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Vitae

Jacob Michael Davis

Personal Goal

I came to Japan in 2002 because of my interest in new ideas, cultural internationalization, and global experience in an increasingly networked world. Upon arriving, my primary hope was to foster and enhance the power, accuracy, effectiveness and elegance of communication. This fueled efforts to facilitate English language acquisition in my students and also encouraged my own study of the Japanese language.  In all of my personal studies in and outside of college, language has played an ultimate role in both the formation and transmission of ideas.  Therefore, one of my strongest intellectual desires is to teach effective communication skills and to become a better teacher of these skills. 

Language is the fundamental glue of society and second language learning is global glue for differing societies and cultures. It is an unparalleled harmonizer, having the power to create opportunities and smooth conflicts. In this day and age, I believe that borders are less definable by national and geographic lines as they are by the deep divisions of language. This fact and the underlying philosophical and social implications of it is the main reason I am motivated to teach English and enable the crossing of these formidable linguistic borders.  

I enjoy teaching and I enjoy making students feel capable and confident in their abilities. I try to facilitate self-sufficient learning in students, and I do my best to encourage them in their endeavors. I try very hard to create intrinsic motivation. I believe the most important thing a teacher can do is help a student want to learn, to nurture a student’s natural ambitions, and provide support and enthusiasm. A good teacher should be a good motivator.

I also try to present information in an easy, digestible, and memorable way. I recognize that each student is an individual and has his or her own unique learning strategy. My own study of Japanese also allows me to identify with the experience of my students. I try to tailor my approach to the student first, and second to the information itself. I attempt to keep informed about the latest pedagogical science and innovation in the fields of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. Generally, I try to use inductive learning techniques which lead to greater automaticity in the student. I intend to keep students actively interested and mentally involved in a setting which is authentic as possible. Simply, this means I attempt to make their learning experience fun, interesting, rewarding, and challenging. I experiment with different methodologies that intuition or theory may provide me. However, I always consider the wishes and specific needs of the student first and foremost. Also, I am very flexible and am willing to work happily within whatever system or format an employer requires.

I hope I will be able to work with you.