EL Fellow Program
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Country Venezuela
City Caracas
Host Institution UPEL-Caracas
Project Description
The EL Fellow will work at the UPEL in Caracas at the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, where future generations of English teachers are taught. Primary responsibilities would include: teaching upper level classes in English language, methodology, grammar, etc to students (pre-service); and giving training workshops to UPEL faculty (in-service). As U.S. Embassy funds and local opportunities arise, the EL Fellow will also be asked to give presentations at the national VenTESOL conference (usually held over a weekend in late May) and at the binational center in Caracas, CVA. Finally, the EL Fellow may be asked to cooperate on occasion with our Caracas-based educational advising center, AVAA, to promote study options in the U.S.
Project Objectives
The 4 UPELs in Caracas, Maturin, Barquisimeto and Maracay currently have EL Fellows, for the first time. Before academic year 2006-2007, there hadn't been any American teachers in the UPELs in recent memory. (One had an American teacher who was married to a Venezuelan, but he lacked professional TESOL training). The ACAO has visited three of the four institutions and has been in close contact with all of the EL Fellows and their Venezuelan counterparts - and all report a high level of success and satisfaction, as well as a desire to see the program continue. This request for an EL Fellow is made also to help counter the anti-US misinformation campaign of the government and to support the mission goals of improving mutual understanding, supporting democracy, and assisting economic development. By offering training to an audience with an already favorable opinion of the U.S. (future English teachers), the U.S. Embassy hopes to strengthen that favorable predisposition and to achieve a multiplier effect as those teachers begin their careers educating youth. With four Fellows continuing their work in the Pedagogical Universities, the Embassy would be able to reach a national audience of Venezuelans eager to learn and teach English.
About the Host Institution
The EL Fellow will be based at the pedagogical university in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The U.S. Embassy would like to continue to provide pre-service training to target the National Pedagogical Experimental Universities - the UPELs - and their in-house pedagogical institutes. These post-secondary institutes are government-supported and offer undergraduate teaching certificates to mostly middle class and lower middle class students. Their graduates typically become teachers in elementary and secondary public education. UPEL Caracas has more than 5,000 students earning their Bachelor's degree, and some 2,000 working on their Master's. The Department of Modern Languages, which hosts both English and French pedagogy programs, has existed for 70 years. Currently, UPEL Caracas offers a Master's program in English-Language Literature.
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