Teaching Philosophy

What do I believe about teaching and learning foreign languages?

The essay below presents key principles that I use to guide my language teaching and also explains how I carry out those principles in my classroom.

• Having spent a considerable time in immersion, I believe a well rounded program include communicative language teaching methods that incorporate intercultural communication and multi-literacy activities. My students experience writing in Japanese as a supportive community using online tools such as google slides and jamboard before they venture on their own.

• Ethnographic writing helps my students notice and respond to what they are noticing in the Japanese language and culture. I use this in my classroom centered around genre studies. Because the majority of my students are artists, I want them to pay special attention to how words and images interact on the page in different settings.

• Assessment is key to giving students feedaback on how their skills are progressing. I incorporate a language portfolio to help students show their language progress. Students just beginning Japanese sometimes take a bit longer to become comfortable with the newness of the language. A portfolio helps them and others see they are making progress and gives them benchmarks to aim for.