American Language Institute

 

amTEFL Trainers

amTEFL trainers and mentors all have at least five years of classroom experience, as well as Masters' degrees in TESOL or a related field. In addition, amTEFL participants will be able to interact with the entire ALI faculty in a variety of contexts, such as class observations, as well.

Rob Shaffer
amTEFL Coordinator
Rob Shaffer has coordinated teacher training at the ALI since 1999. He has a B.A. in English, as well as a master's of education and a teaching credential from UCLA, and a master's in American literature from UCSD. As an instructor at the ALI since 1995, and at several community colleges since 1992, he has taught nonnative speakers in a variety of settings and with a variety of skill levels. For additional information on the amTEFL program, please contact Rob Shaffer.

Van Hillier
amTEFL Trainer
Van Hillier is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and of Rutgers University. At Rutgers, Van studied linguistics and second-language acquisition. He received his master's degree at Rutgers in language education. He has over 20 years of experience teaching English as a second language at several institutions in the United States, including Harvard University and San Diego State University. His overseas experience includes teaching English in Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. Van has led teacher-training programs in the United States, Japan, and Jordan. Van's international TESOL presentations include: Computers in Intensive Language Schools, Computer Lab Management in ESL Schools, Utilizing the Internet for Listening Acquisition, and The Ten-Sentence Essay for Beginning Writers. His writings include an article for CAELL Journal entitled Integrating a Computer Lab into an English Language School. Currently, he is the reading coordinator at the American Language Institute at San Diego State University.

Jason Greeno
amTEFL Trainer
Jason Greeno has an M.A. in cross-cultural education with an emphasis in linguistics. He has taught ESL at several different Korean universities, middle schools, elementary schools, for the San Diego Community College District, and at the ALI at SDSU since 1997. He also received his Cross-cultural, Language Acquisition and Development Certificate from the California State Board of Education in 2000. In 2001, he had the opportunity to visit a middle school in Shanghai, China where he met with students, parents and teachers and explained the various ESL programs at the ALI. Adept at teaching in many skill areas, he most enjoys teaching pronunciation and reading. He believes that employing a communicative and kinesthetic approach in the classroom allows students to get the most out of a lesson.

Marc Tannenhaus
amTEFL Trainer
Marc Tannenhaus has an M.A. in TESOL and has taught ESL/EFL for over 30 years, including teaching abroad in Colombia, Ecuador, and Spain. He has also been the student relations advisor for international students at SDSU's American Language Institute.

Margit Dupree
amTEFL Trainer
Margit Dupree has a B.A. in French and an M.A. in applied linguistics and has been teaching at the ALI as well as training native and nonnative teachers of ESL/EFL since 1993. In addition to teaching English, she is the structure core teacher and testing and placement coordinator in the ALI's International English Communication (IEC) program. Involved in teacher training since 1995, she has presented on such topics as using videos and graded readers in ESL and EFL classes as well as grammar terminology and error correction.

Bob Stipp
amTEFL Trainer
Bob Stipp has taught English to speakers of other languages and trained teachers for over 30 years. He has taught in two foreign countries as well as in the United States. His experience ranges from teaching junior high school, high school, junior college, adult school, and university levels. He has been a teacher at the ALI since the fall of 1976. In addition to coordinating several short-term programs, he has served, for the IEC program, as student relations coordinator, testing coordinator, and writing classes core teacher. He has taught all levels as well as diverse subjects and has been involved in teacher training and materials development. He received his B.A. from San Diego State University in creative writing and he received his M.A. in TESOL education from Temple University, Japan.

Kathy Dupre
amTEFL Trainer
Kathy Dupre is the TOEFL coordinator for the ALI's English for Academic Purposes program. She has a B.A. in linguistics, minor in French, and an M.A. in TESOL. She has 20 years of experience in ESL/EFL teaching and teacher training in the U.S. and abroad in France, Mexico, and Brazil.

Moira Stuart
amTEFL Trainer
Moira Stuart, EAP writing coordinator, has been teaching at ALI since the summer of 1997 and training teachers since 1999. In addition, she taught composition courses, both developmental and advanced, in SDSU's Department of Rhetoric and Writing and Department of Linguistics from 1996 to 1998. She has also taught advanced ESL composition classes at Grossmont Community College (2001-2002). She holds an M.A. in linguistics (1998) and a B.A. in Russian (1985), both from San Diego State University.

Joel Ortiz
amTEFL Trainer
Joel Ortiz has a B.A. in linguistics (first major) and Spanish linguistics (second major) as well as an M.A. in applied linguistics/ESL from San Diego State University. He has been an instructor and teacher trainer for 15 years. His teaching experience includes grammar, American culture, and writing courses at various levels. He is in the process of writing two ESL textbooks, and he has written grammar tests for the G-TELP exams. He has taught several teacher training workshops at the ALI, CATESOL, and TESOL conferences. In addition to teaching, he produces videos, publishes his photography, and teaches multimedia production to students and teachers.

Grace Damiano
amTEFL Trainer
Grace Damiano is the Business Programs Coordinator at the American Language Institute. She received an MBA, with concentrations in marketing and management, from San Diego State University. She has participated in teacher training programs, specifically teaching business English since 1972. Her undergraduate degree in business education is from New York University. Her background includes developing, marketing, and conducting seminars and workshops; proposal writing; new program development; business curriculum writing; and negotiating and budgeting. For ALI, she has managed a variety of high-level, successful business and specialized programs, including Management and Business English, Business Seminar for International Executives, Pohang Steel, Business in the 2000s, and Certificate Programs in Business for International Participants. In addition, she markets and promotes tailored and university programs in international venues, specializing in the French market. She teaches both language and business classes.

Cindy Hofbauer
amTEFL Trainer
Cindy Hofbauer has a master's degree in education with a specialization in reading from SDSU. She has taught at the ALI since 1979. She co-authored an intermediate level oral communications text entitled Adventures in Conversation and has presented at several TESOL conferences. Cindy has participated in teacher training programs since 1985.