I have been teaching EFL in South Korea for the past two-and-a-half-years. Armed with a BA in Indonesian and Asian Studies from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ)(2005), and a CELTA from International House (2005), I decided to change careers and realise one of my life goals. Akin to the Beatles going to Hamburg in 1960 to learn their particular craft (at least so far as I see it), I departed Australia in January 2006 for South Korea to teach English. Simultaneously, I commenced studying for a Master of TESOL (USQ). I found the opportunity to learn the theory, and then to practice it in class the very next day to be a fantastic combination. In fact, the publication of this website symbolises the culmination of both my study, and my learning phase in Korea; I will be permanently returning to Australia in August where I very much look forward to the ESL environment there.

At the core of my teaching philosophy is, of course, the student; the learning perspective. The essence of learning is simply this: learning a second language is all about making enough mistakes. If we, as educators, give our students enough opportunities to exercise their interlanguage; encourage them to make as many mistakes as they need, I am convinced that it is only a matter of exposure before they will eventually internalise the material and transform it into knowledge.

The theme continues with a heavy accent on constructivism - where the individual student constructs their own meanings and knowledge through personal experience, negotiation for meaning, and reflective thinking (note the collaborative learning aspect to this). There is a bias for situated learning; featuring authentic and interactive (engaging the learner) tasks. The content of each lesson features a central conviction in the importance of individual affective factors. Determining their motivation is very important; but for me, more so is creating a comfortable environment in which the students have trust and feel safe, so feel that they can then share without any fear of judgement or rejection. I feel it is also vital to support the learners with the how to study a language; not simply present them with the mechanics of doing so ... then wonder why the students do not know how to internalise it themselves. Developing their self-confidence in the usage of their second language - within the overall goal of encouraging the students to become autonomous language learners, is the very reason why I am even there in the first place.

My research interests encompass a general interest in second language learning and teaching with a focus on language assessment, syllabus design, and WBLL. Concerning the latter, I am particularly interested in the distance education format, an associated online pedagogy, the design of online curricula and syllabi, and CMC tools in both modes. Of course, my aim is to apply all of that in the context of my personal teaching philosophy.