KINGSVILLE (May 8, 2026) — Texas A&M University-Kingsville tenured professor of Bilingual Education Dr. Ari Sherris recently received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in education to Brazil for the 2026-2027 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. This is Dr. Sherris’s second Fulbright Scholar Award.
Dr. Sherris’s project focuses on graduate education and research into the development of Brazilian lessons for learning English which reflect the importance of Brazil’s multilingual landscape. The study will explore adapting the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model for English teacher education in Brazil's multilingual context. While Portuguese dominates, over 200 languages are spoken in Brazil. At the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, pre-/in-service teachers will use SIOP to design culturally sustainable lessons by drawing on their and their communities' multilingual experiences. Using rapid ethnography, the researcher will co-teach and observe over one semester. The project will emphasize collaboration, co-planning, and reflective practice, aiming to localize SIOP to support English language instruction that aligns the SIOP framework with local realities.
The SIOP Model, originally designed to support English learners in the United States, comprises eight components and thirty associated features that collectively guide educators in designing integrated content and language instruction. Although the model was developed in English, it is language-agnostic and Dr. Sherris has successfully adapted it in diverse global contexts, including Sweden and Thailand. This flexibility makes it a promising tool for Brazilian language teachers seeking to construct English lessons that are contextually relevant, culturally sustaining, and pedagogically sound.
The study is guided by three central research questions: How do pre- and in-service Brazilian language teachers use the SIOP Model to design English lessons? What strategies do they develop to support both language acquisition and content comprehension for multilingual learners? What challenges and opportunities arise as they adapt the SIOP Model to their Brazilian teaching contexts? These questions will be addressed through the triangulation of data from semi-structured interviews and focus groups that explore teachers’ planning processes, instructional strategies, and reflections on applying the SIOP framework within multilingual environments, as well as lesson plans, and observations of implementation if possible.
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. Fulbright Scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In addition, over 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals—participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit https://fulbrightprogram.org.