K. Lynn Savage ’63 Teaches English Around the World
By Lisa Feldhusen, UO student
K. Lynn Savage ’63, the founding director of the English-as-a-Second Language Teacher Institute, has helped non-native English speakers in the U.S. and around the world successfully learn English. During one of her recent trips abroad, Savage spent 30 days at the Elephant Nature Park located near Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand. She helped teach the park's mahouts, or elephant handlers, English.
The Elephant Nature Foundation is a non-profit organization that acts on behalf of Thailand's Asian elephants. The Elephant Nature Park is home to more than 30 rescued elephants - all range of ages, who are provided a place to live out the rest of their lives in peace and dignity, according to the ENF. The ENF is remotely located and all of the materials Savage used to teach had to be self-contained and brought to the park. So Lynn traveled with 350 plus pounds of notebooks, pens, dictionaries, iPods and backpacks that had been donated by U.S. companies to supply her classroom. Thirty-two students participated in her six week long program. The mahouts gave up their evenings of much deserved rest for the opportunity to attend one of the three 30 minute classes with Lynn learning English.
During her time at the Elephant Nature Park, Lynn created a lasting impact on her students. One fellow volunteer glowingly described the strong connection and gratitude Lynn's students developed: “After one month with the mahouts, they developed an attachment to her. She was their teacher and they wanted her. Savage had created a program that respected them as individuals, that was built upon what was best for them.” Savage also grew attached to her students who called her “Teacher Lynn” or “Auntie Lynn” and hopes to return to the camp in the next year of two. Savage, who says she has formed a close relationship with the Karen people has worked in 3 of the 5 refugee camps along the Thailand-Burma border. Savage has also traveled to Hungary, Poland, the Philippines and Fiji helping train members of the Peace Corp who went on to teach many other areas of the world English.
While in Thailand, Lynn worked to design the mahouts' program so that it could be taught by a succession of volunteer teachers. Lynn said a teacher from San Francisco took over in January and also had great results. One challenge that Savage said she faced was the wide range of languages spoken by the mahouts. The majority of the elephant handlers hailed from Burma and didn't speak Burmese or Thai, but instead Karen. Lynn says that many of the Karen people are refugees who have fought for independence from Burma since 1949. The ENP thought it would be beneficial for the mahouts to learn English because nearly 30 tourists travel through the park daily and would like to communicate with the mahouts who work closely with the elephants. For the mahouts, the opportunity to learn English is a great way to get ahead and perhaps find other work as their English proficiency improves, according to Lynn.
Savage has always had a love for English and teaching. She graduated in 1963 with a degree in English Literature. After graduating from UO, Savage moved to Japan to teach English at a Jesuit university for four years. She went on to receive her master's from Columbia University in teaching English Second Language. Since then, Savage has trained teachers for adult education programs around the country. She also worked at the City College of San Francisco teaching non-credit English classes to adult immigrants. She chaired the committee that developed the ESL Model Standards for Adult Education Programs and is the author, co-author and editor of ESL materials including Parenting for Academic Success: A Curriculum for Families Learning English, Crossroads Cafe, Building Life Skills, May I Help You?, Picture Stories, and English That Works. Her most recent book, Ventures Multilevel Lesson Planner, is the result of a ten year writing process for Lynn. The textbook has been adopted by Oregon and is now being used by city colleges in Chicago, the LA area as well as community colleges in Texas.
Lynn is still connected to University of Oregon and recently visited the campus to see the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art as well as walk the campus she calls 'beautiful.' Lynn grew up in Coos Bay and was a UO legacy having had a mother who graduated from the School of Journalism in the 1920s. She said when she graduated in '63, there were fewer opportunities for young women seeking professional careers and having always had a love for the English language (she excelled in Latin and had a unique love for diagramming sentences), she knew teaching would be a wonderful opportunity for her to travel and see the world.
Lynn recommends that current UO students who are interested in teaching English abroad consider earning a short-term certificate from UC Berkeley. She said the University offers three week courses and that unlike when she graduated, students have a harder time finding jobs teaching English without having qualifications to teach the language. Lynn’s experiences and dedication to teaching ESL has truly paved the way for future UO alumni who hope to gain similar experiences abroad.