Department of English and Applied Linguistics
Choose your own Adventure
With the department of english and applied linguistics (deal)
The skills developed by studying English are in high demand for a wide range of careers. Our programs strengthen students’ ability to
- Read critically,
- Interpret and analyze complex texts,
- Write clearly and persuasively,
- Write creatively in multiple genres,
- Conduct research,
- Edit and produce literary and academic publications,
- Give clear and engaging presentations,
- Understand and explain the English language, and
- Teach English around the world.
Skill-based degrees give students the flexibility to seize opportunities as they arise and pivot into new career paths. With rapidly evolving job opportunities, it’s hard to predict what the future will hold. A degree in English can open up a world of possibilities and let you choose your own adventure.
Whether you’re preparing for the future or want to immerse yourself in the joy of reading, the Department of English and Applied Linguistics has a program that’s right for you.
- BA in English
- BA in TESOL
- MA in TESOL (in person or online)
- Graduate Certificate in TESOL (in person or online)
- TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate
- Editing & Publishing Minor
- English Minor
- Film & Media Studies Minor
- Writing Minor
All of our programs are built around small class sizes and practical experience, ensuring that every student receives individual support and mentorship and an opportunity to gain hands-on experience.
MEET OUR PEOPLE
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Caitlin Yamamoto
Lecturer of Writing
Why did you become an English professor?
I was actually pre-med up until my junior year of college, but found that I wasn’t enjoying the required science courses. Meanwhile, I took every English course I could “for fun,” where I was exposed to new ideas, texts, and ways of thinking that challenged me to think critically about the world around me, and to see how literature could serve as a means of bringing about positive change. By my senior year I had switched majors, and the rest is history. I love that my job is to ignite students’ passion for reading (and writing) and to show them how it can change the world!
What is your specialty?
My research interests include the literatures and cultures of Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands, global indigenous literatures, and the multiethnic literatures of the U.S. I also specialize in Micronesian literature, culture, and history. I teach mostly introductory writing courses (WRI 1050, 1100, and 1200), but I often incorporate my background in Hawai’i and the Pacific into my classes.
Featured Course: AMST 2000: Topics in American Studies: “Multicultural America,” offered Fall 2022
To what extent has American culture been shaped by its often painful multicultural pasts? How can literature help us make sense of the diverse foundations of our country and represent these legacies in ways more powerful than conventional historiography? In this course, we will read and examine a selection of texts by Native American, African American, and Asian American writers in order to emphasize the critical contributions each group has made to American history and culture.
Favorite quote, book, or movie
“I can’t believe we get to sit around and talk about books and get graded.”-Rory Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls
Favorite book: anything by Louise Erdrich
Favorite movie: La La Land
Student Spotlight
Arianna Haynes
BA English
Minor: Writing
Why did you become an English major?
When I first got to HPU, I was actually a Mass Communications Major because I thought I wanted to go into journalism after being on my high school newspaper staff for so long, but after taking Dr. Soong's ENG 2100 class, I realized that being an English major felt more like me instead of what everyone expected of me.
What is one of your favorite things about the program?
My favorite thing about the English program is how close-knit the department feels. I've been able to build relationships with my professors and with the other English majors over the years that make coming to class feel enjoyable. I also like having the same professors pretty much every semester because I know how they structure their assignments throughout the semester which makes it not as overwhelming for me. I've also enjoyed being able to write papers about topics that I'm actually interested in.
What are your plans after graduation?
I'm moving to Los Angeles. I'm also looking at different graduate programs and thinking about applying to Emerson's online Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing program. My dream job is to be a YA fiction editor one day. Maybe some freelance copyediting on the side.
What advice would you offer to new English majors and prospective students?
Start your essays the day you're assigned them! Even if it's just an outline or jotting down everything you already know or believe about your topic.
Sadie Nitta
MA TESOL
Why did you become a TESOL major?
Growing up in a linguistically rich home had a profound influence on my academic pursuits. The underlying desire has always been to connect with others—on an interpersonal level—through languages and build their confidence.
What is one of your favorite things about the program?
I admire the expertise of our professors and classroom diversity. In particular, I want to highlight Dr. Hanh thi Nguyen for her amazing work and mentorship in the program.
What are your plans after graduation?
The current plan is to return to Japan with my partner and two cats. We have a few job offers underway and research opportunities related to computational linguistics and language revitalization! We are very excited for the future.
What advice would you offer to new TESOL majors and prospective students?
Start making connections before your arrival to campus. Don't wait for opportunities to come to you; go out and find them!
Alumni Spotlight
Bianca Flores
BA English
Minor: Writing
Class of 2015
What are you doing now?
I’m currently a Publicity Manager at Riverhead Books, a boutique literary imprint at Penguin Random House that publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction by writers from around the world, including Marlon James, Emma Straub, Khaled Hosseini and more. Some of the authors I represent include Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, Pulitzer Prize finalist Hernan Diaz, and Booker Prize finalist Patricia Lockwood.
How did your degree help prepare you for it?
My degree at HPU helped me hone the writing, communication, and reading comprehension skills I use each and every day as a book publicist. It also served as the foundation for my literary knowledge.
What is something memorable from your time in the English program?
I’ll never forget the friendships I made along the way while studying English at HPU. They are still to this day some of my brightest memories.
What advice would you offer to current English majors and prospective students?
There are plenty of opportunities that an English degree can offer you! Dream big, work hard, and you’ll get to where you want to go.
Jesslyn Wheeler
MA TESOL
Class of 2022
What are you doing now?
I'm currently working as a full-time faculty ESL instructor at Hawai'i Tokai International College. At the same time, I'm in the process of establishing a baking business with a family member.
How did your degree help prepare you for it?
The HPU TESOL program was extremely instrumental in getting me accepted as a faculty member at Tokai as they provided me with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach English. In addition, there were countless opportunities for both personal and professional growth, including presenting at various talks and conferences, and the publishing of one of my papers.
What is something memorable from your time in the TESOL program?
I remember the get-together we had at the beach. Everyone brought something to the potluck and it was amazing getting to know everyone and become a real community. I still feel that I have friends and colleagues I can talk to and collaborate with in the future despite the fact that I have already graduated.
What advice would you offer to current TESOL majors and prospective students?
I'm not sure what I could say other than: try everything. Teaching is both exhilarating and scary as the students are depending on you to teach them the language and skills they need to communicate with others in the world. However, we only grow through experience. The TESOL program gives you many opportunities and you should try to have as many new experiences as you can. Present at a conference. Volunteer as a teaching assistant. Take a job that you feel totally unprepared for. Being a teacher means being confident. If you can teach other teachers about the benefits of formative assessment, then you can teach students present perfect tense.
Previous Spotlights
MEET OUR PEOPLE
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Christy Williams
Associate Professor of English
Chair, Department of English and Applied Linguistics
Why did you become an English professor?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be everything: astronaut, paleontologist, archeologist, research scientist, witch. At some point I realized that what I truly loved was how reading led me to all of these experiences I could not reach otherwise. Reading let me be everything, and I wanted to explore how that happened.
What is your specialty?
I study fairy tales and recently published Mapping Fairy-Tale Space: Pastiche and Metafiction in Borderless Tales. I look at how contemporary retellings of fairy tales are put together and how they challenge the older tales and the ways we see the world now. I am fascinated by how fairy tales create a space to imagine possibilities. I also teach and research fantasy literature; television, film, and video games; 20th and 21st century literature; and gender studies.
Featured Course: ENG 3250: Texts & Gender: Fairy Tales, offered Fall 2022
Fairy tales are often understood as presenting models of appropriate feminine and masculine behaviors to children, but fairy tales are not just children’s stories. Many fairy tales, both classic tales and contemporary retellings, critique gender roles, present alternatives to those roles, and envision new possibilities. In this class, students will examine how gender is constructed and critiqued in fairy tales from the 15th century to today.
Favorite quote, book, or movie
“Don’t Panic.” –Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Classic favorite: The Princess Bride, both film and book by William Goldman
Current favorite: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Student Spotlight
Athena Iokepa
BA English
BA Arts & Markets
Minor: Writing
Why did you become an English major?
I became an English major because I wanted to fill in the gaps I felt I had as a writer. For a long time, I've wanted to create fantasy worlds and put them on paper for the world to see, but I often found myself trapped behind a grammar wall and was constantly feeling down about not knowing certain rules or how to fix my mistakes myself. I wasn't sure if the English program was really going to be able to help me with that, but at this point, I can confidently say that it has.
What is one of your favorite things about the program?
My favorite thing about the program was definitely the classes that were structured around heavy discussion (which were several of them) as well as how ready the professors are to help students who have questions or are struggling. It was really humanizing to know that the authority figures that were momentarily in my life really cared about my journey and what I was doing.
What are your plans after graduation?
My plans after graduation are to write as much as possible, to get some of the ideas that I've been cultivating over the last 4.5 years onto paper, and to figure out the inner workings of the book publishing business. I also intend to open a local recycling business with my family, which we are hoping to get up and running in the near future.
What advice would you offer to new English majors and prospective students?
The advice I would give to future and prospective English majors is to invest in audible or some other audiobook device. It literally saved my butt on many occasions because of how convenient and fast it is to listen to something in the car or while doing chores - instances where I wouldn't be able to hold a book. The other thing I would recommend is for future students to make use of the Center for Academic Success’s writing mentors. They are all so good at writing and can pass on a lot of really good feedback that students can take with them not only through the rest of their school years but also into the workforce.
Nyah Noyes
BA TESOL
BA International Studies
Why did you become a TESOL major?
I became a TESOL major because I was studying International Studies and wanted a major that would work well with the International Studies path, while also allowing me to study and explore a path in Applied Linguistics and Education. I have always been interested in linguistics, and in high school I had a friend who was a second language learner and our school did not have the resources to support him. This made me want to work in a capacity that would help students who had similar experiences.
What is one of your favorite things about the program?
I think my favorite thing about the program is that the program is small. It allows me to get to know my classmates and my professors as well as allowing me to have opportunities to practice what was taught and network with program partners. The program has allowed me to make friends and connections with amazing people, and I love all of the opportunities it gives me to observe/work in the classroom while also getting experience for the future.
What are your plans after graduation?
I am most likely going to move back to my hometown in Iowa and work in the community that raised me. I want to be able to give back to the community and support the community of second language learners as well as advocate for their education equality in my home state.
What advice would you offer to new TESOL majors and prospective students?
I think my advice to prospective and new students would be to take every opportunity that is offered to you. There are so many opportunities to practice and learn from and with others, so take as many of them as possible. There are so many new, exciting, and fulfilling opportunities to engage with the TESOL community, so I greatly advise students to take all opportunities that come their way.
Alumni Spotlight
Bianca Flores
BA English
Minor: Writing
Class of 2015
What are you doing now?
I’m currently a Publicity Manager at Riverhead Books, a boutique literary imprint at Penguin Random House that publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction by writers from around the world, including Marlon James, Emma Straub, Khaled Hosseini and more. Some of the authors I represent include Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, Pulitzer Prize finalist Hernan Diaz, and Booker Prize finalist Patricia Lockwood.
How did your degree help prepare you for it?
My degree at HPU helped me hone the writing, communication, and reading comprehension skills I use each and every day as a book publicist. It also served as the foundation for my literary knowledge.
What is something memorable from your time in the English program?
I’ll never forget the friendships I made along the way while studying English at HPU. They are still to this day some of my brightest memories.
What advice would you offer to current English majors and prospective students?
There are plenty of opportunities that an English degree can offer you! Dream big, work hard, and you’ll get to where you want to go.
Jesslyn Wheeler
MA TESOL
Class of 2022
What are you doing now?
I'm currently working as a full-time faculty ESL instructor at Hawai'i Tokai International College. At the same time, I'm in the process of establishing a baking business with a family member.
How did your degree help prepare you for it?
The HPU TESOL program was extremely instrumental in getting me accepted as a faculty member at Tokai as they provided me with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach English. In addition, there were countless opportunities for both personal and professional growth, including presenting at various talks and conferences, and the publishing of one of my papers.
What is something memorable from your time in the TESOL program?
I remember the get-together we had at the beach. Everyone brought something to the potluck and it was amazing getting to know everyone and become a real community. I still feel that I have friends and colleagues I can talk to and collaborate with in the future despite the fact that I have already graduated.
What advice would you offer to current TESOL majors and prospective students?
I'm not sure what I could say other than: try everything. Teaching is both exhilarating and scary as the students are depending on you to teach them the language and skills they need to communicate with others in the world. However, we only grow through experience. The TESOL program gives you many opportunities and you should try to have as many new experiences as you can. Present at a conference. Volunteer as a teaching assistant. Take a job that you feel totally unprepared for. Being a teacher means being confident. If you can teach other teachers about the benefits of formative assessment, then you can teach students present perfect tense.