For the eighth year in a row, the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (LLL) in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences has been awarded a grant to host a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) summer orientation.

Syracuse one of seven host institutions across the country involved with the program, administered by the Institute of International Education’s Division of Foreign Fulbright Programs.

Through August 20, the University will house 54 FLTAs from 25 countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Kenya, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

Led by LLL faculty and staff, the three-day workshop will help FLTAs hone their professional skills, while gaining first-hand knowledge of American people and culture, as they prepare to work at U.S. colleges and universities.

FLTAs will participate in 10 sessions led by various units on campus, including the Slutzker Center for International Services, the Office of Human Resources, Online Learning Services, and LLL. Seminar topics will include an overview of American culture, strategies for classroom success, technology in language teaching, and developing and maintaining professional relationships.

FLTAs will also soak up local culture, with day-trips to Golub Farm in Manlius, Chittenango Falls State Park, and Destiny USA.

At the end of the program, FLTAs will begin yearlong assignments at institutions across the country. Three of them, in fact, will be housed in LLL. Kübra Çakıroğlu and Sibel Tartut Avsar will teach Turkish and the Turkic languages; Hyojung Kim, Korean.

“We’re proud to contribute to the professional development of these teacher-scholars,” says Gail Bulman, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American culture, as well as chair of LLL. “Not only do we help refine their teaching skills, but also they share with us the values and customs of their countries. Everyone benefits.”

At Syracuse, the FLTA program is managed by Laura Lisnyczyj, Lecturer of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in LLL. Meredith Ellis G’15, adjunct professor of anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, serves as a co-coordinator for the program.

Gerald R. Greenberg, senior associate dean for A&S and associate professor of Russian and linguistics in LLL, is the grant’s principal investigator.