Staff

Dr. Stacy Denny, Officer-in-Charge
Dr. Stacy Denny is responsible for all aspects of the programme, including timetabling, coordination of the teaching staff, certification, graduation as well as all administrative activities related to the programme outside of the classroom.

Dr. Denny studied Linguistics at The University of the West Indies (UWI) at the undergraduate level where she became the first student to be awarded First Class honours in Linguistics. She then moved on to the University of Cambridge, after receiving a Commonwealth Scholarship, to pursue a Masters in Linguistics. From there, she went to the University of Exeter to read for a Doctorate in Education- Teaching English as a Foreign language; there she received the School of Education and Life-Long Learning Award for students at the graduate level. She was also the first person to graduate from the newly formed programme. Dr. Denny is an Applied linguist who currently serves as Officer-in-Charge of the Centre for English Language Learning. With her 25 years of experience in the field of English language teaching, training and research, she is well qualified to lead the Centre.
 

Sherryann Harvey-Gittens, Administrative Assistant
Sherryann has worked with the ESL programme since October 2015 but officially joined the CELL team in March 2018.  She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Centre and provides administrative support to the Officer-in-Charge. In addition, Sherryann coordinates all non-academic activities related to the programme including housing, transportation, marketing and financial matters.

Michelle Reece-Herbert
Mrs. Reece-Herbert completed the teaching of English as a Second Language course and graduated from the University of the West Indies with a BA in Spanish with Management. Subsequently, she travelled to Colombia to work as a Teaching Assistant for two years. Michelle later travelled to Canada in 2015 and completed the intensive course of the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA). Mrs. Reece-Herbert holds a Master of Technology and Learning Design at the University of Roehampton – London. On the ESL programme, she teaches Reading, Writing, Listening and Conversation, and endeavours to create an environment where students have enhanced learning outcomes that contribute to their lifelong learning.
 

Shernell Joe
Mrs. Shernell Joe has been an English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor since 2013. She holds a Master of Applied Linguistics and a Bachelor of Spanish with Linguistics, both from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Additionally, she received her TESOL Certification from the TESOL International Association, Virginia, United States of America. At the Centre, Mrs. Joe teaches Reading and Listening Comprehension, Conversation and Oral Presentation.

Mrs. Joe believes that students’ linguistic proficiency; particularly their speaking skills, develop in an environment where they are comfortable and allowed to make mistakes. For her, this approach is especially useful in the initial stages of the learning process, as at this time, students’ trust and self-confidence are delicate. Thus, she encourages her students to simply try so that they can be guided accordingly. Finally, her notion of an ideal class, is not just one in which the teacher imparts knowledge, but it is also one in which students play an active role in their own learning.
 

Dawn Farrell-Boyce
It was during Dawn's final year at UWI that she first became interested in teaching ESL. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish with Management, Dawn worked as a Teaching Assistant at Universidad Surcolombiana in Neiva, Colombia. She later returned to Colombia to complete the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) at International House, Bogotá. In the classroom, Dawn loves to employ games and activities to encourage students to participate in their own learning. In addition, she promotes interaction with native speakers as one way to improve oral proficiency and conversation skills.
 

 

Kristal-Lynn Best
Kristal-Lynn is a certified ESL instructor and has been teaching on the programme since 2013. She teaches Reading Comprehension, Listening Comprehension and English Language Structure. She received her certification and training in TESOL from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the following areas: the Fundamentals of TESOL and Teaching and Assessing Adult Learners. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics with Honours from The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Further to this, Kristal-Lynn completed a course in Online Tutoring offered by the International House World Organisation in 2015. She then travelled one year later to Canada, where she successfully completed the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA).


 

 

Marisa Young
Marisa is a TESOL certified instructor who enjoys learning and has a desire to share knowledge with others. She has aspired to teach classes where information can be linked to outside of the classroom, ensuring meaningful learning. Marisa loves to form relationships with students so that she can understand their individuality and preferences, enabling her to apply appropriate teaching strategies that cater to students' needs. At the Centre, Marisa teaches Phonology and has recently graduated with a Master of Education in the Psychology of Education from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
 

Dr Claire Archer
With a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Surrey, and a keen understanding of English pronunciation, Claire originally came into the programme to teach Phonology in 2014 to students from Venezuela. Since then she has also taught various groups in Conversation, Listening, Linguistics and several strategies from the Biography-Driven Instruction approach. Claire also teaches English Language and Literature and Communication Studies at a local public secondary school.


 

Samuel Soyer 
Samuel, affectionately known as "Sam", has a Master of Arts in Teaching from Union College, Schenectady, New York, now called Clarkson University. He is truly a polymath, evidenced by his writing poetry and Language Arts texts for schools, training of teachers, teaching of language, cultural and historical knowledge and practise of "road tennis" and Martial Arts, to name but a few of his disciplines of interest. Notably, Sam was also Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (2015-16) at Alabama State University in the United States.

 

Janice Parizeau
Mrs. Parizeau (née Allman) obtained her Master of Education degree at York University, Toronto and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics at the University of the West Indies. Janice has worked in the programme since its inception. She has extensive experience in the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages and at one point established her own part-time private school, providing remedial instruction in reading and language skills. Adult classes at the school included English as a Second Language. Cubans living in Barbados took advantage of these classes. Apart from teaching English, Janice enjoys nature hikes, photography and travelling. She is actively involved in work among children and young people in Sunday School, children’s Bible classes and Bible Camps.