McCone Building 230
Monterey, CA 93940
Email Address
jwalters@miis.edu
Phone Number
(831) 647-4178
JoDee Walters
Visiting Professor
After serving in the Peace Corps in the Seychelles, I began my EFL/ESL teaching career in Egypt, where I obtained my MATEFL at the American University in Cairo, and also taught in their English language pre-university preparatory program. I then taught at the American Language Institute at San Diego State University, in the EAP program, as well as at the University of California, San Diego. I also taught at Palomar Community College, in an evening ESL program designed for recent immigrants. While in San Diego, I became involved in EFL/ESL teacher training, designing curriculum and teaching in a TESOL certificate program. I have also had the opportunity to teach immigrant ESL students at a secondary school in London, UK, and design the curriculum for and carry out a teacher training program in Japan. From these experiences I learned a great deal about the conditions and constraints of language teachers in the real world outside of university preparatory programs!
I received my PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK in 2006; my dissertation examined the effects on vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension of training students to guess meaning from context. I then taught in the MATEFL program at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, for five years, where my students were highly-motivated practicing teachers from all over Turkey who wanted to develop themselves and their institutions further. I joined the MATESOL/MATFL program at MIIS in 2011, where I have encountered an amazing group of eager, self-motivating and highly intelligent students who inspire me every day!
My research interests include second language vocabulary acquisition, the assessment and teaching of vocabulary, and the teaching of reading. I am also interested in individual differences in language learning, including the effects of various dimensions of learning styles on learners’ responses to specific teaching practices. I have had articles published in Language Teaching, Language Teaching Research, ELT Journal, RELC Journal, and (forthcoming) Language Assessment Quarterly.
Expertise
second language vocabulary acquisition, individual learner differences, learning strategies, language teaching methodology
Education
PhD, University of Nottingham, UK; MA, American University in Cairo; BS, University of Washington
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
EDUC 8505 - Intro to Classroom Observation
Develops skills in classroom observation and an understanding of observation as a fundamental professional development and research activity.
Fall 2012 - MIIS, Spring 2013 - MIIS
EDUC 8520 - Curriculum Design
Explores areas of theory research and practice that have a bearing on curriculum and syllabus design. Leads students to develop their own curriculum design projects.
Prerequisites: Principles and Practices of Language Teaching.
Fall 2011 - MIIS
EDUC 8620 - Practicum
Provides students with an opportunity for supervised teaching experience in ESL or foreign language classes. Discusses classroom-centered research; reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities; professional development; materials development; and reflective teaching.
Fall 2011 - MIIS, Spring 2012 - MIIS
EDUC 8650 - Portfolio Seminar
Consists of a series of workshops leading to the integration of issues and ideas in the MA program, and to the development of a portfolio of work.
Spring 2013 - MIIS
LING 8500 - Language Analysis
Serves as an introduction to linguistic analysis. Includes projects based on fieldwork in phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse, and pragmatics. Discusses importance of language awareness. Includes pedagogical strategies for consciousness-raising.
Spring 2012 - MIIS, Fall 2012 - MIIS, Spring 2013 - MIIS
LING 8530 - Structure of English
Examines the syntax and discourse of modern English for ESL and EFL teaching. Spotlights practical applications for the classroom. Prerequisite: Language Analysis
Fall 2012 - MIIS
LING 8640 - Applied Linguistics Research
Requires original research to be conducted by the student on issues such as language attitudes, cultural variables, language learning, or other topics from sociolinguistics and second language acquisition. Introduces a range of research methods, including exposure to various data collection and analysis procedures in both the qualitative and quantitative research traditions.
Spring 2013 - MIIS
