My Story
I was born in Sydney, Australia. From the age of three, I started gymnastics and continued until I was 16 and retired due to injury. During this time, I was a member of the NSW Institute of Sport. After retiring from gymnastics, I was a springboard diver until the age of 20, again as a member of the NSW Institute of Sport. I was involved in coaching both men's and women's gymnastics for a number of years and at both club and elite level.
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From the age of 18, I worked in hospitality management for a number of venues in Sydney and Brisbane which included restaurants, bars, gaming and nightclubs. I worked in various positions including management, operations and acting-licensee.
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In 2007, I moved to Japan, where I studied Japanese language and culture at a private college in Osaka. In 2008, I returned to Australia and began tertiary study at Western Sydney University. In 2011, I was the first student from WSU to study abroad at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan. My studies focused on Japanese language and linguistics. In 2012, I returned to Australia and began my honours degree in Japanese linguistics. Upon graduating with Honours I and a Dean's commendation, I began my PhD studies at the University of Queensland in 2013, supported by an Australian Government Scholarship. My PhD focused on the perceptions and actual use of listening behaviour in Japanese. I graduated in 2018.
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During my time at the University of Queensland (UQ), I coordinated, lectured and taught a number of subjects (at undergraduate and postgraduate level) in the applied linguistics program, including intercultural communication, applied linguistic concepts, and language and technology. I also assessed students' MA theses from the applied linguistic program. Furthermore, I designed and facilitated a number of special programs and guest lectures at the Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education (ICTE) at UQ, such as intercultural communication and Australian culture.
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Upon completing my studies at UQ, I took up a position as Writing Advisor Fellow at Hiroshima University. In this position, I supported the university's pursuits to internationalize by providing support to scholars and students with their academic writing in English. This was achieved by hosting a number of seminar series focused on academic writing, facilitating writing groups for both academic staff and graduate students, and providing one-on-one consultations.
After close to one year in Hiroshima, I was offered a tenured position in the Faculty of Foreign Language Studies at Kansai University. Currently, I am an associate professor teaching a range of courses in language development and EMI content based courses (e.g., intercultural communication). In my current position, I also serve as Study Abroad Regional Manager (Oceania) and serve on other committees as required by the faculty.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities to collaborate and discuss teaching and research. Let's connect.
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