Thinking Theologically about Language Teaching

BRADLEY BAURAIN (PhD, University of Nebraska) has taught for twenty-five years in the United States, Canada, China, and Vietnam. He is currently leading the graduate-level TESOL program at Moody Theological Seminary and Graduate School in Chicago. He is the author of Religious Faith and Teacher Knowledge in English Language Teaching (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2015), as well as co-editor of Multilevel and Diverse Classrooms (a volume in TESOL’s Classroom Practice series 2010) and Voices, Identities, Negotiations, and Conflicts: Writing Academic English Across Cultures (Emerald 2011). He has published articles in journals including TESOL Journal, the Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, ELT Journal, and the Journal of Aesthetic Education, and serves on the Editorial Review Board of the International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching. His interests include teacher development, narrative inquiry, and literature in language education.

ROBERT L. GALLAGHER (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the department chair and director of the Master of Arts program in intercultural studies, and associate professor of intercultural studies at Wheaton College Graduate School in Chicago where he has taught since 1998. He previously served as the president of the American Society of Missiology (2010–2011), and as an executive pastor in Australia (1979–1990), as well as being involved in theological education in Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific since 1984. His publications include co-editing Footprints of God: A Narrative Theology of Mission (MARC 1999), Mission in Acts: Ancient Narratives in Contemporary Contexts (Orbis Books 2004), Landmark Essays in Mission and World Christianity (Orbis Books 2009), and Contemporary Mission Theology: Engaging the Nations (Orbis Books 2017), together with co-authoring Encountering the History of Missions: From the Early Church to Today (Baker Academic 2017).

MICHAEL LESSARD-CLOUSTON (PhD, OISE/University of Toronto) is a professor of applied linguistics and TESOL in the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California, where he directs the MA in Applied Linguistics and teaches in its on campus and online MA TESOL programs. He has taught ESL/EFL and done teacher training in Canada, China, Indonesia, and Japan, and his research has appeared in publications such as the Canadian Modern Language Review, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Language, Culture and Curriculum, NECTFL Review, TESL Canada Journal, and TESL Reporter. He is also author of Teaching Vocabulary (TESOL 2013) and founding editor of the International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching. His research interests include corpus linguistics, intercultural communication, second-language acquisition, and vocabulary learning and teaching. His current writing project is a short book on second- language acquisition applied to English language teaching.

MARILYN LEWIS, formerly of the University of Auckland, continues her interest in language teaching and learning through workshops in New Zealand and Asia and through writing. Her quali cations are an MA and a Diploma in Teaching (New Zealand), Licence de Lettres (University of Besançon, France) and a Graduate Diploma in Theology (Bryntirion College – Evangelical School of Theology, Wales).

KAYLENE POWELL (MA TESOL and Intercultural Studies, Wheaton College Graduate School) resides in eastern Nebraska where she works as a writing consultant, adult ESL instructor, editor, author, and tutor. She served with an educational NGO for twelve years, just over eight of those years as an EFL teacher and teacher trainer-mentor in three different regions of mainland China. She has also instructed students from a wide variety of other countries in American ESL settings. In addition to writing academically and developing curriculum, she is also an author of both poetry and fiction.

MELISSA K. SMTH (PhD, University of Illinois) has lived in China for eighteen years. In addition to teaching part-time at Ningxia University, she runs LEAPAsia, a non-profit educational organization that supports teachers, encourages students and school children, and donates books to schools. She enjoys learning from other teachers and their mentors as she supports the professional development of both. As a teacher educator, she created and contributes to the blog, Master Teaching, which focuses on the integration of profession and faith.

KARIN SPIECKER STETINA (PhD, Marquette University) is an associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University. She is passionate about teaching theology that is aimed at loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourself (Mark 12:30–31). She seeks to relate theology to following Christ in daily life. She taught theology and church history for nearly twenty years at Wheaton College and at various churches. She has been a consultant and an associate editor for Luther Digest. Her research interests include Reformation Theology and the theology of John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards, as well as the theology of education and reading theology with discernment. She has published numerous books and articles.