Dave Onufrock
Academic Chair
Contact
Building & Room:
Addams Hall, Room 105
Address:
830 S. Halsted St.
Office Phone:
Email:
About
When I was a kid, I dreamed of writing children’s stories, but I realized in college that I couldn’t make any money doing that, so I studied Communications with an emphasis in radio broadcasting. After graduating, I worked behind-the-scenes with a national radio program.
I soon realized that teaching was where I belonged, and have been teaching English to non-native speakers since 1996. I began at the Tutorium in Intensive English as a teacher in 1998 and joined the administrative team in 2012.
In 2017, my daughter challenged me to learn how to play the oboe with her in a local band. It’s very different from the trumpet, which I can play, but the musical skills I learned long ago in orchestras and choirs sure helped. After two years of oboe, I began playing trombone and have been doing so since then. I still enjoy reading children’s stories, as well as taking bike rides, and doing things with my family.
Education
B.A. Communications/Broadcasting, North Central College, Naperville, IL
M.A. in Intercultural Studies and TESOL, Wheaton Graduate School. Wheaton, IL
Professional Memberships
ITBE (Illinois TESOL - BE)
TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)
Selected Presentations
- A Toolkit of Ideas for Organizing Your Teaching (Co-presenter) (2013)Building Cooperative, Multi-level Classes, guest lecturer in a TESOL undergrad class (2014)
- Four Ingredients to Successful Student-driven Vocabulary Building (2003, 2004)
- Managing your Professional Life (May 2002 to 2015, 2018)
- Mistakes I’ve Made Teaching Low-level Learners (2012)
- New Trends: Using a Student-Centered Approach to Teaching English (2015, 2017)
- Six Strategies for Inspired Student Storytelling (2002, 2011)
- Student-Driven Online Lecture Listening (2010)
- Teaching Conversational English (2009)
- Testing Grammar/Vocabulary and the TOEFL, guest lecturer in Principles of ESL/EFL Assessment class (2005)
- The Role of Phonology in L2 Reading (Co-presenter) (2014)
- Understanding How People Learn Languages (2010)
- Using Strategies to Help ESL Students Become Skilled Readers: Targeting Reading Skills in the ESL Classroom (2008, 2016)