I am an associate professor in the English Communication Department at Tokyo Kasei University. I teach courses on English speaking and listening, English teaching methodology, English for business, and academic thesis/research paper writing. I also teach about sociocultural theory as an instructor in the MA TESOL Program at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.

I came to Japan in 2006 and worked as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) for three years in both elementary and junior high schools in the Kanto region of Japan. From there I worked for roughly eight years as an instructor and head teacher in the eikaiwa (English conversation school) industry. This experience had a huge impact on both my development as a teacher and my awareness of critical issues within Japanese English education such as native-speakerism and the commodification of language. Stemming in part for a growing desire to develop as an educator and professional, I enrolled in the MA TESOL Program at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS). My experiences in this program had a far-reaching impact on my life and started me down my current path as a teacher-researcher.

Upon graduating in 2017, I began work as a lecturer at KUIS at the Makuhari Campus in Chiba. During my four years at KUIS, my interest and engagement in research exponentially grew as I was surrounded by many inspiring and accomplished researchers and was fortunate enough to learn a great deal by participating in various research projects. KUIS was also the place where my passion for learner autonomy and self-access language learning was ignited – a topic which was to become the focus of my future doctoral research.

In 2021, I began a new position as a lecturer in the Department of Education at Hakuoh University in Tochigi Prefecture. In this position, I was able to develop a great deal as a Japanese learner due to a significant portion of my administrative duties been done exclusively in Japanese. Furthermore, I was able to gain valuable experience in participating in open day events, teaching demonstration classes, writing entrance examinations, visiting schools for students’ teaching practicum (教育実習), and organizing professional development events for the Faculty Development (FD) Committee.

Finally, April 2023 was a big month for me as I both completed my PhD at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies under the supervision of Prof. Kazuyoshi Sato and then began my current position at Tokyo Kasei University as associate professor. 2023 was also the year in which I was honored to give my first ever plenary presentation at the Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 2023 National Conference in Gifu. This was a slightly nerve-wracking but incredibly valuable experience that I hope will contribute to my continued growth as an academic and educator.

I am currently trying to stay as active as possible in research and have to date authored peer-reviewed research papers in journals including Language Teaching Research, Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, TESL-EJ, and The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL. In addition, I have been an editor/author of Teacher Narratives from the Eikaiwa Classroom: Moving Beyond “McEnglish” and a co-author of two volumes: Dynamics of a Social Language Learning Community: Beliefs, Membership and Identity and From Student to Community Leader: A Guide for Autonomy-Supportive Leadership Development. I have also contributed chapters to numerous other edited volumes including Language Teacher Leadership: Insights from Research and Practice, Discourses of Identity: Language Learning, Teaching, and Reclamation Perspectives in Japan, Cultivating Professional Development Through Critical Friendship and Reflective Practice: Cases From Japan, Duoethnography in English Language Teaching: Research, Reflection and Classroom Application, and Leaderful Classroom Pedagogy Through an Interdisciplinary Lens: Merging Theory with Practice. I am also the current Publications Chair for the Japan Association for Self-Access Learning and have been a reviewer for various academic journals such as Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching (Taylor & Francis), Reflective Practice (Taylor & Francis), Second Language Teacher Education (Equinox), The Learner Development Journal (JALT), and Explorations in Teacher Development (JALT) among others.

I hope to keep developing as both a teacher and researcher in the years to come and continue to collaborate with more and more colleagues in the field of langauge teaching and learning. Please feel free to get in contact using the links below if you would like to connect and/or discuss anything!