望久 片梨奈 Cathrine Mette Mørk

I am a Canadian EFL professional with over 25 years of teaching experience, mostly in Japan (since 1995), and mostly at the university level. My experience teaching spans many levels, ages, and institution types. My main academic background is not in TESOL, but I have found the skills and knowledge I amassed in my MLIS program to be readily transferable to the EFL classroom. Before and during my graduate studies, I taught English in Costa Rica and Montreal, and after relocating to Japan I obtained a post-graduate diploma in EFL.

I have taught academic writing, speech communication, current events, pronunciation, small seminar classes, intercultural communication, comparative culture, and study abroad preparation courses in addition to basic reading, writing, and oral communication classes to mostly Japanese students, but also exchange students from North America, Europe, and other parts of Asia. In recent years I have gained experience in team-teaching liberal arts CLIL classes with content professors.

I have supervised Japanese students in their stays abroad, have been involved in pre-departure and intercultural seminars for business people going on overseas assignments or seminars, and have designed and taught ESP training for researchers and sales people when I conducted business training in Tokyo. My full-time university responsibilities have been managerial in addition to pedagogical – I have supervised part-time teaching staff in addition to designing programs and materials and being involved in committee work. I am currently the language program coordinator at my present place of employment. I am a member of several professional teaching associations.

My professional interests include educational technology, learning strategies, learner autonomy, intercultural communication, and CALL. I see computer technology as a boon to language acquisition and try to keep abreast of new developments that can help both myself and my students become more effective in our pursuits.

In recent years, my interests have taken me to Munich to earn certification in administering and debriefing the Intercultural Development Inventory. I have also had the great pleasure of leading teacher presentations for THT (Teachers Helping Teachers, a JALT special interest group) in several towns and cities in Kyrgyzstan, which prompted in me a deeper curiosity for Central Asia.

I am proficient in spoken Japanese and have passed the second level of the Japanese proficiency exam. I have taken a Japanese to English translation survey course and can participate adequately in meetings conducted solely in Japanese. I have worked on several translation projects. In the summer of 2009 I co-wrote the English subtitles for a French documentary film about the prolific Japanese writer Dazai Osamu. At that time I had the opportunity to visit my fading French skills as well (I am originally from French-speaking Montreal). I have permanent residency status in Japan.

In my personal life, I aspire to conscious living through vegetarianism, and have a strong passion for perfume and perfumery. As a youth, I ice skated almost daily, and coached figure skating professionally to support my studies at university. In Japan, I've also been active in endurance sports, such as running events and triathlons. I practiced karate for about 6 years, but my physical life has been much calmer in recent years. I love travel, cycling, and good food with good company.

CERTIFICATION & TRAINING

• Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) License, Munich, Germany, 2018
• LDT100x: Learning Theories (2017) and LDT200x: Instructional Design Models (2018) – edX MOOCs on Instructional Design and Technology offered by University of Maryland)
• Graduate Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), The English Language Centre, London, UK (1998).
• Intercultural Communication Institute (SIIC) Workshop Certificate 2002
• PLS Method Beginners' Teaching Seminar 1998.

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• Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 2 (2000)
• Japanese Correspondence Course for JET Participants (1996-1997)
• University of Oslo International Summer School Language Program (1991).
• CPR and YMCA Fitness Instruction (1996)
• National Coaching Certification (Canadian Figure Skating Association, 1995)
• Thai Traditional Massage (2003; 2002)
• Master School of Bar-tending Certificate (1995).

I have come to feel teaching is both a big responsibility and a privilege, as teachers can have a strong impact on the futures of their students. Teachers have to be attentive to the messages they pass on in their classes, and treat the profession as a never-ending learning process. My views on teaching English have evolved over the years and will continue to do so. My guiding principles can be encompassed in the following points:

Learner Empowerment

Teachers should seek to empower or capacitate students with the necessary skills to take control of their own learning (the “tricks" of successful learning). Especially in Japan, I feel learners need help in learning how to learn.  From the first class in any oral communication course I teach, I start by introducing students to control language, so that they can politely interrupt, state their level of understanding, solicit repetition, clarification, and rephrasing, confirm though restating and rephrasing, check that others understand, and use circumlocution strategies.  With a good foundation in such skills, students can take control of their own learning.

Role of the Teacher

In accordance with the above, I believe the teacher's role to be one of facilitator, guide, model, and mentor, enabling learners to reach their individual potentials.

Improvements in language proficiency are greater when language is not so much studied, but practiced. Students thus need to produce as much language as possible. The teacher should therefore act as a cheerleader, encouraging students to seek out as many opportunities as possible for practice outside the classroom, in addition to in it.

Motivation

It is extremely challenging to teach students something they have no interest in. Especially in university classes where some students many take a foreign language simply for credit, extra effort is needed on the part of the teacher to gain and keep their interest. Teachers need to foster a positive experiences and individual involvement. I attempt to motivate my students by: (a) adjusting the pace of the class to suit my students, (b) making the material interesting and relevant to their lives, (c) creating task-based activities which require active participation, (d) creating a warm learning environment and encouraging a sense of humor, (e) using authentic examples of language used by native speakers to help show that English is not a subject but a living means of communication, (f) employing non-print (audio/visual, internet) materials and technologies, and (g) expressing a contagious enthusiasm for language, learning, and teaching.

Support

Student should be equally valued and respected, regardless of ability or performance in the classroom, and should be expected to participate equally. Students should be encouraged not to be fearful of mistakes, as they a part of the learning process. Corrections should be made in a non-threatening manner, and in some situations the degree of correction can be negotiated with learners. Teachers should outline their rules and expectations early and abide by them. They should also show their commitment to students by making themselves accessible and open to feedback, suggestions, and requests both inside and outside of class. Praise should be awarded as much as possible and encouragement given to students experiencing difficulty. Students can also receive a great deal of assistance from each other, and teachers should promote such peer support. In an interactive classroom, students have the opportunity to get to know each other, and this results in a powerful sense of community.

Methodology

As individuals learn in different ways, teachers should be comprehensive and creative with their methodologies so that various learning styles are accommodated. Repeating the same material through different approaches not only ensures that all styles are provided for, but at the very least allows for the reinforcement of previously learned material.

Culture

Especially where communication style differs substantially from the cultures of native English speakers, English teachers need to focus on socio-pragmatics and help students gain awareness of the cultural aspects that affect the way we interact in different languages. This is why I tend to include intercultural communication topics in my classes, such as non-verbal communication (eye-contact, feedback-channeling, and the use of silence in particular for Japanese learners), different values and beliefs, and the dangers of stereotyping. As learners may in future be using English to interact with other non-native speakers of various origins, it useful to help students appreciate the variety of world Englishes.

Teacher Development

Teachers should take charge of their own individual development. Being engaged in learning a second/third language, presenting new ideas at professional conferences, conducting research, participating in professional organizations, initiating collaborative projects with colleagues, etc. all have a significant impact on our work. Teachers can formulate their own teaching models based on our experiences as both a language teacher and learner. In this way teachers can grow from more than just the understanding of the principals and theories that we have learned.

• Foreign Executive Women (FEW)
• International Academic Forum (IAFOR) CURRENT
• International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL)
• Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET)
• Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) CURRENT
• Moodle Association of Japan (MAJ) CURRENT
• Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research in Japan (SIETAR)
• TESOL Arabia
• TESOL (USA)
• TESL Canada
• TESOL (USA)

Awards

• Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Miyazaki International College School of International Liberal Arts, August 5th, 2020.
• Honorable mention and publication in Cottage Life “Dax on Otter Lake." August 2002, p. 21 photo contest
• Honorable mention in “Dobutsu Fureai" [Communication with Animals] Kitamura Camera Co. 2001 photo contest
• 4th place winner of (Japan's) Environmental Agency's “8th Annual Essay Contest: Essays or Activity Reports on the Earth Environment" in The Daily Yomiuri Shinbun [newspaper] (announced Nov. 30, 1998. Title: “Vegetarianism and the Environment")
• 1995 student book award from SLA (Special Libraries Association) for highest course grade

Activities

• Middle Eastern dance, hoop dance,  Shorinji Renshinkan Karatedo (black belt)
• Blogger in perfumery, vegan recipes, dance, business
• Over twenty 5 km, 10 km, and half-marathon running races
• Participation in cycling, swimming, and short triathlon races
• Sr. Bronze to Sr. Silver levels in dance, free-style, and figures of the standard Canadian figure skating tests
• Dance test choreographer and partner for several Montréal South Shore figure skating clubs
• Actor in bilingual take-offs of “The Wizard of Oz" (2001) and “A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2000) with the Miyazaki Theatre Company
• Founder and manager of the McGill Scandinavian Club; member of the McGill Travel Club

• Anderson Passos, PhD. (ICT) – Dean of ISLA at MIC LINK
• Atsushi Yasutomi (安富淳), PhD. (Political Science) – co-instructor at MIC LINK
• Christopher Johnson, PhD. (Philosophy) – former co-Instructor at MIC LINK
• Louis Ohashi, PhD. (Applied Linguistics) – former colleague at TWCU LINK
• Haruko Ishikawa (石川晴子), PhD. (Linguistics) – former colleague at Tama University LINK
• Takashi Baba, PhD. (Political Science) – former supervisor at MKJC LINK

https://mic.academia.edu/CathrineMork