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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of academic writing and public speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC). He also consults English language schools on communicative methods to effectively teach English and leads workshops for ESL and ELL teachers.

A Lilly Scholar, Roth studied philosophy and American history at Wabash College and received his M.A. in Media Studies from the New School. Since 1992, Roth has taught English to high school, community college, adult, and university students. Highlights of his career include: teaching high school English language learners in Los Angeles (1991-1992); teaching the first Saturday morning citizenship class in Santa Monica (1994); directing the CES Adult Education Center (1995-1998); teaching international students at UCLA Extension (1997–2000, 2003–2005); teaching USC engineering students in Madrid (2007) and Paris (2008); and directing the APU International High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2009).

Roth co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics in 2006 to help English language learners increase their fluency. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, Compelling Conversations has found its way into EFL classrooms in more than 50 countries. Since 2008, excerpts from Compelling Conversations have appeared regularly in Easy English Times, an ESL and adult literacy newspaper.

An adaptation of this book, Compelling Conversations, Questions & Quotations for Advanced Vietnamese English Language Learners, tailored to the needs of English language learners of a specific country (Vietnam), was released in March 2011 and adopted by American Vietnam University. A third book, Compelling American Conversations: Questions and Quotations for Intermediate American English Language Learners – Volume 1 was released in 2012. Additional country-specific versions for Japan, Korea, and Israel are anticipated.

http://www.amazon.com/Compelling-Conversations-Questions-Quotations-Vietnamese/dp/098261781X

A member of the USC faculty since 2003, Roth is a member of numerous professional organizations including: California Association of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL); the International Communication Association (ICA); the International Professors Project (IPP); and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The USC Center for Scholarly Technology awarded Roth two teaching with technology grants in 2011. He has given several CATESOL and TESOL conference presentations and shares his teaching experiences on the blog http://www.CompellingConversations.com/blog.

Toni Aberson (M.A. English; M.A. Psychology and Religion) has 35 years experience teaching English and supervising high school English teachers. Aberson believes that a lively classroom is the optimal learning environment.

“If people are thinking, sharing, and laughing, then they’re learning,” notes Aberson. “The mere fact that students are in an English classroom attests to their courage and their determination to learn.”

“Both high school and adult English students bring a wealth of interesting experiences with them,” continues Aberson. “They bring the world into the classroom. The challenge for English teachers is to put students at ease and encourage them to practice English. What better way than to ask students about their lives? I love teaching English.”

Aberson is working on a new book on American idioms to be published in 2012.

“The key in a classroom is engagement,” Aberson says, “and people become interested and excited when they’re learning about the daily stuff of life. When students are thinking, writing, and talking about their real lives—food, jobs, family, homes, sports, movies — that’s when students learn the language.”

“Learning English is not easy. It can be a real challenge, but it can also be fun and stimulating. That’s what I’m aiming for—the real life and the fun that stimulates ESL students so they want to learn more. They want to jump in.”

P.S. Eric Roth calls Toni “mom.”

More resources and tools for improving your English conversations are available at our website:
http://www.CompellingConversations.com.

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