Professor Matsuda stands smiling into the camera with long brown hair, a black blazer, and floral shirt with trees in the background.
Office
McCone 226
Tel
(831) 647-4168
Email
jmatsuda@middlebury.edu

Junko Matsuda is a Japanese language instructor and curriculum developer who has dedicated many years to enhancing student learning. She has taught Japanese from beginning levels to advanced. She makes an effort to create collaborative, student centered class activities based on the concepts of Content-Based Instruction (CBI) to help students to engage with the language and each other to enhance their understanding of Japanese, both its structures and cultural notes. Matsuda hopes students get a greater appreciation of Japanese culture once they have taken her courses. She knows the euphoria and difficulty of understanding a new language and the need to function in that new target language. Matsuda structures her classes for students’ optimum language success. She has taught Japanese at MIIS, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, and in Japan. In addition, she has taught English as a Second language (ESL) at community colleges in Southern California. In Japan, she also taught Japanese literature and English at K-9 as well as pioneered early English-Japanese Immersion Programs. Matsuda also has co-authored 5 Japanese textbooks and regularly attends language acquisition conferences such as CATESOL and ACTFL.

Areas of Interest

Matsuda’s professional interests include: CBI, curriculum design, authentic material development, second/foreign Language pedagogy, technology integration, learning strategies, listening/speaking skill development, immersion education, and cultural competencies. She also is in the process of being a certified ACTFL OPI Tester.

Academic Degrees

M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), California State University, Los Angeles (graduate distinction)

B.A. in Education, Kagoshima University, Japan