The Multilingual Learning Center is a collaboration between the Northeastern Illinois University faculty and staff, as well as alumni from the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) graduate program.
Founder and Language Center Director
Jeanine Ntihirageza
Jeanine Ntihirageza is a Professor and TESOL Coordinator at Northeastern Illinois University. Dr. Ntihirageza holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago. While on a Fulbright Scholarship, she obtained an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Dr. Ntihirageza’s research interests are linguistics, second language acquisition, refugee and genocide and human rights studies. Her other languages are Kirundi and French.
Expert Consultants
Denise Cloonan
Denise Cloonan Cortez de Andersen is a Professor of Spanish and the Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Northeastern Illinois University. Dr. Cloonan, who has a Ph.D. in Linguistics, is the Editorial Review Board Member of The Linguistics Journal. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in second language pedagogy, contact language phenomena, intercultural communication, fundamentals of translation, phonetics and phonology and the dialectology of the Spanish language. She is the author of “Contornos del Habla: fonología y fonética del español” (Yale University Press, 2009) and contributing author of Native Speaker Ancillary to “¡Anda!, Curso Intermedio” (Pearson, 2010). Dr. Cloonan was also the recipient of the 2010 Audrey Reynolds Distinguished Teaching Award. Her other language is Spanish.
Theodora Helena Bofman
Theodora Bofman is Professor Emerita in TESOL from Northeastern Illinois University. She has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Michigan and has been teaching ESL and training language teachers since 1973. Bofman developed and ran Northeastern’s TESL practicum and supervised the ESL clinical experience for many years. She has received teaching awards from Illinois TESOL/BE, Literacy Works and Northeastern Illinois University. She has studied Thai, Burmese, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Yiddish, German and Spanish.
Selina L.P. Mushi
Selina Mushi is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Northeastern Illinois University. She earned a Ph.D. (curriculum and instruction) from the University of Toronto, with a focus on Second Language Learning and Assessment. She has 34 years of teaching experience in primary schools and universities, and more than 18 years of experience incorporating early brain development research in teaching language development and other courses in Early Childhood Education. Kiswahili is one of her native languages.
Rachel Adeodu
Dr. Rachel Adeodu is an Associate Professor and Chair of Teacher Education at Northeastern Illinois University, as well as the Coordinator of the Early Childhood program. Dr. Adeodu holds a PhD in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood focus from the University of Alberta,Canada. She recently completed all her coursework in the TESOL Master’s program at Northeastern Illinois University. Her research interests include: Teacher Education; Children’s Early Literacy Development; Immigrant Families’ Involvement in their Children’s Education, funds of knowledge and community assets;Trauma Informed Teaching and the Acquisition of two or more languages in Young Children. She is proficient in the Yoruba language.
Program Managers
Susan Pogash
Susan Pogash brings to her work in ESL an extensive background in business, especially in new products and services, advertising and marketing, communication, and program evaluation. She teaches Integrated ESL studies in the Chicago City Colleges. Pogash is a proud graduate of Northeastern Illinois University’s TESOL master’s program.
Gina Wells
Gina Wells is an instructor in the English Language Program and the Department of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at Northeastern Illinois University. A licensed music educator, Dr. Wells earned a Ph.D. in Professional Studies in Education from Capella University. She was a coordinator for the Northeastern Grow Your Own Teachers Program prior to completing an additional graduate degree—an M.A. in TESOL. Dr. Wells’ research interests are the role of music and musicality in second language acquisition, and the role of transformative learning in teacher education. Her other language is Swedish.
Instructors
Sanaa Rahman (Lead Instructor, Arabic)
Sanaa Rahman is an Instructor of Arabic Language and Culture at Northeastern Illinois University and at Lake Forest College. In addition to teaching Arabic language, she also teaches courses on Arabic culture and film. In past years she has organized and led study abroad programs to Egypt and been the faculty advisor for the Middle Eastern Student Club at Northeastern Illinois University. Sanaa has a master's degree in Political Science and recently completed the coursework for a TESOL certification.
Program Coordination
Cassandra Martinez
Cassandra Martinez is a graduate of the TESOL master’s program at Northeastern. Recently, she was a TaLK Scholar in Jeonju, South Korea, where she taught elementary students English for 18 months. In addition to teaching, Cassandra has trained other teachers and has presented at the provincial orientation for incoming English teachers. Cassandra speaks English, Spanish and Korean.
