Innovation in Language Learning

Raphaela Fischer-Mourra is an instructor in the Department of English at Bethlehem University in Palestine. She has over six years of experience teaching introductory literature courses, oral communication skills, and English for the media and advocacy. Raphaela holds an M.A. in Journalism from Georgetown University and a B.A. in English Language and Literature with a minor in Translation from Bethlehem University. Her short reported memoir, published under the title “Living in the Cross Fire” which examines the bias in western media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, has earned her the Georgetown University award for the promotion of intercultural understanding in 2009. Raphaela has also assisted Vera Baboun in conducting the research on the emancipatory potential of ICT on young women in Palestine. The study was published in the book Women and ICT in Africa and Middle East: Changing Selves, Changing Societies (2014). Raphaela is currently involved in the iPad initiative at Bethlehem University where she and her colleague Shada Shahin are investigating, as part of an ongoing study, the empowering effects iPads can have on young Palestinian English majors. Her research interests include gender, social media and politics, technology, and nonfiction writing.