A faculty of the College of Education of the South La Union Campus was a recipient of a U.S. Department of State academic exchange program at the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). The program ran from October 20 to November 6, 2019.

Prof. Melda Uychoco was nominated as an outstanding colleague of an English Language Fellow (ELF) who she worked with in 2014 in implementing language programs in the country. She was eventually selected to complete the 23 country representatives and English Language Fellow host representatives who participated in the program.

Designed around the theme “Developing 21st Century Skills for Globalizing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classrooms” the exchange program focused on developing and maintaining international partnerships with the incorporation of culture as a core element of language learning, using technology to connect classrooms, and teaching EFL with a focus on Service Learning and Civic Literacy.

Salient activities in the program included experiential learning and interactive workshop sessions with practical application and relevance to the participants’ local contexts. These were enriched with site visits and active participation in local high school, community college and university classroom settings and/or community organizations/partners offering English language programs to diverse audiences. Likewise, the workshop topics were reinforced with opportunities of meeting students, teachers and educators who focus on the development of English language programs and were capped with cultural excursions designed to enhance one’s understanding of the American life and culture.

After participating in the professional development program, Prof. Uychoco traveled to Washington D.C. where she attended the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the English Language Fellow Program. The celebration was hosted by Asst. Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce and was held at the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room of the U.S. Department of State.

Prof. Uychoco’s participation in the exchange program was funded in full by the State Department. As an alumna of a state-sponsored program, Prof. Uychoco is expected to share with teachers in her community some best practices and concepts learned from the program.

This was the second time Prof. Uychoco travelled to the U.S. to participate in an exchange program. In 2012, she was a recipient of the e-teacher scholarship program on TESOL Methodology which eventually led to her being selected as one of the participants in a three-week Professional Development Workshop at the University of Oregon-American English Institute held in Fall of 2013.