Dr. Xenia Tsolaki Metaxa, PhD in Education Adjunct Professor at Saint Louis University (USA) Director of Studies at XTMPI
Xenia Tsolaki Metaxa, is a holder of a PhD in Educational Studies with a specialization on curriculum and instruction from SLU, Saint Louis University, in the USA, a Masters Degree in TESOL from Murray State University also in the USA and a BA in English Literature from City University of New York.
Honoured with the ward medal in English Literature and the Best Graduate in all her degrees, she started her career as an instructor in the ESL Dept of CCNY in New York, supporting freshmen students with their writing skills. Personal reasons however, forced her to come back to her home country Cyprus, where she started her career as an English Teacher at Frederick University in Limassol both as an English Teacher and Student Affairs Officer for 14 Years. Simultaneously, she created her own Private Institute, XTMPI www.xtmpi.ac.cy, which started out as an English Language School and today is one of the leading private institutions and examining centers on the island, preparing young children for further studies in universities around the globe.
As an Academic Director of her school of almost 1000 children and the trainer of 30 teachers, she has gained considerable experience on issues of leadership and educational administration. Dr Metaxa also taught as an Adjunct Professor, in the Masters Programs of the Open University of Cyprus in collaboration with Saint Louis University, USA.
Her dissertation title is: The Effect of Authentic Songs on Vocabulary Acquisition in the English Language Classroom and it can be found on the following link. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1426441192.html?FMT=ABS. A Relevant article regarding Dr Metaxa’s research has been featured on Saint Louis University website after her PhD graduation. http://www.slu.edu/x84263.xml
Her research interests lie principally in the usage of music and songs to improve language skills in the second language classroom, on the use of music to achieve the optimum emotional state of learners for maximum learning to occur, on the use of stories in education and especially in language learning and on the development of emotional intelligence in teenagers. She is also highly interested in the characteristics and skills of an effective teacher, with emphasis on the effect of the personality of the teacher on the students’ willingness to try and to learn. Other areas of interest are learning spaces and their effect on learning, self esteem and its effect on learning and public speaking skills- the ticket for personal and educational success. Generally, the area of affective domain and its effect on learning is an area of high interest for Ms Metaxa.
Ms Metaxa is married and has four children, three sons and a daughter. She loves writing poems, short stories, textbooks, diaries and she is very fond of dancing, cycling and nature exploring but her passion is teaching. She continues to live and work in Limassol, Cyprus. Her future dreams include writing books on her dissertation subject, but also on her other areas of interest. Also, she would like to create a blog for teachers and to organize seminars for teachers and learners in relevance to the usage of music and songs to promote the learners’ vocabulary and language expression in both their first and second language.
Sessions
- SONGS AS INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS IN THE EFL CLASSROOM (P) on 31 March, 2019, Time 16:00 – 16:50,
- USING AUTHENTIC SONGS TO ENHANCE LANGUAGE-LEARNING: A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP (P) on 5 March, 2017, Time 10:00 – 10:50,