I am a native Japanese language user. I was schooled in a Japanese education system through college and worked in a traditional corporate environment before I moved to the U.S. as a young adult. This was before the internet era. Even though I began learning English as a middle school student, it was not until a decade later that I began acquiring communicative competence. This finally began happening when I moved to the U.S. where my circumstance required me to communicate coherently with the world around me.  

Based on my own experience, I am deeply aware that context is essential in foreign language curriculum in order for learners to engage with materials and activities intellectually and purposefully and ultimately apply their language skills to a range of academic and practical endeavors. I am also aware that classroom can be a legitimate site for authentic communication. For example, adding technology and virtual environment to a communicative driven curriculum can push learners to use language in context.