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Since she started working for CASLS in November 2014, Renée Marshall has worked in various capacities. Currently she is the Chinese Flagship Coordinator and Oregon International Internship Program (OIIP) Coordinator. Renée also serves as co-investigator of a LFO to GO pilot study in two K-12 language classrooms. Before her current position, Renée worked at CASLS as a Curriculum Consultant.

“I love working at CASLS because everyday I feel like I am making a difference in the lives of language educators and learners,” Renée says when asked about her job. “I strongly believe in our core values, that everyone has the ability to learn a second language and should be provided with that opportunity, and that teachers and learners play a vital role in language learning.”

On a typical day Renée helps support University of Oregon (UO) Chinese Flagship students by answering questions about scholarships, study abroad, testing, the program in general, and application questions, as well as helping the student leadership team plan and execute events for other Flagship students. She also works on recruitment by organizing prospective student visiting days and by visiting high schools in Oregon to share information about the program. “I really enjoy working with the Flagship students,” she says. “It’s a wonderful program and a great opportunity for UO students who want to become proficient in Chinese by graduation.” The Language Flagship, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, funds the University of Oregon Chinese Flagship Program.

For OIIP, Renée offers similar support to interns, homestay families, and mentor teachers about the program, intercultural communication strategies, the U.S. education system, English pragmatics and teaching pedagogy. On Fridays she co-teaches a class with the OIIP Director, Li-Hsien Yang, for the OIIP interns on Language Pedagogy and Cross-cultural Communication. “This is a transformative program for these international interns,” she says. “It’s really rewarding to work with aspiring language teachers. I learn at least as much from them as they do from me!”