SELS Faculty

 See our amazing faculty members here:

Michelle Baptiste

Michelle Baptiste, an applied linguist, has been teaching writing at UC Berkeley College Writing Programs since 2002. She specializes in teaching culturally, racially, and linguistically diverse classes of developing writers. Her passion is supporting students to cultivate their own unique voice...Read more about Michelle Baptiste

Barbara (Bobbie) McClain

Barbara (Bobbie) McClain, M.A. Teaching, has taught Rhetoric and Writing at San Diego State University and ESL/EFL in California, Japan, and Vietnam. She is an award winning writer (Family Guide to the Exhibition, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, “Splendors of Imperial...Read more about Barbara (Bobbie) McClain

Candace Khanna

Candace Khanna graduated with a B.A. in English from UC Berkeley, worked in a variety of non-teaching jobs that included business writing and editing, and then returned to college at San Francisco State University, graduating with a M.A. in TESOL and a Certificate in Teaching Composition....Read more about Candace Khanna

Carolyn Carr

Carolyn Carr initially began teaching ESL in Mainland China and then Japan before relocating to the San Francisco Bay to work with an immigrant and refugee population at JVS and AnewAmerica, two non-profit organizations. She has maintained her interest and passion in the field of education...Read more about Carolyn Carr

Cathy Beck

Cathy is the Legal English coordinator and instructor for international LL.M. students at the IU Robert McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, Indiana. She created the Legal English program in 2003 and has presented on various aspects of Legal English pedagogy at numerous conferences, most...Read more about Cathy Beck

Christopher Meierotto

Chris Meierotto holds a MA in Applied Linguistics with a language teaching specialization. His experiences learning foreign languages inspired him to become a language teacher. His specializations include English for Academic Purposes, assessment, and pragmatics. Before coming to the SELS...Read more about Christopher Meierotto

Chisako Cole

Chisako teaches Reading & Composition courses (R1A and R4B) and has also taught in the Summer English Language Studies program and in the Summer Bridge Program, with a particular focus on multilingual student writers. Chisako holds an M.A. from Columbia University, and a B.A. from Boston...Read more about Chisako Cole

Teri Crisp

Teri Crisp has an M.A. in international studies from the University of Washington and did Ph.D. coursework in education at UC Berkeley, where she received an Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award in the College Writing Programs. Certified in Teaching English to Speakers of Other...Read more about Teri Crisp

David Frasca

David Frasca received his M.A. TESL from CUNY Hunter College in New York and has been teaching ESL at various university centers since 1985 [City University of New York, La Guardia, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos, Santa Fe Community College, Hudson County Community College, City...Read more about David Frasca

Elizabeth Boner

Liz Boner earned her PhD at UC Berkeley in Education in the Language, Literacy, Society, and Culture program. She has taught ESL to adults for over fifteen years, both in the U.S. (Bay Area) and in Tanzania. Currently she teaches sociolinguistics in the English Program at San Francisco...Read more about Elizabeth Boner

Jambul Akkaziev

Jambul Akkaziev began teaching English as a Foreign Language at Saint Petersburg University in Russia, where he received his MA degree in Linguistics and a BA in TEFL. Since arriving in the US in 2006, Jambul has taught Academic Writing and Reading to undergraduate and graduate students, as well...Read more about Jambul Akkaziev

Janet Christensen

After receiving her MA in TESOL from San Francisco State University, Janet taught ESL and English Composition at several Bay Area universities and language centers including University of San Francisco, ECIW at Mills College, and CSU East Bay, as well as in Japan, Kazakhstan, and Brazil,...Read more about Janet Christensen

Jeff Ellenbird

Jeff has taught ESL in San Francisco, Bolivia, Ecuador, Bulgaria and now Boston where he teaches ESL full-time at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He earned his Masters in TESOL at San Francisco State University and continues to explore his research interests of...Read more about Jeff Ellenbird

Jennifer Burton

Jennifer Burton teaches classes in conflict resolution, new media, American culture, and the linguistic landscape. She has a master’s degree in linguistics from Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. She has worked as a teacher, writer, editor, translator, and researcher on four...Read more about Jennifer Burton

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson is currently a PhD Candidate in the Language, Literacy and Culture Program in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley. She has a Masters in Education with a focus on second language acquisition, and has taught courses at Cal in the disciplines of Sociology,...Read more about Jennifer Johnson

John McClain

John McClain, BA in Philosophy (UC Berkeley) and MA in Comparative Literature (SFSU), has taught TESOL and English (composition, reading, and literature) since the mid-1980’s. He lived and taught in Japan for eight and a half years. In California, he has been a teacher at Cañada College,...Read more about John McClain

Katie Ha

Katie Ha graduated with a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish from the Croft Institute at the University of Mississippi. She has worked in education in different capacities, including teaching Spanish and ESL and volunteering as a translator/interpreter to new Spanish-speaking...Read more about Katie Ha

Lawrence Metzger

Larry Metzger recently completed two years of teaching pre-Master’s students academic writing and communications at Nazarbayev University. He taught for 8 years in Middle Eastern national universities within Oman, UAE and Qatar developing problem-based course materials which integrated...Read more about Lawrence Metzger

Shalle Leeming

Shalle Leeming has more than twenty years of experience teaching and developing curriculum for English language learners, most recently in the art and design context of California College of the Arts, where she is Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature. She has also taught English...Read more about Shalle Leeming

Lori Bruns

Lori Bruns was born and raised in central Indiana. She holds a BA and MA in English with a concentration in TESOL from Indiana University. With a focus on academic writing, she has been teaching ESL learners in various English courses, and in the Writing Center, at Indiana University...Read more about Lori Bruns

Matthew Barclay

With a Master’s degree in English: TESL/TEFL from Central Washington University, Matthew Barclay brings a strong background in Linguistics to his teaching. Matt began his career as an ESL instructor at Mordovian State University in Saransk, Russia as a Peace Corps volunteer. Later, as a...Read more about Matthew Barclay

Melody Noll

Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Melody Noll studied French, Italian, and Linguistics at U.C. Berkeley and earned her M.A.T. at The School for International Training. She began her EFL/ESL career in Zurich, Switzerland and now has over 25 years’ experience teaching everyone from...Read more about Melody Noll

Michael Clark

Michael Clark has taught at UC Berkeley since 1991, for College Writing Programs and for the Language Proficiency Program in the Graduate Division. He has also taught university courses in Malaysia and Japan and was a volunteer teacher in the U.S. Peace Corps, serving in Central Africa....Read more about Michael Clark

Michele Rajotte

Michele Rajotte holds a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A.T. in TESOL. As an ESOL instructor, in Providence, Rhode Island, she provided support to immigrants and refugees in a non-profit organization and taught blended learning classes in Workforce Education at the Community College. She was...Read more about Michele Rajotte