You might not have known it from the weather, but the U of I campus has been a little more, well, Brazilian this winter.
Illinois was one of 18 U.S. universities to host English teachers from Brazil during a new six-week professional development program funded by Brazil’s Ministry of Education. The program is meant to improve scientific and economic ties with the U.S. by improving English skills in the Portuguese-speaking country.
To do so, Brazil, working with the nonprofit Institute of International Education, the U.S. State Department, and the Fulbright Commission, selected English teachers and sent them to the U.S. to learn better how to speak and teach the language, while being exposed to a little American culture.
It’s just the beginning of a program expected to last at least three years, with the U of I agreeing to take part. Of the 540 teachers who participated in this initial phase of the program, the U of I hosted 26, and the campus will host more during the second phase of the program this summer.
The journey was a lot to ask of the Brazilian participants, as they were on their summer break, were not allowed to bring family, and would face winter conditions like they had never seen in balmy Brazil. But the program had 1,500 applicants and ultimately appeared to be a success, gauging from the reactions of those who came to the U of I.
Here, they were instructed and coordinated by the Intensive English Institute (IEI), which runs programs for people who want to improve their English skills. The IEI arranged for their classes and various activities, including visits to local schools and trips to Springfield and Chicago. They also arranged for their housing.
In addition to developing their English and teaching skills, the IEI worked with people from across campus to provide the teachers with opportunities, including speakers from the Departments of Linguistics, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, Speech and Hearing Science; the Colleges of Education and Business; and a speaker on African American dialect when the Brazilian teachers expressed an interest.
During their time here, they were given full access to recreation facilities, libraries, bus service, and other services as if they were regular full-time students.
Near the end of their visit, five of the Brazilian teachers—Mercia Regina da Silva Miranda, Ligia Kedziorski, Lucilene Bender de Sousa, Edelvaisse Mendonca Ferreira, and Indiara Soares Pacheco Ferraz—who hail from all over the country, with teaching experience ranging from five to 25 years, gathered and spoke highly of their time on campus.
“One very remarkable thing is that they are not just worried with our theoretical learning and language learning, they are worried if we are feeling well or if everything is okay with our apartments, or if we need something,” says Bender de Souza, from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Cruz do Sul, where temperatures might occasionally bottom out at 32 degrees during winter.
For their part, the Brazilian teachers took the visit very seriously. They took an English test as part of their application process, and each of them recalled a meeting with Brazil’s Minister of Education who reminded them that they were representing the country.
“They were looking for teachers who would come here and return to share something,” says Regina da Silva Miranda, from the Brazilian state of Goias. “They were clear that this is the most important part of the process. Think of it as contributing to your classroom, in our community, and in our state.”
Not that they didn’t have a little fun along the way. Participants attended a Super Bowl party, visited museums, attended a women’s basketball game, and, in a theme throughout the trip, learned about Abraham Lincoln, including attending the Lincoln Hall rededication.
They made a video commemorating their visit and forwarded it to Laura Hahn, director of IEI.
“I’m totally pleased with the way it went,” Hahn says. “The teachers were great, the participants were great, and campus was great in helping us pull it off.”
