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CASLS welcomes the Spring 2017 cohort of Oregon International Internship Program (OIIP) students to the Unviersity of Oregon. The program sponsors students from universities in China, Japan, and Taiwan to come to the Eugene-Springfield area and gain valuable classroom experience by shadowing a mentor elementary school teacher for five days a week. This full-time internship is complemented by two courses at the University of Oregon co-taught by CASLS' East Asia Programs Director, Li-Hsien Yang, and International Programs Specialist, Renée Petit Marshall, on English pragmatics, teaching pedagogy and the U.S. school system. Students also live with an American family and gain valuable conversational and cultural knowledge to take back with them to their home countries. Overall, OIIP provides interns with invaluable classroom experience, university credit, and the opportunity for meaningful connections. At the same time, OIIP enriches Eugene and Springfield area homes and schools with language and culture. "The program affords students an opportunity to learn about the U.S. school system, teaching methods, and to gain teaching experience while also affording their placement school a teaching assistant to help teach and manage the classroom, providing unique perspectives and exploration of their home country with the elementary students," says Renée about the benefits of the program. "I love working with this group of interns and I learn something new with every cohort."

This current group began on February 8 and will finish on June 16. Please join us in welcoming them!