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Throughout their academic work and to apply for fellowship opportunities, university professors must write numerous essays. A number of academic writing rules are demanded for this task. When applying to exchange programs university professors often fail in the first round because the statement of purpose is not organized properly.

To share the knowledge and new skills acquired during the JFDP fellowship, Naila Nabiyeva applied to the 'Reach the Regions' project which is organized by the US-educated Azerbaijan Alumni Association. The project which Ms. Nabiyeva submitted was approved. She organized a workshop focused on academic essay writing. Participants included university professors and the (former) director of ACCELS in Azerbaijan - Ms.Amy Petersen. "We expect outcomes to be demonstrated through their application and participation in exchange programs," Ms. Nabiyeva commented.

• Activity Category: Conference/Workshop Leadership
• Activity Period: 02.11.2010
• Collaboration: None -- I worked alone

Qatip Arifi, Ph.D in Applied Linguistics is a 2010 JFDP scholar at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. Arifi is a Senior Lecturer providing ESP courses to Computer Science Students at a south-eastern European University in Tetovo, Macedonia.

The presentation was organized by Arifi, with the help of Professor Lia Plakans, who teaches the course, "Fundamentals of Language Assessment" in the Linguistic Department at the University of Iowa.

The presentation was part of regular classes with MA and Ph.D students of Linguistics at UI. The presentation took place in the Lindquist Center at the University of Iowa, part of the University's linguistic department. The talk was attended by some 30 people in the class, as well as linguistics professors, including Professor Plakans. The audience were generally graduate students pursuing their Master's and Ph.D in applied linguistics and language education.

The Title of the presentation was "Higher Education System in Macedonia - Current Trends in Language Assessment at a SEE University".

The goals of the presentation were to introduce the higher education system in Macedonia, its development through past years and its effort to establish the Bologna Process, which aims at establishing a European higher education system, encouraging international mobility and collaboration among students and professionals with the aim of contributing to the well-being of Europe in economic and social terms.

Arifi also depicted segments on language assessment and his current work in his classes with ESP students. Specifically Arifi targets his work on creating checklists of the Self-Assessment Descriptors for the needs of ESP students based on the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) which aims to help ESP learners at the Language Center of SEE University develop learner autonomy.

The event lasted 50 minutes. Followed by questions mainly on the topic of language assessment at Arifi's home university.

• Activity Category: Presentation
• Activity Period: April 1st, 2010
• Collaboration: None -- I worked alone

On March 27, 2010 Armine Aghabekyan, 2007-2008,Educational Administration from Yerevan, Armenia presented her work titled "A case study of a pre-service teaching practicum of an undergrad EFL program" at the TESOL annual convention in Boston. She had used the quantitative and qualitative research methods that she had studied at her host US university, the University of Wisconsin, Superior
to carry out a case study of pre-service teachers attitudes and beliefs towards the role and importance of the practicum in their curriculum. She observed the whole practicum , i.e. the process, weaknesses and strengths, via student portfolios and reflection diaries. Her travel was sponsored by the US Embassy in Armenia.

• Activity Category: Presentation
• Activity Period: March 27, 2010
• Collaboration: None -- I worked alone

Tarana Mahmudova (JFDP 2008-09) published an article titled "Thanksgiving America" in "525-ci qazet" (The 525th newspaper), one of the most read national newspapers in Azerbaijan. This article began with information about the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated on the last Thursday of November, about its history, also about Tarana's experience at Oklahoma University. The main idea of this article was to show what values Americans are thank for(and how)? Education, particularly higher education institutions are also a source of pride for Americans. She also mentioned about relations between professors and students,and tried to show how important for professors to be friendly with their students. She also wrote about alumni activities at US universities - how they thank their universities and how universities treat their alumni. She also provided information about the role and place of sports in the lives of students and what university sport teams mean for American students and professors.

• Activity Category: Published Paper/Article
• Activity Period: November 27, 2009
• Collaboration: None -- I worked alone

Aida Koci , JFDP 2003 - 2004, University of Kansas, from Macedonia, and her colleagues put on a meaningful seminar for students in the course, "Needs Analysis and Course Design." The students, all of whom plan to be future educators, heard from two disabled students and experts on education for disabled students. Afterward, they were asked to interview teachers in their own communities about their experiences with disabled students. Students organized the data from their interviews, combined it with the information they learned at the seminar, and used their newly found knowledge to design improvements to the existing educational infrastructure, and to incorporate those designs into a pamphlet that will be distributed to school directors and University faculty. Koci was the project leader for this event.

Meetings with the impaired students
There mainly four objectives in regularly meeting the students before the first class:
- describing the project, how they could participate, and getting their approval;
- preparing with them what they were going to say
- encouraging them, increasing their confidence in giving their testimony
- for the teachers, being prepared to manage the class by preparing questions and giving constructive comments

• Activity Category: Project Leader
• Activity Period: 2009
• Collaboration: other U.S. colleagues(non_university)