Pashto

Coalition Language Representative

Farid Saydee, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Curriculum and Teaching at Kean University. He teaches language methodology and research courses as part of the master’s program. Professor Saydee is also the Founder/President of Language Mentors International “www.languagementors.org,” where he provides educational consultancy services to institutions of higher education throughout the nation.

Professor Saydee is a native of Afghanistan, speaking both Dari and Pashto languages. In 2008, he developed one of the strongest Dari and Pashto programs in the country. During his tenure at the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) at San Diego State University, he taught intensive novice-advanced Dari and Pashto courses. He also supervised the development of curriculum and instruction for Central and South American, African, Central and South Asian, and Middle Eastern languages, offered through different projects at LARC.

Professor Saydee’s research focuses on transformative pedagogy and global education. His current projects include developing textbooks for Dari and Pashto courses and researching the characteristics of language immersion in STARTALK Student Programs. Both projects are funded by a three-year (2020-2023) grant from the U.S. Department of Education International Research and Studies.

Professor Saydee is a STARTALK team leader. He visits educational institutions, reviews curricula and instruction, and provides feedback for improvement. He is also an ACTFL teacher mentor, quality assurance analyst, and proficiency tester/rater (AAPPL, OPI, OPIC, WPT) in the Dari, Pashto, and Persian-Farsi languages. Professor Saydee has published several scholarly articles and is the principal author or co-author of three textbooks in Pashto and two in Dari.

Published: Saturday, March 27, 2021