Louise McLaughlin, International House English Language Academy, Spain

Hi, I am Louise McLaughlin, and I am the director of the International House English Language Academy, in Spain, as well as a full-time doctoral student. My areas of interest are teacher cognition and teaching young English Language Learners (ELLs). I organize the teacher training programs for the teachers in our language academy, and I am in the privileged position of being able to observe the effects of training courses on teachers’ cognitions and to investigate the effect of cognitions on daily teaching practice. I would welcome communication from others interested in these areas. My email is lniclochlainn@gmail.com.

Cicely A. Rude, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, USA

California is a region in which children who speak a language other than English at home are the new majority, and responsibility frequently falls upon teachers to assess and meet the needs of the English Language Learner (ELL) in their mainstream classrooms. In San Joaquin County, 20% of K–12 students are ELLs. Five students out of every 20 are trying to simultaneously learn English, learn content through English, forge friendships, and adapt to local culture(s) with a mainstream teacher as their primary language learning support. I teach courses on language, grammar and meaning, and language acquisition to future California K–12 teachers, and my students share concerns about teaching ELLs and monolingual English speakers simultaneously and about creating environments in which all can thrive. My goals are for future teachers to appreciate the challenges and affordances of second language acquisition, develop skills and resources needed to address the needs of ELLs, and create classrooms in which language learning is supported and each learner is a valued community member. Visit me online at www.cicelyrude.com or contact me at cicelyanne@gmail.com.