Meet the Officers

Dr. Noxon has been teaching for more than 25 years. She has a B.S. in Environmental science, an M.Ed. in Secondary Science Ed, and an Ed.D. in educational technology, all from the University of Florida. She has been a full time teacher, an ALT, and a media specialist and has taught science and English in both the US and in Japan. She currently is a full time high school teacher at Kyoto Prefectural Sagano High School in Kyoto City. She first joined JALT in 2013 and has served in many roles in different committees and SIGs. Her current research is in global learning with EdTech, ALT training, and public school blended learning environments.

Hello! I’m Paul Nanton. I’ve been in Japan since 1998. I started out in Chiba, did a three year stint in Saitama and currently I’m teaching at a junior/senior high school in Tokyo. I have held a variety of positions from Newsletter editor, Membership Chair and now Treasurer. My teaching interests are bilingualism and language acquisition. If you ever have an idea for a speaker or would like for us to co-sponsor an event, please let me know and we’ll see what we can do.

Hello, my name is Robert Chartrand. My teaching career began at Berlitz School of Languages, followed by positions at various private schools and colleges. Eventually, I secured a full-time position at a junior and senior high school in Fukuoka City, which inspired me to pursue a master’s degree in TESOL and, later, a PhD in information engineering.

For the past twenty years, I have been teaching at Kurume University, where my research has primarily focused on educational technology. More recently, however, I have become increasingly interested in supporting Japanese secondary schools in developing their English programs. Currently, I am advising a secondary school in Tokyo on its English education curriculum.

I joined the TYL SIG to apply my experience and help English teachers enhance their teaching practices. My primary interest lies in practical teaching approaches that yield measurable results in the classroom.

My previous involvement with JALT includes serving in various officer positions within the CALL SIG, including as Coordinator, as well as spending four years on the JALT Board of Directors as Director of Treasury, two years as VP and then Auditor. As a Co-Treasurer of the TYL SIG, I look forward to contributing my knowledge in keeping the SIG financially healthy.

Hello everyone! I’m originally from the UK, and first came to Japan in 1991 (I think!). After a few years of teaching in different countries, I came to the conclusion that the future of Japan and English education lies how the children are taught. So, in 2001 I set up my own school for children in Sapporo aged 0-12 which had an immersion full-time pre-school programme. I (taught and) ran the school for 15 years before being lured into full-time into the world of academia and research.

Away from university, teaching, and research, I enjoy gardening, cycling, skiing, and swimming. Please send in your contributions to the School House!  I hope to hear from you soon!

Gaby Benthien (B.Ed., M.Ed. Ed.D.) was born in Germany and immigrated to Australia when she was 12 years old. She began her teaching career teaching Japanese as a foreign language and P.E. at a secondary school in Australia, and has lived in Japan since 1999. While the first 15 years of her career in education focused on primary and secondary education, Gaby is now involved in primary and secondary education by teaching a variety of subjects at tertiary level, including primary school English, primary school teaching methodology and cross-cultural understanding. Her research interests include L2 motivation, study abroad and teacher development. She has often attended and presented at JALT and Tokyo TYL events, and is currently the co-chair of Tokyo TYL. Gaby enjoys any outdoor activity including cycling, hiking, skiing and gardening, as well as creative pursuits such as pottery and leatherwork.

Hello, my name is Masako and I’m from Nagano in Japan. I have been teaching English for more than 25 years in various settings – Eikaiwa schools for young learners, prep courses for proficiency exams (TOEFL, TOEIC, Eiken, Cambridge), bilingual preschools, and elementary schools. I teach mostly young learners but I enjoy teaching adults as well. I am also a qualified teacher of Japanese as a foreign language, and in 2004 I was dispatched to teach Japanese in Brazil where I stayed for 13 years. During my years in Brazil, I became an academic coordinator of an English language school which later became a bilingual elementary school. Along with teaching, I trained teachers, developed curricula and assessment methods, and planned and mediated various pedagogical projects. I studied Fine Art Ceramics at Falmouth College of Arts in the U.K. and more recently I completed a teaching license university course in Brazil. I became a JALT member in 2020. I like very much the community that it creates and I enjoy meeting so many passionate and talented teachers through it.

Hi I’m Frances Shiobara. I have been living in Japan for over 35 years. I came to Japan in 1989 to teach at a conversation school. I taught there for about five years teaching a variety of students from 3-years-old to 80 years old. After getting married I moved to Osaka and have been teaching at universities in Kansai since 1997. I have three children and started teaching at the Senri International School Saturday School program when they were enrolled. After that I helped set up a new Saturday School program at St. Michael’s International School in Kobe. I have now been teaching there for over 10 years. I also teach full-time at Kobe Shoin Women’s University Department of Education. I love the balance of teaching university students how to teach, and teaching elementary school students. Recently I became interested in Positive Discipline and completed a course to become a Certified Positive Discipline Educator. I am also very interested in how we can combine language learning with craft and project work and have published in The Language Teacher among other places on this topic. I hope in the future to continue to combine my dual roles as a teacher trainer and teacher of elementary school students.

I’m Ellie Fujimoto. I teach English as a foreign language to 1st to 6th grades at Hinode Gakuen Elementary School in Chiba, where I also head the English program. I have been teaching for eleven years and six of those as an ALT for Toyohashi Board of Education in Aichi. I have an MA in Linguistics (TESOL) from Sophia University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and communication and media from the University of the Philippines. 

Benjamin Iain Robertson teaches English at a private junior and senior high school in Shiga. He holds an MSc in TESOL and a UK teaching license, with experience in both Japanese and international educational contexts. His research interests include writing fluency, computer-assisted language learning, and curriculum design. He lives in his adopted hometown of Nara, where he is active in the local JALT chapter.

Marybeth Kamibeppu is from a small-town on Long Island, New York. She always had an interest in travel and other cultures and languages, and her family hosted exchange students from many countries. This allowed her to have short-term homestays in Quebec and Caracas, and eventually led to a semester abroad in Japan during undergraduate work at Colgate University. To earn tuition for graduate school, Marybeth returned to Japan for a “couple” of years. After graduate school at the School for International Training (MAT), she taught at the University of Maryland, College Park, intensive English program for eight years. Return to Japan followed and she taught students from age 2 – 70 in the Kanto area. Six years ago Marybeth and her family moved to Hiroshima where a new stage of her teaching career began at Hiroshima International School, a small international baccalaureate (IB) school with students from age 3-19. In addition to teaching English language acquisition, Marybeth is the Middle Years Programme (MYP) coordinator and one of the college counselors. Outside the classroom, Marybeth enjoys aerobics, walking outdoors, attending sports events, and watching Netflix.