Konnichi wa!
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to
apply my skills, qualifications, and previous experience towards
teaching
Japanese here at Georgia Southern
University. My lifelong
desire to become a
Japanologist began when I studied Japanese domestically as
an undergraduate and then abroad as an exchange student at
Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, obtaining a Japanese Language
Proficiency Certificate. Upon graduation, I secured a 2-year
highly competitive teaching position with the JET (Japanese
Exchange Teaching) Program, as an Assistant Language Teacher at
a public middle school (Izumi JHS) in
Kasai City,
Hyogo Prefecture.
After working in Japan, I decided to return
to the US to continue with graduate studies and was awarded a
Masters degree in Public Administration, preparing me in many
ways for a life of public service. Among my work in Public
Administration, I annually perform more than 300 volunteer
service hours as a JET Program Alumni for the Consulate General
of Japan in Atlanta, Georgia. This volunteer effort includes
instruction and administrative work in a variety of ways such
as: teaching intercultural communication workshops, compiling
databases, conducting JET Program interviews, recruiting JET
Program participants at college campuses all over the Southeast,
and assisting the local consulate office with efforts in
promoting Japanese culture in the region, among other duties.
All of these efforts demonstrate my commitment and dedication
in serving the Japanese government, as well as demonstrate my
ability to work for an International government office or
organization, where I hope I will continue to work
professionally in the future.
In the meantime, I sought to improve
educationally and professionally by designing and teaching a
series of Japanese Language & Culture courses for the Learning
In Retirement Program of the Continuing Education Department at
Valdosta State University which included classes such as:
Japanese Ikebana
Flower Arrangement,
Honorific Japanese,
Japanese Tea Ceremony, Kimono Dress,
Zen
Gardening, etc. Teaching language and culture to a more
mature group of language learners inspired my research interest
in language acquisition and cognition. I also investigated the
role of affect and second language acquisition with a diverse
group of learners when I volunteered teaching English at a
Refugee Camp (Jubilee Partners) in Comer, Georgia and for a
Battered Women’s Shelter which was part of the Catholic
Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta at the Athens Community
Outreach Center. After graduating from the University of Georgia
with a Masters degree in Teaching Additional Languages, I
decided to advance my professional career by accepting a
position as full-time instructor for English Language Program in
the Center for International Studies at Georgia Southern
University. Here I hope to continue to improve professionally
by continuing to teach languages at the university level.
With more than 10 years of professional
experience in teaching languages at both the youth and adult
levels, as well as in a public community and higher education
setting, I feel that I have had many opportunities in the field
to not only enhance my knowledge, talent and skills, but to also
find a perfect path for my passion in teaching languages. To
advance my academic career, I am now pursuing a Doctorate with a
concentration in International Education. My special research
interests include Language Assessment, Study Abroad Learning
Outcomes, MALL (Mobile-technology
Assisted Language Learning), and Multicultural /
Multilingual Education.
