Professor Kaiser Completes a Fulbright Project in Uruguay
March 23, 2026
Photo - DJ Kaiser (fourth from the left, front row) with coordinators and remote teachers for Ceibal en Inglés from Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay in Montevideo, Uruguay in May 2026
Professor DJ Kaiser, Webster’s assistant vice president for Academic Affairs and director of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), recently completed a Fulbright Specialist project in Uruguay. He had previously received a Fulbright Scholars grant in 2016 for Uruguay and a Faculty Research Grant from Webster University in 2015, which began his engagement with Uruguay’s Ceibal en Inglés (CEI) project. CEI provides high-quality English language instruction to public school students throughout Uruguay through videoconference.
In 2025, Kaiser received a Faculty Research Grant that supported research in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, where remote teachers support CEI with English language instruction. After observing classes during that visit, Kaiser proposed a series of six Adaptive Pedagogical Routines (APRs) to increase student talk time, improve formative assessment, and align classroom instruction with CEI project goals. The CEI team in Montevideo decided to adopt these recommendations and revised their lesson plans to include their implementation. During this new Fulbright project, Kaiser provided train-the-trainer sessions to approximately 40 coordinators and remote teachers from CEI remote teaching centers in Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay on how to use these APRs in their remote classes and to explore ways to support their colleagues in implementing the new pedagogical strategies.
“This 2026 project was built on more than a decade of engagement with educators from across Uruguay and in three different countries. It would not have been possible without funding from Webster University, the Fulbright Commission, and Ceibal en Inglés,” Kaiser said. “Last year, I worked with a smaller group of remote teachers on a pilot project to explore these APRs. Now, these APRs will become part of the regular pedagogy for teaching English in the public schools of Uruguay through this project. It means a lot to have this kind of impact on English language teaching and learning in a country.”
In addition to training sessions and meetings for CEI, Kaiser presented twice at the Alianza Cultural Uruguay-Estados Unidos binational center. He presented strategies for teaching English pronunciation from his forthcoming textbook, “Practical Pronunciation: Pronunciation Strategies in Practice,” to a large group of Alianza English teachers for their professional development seminars. He also delivered a public presentation on the U.S. educational system, using examples from Missouri and Illinois to discuss K–12 and higher education options.
His visit also included a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo with three other Fulbright recipients to discuss their projects with embassy staff.
In addition to these grant projects focused on CEI, Kaiser was selected by the U.S. State Department as an English Language Specialist for projects to support professional development for teachers in Honduras and Brazil in 2020, 2021, and 2024. Additionally, he conducted research in Brazil that was funded by a Faculty Research Grant in 2016.
The Fulbright Specialist Program sends U.S. faculty and professionals abroad for short-term projects of two to six weeks to collaborate with overseas institutions on curriculum development, faculty training, institutional planning, and related activities.