Staff

Bruce has been Director (Academic) of International Programs since 2004 where he overseas programming and instruction. Bruce is interested in how language support can be tailored to meet the needs of both international and domestic English language learners in post-secondary contexts. His research interests include specific purposes language assessment, content language integrated learning, translanguaging, and reliability and validity issues in language assessment.

With over 25 years of teaching experience in Canada and Europe, Katherine joined the New College as a summer language instructor in 2004. She coordinates the IFP engineering stream, as well as the summer International English Programs (IEP) academic program. Her research interests include cognitive linguistics, Systemic Functional Linguistics, genre theory, English for Specific Purposes, and language proficiency testing. She holds an MA in Teaching English for Academic Purposes from the University of Nottingham, where her main research focus was optimizing writing instruction to promote core language development for speakers of English as an Additional Language. 

As part of the English language teaching community, his focus is on public spaces for exploring teacher identity and development. These primarily include spaces like #tleap (bit.do/tleap), 4CinELT (fourc.ca), and IATEFL Teacher Development Special Interest Group (tdsig.org). As a university EAP instructor, his main area of interest is collaborative and cooperative intensive reading. This manifests itself mostly through his work on the Critical Reading & Writing and Information in the Digital Era courses, and through authoring Academic Reading Circles (bit.ly/arc-book).

Alexandra Guerson has been teaching world history in the IFP since 2010, where she gets to combine both her expertise in history with her past experience as an international student. At New College, she also coordinates New One: Learning without Borders.

John McGaughey has been teaching English for academic purposes (EAP) for over 15 years at universities in Canada and in South Korea.  His research interests include Vygotskian sociocultural theory and activity theory in understanding second language teaching/learning, teacher and learner identity and the first-year international ESL student experience; language policy and planning as well as translanguaging in EAP classes.

Kerstin Sandstrom has been an ESL professional for more than 20 years. She began her focus on EAP in 2008, and has been teaching at the University of Toronto for the last nine years. Kerstin is currently the Lead Instructor for Academic Listening and Speaking with the University of Toronto’s IFP program. In this role, she has developed a focus on curriculum and assessment design, as well as invigorating the speaking elements of the course by introducing vocabulary for production, speaking mechanics, and Academic Listening Circles.

Chiharu has been with the International Programs team since 2019. In her role, Chiharu assists in academic administration, managing inventory and records, and handles enquiries from students and instructors. Outside the office, she’s known as the “walking vintage dictionary” and enjoys yoga, photography and café hopping!

As the Program Advisor, Hanna provides one-to-one ongoing academic advising, guidance on personal and academic matters as well as strategies on time, stress, and anxiety management to ensure that our IFP students feel supported to succeed academically. She also organizes workshops and sessions on course & degree options, university resources, engagement opportunities and anything students may need to know when transitioning from IFP to their full time studies. When she is not in the office, you’ll find her either cooking, gardening or woodworking!  

Janine Rivière has been teaching EAP and undergraduate History courses at universities in Canada and Australia for over 10 years. She received her PhD in History from the University of Toronto and is the Lead Course Instructor of the University Skills and Strategies course in the IFP. Rivière has published widely on the cultural history of dreams and nightmares in the early modern period. Her book – Dreams in Early Modern England – was published by Routledge in June 2017.

Nermine Abd Elkader has a special interest in ontological dialogue as an approach to transformative education. She believes that such dialogue is needed and often overlooked in second language teaching. It is especially important in EAP which prepares students to be linguistically competent in a post secondary setting. With some of the most recent approaches-such as Plurilingualism and Critical Pedagogy- emerging in EAP, Nermine is interested to see how she can incorporate Dialogic Pedagogy into these approaches to achieve a deeper and more equitable EAP education.

With 30 years of experience in public and private sector education, I am passionate about language teaching in all its forms. I am particularly focused on the way EAP intersects with cultural equity and social justice. My current interests include test design and the construction of PLNs through social media. .

Since 2005, Lindsey has been teaching mathematics, computer science, and other related topics at the University of Toronto St. George campus. She joined the IFP team in 2011 as the instructor of the economics course, and is also coordinating the first year Calculus for Commerce course for the Faculty of Arts and Science. Her research interests focus on the overlap between the psychology of learning and STEM education.

Jeannie has taught EAP for over ten years in Canadian universities. She has both developed and instructed university bridging programs for first-year economic and engineering students. Jeannie teaches academic listening and speaking with a focus on presentation, note-taking and lecture listening skills. She also teaches a business writing/communication course at York University. Jeannie has specialized training in and has tutored students with acquired brain injuries (ABI).

Zoltan has over ten years  years of experience teaching ESL to students from a variety of cultures and countries; he has taught in Canada, Spain, Hungary and the UK. For the past eight  years he has been working as an EAP instructor in the International Foundation Program (IFP) at the University of Toronto during the September-April academic year. During the summer breaks, Zoltan  combines his love of travel and teaching by working as a pre-sessional university tutor at various UK universities. His particular  area of interest  within EAP is vocabulary  acquisition and learning strategies.

Tracy has a BA in English Literature from the University of Victoria, B.C., an MEd in Second Language Education and Comparative, International and Development Education from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and a MISt from the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto.  She specialises in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and has taught at universities in Southeast Asia and Toronto for the past 20 years.  Her main research interests include information literacy skills in EAP, specifically the ability of students to incorporate outside sources in their academic writing and the language learning/affective benefits of extensive reading in EAP programs.

Sa’diyya has been teaching mathematics for the International Foundation Program since 2013. Her courses aim to better prepare incoming students for mathematics at the University of Toronto by bridging the gap between grade school and university-level math. The central goal is to provide students with the fundamental skills and reasoning training required for success. Her passion for mathematics is joined by an enthusiasm and curiosity for the pedagogical creativity required to make mathematics accessible for all students. These interests have led to her pursuit of a PhD in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development in Mathematics Education at OISE.

After teaching academic English in the US and Canada for over ten years, Rebecca joined the IFP team in 2015. She has worked as a journalist, author, editor, writing tutor, English exam designer and assessor, writing centre manager and K-12 developmental reading teacher. These experiences inform her teaching focus on learner-driven and formative feedback, recursive learning, educational technology, and creativity in the classroom. She recently designed an online English literature course for business majors, and created an online module textbook for post-secondary learners needing to upgrade their reading and writing skills. When she is not teaching, she runs a small business drawing portraits and painting murals.

Nicola’s work spans EAP at the university setting and continuing education at the college setting in both Canada and China. He has designed curriculum for George Brown College and has taught specific language courses to better integrate reading and listening into spoken discourse in the classroom. Nicola’s interests include meaningful and authentic assessment for both writing and speaking. He has done research on listening skills to better integrate speaking in the classroom. Nicola is also the Lead Instructor of the Global Citizenship Program, a course for international students that focuses on instilling leadership skills and mitigating world issues and problems. He currently sits as the President-Elect of TESL Toronto, a role he will assume in September 2019.

Fiore has been teaching English as a Second Language for over 10 years. For the last 5 years, he has been teaching EAP reading and writing courses at both the University of Toronto and Humber College. Fiore has been a TESOL practicum sponsor teacher, and he has also developed curriculum for Humber College courses for Speaking and Pronunciation, and a UofT ROTMAN Commerce preparation course. Fiore’s interests include providing individualized support for students through the Learning Support Program with the goal of helping students improve pronunciation and writing skills.

After teaching EFL and American Drama in Japanese universities, Ai has been teaching EAP in Canada for 10 years. She is particularly interested in student growth, self-reflection, and wellness. Pursing ever more possibilities for creative classroom environments, she has been implementing sustained silent reading and self-reflective writing times in her classes. When not teaching, she is an avid piano player and a passionate theatre-goer.

Alice has taught EAP for over ten years in universities in Canada and the Middle East, primarily within academic reading and writing.  Her area of interest is critical pedagogy and the sociocultural, political and educational contexts of students that impact learning in the classroom.  She is also interested in teacher development and contributes to this as a board member of TESL Toronto. She has helped to organize conferences such as T4T and TOSCON with the board.  Her other teaching experiences include business English, IELTS prep, and general English to newcomers and refugees in Canada and overseas. She is a language learner of Korean and Arabic.

Arlene has been an instructor of Academic Listening and Speaking for many years.  In her quest to develop listener autonomy, she strives to assist her students with the deep metacognitive processes of listening whereby they might notice where they normally would not and then looking at evidence of that learning in their speaking and writing.  Arlene has taught ESL to Newcomer adults and Business Communications in the college system. In the corporate sector, she has facilitated courses in socio-cultural communication as well as Occupation Specific Language Training for Accounting and Finance, harnessing from her many years with IBM Canada, Ltd.

Conttia Lai is a PhD candidate in the Language and Literacies Education program at OISE/UT. Her research interests include academic literacies development and academic writing pedagogy. Her thesis research, comprising three case studies of the textual borrowing practices of international graduate students, is largely informed by her teaching practices and interactions with second language student writers in higher education contexts in Canada and Asia.

Interested in learning about different cultures and acquiring new languages herself, Claire has taught EFL in a variety of countries in South America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.  For the past seven years, she has been teaching ESL and EAP for both the ELP and the IFP programs at U of T. She has also developing curricula for the Trinity College exams, the MELAB and IELTS tests. From working with foreign students from various L1 backgrounds, she is interested in how to successfully change fossilized pronunciation features.

Christina Cole has a particular interest in teaching second language listening, pronunciation, and using technology to facilitate language learning. Prior to the IFP program, she taught EAP at Sheridan College and Mohawk College and English Literature at York University. She has presented at TESOL, TESL Ontario, and TESL affiliates on diverse topics. She was team lead in the development and launch of TESL Ontario’s inaugural webinar series.  Currently, she is a member of a research project at York University, investigating language teaching technology use in post-secondary EAP programs.

My fascination for education started when I was a child attending innovative alternative schools in Toronto, and after twenty-odd years of teaching, my interest in effective, critical, and learner-centred pedagogy continues to grow. As a teacher I value active learning, social justice, mutual trust and respect, humor, and kindness. Of particular scholarly interest lately has been the relationship between learner and teacher identity, autonomy, and motivation. When not teaching, I enjoy singing (ok, yes, sometimes while teaching too), and designing maps of imaginary places.

Cat teaches Critical Reading and Writing for the International Foundations Program at the University of Toronto. Her research is focused on the evaluation of online platforms and their affordances to further academic writing in higher education. Currently, Cat’s projects include exploring writer commentary on evidence and collaborating on creating an evidence-based pedagogical approach to categorize comment types.

Çağrı’s interests span both applied and theoretical linguistics. His theoretical research focuses on first and second language acquisition, syntax and language documentation. On the applied side, he has taught EAP and ESL for more than a decade in Canada, Japan and China. He has also developed student-centred curricula and worked with local Chinese English teachers to incorporate CLT methods into their curriculum. Çağrı strives to make sure that his teaching methods are informed by both theory and practice in order to deliver a well-rounded education to his students.