Lane Community College ESOL instructor, Indira Marie Bakshi, has been selected for a 10-month fellowship project, training teachers and teaching English at the Asociación Tucumána de Intercambio Cultural Argentino Norteamericano (ATICANA) in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, according to a release from LCC.

Bakshi is one of only 200 U.S. citizens selected for the 2022-23 English Language Fellow Program.

“It is an honor to have been chosen,” said Bakshi. “I’m excited to work with others in both teaching what I know and learning from the process about best practices and ways to engage with English Language Learners inside and outside the classroom.”

Bakshi holds a master of arts in TESOL from the University of Texas at Austin, and has taught English in the United States and Mexico for over 30 years. She currently teaches at Lane Community College and volunteers on the Language Resources Team for the Refugee Resettlement Coalition of Lane County.

In Argentina, Bakshi will be conducting teacher trainings along with the ATICANA Academic Department on the latest TESOL methods and technique trends for English teachers in the area, providing assistance to instructors on best practices in test preparation and working with the ATICANA Academic Department on academic course development.

The English Language Fellow Program is the premier opportunity for experienced teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) to enact meaningful and sustainable changes in the way that English is taught abroad and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. government.

According to the release, through projects developed by U.S. Embassies in more than 80 countries, Fellows work directly with local teachers, students, and educational professionals to improve the quality of English language instruction at universities and other academic institutions.