In order to ensure the quality of all Via Lingua programs,
both content and delivery, the organizational structure
includes both an Academic Board and an Advisory Board. The
Academic Board comprises a number of senior Via Lingua
academic staff members. The Advisory Board comprises a group
of distinguished international educators, all of whom have
expertise within the field of Teaching English as a Foreign
Language.
The Advisory Board has a significant role in advising and
counseling the managing director and the Academic Board. In
addition, its role is to vouch for the quality of the
content and delivery of the study programs offered in Via
Lingua Study Centers.
In order to fulfill this role, the Advisory Board:
The members of the Advisory Board are all internationally recognized within the TEFL and academic community. This group of outstanding professional educators and leaders in the field of international education is in a unique position to publicly vouch for the quality of our courses.
Donald Back
Don Back is currently Director of the English Language
Institute at Virginia Tech, one of the leading universities
in the United States. Prior to joining Tech, Don was with
ELS Language Centers, where he directed one of the company's
largest language centers, oversaw centers in the Southern
district, and, most recently, recruited throughout Latin
America. A former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, he has been
active in international education for almost 20 years and
has worked in managerial capacities in English language
programs for more than 15 years. Past-president of the
American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP),
the leading organization representing language institutes in
the United States, he has additionally served on a national
level as a SEVIS Project Manager for NAFSA Association of
International Educators, is listed as a contributor in
NAFSA's sourcebook for immigration advisors, and has
authored several NAFSA practice advisories for language
schools. Don was awarded the NAFSA Association of
International Educators Colleague Award in 2005. He holds an
M.Ed. in International Education from the University of
Massachusetts.
Quote: I am delighted to join the advisory board of Via
Lingua. Having taught abroad myself for several years, I
appreciate the value of undergoing appropriate TEFL training
prior to undergoing such an experience. Teaching English in
other countries enriches the lives of both participants and
recipients. By promoting the exchange of knowledge and
cultural understanding, Via Lingua in some small part
contributes to a more peaceful world. I envy those going to
work abroad for the first time the excitement and challenge
of beginning their new assignment.
Gabriele W. Bosley
Gabriele Bosley currently holds the positions of Director of
the International Programs Office, Chair of the Department
of Foreign Languages & International Studies, and Associate
Professor for Foreign Languages/German at Bellarmine
University in Louisville.
Gabriele designed Bellarmine's new trans-curricular
Baccalaureate Degree in FLIS (Foreign Languages and
International Studies), secured more than $1.1 Mill. in
private foundation funding for the implementation of the
FLIS degree.
With over 13 years of experience in international education,
Gabriele has served in numerous leadership roles on
international, national, and regional boards and committees.
She currently serves on the AIEA Executive Committee, the
UCS Board of Trustees, the CCSA Board of Trustees, the KIIS
Board of Directors, the CCCS Board of Advisors, the Kentucky
Department of Education Foreign Language Programs Review
Board, the Louisville Mayor's International Affairs Advisory
Board and a number of Bellarmine University committees.
Gabriele is the recipient of several awards, including the
2006 Kentuckiana Metroversity Award for Curriculum
Development, the 2005 Miles Service Award, the 1999 Women's
Council Award, the 1994 National Endowment for the
Humanities Teacher/Scholar Award, the 1992 Council for Basic
Education Fellowship Award, and the 1991 Rockefeller
Research Fellowship Award.
Dr. Anthony J. DeNapoli
Dr. Anthony J. DeNapoli, is currently Dean of International
Affairs and Program Professor of Educational Leadership at
The Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS)
at Nova Southeastern University (NSU), in North Miami Beach,
Florida, USA. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Secondary Education from Hofstra University, a Master of
Arts degree in Foreign Language Education from New York
University, a Professional Diploma in School Administration,
Supervision and Leadership from Long Island University, and
a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership from
Nova Southeastern University.
Prior to assuming his current administrative position, Dr.
DeNapoli served as Executive Dean at NSU-FSEHS, a professor
of educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, and
foreign language education at several colleges and
universities in the USA; and as a teacher and school
administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school
levels. He is the author of numerous articles on school
reform and restructuring, the integration of technology into
the curriculum, and distance and international education;
and is frequently invited to speak and to present workshops
and instructional sessions at local, state, national and
international conferences, symposia and colloquia. Dr.
DeNapoli has played a key role in the development,
implementation and supervision of numerous international
partnerships and programs at Nova Southeastern University.
Dr. DeNapoli has held numerous leadership positions in
professional organizations at the local, state, national and
international levels, and is the recipient of several
distinguished leadership awards. He has served as Director,
Vice-President, and President of the New York State
Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and was a member
of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Conference on the
Teaching of Foreign Languages. He has been a consultant to
the New York State Education Department, The New York State
Board of Regents, and the United States Department of
Education, and a member of the Education Advisory Board for
USA Today.
Dr. DeNapoli is committed to promoting international
education, cross cultural understanding, the
internationalization of curriculum, and the development of
innovative degree, non-degree and professional development
programs for educators and students worldwide.
Corony Edwards
Corony Edwards is currently Director of Educational
Development at the University of Birmingham, UK. As the
University's senior professional in relation to pedagogy and
staff development relating to learning and teaching, she
leads and co-ordinates the professional activities of staff
in the Staff Development Unit connected to learning and
teaching, and works with other SDU colleagues to integrate
and co-ordinate L&T activities with wider staff development.
She is responsible for the overall quality of the service
and is also directly involved in development and delivery of
programmes, including the UK Higher Education Academy
accredited Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching
in Higher Education.
She maintains links with her former discipline (Applied
English Linguistics) through supervision of PhD students for
the department of English, and delivery of occasional talks
and workshops.
From 2004 – 2006 she was a Senior Lecturer in English
Language Teaching, Centre for English Language Studies, Dept.
of English, University of Birmingham: Course Tutor for the
Open Distance Learning MA TEFL/TESL. She also contributed to
the full-time MA TEFL/TESL, MA AL, BA (Hons) ELT (ESP), and
BA English Language courses, mainly in the areas of ELT
methodology and teacher training, and the supervision of PhD
students. Her duties included regular travel overseas to
deliver teacher development workshops and talks at
conferences and as part of a distance MA programme. She has
run teacher development workshops in Japan, Korea, UK,
Hungary, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Argentina. Research
interests are in teacher training, trainer training, ELT
management and project evaluation. She was also Director of
Learning and Teaching for the School of Humanities and Chair
of the School Learning and Teaching Group from 2003 - 2006.
She has been a Tutor for Overseas Students and RSA/UCLES
CTEFLA Course Tutor. She was an external examiner to the
University of East Anglia MA TESOL course 1997 - 2000, the
University of Manchester BEd (Hons) TESOL programme from
1992 - 1995, Henley College, Coventry Malaysian
Matriculation course from 1994 - 1997, and an external
assessor for the RSA/UCLES CTEFLA scheme from 1990 - 1995.
She has spoken at conferences and published a number of
articles and chapters in books related to English language
teacher development, including Teachers exploring tasks in
English Language Teaching (book, co-edited with Jane Willis,
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) which was winner of the 2006
British Council English Language Teaching Innovation Award.
In 2003 she was one of 40 UK lecturers shortlisted for a
National Teaching Fellowship and is a Fellow of the UK
Higher Education Academy www.heacademy.ac.uk
Dr. Elena M. Garate
Elena M. Garate, Ph.D., is a faculty member in the ESL
department at Santa Monica College, where she is responsible
for developing materials and teaching in a program designed
to utilize technology to enhance classroom experiences
through interactive programs. Dr. Garate, the former Dean of
International Education at SMC, where she developed the
largest community college program for international students
in California, continues to consult as an expert in the
field of international higher education, developing and
promoting international programs in the USA and abroad. She
is currently a member of the board of directors of the
International Institute of LA and an advisory board member
for English Language Services (ELS) and the USC Marshall
School of Business CIBEAR Board.
Roger Laubengayer
Roger Laubengayer is currently an English Professor at the
Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi. Prior to taking
this position, he managed the Emirates Center for
Entrepreneurship at the Center of Excellence in Applied
Research and Training. For three years, he worked as
Director at the Military Language Institute in United Arab
Emirates. The MLI was responsible for all language training
for the UAE military and ran courses in English, French,
German, and Italian. For nine years he was the Academic
Director for ELS Language Centers in the Middle East office
and in Santa Barbara, California. Over the last twenty years
he has taught in Guatemala, South Korea, the USA and the
UAE.. He has an MA in TESOL and an MS in Educational
Leadership.
Sharyn S. Moore
Sharyn Moore served in the Peace Corps (with her husband) in
Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia in the Government Secondary
School. Her specific teaching duties were to prepare
students from elementary schools taught in Chinese, Malay,
Tamil or Tagalog, to enter secondary schools taught in
English.
Upon her return to the United States, she enrolled in
graduate English courses at Pepperdine University, and
qualified for a State of California Lifetime Secondary
Teaching Credential in English and History, and immediately
put it to use in a language immersion pilot program with the
Los Angeles Unified School District.
In 1970 she was offered a position as Year-in-Europe program
assistant to the Pepperdine university provost. In 1971, she
moved to Heidelberg, Germany and in the following four years
worked as Assistant Director in the Pepperdine program.
Concurrently she was a Lecturer in English for the
Paedagogisches Hochschule (Teachers College); TEFL program
coordinator and instructor for the USIS Amerika Haus; ESL
program coordinator and instructor for the Pepperdine
University Bibelschule; and, coordinator and teacher for the
Volkshochschule (TEFL adult education) in Neckargemund.
In 1974, she returned to California and began an almost 35
year association with ELS Language Centers. She has held
numerous positions, and undertaken several special
assignments with ELS Language Centers: summer program
director at Pepperdine University/Malibu; Marketing
Consultant/Germany; Instructional Specialist; Curriculum
Developer; Researcher/Writer of "ESL? ELS! A Narrative
History of ELS Language Centers"; and her current position of
Academic Director, ELS Language Centers/Santa Monica,
California. She continues as a curriculum developer, and
mostly recently completed a month-long course, The Global
Citizen, for the ELS Language Centers Masters levels. She
has also returned to Heidelberg, Germany throughout the
years to assist the Pepperdine University Director in
semester and summer programs
She has been a frequent presenter at the TESOL and NAFSA
annual conventions; has been a cross-cultural trainer for
the Pepperdine University Church Share program; a member of
the Pepperdine University Alumni Board; the Pepperdine
University Freunde von Heidelberg; and, the Returned Peace
Corps Volunteers national association.
Bonnie Olson
Bonnie Olson has an M.A. in TESL from the University of
Colorado at Denver (Colorado, USA) and has been in the ESL
field for 20 years. She has taught ESL abroad in Japan and
in the United States at a high school, college and graduate
school level. Since 1994 she has been Academic Director at
ELS Language Centers/St. Paul, Minnesota.
She has also been an adjunct professor at Hamline University
since 1995. She has taught a variety of classes including,
Methods, Oral Skills, English for Special Purposes and
Professional Opportunities, but has done most of her work in
the Practicum portion Hamline's TEFL Certificate Program and
this is her primary area of interest currently. She will
begin supervision of her 18th group of TEFL certificate
students in January 2008.
Bonnie taught Business English at the graduate level at the
University of St. Thomas for many years and wrote most of
the curriculum for the University's new ESL Licensure
program.
She has been active in TESOL International, serving as a
member of a national committee, presenting at most of the
conferences in the past 20 years, and adjudicating
conference proposals. She was on the Board of Directors of
Colorado and Minnesota TESOL and was responsible for either
organizing or helping organize annual regional conferences
for many years.
Bonnie has also been active in NAFSA: Association of
International Educators. She has been an officer at both the
national and regional level, has made numerous conference
presentations, is a member of the NAFSA Trainer Corps, and
has organized several all-day pre-conference workshops for
NAFSA. Most recently she was a member of the Local
Arrangements Team for the 2007 conference, which was held in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dr. Dolores Parker
Dee Parker is currently the Director of Academic
Programs at the American University Alumni Language Center (AUALC).
Prior to joining AUA, she was a Foreign Service Officer with
the Department of State, where she served as the Regional
English Language Officer in the public diplomacy section. In
this position she was assigned to Argentina, South Africa (for
two tours), and Italy (Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer).
While in Italy she was assigned responsibilities for English
teaching in Albania. Following Italy she was assigned to
Washington, D.C and then to Thailand. During her tour in
Washington, she set up the English Language Specialist
Program, and was the editor of The English Teaching Forum
magazine, the largest worldwide circulating professional
journal in its field.
During her South African tenure, she initiated the Summer
Institute for Teaching of English (SETI), which sent 25-30
secondary school teachers to the US for training. She also
initiated and coordinated with the MOE on a peer teacher
training program in math and science. In Italy, she
coordinated with the Ministry of Education on the Special
Foreign Language Project, a peer teacher training program
for secondary school teachers. Under that program the MOE
was able to train some 30,000 teachers of English over a 15
year period. In Thailand the pilot Network Training Program
to train Thai teachers as trainers of their peers was
launched in October 2004. To date we have run seven training
sessions with an average 23 trainers per session.
Previous to joining the Foreign Service, Dr. Parker covered
Latin America (based in Buenos Aires) as an ESL/EFL
consultant/representative for a U.S. based publishing
company. She also served as Academic Director of the
bi-national centers in Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Dee has also worked in academia. She taught Spanish language,
literature and area studies as Assistant Professor at
MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois and later at
Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio. She
started her international experience teaching English to
adults at bi-national centers, universities, normal schools
in Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. In the Ecuador, she
taught English and General Science at a bilingual school in
Ecuador. Her teaching experience ranges from primary through
university to adult levels in both public and private
institutions...
Dee holds a Bachelor of Arts in French, a Masters degree in
Spanish Area Studies from Middlebury College Graduate School
in Spain (Madrid), and a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and
Literature from Case Western Reserve University. She was
also a visiting scholar at the University of Hawaii
Linguistic Institute.
Budapest (Hungary) | Crete (Greece) | Florence (Italy)
Istanbul (Turkey) | Ciudad Guzman (Mexico) | Porto (Portugal)
Saint Petersburg (Russia) | Sardinia (Italy)