Rebekah Sidman-Taveau
50 Woodside Plaza - Suite #208
Redwood City, CA. 94061
(650) 200-6080
rtaveau at yahoo.com
Ph.D., Foreign Language Education/Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL),
University of Texas at Austin, December, 2005
M.A., Latin American Studies/Anthropology, New York University, 1993
B.A., Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, 1990
Teaching Experience
2006 Fall - present, ESL Coordinator and Lecturer, San Francisco Art Institute, SF, CA.
Design and evaluate ESL curriculum, teach ESL and train tutors, provide ESL workshops, serve as a liaison for international students, and manage international student placement in writing sequence.
2006 Summer, EFS Lecturer, English for Foreign Students, Stanford University , Palo Alto, CA.
Teach English writing, pronunciation, listening, and discussion to international scholars and graduate students. Create curriculum and quizzes to support interdisciplinary lecture series.
2006 Spring, Adjunct ESL Instructor, Foothill College , Los Altos Hills, CA.
Teach Advanced Composition and Reading course to international students. The course is the equivalent of Freshman composition for non-native speakers.
2003-2006, Adjunct ESL Professor , Cañada College, Redwood City, CA. Teach intermediate to advanced ESL reading, writing, listening and speaking, and English Writing Development. Help mentor new teachers, organize events, research book decisions, and assist with accreditation process.
1999-2001, Assistant Spanish Instructor, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Spanish Portuguese, Austin, Texas. Taught first year Spanish. Designed, implemented, and evaluated Spanish language web-based lessons used by over 30 classes for 4 semesters: "El Mundo Hispano Webquest" [The Hispanic World Webquest] http://www.e-sterical.com/spanish506/
1997-99 , ESL Teacher/TOEFL Program Coordinator, Kaplan Educational Center, Austin, Texas.
Taught ESL conversation and film and intermediate to advanced grammar, listening, reading, writing, and vocabulary. Managed international programs: handled international student recruitment, admissions, visa processing, and student placement (via written and oral diagnostics). Supervised ESL teaching.
1994-96 , ESL Teacher, Intensive American English Institute, House of Tutors, Austin, Texas.
Taught ESL pronunciation, listening, speaking, grammar, and writing to international students.
1989-2002, ESL Tutor. Freelance in Paris, France; The Chinese English Exchange, N.Y.C.; & AIELS, Austin, TX. Taught all levels of ESL conversation, pronunciation, reading, and writing to international university students and business people. Provided language diagnostics and customized study programs. Clients included: Bank of America, Samsung, and AMD .
Curriculum Development and Other Professional Experience
2001, Foreign Language Program Designer, University of Texas at Austin, Department of Germanic Studies, Austin, Texas . Designed online language lesson for advanced business German classes: "Wirtschaftsdeutsch im Netz" [Business German on the Web] http://www.utexas.edu/courses/busgerman/modules
1996, Assistant to the Chair, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Texas at Austin
Assisted with administrative tasks and departmental organization.
1988, 1991 – 1993, Assistant to the Registrar, The Americas Society, Latin American Art Gallery , New York City, Organized Latin American art exhibits and managed library. Translated Spanish & Portuguese.
1993, Assistant to the Registrar, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York City. Helped organize and document blockbuster Latin American Art exhibition and Juan Miró art show. Translated Spanish.
Study Abroad
1995, Mérida, Venezuela, Rotary International Cultural Ambassador Exchange
1989 – 1990, Paris, France, Sarah Lawrence College Academic Year
1986 – 1987, Lisbon, Portugal, American Field Studies Service Academic Year
Extensive travel in Europe, Latin America, and Japan
Foreign Languages
French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Technology
Expertise in windows and Mac (MS Office, Excel, and Word). Skilled in web editing (Dreamweaver and Frontpage). Experience with multimedia programs and digital photo, video, and video editing equipment.
Fellowships and Honors
2006, President Innovation Fund Grant for College Wide E-ZINE, Cañada College, Redwood City, CA.
2004-2005, Livingston Fellowship, highest award made by Faculty Review Committee for completion of dissertation research, University of Texas at Austin
1999 - 2001, Summer Tuition Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin
1999, Discovery Learning Grant, University of Texas at Austin
1995, Rotary International Scholarship for semester in Venezuela
1995, Outstanding Student Award for Spanish language study, VENUSA, Mérida, Venezuela
1991--1993, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Tuition Scholarship, New York University
1987 - 1991, Sarah Lawrence College Tuition Scholarship, Bronxville, N.Y.
1986 – 1987, American Field Studies Scholarship for academic year in Portugal
Research Interests
Computer-assisted language learning, second and foreign language methods including project, problem and inquiry based approaches, constructivist learning theory, assessment, and second language learner strategy and motivation.
Presentations
Sidman-Taveau, R. (2004, March). Creating Community in the Classroom through Team Work. Paper presented at California Association for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL), 2004, Santa Clara, CA.
Bartholomew, S.; Miller, M. & Sidman-Taveau, R. (2003, Nov.). Fun and Meaningful Learning: Building Bridges with Project Based Learning. Paper presented at California Association for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL), 2003, Redwood City, CA.
Sidman-Taveau, R. (2002, Nov.). Teaching Language and Culture with Project Based Learning on the Web. (Invited Speaker) Paper presented at the American Council for Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Conference, 2002, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Sidman-Taveau, R. & Milner-Bolotin, M. (2001, March). Constructivist Inspiration: A Project-Based Model for L2 Learning in Virtual Worlds. Paper presented at Texas Foreign Language Education Conference, 2001, Austin, TX.
Kim, Y; Lim, H-Y, & Sidman-Taveau, R. (2000, June). Developing an Electronic Portfolio in ESL Classrooms. Presented at the annual meeting of Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium, AZ.
Publications
Sidman-Taveau, R. & Milner-Bolotin, M. (2001). Constructivist Inspiration: A Project-Based Model for L2 Learning in Virtual Worlds, Texas Papers in Foreign Language, V.6 (1). Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin.
Sidman, R. (1994). Cultural Synthesis in Latin American Modernism: Carlos Mérida, A Case Study. Proceedings of Middlebury College Latinos in the U.S. Symposium (pp. 30-35). Middlebury, VT: Middlebury College.
Sidman, R. (1988). La Linguistique [Linguistics]. International Gazette, Bronxville, N.Y: Sarah Lawrence College.
Articles in Progress
Teacher Experiences in Computer-Assisted Project Based Instruction:
Case Studies in Second Language
A Survey and Wish List for Computer Mediated Communication Research
in Second Language
Community Colleges and Universities are Apples and Oranges Equally
Rich in Nutrients
Text Book in Progress
Integrating Project Based Learning into Second and Foreign Language
Instruction
Memberships
California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL)
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Modern Language Association (MLA)
