July 27, 2019

Elms College to welcome Irish Fulbright Language teaching assistant

REGIONAL
Staff report

Yvonne De Faoite will be the Irish Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant at Elms College for the 2019-2020 academic year.

CHICOPEE – The College of Our Lady of the Elms has announced that it will host an Irish Fulbright language teaching assistants (FLTA) during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Yvonne De Faoite of Limerick, Ireland, will teach Irish (Gaelic) language and culture. The Irish FLTA position is co-sponsored by the Irish Cultural Center of Western Massachusetts. 

“The Fulbright FLTA program allows us to broaden the range of language classes that we offer at Elms College,” said Joyce Hampton, director of student success and strategic initiatives at Elms. “This is such a benefit to our students, because learning another language develops a global perspective for students, and sparks an interest in international affairs.”

The college also regularly offers classes in American Sign Language, Spanish, and English as a second language.

De Faoite earned her primary teaching degree from Froebel College of Education in 2008. In 2012, she spent a year in Australia, where she gained international teaching experience. She recently completed a master’s degree in Irish immersion education from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. Prior to that, she completed a diploma in educational leadership in University College Dublin. De Faoite’s educational interests include immersion and second language acquisition.

As a Fulbright Irish FLTA, she will teach the Irish language and culture to Elms College students and to community members through the Irish Cultural Center. She will also take classes at Elms.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The Fulbright Program has given approximately 360,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. 

FLTA grant recipients are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential; Fulbright FLTA scholarships are awarded by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. The program’s aim is to help internationalize U.S. colleges and universities, a key goal of many institutions as they prepare students for the globalized 21st-century workforce.

Since 2001, more than 4,000 Fulbright awardees have been Fulbright FLTAs. The Fulbright FLTA Program is administered by the Institute of International Education. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State. Participating governments, universities, corporations, and foundations in foreign countries (as well as in the U.S.) also provide direct and indirect support.