BACK
BACK
BACK
BACK
BACK
BACK
BACK
BACK
EAP Instructor Summer Wheeler Shines at LUJ
By Fu Hirokawa
Professor Summer Wheeler is a teacher in the EAP program and director of the Learning Center at Lakeland University Japan. Recently, she spoke with me about how she manages two different jobs.
When she was a kid, she didn’t think that she wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to live in Bulgaria and believed there were jobs to teach English anywhere.
After she graduated from the University of Colorado, she moved to Bulgaria and took an English teaching course. Later, she traveled for about six years, including hitchhiking from Spain to Italy. Then, she joined a Non-Government Organization (NGO) called Exponential Education and went to Ghana to support student tutors. Through her journeys, she thought teaching was really fun, and so she decided to obtain a master's degree in second language teaching, not only English conversation (eikaiwa).
In 2019, she came to LUJ and became an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) instructor, and now has the role of director of the Learning Center. The EAP is a program that builds up Academic English depending on students' English ability to improve basic skills. There are five levels in the EAP, so every student can study at their own English level. Also, there are three kinds of classes: listening and speaking, writing, and reading, so every student can improve specific English skills.
“It is very hard to teach in the EAP, because it is not just about teaching English, but also I need to care about how to improve each student’s English skills,” she said to me in her office in June. “It is hard to adjust the lesson speed and difficulties for every student, but I am trying to change the teaching styles depending on the students’ personalities and class levels.”
LUJ Students Reflect on Professor Wheeler
Students Karen Tsuchiya and Yusei Shimizu are both in her EAP classes.
“When she teaches something,” says Tsuchiya, “if I still don’t understand, she teaches differently until I understand clearly.” This is Tsuchiya’s first semester as an LUJ student, so she had been worried about keeping up with classes at the beginning. However, she has become more confident after joining the EAP. “I can take classes at my own level, which are not too difficult but not too easy, so it motivates me to work hard.” she says.
As for Shimizu, he says: “Even if I have something that I don’t know or cannot understand, Summer will suggest that I try to think it through first.” This is his third semester, so now he is used to the EAP course. “I feel like it makes me more proactive and helps me build up my independence. Also, I could feel my English improving before moving to the upper level every semester.”
Tutors at the Learning Center
Another job for Professor Wheeler is the director of the Learning Center, and she leads six tutors. The learning center is a place where students can take free tutoring sessions. Students from EAP to the Undergraduate Program are able to go to the Learning Center by making an appointment online. “Students who have a passion for teaching or helping other students are ideal as a tutor,” she says.
She normally goes to the Learning Center and communicates with tutors to give advice, create Instagram posts, and email students to increase center visits. She checks how many students used tutoring to identify specific demands at the end of the semester.
Mayuki Mori, a tutor who works in the learning center three times a week, says: “Summer tries her best to make the Learning Center better. She tries to change the layout, gives motivation and advice to tutors, and tries to make Instagram posts.”
Another tutor, Johnny Baez, who also works in the learning center three times a week, says: “I didn't know much about Professor Wheeler because I hadn’t taken her class, but she was helpful and replied to emails very fast if I had any problems, so the environment that I'm currently in is making me work smoothly without any difficulties.”
When she started working as a director of the Learning Center, Professor Wheeler said she struggled with managing two different jobs. However, she tries hard and continues to improve her skills to get better at it. “It is normal to struggle with something new, so now, I am satisfied to have two different jobs, because I can understand what students in the undergraduate courses are doing.”
Professor Wheeler says it is fun to work as a teacher. “EAP teachers share information and discuss what is important for students. I like an environment where I can work with one team,” she says. “I feel very happy that students have overcome many challenges and reached graduation.”
Fu Hirokawa is an undergraduate student at LUJ majoring in Business Administration.
