13
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language: Monterey Option
Paul DiResta
Middlebury College MA Chinese with a Focus on Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (MATCFL ‘12) candidate, Paul DiResta, is spending the academic year at MIIS taking advantage of what Middlebury calls, “The Monterey Option.” Typically, Middlebury students complete their MATCFL in four summers and teach during the academic year. About four years ago, Middlebury began offering their MATCFL candidates the option to complete their degree by spending two summers at Middlebury with an academic year at MIIS in between.
DiResta is the most recent Middlebury MATCFL candidate to choose the “Monterey Option.” In DiResta’s own words, he is “psyched” that he is doing this option and he doesn’t understand “why more people don’t do [the Monterey Option].” In addition to completing his degree in a shorter amount of time, DiResta is “looking forward to getting two different perspectives.” DiResta whole-heartedly recommends the “Monterey Option” to his colleagues at Middlebury. In fact, the MA Arabic program has just added the “Monterey Option”. DiResta hopes that, in the future, the relationship between Middlebury and MIIS will become even more reciprocal and more MIIS MATFL candidates will take courses through Middlebury.
Alumni Updates
After graduation Lucy Bunning (MATESOL/TFL ‘02) went to work in Rwanda for two years with the State Department’s English Language Fellows program. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in Educational Studies at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Karen Hamilton (MATESOL ‘08) and ESL director Patricia Szasz returned to Baku, Azerbaijan in January to conduct a two-week teacher training workshop with instructors at the national aviation academy. This is the third trip to Azerbaijan for Hamilton. Graduate School of Translation, Interpretation and Language Education