Educator Selected for Prestigious English Language Project

Tracy Koslowski is among 200 chosen by State Department to give virtual instruction in China

Tracy Case Koslowski, associate director of the UM Intensive English Program, has been selected by the U.S. Department of State for a six-week English language specialist virtual project. She plans to work with a team to design webinars to help English educators in the vicinity of Chengdu, China, incorporate critical thinking skill instruction into their courses. Photo by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services

OXFORD, Miss. – A University of Mississippi educator has been selected by the U.S. Department of State for a six-week English language specialist virtual project focusing on integrating critical thinking into the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom in China.

Tracy Case Koslowski, associate director of the UM Intensive English Program, was chosen for the program through the Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Her project is one of some 200 that the English Language Specialist Program supports each year.

“Receiving this award is very exciting because it will certainly lead to new opportunities and new adventures,” Koslowski said. “Professionally, it is rewarding to know that the efforts of our team in the Intensive English Program are proving to be so important and useful, not only for our students here on campus, but also for colleagues and language learners all over the world.”

Koslowski will work with a team to design a series of webinars to help middle school through university English educators in the vicinity of Chengdu, China, incorporate critical thinking skill instruction into their existing courses. Afterward, the team also will provide a guide to allow participants to share the information with colleagues.

“It is an opportunity to familiarize myself further with another country’s secondary- and tertiary-level education system, which will help us meet the needs of our institutional partners in that part of the world,” she said.

“Another aspect of the English Language Specialist Program will include attending professional conferences to share my experience with others in my field, which will lead to new professional development and networking opportunities post-program.”

Koslowski’s first experience teaching at the university was as a graduate teaching assistant in the German program of the Department of Modern Languages. After working in the Oxford School District in the English Language Learner program, she accepted a position as an instructor in the university’s Intensive English Program.

“I was aware of the richly diverse international, multicultural environment in which I would be able to work,” she said.

The Gautier native holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and two master’s degrees, in German and in teaching English as a second language, and is a doctoral candidate in the Ole Miss higher education program. She has worked extensively in curriculum development, online course design, project-based learning and the implementation of critical thinking skills in the classroom.

Koslowski’s work in the field of English as a second language has always been outstanding – from recruiting to classroom teaching to teacher training, said Whitney Sarver, senior director of the Intensive English Program.

“Being selected as an English language specialist means that she has been recognized as an expert in our field,” Sarver said. “Both the IEP and UM strive to work with leaders in our field. This is proof that Tracy is exceptional at what she does.”

The English Language Specialist Program is the premier opportunity for leaders in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages to enact meaningful and sustainable changes in the way that English is taught abroad. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. government. The program celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Since 1991, more than 800 English language specialists – representing the best of America’s educators from all 50 states – have encouraged critical thought and erudition, celebrated their cultural diversity, and showcased their professional and civic engagement strategies to millions of educators and students through in-country, virtual or mixed projects.

English language specialists are counted among the more than 50,000 individuals participating in State Department exchange programs each year. The specialist program is administered by the Center for Intercultural Education and Development at Georgetown University.

For more information about the English Language Specialist Program, click here, call 202-632-6452 or e-mail ECA-Press@state.gov.