Three ELI instructors promoted

The English Language Institute congratulates Leslie Criston, Russ Mason and Barbara Morris on their promotion to assistant professor by the University of Delaware’s Board of Trustees. The announcement came in May after the three successfully demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarship and service through a rigorous review process.

	Leslie Criston, Russ Mason, and Barbara Morris were promoted to Assistant Professor in May.

Starting with a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology, Professor Criston soon realized that language teaching was her focus and earned a master’s in English as a second or foreign language from the University of Arizona. She has taught in Brazil and at a number of universities in the United States, including Harvard. Leslie joined ELI in 1993 as a business specialist and helped to develop the Institute’s business English program. She has also worked with special programs and in the ITA training program and developed the popular literature and film course “Read It! Watch It!” She has frequently presented at regional professional conferences and at international TESOL conventions and is an editor for the Institute’s annual newsletter.

Professor Mason has taught in every ELI track –– general, academic, business and culture –– and at almost every level since joining ELI in 1996. Mason earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Salisbury State University and a master’s in TESL from Oklahoma State University. He has developed two popular courses at ELI — English Through the 1960s and General Reading/Writing V –– and has provided strong support on committees such as the Promotion and Peer Review Committee and the director’s Advisory Committee. Russ also serves as a guest lecturer in the MA TESL program. He is an editor of the ELI annual newsletter and has presented at regional conferences and international TESOL conventions.

Before joining ELI in 1992, Professor Morris taught English as a foreign or second language in France, Ethiopia and the Washington, DC, area. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French from Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her master’s in teaching English as a foreign language from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. Barbara has taught many classes at ELI, but particularly enjoys helping her intermediate-level students produce videos, which she is currently incorporating into online vocabulary-building materials. She has been editor-in-chief of the ELI annual newsletter since 1995. A past chair of the TESOL Video and Digital Media Interest Section, she writes and presents regularly on video production for international and regional ESL professional groups.