David Nunan Receives James E. Alatis Award For Service To The Field Of Tesol

Anaheim University's President Emeritus Recognized for Contributions to TESOL on an International Scale. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) April 02, 2015 - Anaheim, CA - On March 26, 2015, Dr. David Nunan received the James E. Alatis Award for Service to the field of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at the 2015 TESOL International Convention and English Language Expo in Toronto, Canada. The award was named for Dr. James E. Alatis, a charter member of TESOL International and a champion of TESOL teachers and their professional needs. Dr. Alatis served as the first executive director of TESOL from 1966 until 1987, when TESOL first established this service award. He passed away on February 28 of this year.

The James E. Alatis Award honors one association member each year who has demonstrated "a genuine and long-lasting vision of what TESOL is and can be; the ability to combine professional and administrative roles in TESOL organizations; the ability and desire to represent and promote TESOL; and efficiency, personal dynamism, and good cheer." This honor is given annually to one of 12,000 educators, researchers, administrators, and students representing 156 countries who comprise TESOL International, the world's largest language teaching organization. Of the award recipients over the past 10 years, four are professors at Anaheim University: Dr. Denise Murray (2006), Dr. Kathleen Bailey (2007), Dr. MaryAnn Christison (2012), and now Dr. David Nunan (2015).

David Nunan is a world-renowned applied linguist and author of numerous groundbreaking textbooks such as Syllabus Design published by Oxford University Press and The Learner-Centred Curriculum published by Cambridge University Press. In 1996, he broke new ground for the TESOL community when he developed the first Master of Arts in TESOL degree program to be offered online and in real time. Dr. Nunan constantly challenges himself and his TESOL colleagues to use their online classroom time for discussion and interaction between the students and professor. His belief that teachers cannot do the learning for their students has turned him into a staunch advocate for the learner-centered online classroom. He puts the power in the hands of the learners.

Dr. Nunan continues to play an instrumental role in what has become one of the most successful TESOL programs in the United States and beyond, and he is now supported by 15 world-renowned linguists who make up the faculty at Anaheim University's Graduate School of Education.

David Nunan is President Emeritus of Anaheim University and the University's current Director of the Graduate School of Education's MA in TESOL degree program as well as the David Nunan TESOL Institute. He is the world's leading textbook series author of over 2.5 billion textbooks. His textbook series Go For It! published by Cengage is the basal textbook series used all throughout China in 29 of its provinces. He has taught graduate programs for the University of Hong Kong, Columbia University, University of Hawaii, Monterey Institute for International Studies, and many more. In 2002, he received a congressional citation from the US House of Representatives for his service to English language education through his pioneering work in online education, and in 2003, he was ranked the 7th most influential Australian in Asia by Business Review Weekly. In 2005, David Nunan was named one of the top "50 Australians Who Matter." He was also invited by the Australian Prime Minister to attend a summit in Sydney in 2006 as one of the Leading 100 Global Australians.

In addition to receiving his award, Dr. Nunan also presented at the 2015 TESOL Convention. He headlined a colloquium on "Exploring Professional Confidence in ELT Teacher Education Content Area," gave a symposium on "Language Learning Beyond the Classroom," and offered ideas for developing vocabulary and language structures in "Childhood is an Adventure - and Learning Can Be, Too."

Anaheim University was founded in Orange County, California in 1996 in the belief that online education has the power to transform higher education. The borderless nature of the Internet allows Anaheim to select the top experts in their fields from around the globe and connect them directly to student computers anywhere on the map through live, interactive webcam classes. Anaheim University is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), a recognized member of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

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