Faculty and Staff | Center for English as a Second Language | SIU

CESL's staff has a rich variety of knowledge and expertise, along with a passion for international education, that creates a wonderful and transformative learning environment for students from all countries at CESL.

CESL’s faculty are very experienced and dedicated to helping CESL students succeed in learning English. They have diverse areas of expertise and help all students reach their target goals for speaking, understanding, reading and writing in English, so that they can go on to success at U.S. universities.

Mission Statement

The Center for English as a Second Language serves international students enrolled in CESL or at Southern Illinois University (SIU). Our primary mission is assuring that you receive the highest quality English language program and curriculum, delivered by ESL professionals. Our goals are to:

• Provide high-quality ESL instruction to enable students to meet their educational, professional, and/or personal goals.
• Foster global citizenship by helping students acquire a better understanding of the academic and social cultures of the U.S. as well as of the cultures of their own and other countries.
• Maintain extensive student services.
• Provide effective teacher training and mentoring of CESL teaching assistants.
• Encourage professional development in TESOL and related fields in order to contribute to and further knowledge about the field.
• Provide advanced linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical training for international graduate assistants.
• Promote international awareness within the SIU community and the region.
• Advance SIU’s reputation as an international and multicultural community.
• Establish and maintain relationships abroad in order to promote CESL and SIU internationally.