Professor Mary Ward has over 30 years of teaching and textbook writing experience at the university and community college levels in the U.S. and Italy. Since 1991, she has taught English composition, English as a Foreign Language, intensive academic English skills, public speaking, critical thinking skills, and technical writing to native and non-native speakers of English.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she completed a B.A. in Italian language and literature (1991), a junior-year abroad program with the Università di Bologna (1988-1989), and an M.A. in Applied English Linguistics (1995). Based on her M.A. coursework, Professor Ward has always approached the classroom with an open mind and an awareness of how sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and pedagogy contribute to students’ learning experience.
She has applied these theories to her analytical teaching practice in classrooms at Columbia University’s American Language Program, the University of California-Berkeley’s College Writing Program in the U.S., as well as Rome’s Luiss University (Academic English for Political Science and the master’s in International Relations, Professional Writing Skills for the MBA program) , The American University of Rome’s academic and technical writing courses (graduate-level Food Writing Across Media, and undergraduate-level Business Writing), Public Speaking, as well as introductory academic composition, and Intellectual Heritage, at Temple University’s Rome campus over the past eighteen years.
One of her three major textbook projects include a 2008 listening skills textbook for Pearson-Longman, What I Believe: Listening and Speaking about What Really Matters, about which she presented a talk at the annual Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Langauges (TESOL) convention that same year. In 2012, she worked with editors at Oxford University Press to author an eight-unit textbook for professionals in the fashion industry (English for the Fashion Industry). For Kaplan International (US-based locations), in 2018, Professor Ward completed materials for an internal course that make up a nation-wide textbook of six modules, with five lessons each, titled Best of America.
From each of these publications, she has garnered confidence in framing instruction to meet students’ learning needs across a variety of courses. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need to update her classroom approach, so she completed an online course with Columbia University, via EdX, titled Inclusive Teaching: Supporting All Students in the College Classroom.
In addition to textbook writing, Mary has contributed articles to blogs and teaching publications on the topics of the effects on learning regarding the visual experience of layout and textbook design, and the importance of drawing upon authentic sources for learning materials. Her other areas of research include investigating effective feedback strategies to enhance learning.
Selected publications
- Mary Ward, course book, “Best of America” for Kaplan International: develop, proofread 6 modules, 5 lessons each, approx. 45 pages per module, for internal-course use, Kaplan International, Boston, MA, U.S.A., July 2017 – May 2018.
- Mary Ward, article, “Thinking Visually: Image Design, Layout, & Application in L2 Materials,” Modern English Teacher, Vol. 25, Issue 4, pp. 44-46, October 2016, co-author Anna Riera Mora from Istituto Cervantes in London, U.K.
- Mary Ward, textbook, English for the Fashion Industry, Oxford University Press, 2011- 2012.
- Mary Ward, post, OUP Global ELT Blog, “How can knowing about textiles help me with my PR job in fashion?” August, 2012.
- Mary Ward, post, North Star Blog, “Technology & Socializing: Authentic Listening Comprehension Exercise,” “Technology, Socializing, and Expressing Frustration,” Longman U.S.A., 2010.
- Mary Ward, ESP course booklet, Report Writing for the World Food Programme, Byron Language Development, Rome, Italy, 2007-2008.
- Mary Ward, textbook, teacher’s manual What I Believe 2: Listening and speaking about what really matters. Pearson-Longman publishers, White Plains, New York, 2006-2007.
- Mary Ward, Curriculum Developer - Volunteer for the Alternative Learning Division, Madison Area Technical College, Madison, Wisconsin, May-July 1994. Use Competency-Based Education principles to draft, revise, and submit for approval Competency Statements and Performance Standards for ESL curriculum at a community college.
Affiliations
- Temple University Abroad
- Luiss University
Links