month program.

Elms College has participated in the FLTA program since 2009 and has hosted five FLTAs-two Arabic, two Irish, and one Japanese.

"The FLTA program allows us to broaden the range of languages that are available to our students," Hampton said. "Learning from a native speaker of the language can increase proficiency and create a deeper cultural connection. In addition, both our campus and local community are enriched by their presence and sharing about language and culture in creative and meaningful ways. It makes learning a language an exciting step toward being a part of the global community."

The Fulbright FLTA program is sponsored by the United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and administered by the Institute of International Education. The program enables young educators to refine their teaching skills, increase their English language proficiency and extend their knowledge of the cultures and customs of the United States while engaging in non-degree studies at accredited post-secondary U.S. educational institutions. Along with their studies, FLTAs teach language courses, supervise language labs and lead language table discussions. FLTAs may serve as an instructor of a foreign language class or have a purely teaching assistant role. FLTAs may also act as resource persons in conversation groups, cultural representatives, attendants in language laboratories, coordinators of extra-curricular activities, guest speakers in civilization courses, head's of language clubs, houses, tables and much more.