The University of Toledo

Faculty & Staff

Program Director

Alexander Wrege, M.A.
Alexander Wrege holds M.A. degrees in English Literature, German Literature, and Applied Linguistics/ESL. His doctoral work is focused on developmental reading, especially focusing on experiential education and how it can assist students in reaching a higher proficiency in Reading and Writing. His other areas of work are instructional design, computer-assisted language learning, as well as developmental reading and writing.
Mr. Wrege has been serving as the American Language Institute's director since the Spring of 2012 and he enjoys talking to our students and learning about their cultures.
At the institute, Mr. Wrege is responsible for managing the over 20 faculty and staff, providing leadership in implementing the institute's vision and mission, and fostering a creative community of faculty revolving around traditional and innovative approaches to the teaching of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar.
Besides serving as the director, Mr. Wrege is teaching Advanced Reading and Writing and a Graduate Seminar for International Teaching Assistants.
Mr. Wrege's office is always open to students as well as faculty and staff. Stop by if you have a question or just want to chat.

Full Time Faculty

Patrick Kennedy, M.A. [patrickfkennedy.com]
Patrick Kennedy has been at A.L.I. since fall of 1980 and has a B.A. degree from the University of Notre Dame and an M.A. degree from Michigan State University.  He has taught all kinds of classes at the A.L.I., sometimes specializing in the English of science and technology, and has done a lot of administrative work on release time from teaching.  He married his wife Mona, a Lebanese-American, in 2000 and has been visiting Lebanon with her every few years since then.  As a hobby, he does a weekly world music radio program, Musics of the World, on the university's student-run radio station, WXUT.

Michael Klug, M.A. [Michael Klug’s website]
Michael Graves Klug's career has made what he might describe as "an aerial 360."  After completing his graduate studies in Teaching English as a Second Language and working as a part-time English instructor (including a temporary assignment at the A.L.I. in the late 1990's), Michael moved to Japan for nine years where he met his wife, Chihiro.  In Japan, he taught ESL & College Composition, and most recently worked as EAP Program Supervisor at NIC International College in Tokyo.  Michael began his second stint at the UT A.L.I. in August of 2008.  When not engaged in professional pursuits, Michael enjoys travel, playing guitar & singing, snowboarding, scuba diving and watching team sports.

Cristina Cordova, M.A.
Cristina Cordova has been teaching ESL since 1975.  She has a BA in Spanish and a MA in Linguistics from Ohio University, with the focus on ESL. After high school, Cristina went to live with her grandparents, (neither of whom spoke English) in Ecuador.  In addition, she studied abroad in France her junior year. She has taught a variety of classes at the ALI.  From 2001 to 2010, Cristina taught reading in elementary and middle schools on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, hiking, swimming, kayaking, knitting, and of course reading.

	Part-Time Faculty
	Pam Clines, M.A. Pam Clines graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. in International Studies, focusing on the Middle East and the Turkish language. On a Fulbright scholarship, she completed an intensive Turkish program in Istanbul. She earned an M.A. in TESOL from Ohio State, as well. Pam developed and taught an ESL program for Penta County Vocational School in the late 1980’s and has taught at Toledo’s International Institute, The American School for Women and Children and the American Language Institute. She has also taught her four children kindergarten through 12th grade in their home school. At the A.L.I., Pam teaches intermediate listening and speaking and assists with curriculum development. She thoroughly enjoys getting to know each of her students and helping them adjust to their new home at U.T.
	Daniel Current, M.A. Daniel Current holds a Master Degree in English with a focus on teaching English as a second language as well as Bachelor Degrees in Anthropology and in Religious Studies. This academic background enables him to not only teach English but to also engage the students with a deep understanding of their respective cultural backgrounds. He is currently employed as a part time ESL Specialist here at the ALI. In his spare time Daniel volunteers as the CEO of a local charity and creates sculptures for display in various galleries in the Greater Toledo Area. His current research interests include creating virtual interactive environments to facilitate realistic long distance interaction and virtual reality language acquisition.
	Heather Elbriki, M.A. Heather completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toledo in English Literature and her Master's degree at the University of Findlay in TESOL.  She has taught ESL in Crete, Greece, worked with the Toledo Sister Cities and assisted in developing the ESL curriculum for Ohio Northern University's summer Kasukabe camp.
	Hibah Elnoory, M.A. Hibah Elnoory graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double major in English and Comparative Literature.  She also received her MA in TESL at UIUC in 2005, where she taught ESL Reading/Writing, Pronunciation, Comparative Literature and Arabic.  She has taught Literacy, Grammar, and Listening/Speaking at various charter and private schools.  She currently teaches upper-level Reading/Writing classes at ALI.
	Matthew Krull, M.A. Matthew received a Master’s in TESOL/Applied Linguistics at Indiana University Bloomington in 2008; for several years, he has taught literacy, oracy, and syntax in Intensive English Programs at both Indiana and Ohio universities. Professional interests include Content-Based Instruction, Language Assessment, and X-Bar Theory.
	Deena Ohana, M.A., M.Ed. Deena Ohana received her undergraduate degree in philosophy in her hometown at the University of Toledo. She has two graduate degrees. One is from U.T.'s Department of English Language and Literature, and the other is from its College of Education in Social Foundations of Education. Mrs. Ohana has been at the American Language Institute as an E.S.L. Specialist teaching at at every level in every skill area. She has been the director and coordinator of many special programs and developed the curricula for these and other courses of study. She began teaching English here in 1984 and thoroughly enjoys working with international students.
	Kathleen Reaume, M.A. Kathleen Reaume has a Bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in Creative and Technical Writing from Wayne State University and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science with a focus on Research and Knowledge Management. In addition, she has a Masters degree in English with a concentration in English as a Second Language (ESL). Kathleen has taught ESL for the past three years at the University of Toledo. She was also a Writing Center tutor, at the University of Toledo, for two years. She has published several academic articles and is working on a novel and screenplay in her free time.
	Pam Rice, M.A. Pam received her Bachelors degree in Spanish and her Masters degree in TESL, both from The University of Toledo.  She has taught many levels, from basic to graduate level, of English, ESL and Spanish classes for the English, Developmental Education, and Foreign Language Departments at many schools throughout the Northwest Ohio area for many years.  She has also tutored ESL and American students in grammar, composition, reading and pronunciation at the learning centers of the University of Toledo and Owens Community College, and help with administration and scoring the TOEFL at UT.  In addition, she has taught and helped with the administration of the May and Schutz Container Programs for the A.L.I., was supervisor of the A.L.I. Computer Lab for 2 years and helped with the administration of the summer language program for Toledo Sister Cities.  She has presented at the Conference on Language Learning and Teaching Practices (1995 & 1996), the East Central Writing Centers Association Conference (1996 & 1997), and Conference on Communicating in a Second/Foreign Language (2007).
	David Sears, M.A. David Sears is from Dallas, Texas and did his undergraduate work at S.M.U. in English and Theatre. He earned a Master's in Foreign Language Education with a specialty in E.S.L. at the University of Texas at Austin. In Texas, he taught English, French and E.S.L. In 1990, he came to northwest Ohio and began work at A.L.I. He has also taught E.S.L. at the University of Findlay and at Bowling Green State University, where he has also taught international studies and Great Ideas. In addition, he has taught English in Bratislava, Slovakia; Xi’an, China; and most recently as a Fulbright grantee, in Khujand, Tajikistan.
	Sherris Anne Schwind, M.A. [sherrisanneschwind.com] Sherris Anne Schwind holds degrees in Language and Literature, Creative Writing, and Leadership Studies with a minor focus in Anthropology. She’s a published academic, journalist, and poet who has presented her work at conferences, community forums, and informal venues. Sherris has taught and developed curricula for various programs including Toledo Sister Cities’ International Youth Academy and the University of Toledo’s EXCEL Intensive. She specializes in advanced level electives and focuses her ESL instruction around experiential learning projects (documentary films, fundraisers, public speaking), critical skills integration, and community engagement with an emphasis on social responsibility and peace-keeping dialogues. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Women and sits on local boards in her community serving the arts and the homeless. When Sherris isn’t teaching at the A.L.I. she enjoys traveling with her two children, Jacobai and Daisy, training her horses, and growing her company, Authentik.
	Shirley Stammer, M.A. Shirley Stammer received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and her graduate degree from from the University of Guam. Her post graduate work was at the University of Toledo in the College of Education in two departments namely, Social Foundations of Education and Higher Education with a concentration in Intergroup-Intercultural Relations. Mrs. Stammer has been an ESL Specialist at the American Language Institute for a total of twelve years. Moreover, she has developed curriculum for special programs. She was the coordinator of several of these programs. Mrs. Stammer has been an educator for 30 years.
	Emily Warnott Emily Warnott graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.A. in French (2009). She will graduate from the University of Toledo in December 2012 with an M.A. in ESL. She is currently a graduate assistant at the University of Toledo, where she teaches “English Writing and Grammar”, co-teaches ESL classes to the local community, and serves as assistant to the director of the ESL writing program, training new teaching assistants in scoring for the ESL placement exams. She is also currently an ESL Specialist for the American Language Institute, where she teaches reading and writing. She has developed ESL Basic Conversation curriculum for the American Language Institute and isexploring options for publication. She was a teacher for St. Giles International at Harvard University, where she taught Basic and Advanced ESL classes. She served as instructor for the American School for Women and Children, where she taught extensive reading to adult ESL students. She has tutored at the University of Toledo’s Writing Center and taughtEnglish Composition to second language learners at the University of Toledo.
	Yifei Xin, M.A. Yifei Xin received her B.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language from China, and later on acquired Bachelor’s degrees in Communication and Psychology in the U.S. She also holds an M.A. in English-ESL and a graduate certificate in the Teaching of Writing. Over the years, she has taught Chinese at universities, intensive language programs, and private Chinese schools. In the field of ESL, she has worked as an ESL tutor at the Writing Center, and has taught college-level composition, grammar, comprehensive English, and community English classes in both China and the U.S. Her research areas include applied linguistics, cognitive processing of SLA and brain-based teaching and learning. Currently, she is an ESL specialist at the A.L.I. and an English instructor at UT.
	Ronald T. Zallocco, M.A. Ronald Thomas Zallocco received his M.A. in English as a Second Language at the University of Toledo. He has taught ESL college composition, tutored in pronunciation, and edited various scholarly articles. His book, Communication and Language Learning, is available in stores. He has presented at conferences for the East Central Writing Center Association (2011) and the Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States (2011). His professional interests include argumentative writing, communicative learning, and English for Practical Purposes.
	Graduate Assistant Jason Dunstan Jason started working at the American Language Institute in various capacities in 2007. In that time he has managed and maintained much of the technology at the institute, assisted in various courses, including the ITA teaching skills seminar and the outdoor education class. He has an interest in testing and assessment credited to a B.A. in psychology, and an interest in simulation/gaming and experiential education credited to a childhood full of video games.

 

 

 [Faculty biographies were supplied by the individual faculty members and are not intended as an endorsement by the American Language Institute.]