We are kicking off the 2024-25 academic year with a post from one of our new cohort members, Emmanuel, who just arrived last month from Ghana and is teaching French at UO this term. Welcome Emmanuel!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background

My name is Emmanuel Ayisi. I am from Kumasi, and I graduated from Ghana’s top-ranked university, the University of Cape Coast, in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in education (B.Ed Arts), where I majored in French and minored in History. After graduation, I completed my national service at the Lands Commission of Ghana from 2020 to 2021. Since then, I have been teaching both French and English until I began my studies in the Language Teaching Studies program this Fall.

What inspired you to focus on language teaching as a career?

My inspiration to focus on language teaching came unexpectedly during my second year of high school. When our French tutor fell ill and no substitute teacher was available, I stepped in as class prefect to lead revision and discussion sessions with my peers. Our French class was small, with about 12 students, and after a week or so, I received positive feedback from my classmates about how well I facilitated the sessions. That experience ignited my passion for teaching, and it was then that I realized how fulfilling it could be to guide others in their learning. Since then, I have been committed to the teaching profession.

I decided to focus on language teaching because of the challenges I faced as a Ghanaian learning French as a foreign language. I went through many difficulties in my early years of learning, often feeling disconnected from the teaching approaches used by my native French-speaking teachers. As someone who has experienced these struggles firsthand, I have a deeper understanding of the needs of my learners and can relate to their journey in a way that native speakers might not. This understanding drives me to create more supportive and effective learning environments for my students.

What have some of your past experiences been with language teaching? Do you have any specifically fond memories?

My language teaching experience spans various levels, from primary school to junior high and senior high school. Over the years, I have taught both French and English, and each group has presented its own unique challenges and rewards. One of my fondest memories came in September last year, when I coached and guided my students to win a district spelling bee competition. What made the moment even more fulfilling was that in the final rounds, my students won by correctly spelling the word ‘cuisine,’ a word we had encountered in our French class just a week prior when I was teaching about places in the house. The students kept mentioning how they would not have been able to spell the word if we had not discussed it during our lesson. It is one of my proudest and most rewarding moments as a teacher, knowing that the work we did in the classroom directly contributed to their success.

You have only been here for less than one month – what is something about your life in Oregon that is very different from your life in Ghana? Is there anything very similar?

Let me begin with the similarities. For the first few weeks, the weather in the afternoons has been pleasant, and I have enjoyed the sunny days, much like in Ghana. Another similarity is waking up early for school. As a Graduate Employee, I must attend my 8 a.m. classes, which feels like my routine when teaching. That said, everything else has been vastly different. The food is quite new to me, and the modes of teaching and learning are distinct. Here, projectors are commonly used in class, while back in Ghana, I mostly relied on a marker and board for teaching. Even transportation feels different, along with many other aspects of daily life. It has been an exciting adjustment.

What are you hoping to gain from your experiences at the UO?

I hope to deepen my understanding of language teaching methodologies and enhance my pedagogical skills. I am eager to engage with diverse perspectives from both professors and peers, learning from their unique experiences. Additionally, I want to develop practical strategies for effectively teaching French as a foreign language in an Anglophone context like Ghana. For the immediate future, I seek to return to home equipped with the knowledge and skills to make a positive impact in my community and help my students become confident, proficient language learners. But my goal is to influence the Ghanaian curriculum to adopt principles that align with modern language teaching and learning.

What is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? Or maybe a fun fact about yourself that others may not know?

Outside of language teaching, I am passionate about football. My Saturdays are always dedicated to watching the English Premier League. I am also quite skilled at playing football, and some of my peers believe I could have become a professional if I had taken training more seriously. They have even nicknamed me after the former Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kanté!

Today’s Student spotlight features current LTS student Austin Gaw

– blog post by Inês Bernardo Catarino, FLTA-LTS

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background!

My name’s Austin Gaw, as you can probably tell. I graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. in 2023 with my bachelor’s degree in journalism before coming to UO for the LTS program. I’ve studied Japanese for six years, Latin for four years, French for a year, and picked up various pieces of Spanish from my childhood in southern California.

What brought you to language teaching? And to the UO?

Since I began learning languages in high school, I knew I wanted to do something with languages for my career. When I took a “Language-learning video games” class during my undergraduate education in D.C., I knew I needed to pursue the subject further. I knew UO had an amazing program from my research, so, here I am!

What have some of your past experiences been with language teaching? Do you have any specifically fond memories?

I took three language classes concurrently in high school, and I was obsessed with the different ways the classes were taught depending on the language. I especially remember bonding with my Latin classmates over our desire to use the language we were learning, even though it was technically a “dead language”.

What has been the highlight of your time in the program so far?

So far, I’ve enjoyed the hands-on experience I’ve been afforded through various projects, both in-class and out-of-class. I loved helping the Teikyo Oregon Experience Program, and I’ve enjoyed writing a mini research brief for my master’s project.

How do you hope to work in the language teaching field in the future?

I plan to do work in the language teaching field that helps students who need it most. I’m supporting the Rwanda English Program this summer by analyzing samples that teachers have sent in. I believe my skills are best used to help students find their voice and become more intelligible and comprehensible.

What is something outside of language teaching that you are passionate about? A fun fact about yourself that others may not know?

Outside of language teaching, I’m drawn to creative writing and solving logic puzzles. As anyone else in the cohort likely knows, I also love solving crossword puzzles and anything on the New York Times games section.