English as a Second Language

We are pleased to announce that Dr. John Levis, who received a MATESL degree as well as a PhD in Educational Psychology from UIUC, has been named Distinguished Professor at Iowa State University. John has led a distinguished career...

This year, the 50th annual Illinois TESOL-Bilingual Education (ITBE) conference took place with the theme "Innovate to Educate: New Horizons in Language Teaching." Many students, faculty, and alumni from UIUC's Linguistics, MATESOL, and ESL programs played a role in the conference. UIUC's own...

  Wang Cong taught English in China for six years before arriving at the University of Illinois, but when she arrived on campus Cong knew that communicating isn’t just about proper spelling and grammar but also a grasp of the cultural nuances around the language. She still had a lot to learn...

The U.S. Department of State announced the selection of UIUC ESL Senior Lecturer John Kotnarowski for an English Language Specialist project focusing on teaching academic writing in Kazakhstan. Kotnarowski is part of a select group, as his project is one of over 250 that the English...

International Education Week is an annual event that aims to celebrate global education, cultural exchange, and scholarship as well as to raise awareness about the breadth of international education activities and resources available in our community. This event is sponsored by International...

This year marks the start of the first fall semester with the Linguistics Department hosting the Oral English Assessment Interview (OEAI). This interview-based assessment - formerly the English Proficiency Interview (EPI) hosted by CITL - serves as an on-campus opportunity for...

The Illinois ESL Program received funding from the LAS Student Success Innovation project for redesigning and improving its in-house e-textbook, Academic Writing for English Language Learners, to deliver a more accessible, inclusive, and engaging learning experience.

This year's Illinois Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages - Bilingual Education (ITBE) Annual Convention was attended by at least 16 faculty members and graduate students (the majority of whom are instructors in the Illinois ESL Program) from our department! The ITBE Annual...