Profile image of Naoko Matsuo
Office
McCone Building, M124A
Email
nmatsuo@miis.edu

Naoko Matsuo started her career as a language teacher in Japan. She is passionate about sharing the joy of encountering a new world and communicating in a language other than their own with her students, which led her to pursue master’s degree in Teaching English To Speakers of Other Languages in the US. After obtaining the degree, she started to teach her native language, Japanese, in the US. She has taught at the Middlebury Institute, the Institute’s Summer Intensive Language Program, University of California Santa Cruz, Monterey Peninsula College, and Robert Louis Stevenson School. Her teaching experiences include instructing university undergraduate and graduate students, community college students, high school students, corporate clients, ranging all levels from elementary to superior, and from young age to adults. 

“Learning a language and communicating in the target language develops cultural humility,” says Matsuo. “as you learn to face unknowns with non-judgmental attitude, cultivate openness and push your boundaries to go beyond your comfort zone, and in the process, truly find who you are. I am very fortunate to be able to meet and learn from many who choose to come to MIIS that shares the same passion and belief that communicating in a language other than your own opens up your world and makes your lives so much richer.”

Courses Taught

Course Description

This course has two major goals: One is to develop functional Japanese language skills to be used for leading everyday life in Japan and exchanging their views on the social/cultural subjects selected in class. The other is to explore content areas on the selected features of Japan, such as nature and geography, family environment, and community environment. Students will be exposed to a variety of written and video materials as input and given opportunities for creative language production such as discussion, interviewing, essay writings, and presentations. Some intermediate grammar and kanji kanji compound will be focused and studied in class.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021 - MIIS

View in Course Catalog

Areas of Interest

My professional interests lie in Content-Based Instruction, use of technology in language teaching, and Intercultural Communication. I find a tremendous joy in creating a language- learning environment that is relevant and interesting for the learners, exploring ways to bring contents in, and discovering the intricate juncture of language and intercultural communication. I am a regular attendee in the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication offered by Intercultural Communication Institute, and am currently interested in researching the role of language learning in developing intercultural communication competency.

Academic Degrees

  • MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Monterey Institute of International Studies
  • BA in Linguistics, Nara Women’s University, Japan

Professor Matsuo has been teaching at the Institute since 1991.