ELI Program Administrators

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Amy Taylor, Director M.A. Foreign Language Education/TESL, University of Texas at Austin Originally from Missouri, Amy received her BA in English and her MA in TESL from The University of Texas at Austin. She has been teaching English to international students since 2000. Her teaching experience in the U.S. includes teaching in Texas, Florida, and Alabama. She has also taught university students in Mexico and Taiwan. Her other international experience includes working in Australia and studying in Spain.
Marci Daugherty, Special Programs Coordinator M.A. TESOL, Monterey Institute of International Studies Marci received her undergraduate degree in Multilingual Technical Communications from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. Later, she went back to California for her Master’s degree program. She taught ESL in Texas and California and EFL overseas in Anhui, China (3 years) and the Czech Republic (2 years) before coming to Alabama. She has taught at ELI since 2005, including classes in the Intensive English Program, Special Programs and the International Teaching Assistant Program. She enjoys teaching and learning about other cultures and languages.
Laura Hebert, Academic Advisor M.A. Teaching English as a Foreign Language, American University in Cairo, Egypt Laura has been at the ELI for 20 years but has also taught ESL in Illinois and California.  She has 7 years of experience teaching abroad in Egypt, France and most recently Japan. As an undergraduate, Laura spent a year studying in France.
Drew Sanford, UA-ELI@KGU Program Coordinator M.A. TESL, University of Memphis Drew is originally from Dyersburg, Tennessee. While working on his Master’s in ESL, he taught at Intensive English for Internationals at The University of Memphis. He has also taught overseas in France, the Czech Republic, and Japan for a total of six years. Drew speaks French, Japanese, and enjoys learning other languages. He also enjoys meeting people from other countries. He has traveled extensively around the world to more than 80 countries.

ELI Instructors

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Kendall King M.A. TESOL, The University of Southern Mississippi Kendall was born and raised in the great state of Alabama. She completed her graduate degree in TESOL in 2008 at the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to graduate school, she spent a year teaching English to university students in Beijing, China. She has taught at the ELI since 2008 and has enjoyed teaching students from around the world and learning about their cultures. Outside of teaching, Kendall enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Demetria Li M.A. in TESOL, Mississippi College Demetria Li has been involved in EFL/ESL since 1997, when her teaching career began with a China Teaching Fellowship in Beijing, China. After spending seven years teaching students of all levels and ages ranging from 2 to 60+, she returned to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in TESOL while simultaneously coordinating an Intensive English program. In 2010, Demetria’s continued interest in English education in developing countries led her to Kyrgyzstan, where she participated in the English Language Fellows program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Demetria loves learning about other cultures.
Kelly McPherson M.A. TESOL, University of Alabama Kelly is originally from Nashville, TN. He taught for 2 years in Okinawa, Japan and has been teaching classes in Alabama since 2003. Kelly enjoys travelling and has visited 23 different countries.
Marc Metzler M.A. TESOL, School for International Training Marc Metzler is originally from Oshkosh, Wisconsin and has taught TESOL since 1999. He completed his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in English Literature, and he has a MA-TESOL from the School of International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. Marc has taught TESOL extensively in universities throughout North Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. He also participated in two English Language Fellowships sponsored by the U.S. Department of State in Tunisia and Kazakhstan where he worked as a teacher trainer. At the ELI Marc enjoys teaching grammar and academic writing.
Amy Smith M.A., Applied Linguistics/TESOL, University of Alabama After earning her B.S. in English Education in 2003, Amy spent the next ten years crisscrossing the globe. She studied Russian language at Tver State University, served as a consultant lecturer at Kabul University, Afghanistan, and directed summer English camps for children in Beijing, China. She returned to her native Alabama to pursue a master’s in Applied Linguistics at UA. When she’s not traveling, Amy enjoys baking and spending time with family.
David Taylor M.A. TL – TESOL, The University of Southern Mississippi David comes to the ELI after a year teaching at the Alabama Language Institute in Gadsden. He also taught ESL, Literature, Art and History for 3 years overseas in Ecuador, South America on the high school and college levels. He earned his master’s degree from USM in 2000. David is also an accomplished photographer. He has taught photography on the university level and has had numerous gallery shows of his images across the south. He enjoys the creative process, whether it is in the field of art or in the classroom.
Michael Townley MA TESOL, University of Alabama Michael earned his Bachelors in Linguistics and Legal Studies, and his Masters in TESOL from the University of Alabama. While studying in Japan, he discovered that he loved teaching English while doing so at Hiroshima University and privately. Michael has a particular interest in pronunciation training, critical thinking, academic writing methods, and the role of student attitude in the classroom. He has done research on the role of listening in pronunciation acquisition. Some of his other interests include studying racial and social interactions in the American South, listening to various kinds of music, and traveling.

ELI Office Staff

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Carrie Barnes Administrative Specialist Office Manager

Amanda Burroughs Accounting Assistant

Vicky Wyatt Student Services Coordinator