During my approximately two-week internship at The Ohio State University (OSU), I had the valuable opportunity to explore language education at both the secondary and university levels from my unique perspective as both a high school English teacher and a graduate student.
At OSU, I observed academic English classes for students whose first language is not English, as well as Japanese language classes. I also visited Dublin Jerome High School, where I observed English classes for English learners and Japanese language classes. I was particularly impressed by the support provided for learners with different proficiency levels and diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, as well as by the emphasis on meaningful interaction and activities based on real-life situations. As a high school English teacher in Japan, I was able not only to discover differences and new challenges by comparing language education in the United States and Japan, but also to realize that teachers share many of the same concerns and difficulties despite differences in countries and educational contexts.
Above all, the most rewarding part of this internship was rediscovering the joy of connecting with people from diverse backgrounds through English. I hope to apply what I learned and experienced during this internship to both my future teaching practice and research in English language education. I am sincerely grateful for this valuable opportunity and for all the kind and flexible support I received throughout my stay.
