The Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Programs offer recent college graduates from the U.S. the opportunity to assist local English teachers abroad for up to a year. Fulbrighters not only support English language instruction but also serve as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. The program caters to students of varying ages and academic levels, spanning from kindergarten to university. Prospective participants can apply to one country, and eligibility requires U.S. citizenship at the time of application.
Learn about Kira Ogburn and her linguistic journey as she recounts her Fulbright experience teaching English in Germany. Motivated by curiosity, heritage, and a deep love for language, Kira’s educational path led her abroad, laying the foundation for her subsequent graduate studies in forensic linguistics. Read her interview to learn about her adventures and her fruitful time in Germany as a Fulbrighter.
Can you tell us about your educational background? What made you interested in pursuing English language and literature in undergrad?
In undergrad, I started with a double major in secondary education and English and a minor in German. My varying interests didn’t begin to connect for me into the career path I’m on now until my junior year. I think that’s something a lot of people can relate to.
I had always enjoyed writing and wanted to be an author until I was about 12. After that, my interests started shifting towards education because I loved learning and discovering new things and sparking the joy of learning in others. At the time, an education focusing on the English language and literature seemed like the natural career path.
In my first years of college, I explored my interests more fully and questioned my career path. I really enjoyed researching and testing hypotheses, but I also valued practical applications. I was interested in the law and social justice. The intersectionality between fields of practice was intriguing to me. Pedagogy was still important to me, but I questioned whether a career as a high school teacher would be the right fit.
Through education and the TESOL program, I discovered my love of linguistics, which led me to my current work in forensic linguistics. This field sits at the intersection of law, psychology, and linguistics. It involves careful scientific research with practical applications to help solve crimes or change policy. And as an academic career, teaching is also involved—it was the perfect fit.
I began orienting myself toward this new path, which meant dropping the education major and finishing my degree in English while earning my TESOL certificate and a minor in German to prepare me best to further my education in grad school.
You then went on to apply for a Fulbright ETA award! What inspired you to apply, and why specifically Germany?
There were a lot of reasons that motivated me to apply for the Fulbright ETA in Germany. My grandparents emigrated from Germany, and that’s an integral part of my heritage that I wanted to explore. When I was younger, I used to speak some German at home with my family, but at the time, it was discouraged by my preschool teachers because I would code-switch in the classroom, and they couldn’t understand me.
Schools are getting better at supporting bilingual students now, which is something my TESOL education has also made me passionate about. I grew up always wishing I was fluent in German and wanting to reclaim that. The Fulbright program is an amazing opportunity to immerse yourself in another language and culture fully. I was also interested in the program from a linguistic perspective and for my future career. I could employ my skills in second language teaching in a real-world environment while also being a language learner.
How was your time in Germany as a Fulbrighter? What were some highlights of the experience?
My time as a Fulbrighter was even better than I imagined. I made many new friends, formed lifelong connections, gained valuable skills, and broadened my perspectives. I even met my soon-to-be husband during my Fulbright year. Also, I was very fortunate with the school I was placed at in Herne because they wanted to get the most value for their students out of my time there and gave me a lot of creative rein.
Some schools mostly use their ETAs as floating help in English classes, but I was given a variety of different responsibilities. I had eight different conversation classes that students could sign up for to get elective credit in their English courses. There were usually 5-10 students per class, and I designed and taught all the lessons. The goal was to help them communicate more freely and in natural language settings. Some big elections had recently happened, so we compared and contrasted the government systems and campaign process in the US and Germany, and the students debated the pros and cons.
We had a murder mystery lesson for Halloween, where each student was given a character and a small booklet of information. They had to act their part and ask each other questions to find out who the killer was. On Thanksgiving, I brought in pumpkin pie and we learned about the history of the many indigenous peoples in the US. We also practiced essential life skills like writing a resume in English and answering questions in a job interview. One of my students was actually hoping to get a music production internship in the US.
In addition to my own courses, I helped teach lessons on American culture and history in other teachers’ classes and set up a pen pal exchange between an American class of students and one of the German classes. I also had the opportunity to go on the 9th-grade ski trip as a chaperone, which was an unforgettable experience and a great way to bond with my other teacher colleagues.
In my downtime, I also wanted to get to know my local area better and make German friends. I had two German roommates who introduced me to some of their friends. I also joined online groups for people new to my city and met others for park events or bowling. These experiences pushed me to use my German skills and communicate even when I was afraid it would come out wrong.
I am happy to say I am now very fluent in German. The other Fulbright ETAs, as well as ETAs from other countries like the UK and Spain, were also an important support system, and we helped each other navigate the experience and formed close bonds.
Afterward, you not only went on to get a Master’s in Forensic Linguistics and will soon earn your Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics in the UK! Can you share why you pursued graduate school and why the UK?
After my Fulbright year, I went on to get my Master’s in forensic linguistics. Forensic linguistics is a specialized field that requires further education. My previous work with linguistics was in a TESOL-specific context, so I needed to expand my knowledge in the field and have a solid grasp of the fundamentals to apply linguistic methods in a forensic context.
There are many different avenues within forensic linguistics, such as analyzing language evidence for sociolinguistic information, helping a jury to understand language evidence and determine whether a language crime like bribery or perjury has been committed, using methods like corpus linguistics to interpret the meaning of laws, and much more. We explored These areas more deeply in my Master’s program at Hofstra. One of my goals is to do consulting work in forensic linguistics, which can mean appearing as an expert witness in court.
In order to do so, you have to have the highest degree in your field, so a Ph.D. was a necessary next step. My doctoral studies have also helped me to grow as an academic and connect with other researchers in my field.
I chose to study in the UK for a number of reasons. For one, they are a leading nation in forensic linguistic research. I also wanted to be exposed to more British English and the various dialects, which would help me be a better sociolinguist. Additionally, in the UK, you apply for a doctoral position with a proposal for your dissertation topic and spend 3-4 years working solely on your research and dissertation.
This differs from the US, where there are often 2 years of study before beginning the dissertation, even if you have already gotten a Master’s degree. With where I was in my studies, diving right into the dissertation made more sense. I’m nearing the end of my studies and will soon be submitting and defending my dissertation!
What are your future plans, and what do you hope to do next?
As I’m wrapping up my Ph.D., I am on the job hunt. My research has focused on threat assessment and how linguistic tools can improve current practices. As a next step, I’d like to do some hands-on work on threat assessment. I am also open to policy and research in this area. In the long term, I’d also like to expand my network and do consulting work for law firms on a variety of forensic linguistic cases, including authorship analysis.
Finally, can you share any tips with our readers?
Use your time in college to really explore all of your interests. Challenge yourself to try new things and broaden your horizons. You don’t have to know what you want to do with your life right away. And you may come in thinking you know exactly what you want to do and then surprise yourself.
Take this time to explore and grow! Also, find your people and work on building community. This is important throughout life and is something the Fulbright program helped me find. If you do decide to pursue higher education, especially a Ph.D., find your reason and hang on to it. It can be grueling at times, and you’ll have to remind yourself why you’re here and what your goals are to keep you going.
Ready to start on your Fulbright application? Be sure to check out additional advice and tips from recent Fulbrighters!
Kira Ogburn is currently a doctoral researcher completing her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Her research focuses on threat assessment in the context of school shootings, using appraisal and corpus analysis methods. She completed her Master’s in Forensic Linguistics at Hofstra University in 2020 and her undergraduate degree in 2017 from the University of Dayton in English Language and Literature. Kira was a Fulbright ETA in Germany from 2017-2018.
© 2024 ProFellow, LLC. All rights reserved.