Curriculum & instruction graduate students awarded by MIDTESOL

LAWRENCE – The Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL) organization, a regional affiliate of TESOL, recognizes the contributions students make to the field at large and announced two 2017 student award recipients from the Department of Curriculum & Teaching at the University of Kansas. Both award winners were recognized at the 2017 MIDTESOL Conference held in Kansas City on Sept. 29 and 30.

MIDTESOL Best Student Proposal Award

Debby Adams, doctoral student in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from Yukon, Oklahoma, has been named a recipient of the MIDTESOL’s 2017 Best Student Proposal Award for her two presentations titled "How Research on Trauma Recovery Can Inform Refugee ESOL" and “What You Need to Know About Your Refugee-Background Learners.” This program awards $200 to each recipient, and winners are evaluated according to (1) significance and relevance of topic as it relates to ESL/EFL teaching and/or research, (2) written organization and clarity of proposal and (3) originality/creativity.

Adams completed her master’s degree at the University of Texas at Arlington and her bachelor’s degree at the University of Oklahoma.

MIDTESOL Presenter Travel Award

Junfu Gao, doctoral student in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from Liaoning Province, China, has been named a recipient of the TESOL’s 2017 Interest Section Travel Award for Higher Education for his presentation titled “East Asian TESOL Students: Crossroads of Culture and Identity.” This program awards $150 to presenters who attend the annual conference.

Gao completed his master's degree at KU and his bachelor’s degree in China.

"These awards recognize the excellence of our TESOL graduate students who are conducting important research on the education of English language learners,” said Hyesun Cho, associate professor in the curriculum & teaching department. 

The mission of MIDTESOL is to strengthen the effective teaching of English in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska to people whose native language is a language other than English while respecting their individual language rights. More information about MIDTESOL can be found here.

The Department of Curriculum & Teaching is housed in the School of Education, a nationally ranked school preparing educators as leaders.