This is not Fulbright Scholar Ela Krejcova's first extended stay in the U.S. She studied for her master's degree for one year at Spellman College in Atlanta. Photo by Jason Andrade

Many Metro State faculty members have travelled the globe as Fulbright Scholars over the years. But this year represents the first time that the College is hosting one. Ela Krejcova, a linguistics professor from Palacky University in the Czech Republic and Metro State’s first Fulbright-sponsored Scholar-in-Residence, arrived in Denver in August.

Krejcova’s Fulbright was actually the brainchild of Metro State Linguistics Professor Robin Quizar, who taught English at Palacky University in the 2006-07 academic year under her own Fulbright. (See http://www.mscd.edu/~collcom/artman/publish/quizar_twv3032806.shtml.) Krejcova was both Quizar’s fellow faculty member and her Czech tutor.

“Robin attended one of my classes,” says Krejcova. “She was shocked by how much we talked about grammar.” This got them to comparing the different styles, systems and approaches to teaching languages in the two countries. “In the U.S., English students mainly study literature. In the Czech Republic, it’s half literature and half linguistics,” says Krejcova.

Upon her return to the United States, Quizar learned about the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program, which brings scholars and professionals from abroad to lecture at U.S. colleges and universities, particularly minority-serving institutions, small liberal arts colleges and community colleges, many of which do not often have the opportunity to host visiting scholars.

Under the Scholar-in-Residence Program, interested U.S. institutions submit proposals to invite scholars to teach one or more courses and to be in residence for a semester or an academic year. Quizar says she contacted various people at Palacky University’s English Department, and “Ela was the most interested. So, I wrote the proposal with her (skills and qualifications) in mind.”

Teaching and learning language structure
The focus of Krejcova’s Fulbright is on teaching the structure of the English language. This semester she’s teaching a linguistics course, The Nature of Language. In the spring semester, she will teach a new course, Analyzing English, designed primarily for people who will go on to teach English. She is also giving guest lectures on grammar in other professors’ classes, mostly for education students.

Krejcova is also observing how English is taught in American high schools; she visited Denver’s North High School last week. “It was interesting to see how writing was taught,” she says. “We don’t really teach writing that much in the Czech Republic.”

She is also organizing a series of grammar workshops, with students in the Linguistics Club. “I’m amazed at how enthusiastic and excited the students are about grammar,” Krejcova says. One workshop, on Oct. 15, will be on Parts of Speech; the second, on Nov. 5, will be on Sentence Members. Both are at 2:30 p.m. in the King Center. Two more will be held in the spring semester.

Reflecting on differences in cultures
This is not Krejcova’s first extended visit to the U.S. She spent the 2002-03 academic year in Atlanta, Ga., as a student. “I was here under a Merrill Scholarship, while getting my master’s,” she says. “I studied negation in African American English at Spellman College, a historically black college. It was a very good experience—I loved it. It was great for my language skills, and also for my cross-cultural awareness.”

“It’s interesting to see the differences in the education systems, now as a teacher,” she says about this time around. “Here, it’s more intense. Classes meet more frequently and are more interactive and writing-oriented. There, it’s more lecture-based.”

About Denver, Krejcova says: “It’s a nice city and a nice size. But it took me a while to adjust to the altitude. The highest point in the Czech Republic is lower than the lowest point in the city of Denver!”