Today’s Student spotlight features recent LTS graduate Britany Stagnoli
– blog post by Inês Bernardo Catarino, FLTA-LTS
Britany posing outside
Tell us a bit about yourself and your background!
I am a recent graduate from Western Oregon University, where I received my Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Social Science and a Minor in Linguistics. I also received the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. I transferred here to UO during the Summer of ’23 to pursue my Masters in Language Teaching Studies. My career goal has been to teach English at the university level after graduation. Recently, I have been given a position to work abroad teaching English as a foreign language at a Japanese university which I have been very excited about.
What brought you to language teaching? And to the UO?
I was in Spain on a school fieldtrip and while I was looking out of the window from my hotel room, I decided that I wanted to work abroad and experience life outside of the home that I grew up in. I had experience teaching through volunteer work, and I enjoyed my time making lesson plans and teaching the PreK students that I was working with. I also enjoyed my history classes and learning about other cultures (which has brought me to my Social Science degree). Language teaching has brought all of my passions together into one career.
I was interested in continuing my education in Linguistics and teaching English, so I started to look at Masters programs, which brought me to here. I looked into the courses that were taught and thought that they would benefit me as an EFL teacher.
What have some of your past experiences been with language teaching? Do you have any specifically fond memories?
I have had the fondest memories during one of my LTS classes, which was Talking With Ducks. For this class, my classmates and I would take turns teaching a lesson to international students at the AEI. When we were not teaching, we were small group leaders. I got to spend a lot of time with the students’ playing
Image of Britany Stagnoli teaching a small group activity in Talking with Ducks
games and talking about school, their hometowns, and so on. One of my favorite lessons was during Halloween and most of the students dressed up for class. We all talked about our costumes and what everyone’s plans were to do for Halloween. It was a lot of fun and a day that I will look back on in the future.
What has been the highlight of your time in the program so far?
I would have to say the highlight of my time in this program is all of the hands-on experience that I have gotten with teaching and all of the friends that I have made. I have been fortunate to receive two GE positions, one as a teaching aid for Ling 101 and another as the instructor for Ling 150. Both of those experiences have taught me a lot about teaching and how I can improve as a teacher. Also, all of the interactions that I have had with students have been amazing and have reminded me why I wanted to teach in the first place. I have also had the opportunity to meet so many people and make friendships that I hope to keep for a long time.
Image of Britany Stagnoli’s dog, Kobi, sitting inside of a tulip field
How do you hope to work in the language teaching field in the future?
In the future, I hope to be an English language teacher at the university level. I have enjoyed all of the experience that I have gained helping at the AEI and with the international students at UO that I would like to continue to do so abroad. After teaching English for a while, I hope to pursue a PhD in the field of linguistics and language teaching.
What is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? A fun fact about yourself that others may not know?
I enjoy being with nature and taking my dog out on walks on the beach or in the woods. My dog, Kobi, and I love to be outside and in nature, as long as it is not too hot. We both do not like the heat.