Masako's Page

I was born in Osaka, Japan and moved to the U.S. 31 years ago. Since then I have been living in Los Angeles, California. I really love the weather, and the multiethnic and multicultural environment here.

I teach undergraduate Japanese courses from elementary to advanced levels, and occasionally a graduate-level research method course in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at California State University Long Beach. While teaching full-time at college, I taught children of Japanese as a heritage language and developed curricula for them for eight years (starting from the first grade up to the eighth grade) at a weekend Japanese language school, and I have been a curriculum advisor for another weekend Japanese school for five years.

One thing you should know about me is that I love to design and conduct science experiments with children. The JHL children in my classes and I made Ninja’s (covert agents in feudal Japan ) preserved foods. We grew purple soy beans and baked Aish, which ancient Egyptians ate. We also created clouds and rainbows, and made hanging scales and so on. It’s fun!

A key idea that has significantly influenced my philosophy of teaching and/or learning comes from Confucius teachings “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” This teaching is true for both young and adult learners, and it underlies my curriculum design and teaching.

Some key experiences that have significantly influenced my philosophy of teaching and learning include teaching young JHL learners and developing curricula for them. It provided me a valuable opportunity to consider and implement developmentally appropriate practice, multi-age instruction, differentiated instruction, scaffolding, and teaching how to learn. This experience positively affects my teaching of college-level adult learners.