Edmund A.

specializes in English Language, Indonesian Language, ESL/ESOL, Vocabulary, Grammar · male

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Personal Statement

I have a B.A. in German from Wheaton College, Illinois, an M.A. in Linguistics from the University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University, with a minor in Anthropology. I worked in Asia for 28 years. My first assignment in Asia was as Founding Director of the Inter Mission Language Center for Crosscultural Communication in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. After a year as Principal of the Bandung International School, and two years as Assistant Director of the Indonesian-American Binational Center in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia and Course Leader of the English Language Program, I moved to Singapore where I spent 3 years as Specialist in Sociolinguistics at the Regional Language Center, under the supervision of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education. From there, I served as Lecturer in the Department of English Language & Literature at the National University of Singapore for three years. Finally, I moved to Hong Kong where I served as Associate Professor in the Department of English Language & Literature at the Hong Kong Baptist University for 14 years. In general, I have taught English language to students and adults in the USA (University of Southern California, The Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University) and Asia (Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong) for over 40 years. My approach to any language learning is based on a belief that language is only meaningful when seen in its social and cultural context. The mnemonic S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G sums it up. S = Language is always involved in social Situations and Settings in time and space. P = Language always involves Participants with social identities, and with social roles in speech events. E = Language is always used for conventional and personal Ends/outcomes. A = Language is always used to achieve certain Acts, and these acts are performed in conventional sequences. K = The use of language is enacted in certain Keys/emotional environments. I = Language is used in different Instrumentalities: Face-to-face, Telephone, Email, Written letters.... N = Social Norms of interaction are the conventions under which communication takes place; Norms of interpretation are the conventional judgments of interactions, positive or negative. G = Genre, refers to the forms in which messages occur. My approach to the learning process is that learning occurs through hands-on practice. The test of good tutoring is the person being tutored succeeding in his/her language tasks, academically, and personally in his/her social interactions and business.

Gresham, OR 97030