The WCU TESOL program is honored to have three distinguished faculty members heading the program. These professors enrich the learning experiences of their students, and they are valuable resources for students and faculty alike.
About our Faculty:
| Dr. Chandrika Balasubramanian (formerly Rogers) (828) 227-3921 crogers@email.wcu.edu |
Dr. Eleanor Petrone (828) 227-3918 eapetrone@email.wcu.edu |
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Chandrika Balasubramanian is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Graduate TESOL Programs in the Department of English at WCU. Her research interests focus on sociolinguistics and the study of language varieties and variation using corpus linguistics methodology. Her ESL teaching ranges from elementary and middle school in the Middle East to university-level teaching in the U.S. She taught college level ESL at various universities in the U.S. for 10 years, and has been teaching graduate Applied Linguistics courses since 2004. Her book, Register Variation in Indian English was published by John Benjamins in 2009. Her current research focuses on compiling a corpus of contemporary spoken North American English, the analysis of which will result in a text book series on the teaching of speaking and listening.
Eleanor Petrone is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at WCU, where she teaches classes in TESOL. She comes to WCU after 15 years as a public school ESL teacher. Her teaching experience spans from kindergarten to the Masters level. She initially entered the field of TESOL while working as an EFL teacher in South America. After returning to the U.S., she worked in the NYC Public Schools teaching Humanities at an alternative school for recently immigrated, English language learners. In addition to teaching ESL, she has taught Language Arts, Spanish, and helped to implement an ESL program in the North Carolina public schools. Her research interests focus on the acculturation process of bilingual/bicultural students and the ways in which language minority students successfully navigate U.S. public schools with a particular focus on the 1.5 generation and the undocumented. She is presently conducting a qualitative study on the experience of Mexican parents and their involvement in the U.S. public schools with the hope of identifying culturally-relevant forms of parental involvement that will facilitate an increase in the level of Mexican families' participation and student success.