Michelle Kamigaki-Baron teaching

Teaching Philosophy

Language plays a major role in life, so we all experience linguistics in some capacity. Whether or not you have ever taken a Linguistics course, we all have unique expertise when it comes to language. This really challenges the concept of expertise in our field and is what I appreciate most about Linguistics!

In my teaching and mentorship, I take a community-focused learner-centric approach. I emphasize learning goals to students, so they are able to decide what they want to take away from the course. My hope is to have students take away the knowledge and skills from the course which they can apply to their lives and can bring back to their communities.

Teaching Experience

Before teaching linguistics, I taught English as a Second Language abroad both at a learning institute in Guangzhou, China and at a University in Pingtung, Taiwan. I have professional certifications in teaching and have led workshops in China on instructional skills. I also have experience with the development of course material and assessments which pre-date my linguistic teaching experience. I seek out all opportunities to improve my skills in teaching, and have earned a teacher’s certificate at the Instructional Skills Workshop at UBC. In linguistics, my teaching experience centers Applied Linguistics (e.g. Clinical Topics of Speech Sciences; and Language Endangerment, Globalization, Indigenous Peoples), Introduction to Linguistics courses, and courses in Phonetics and Phonology. I include a list of the courses I have taught below.

Linguistics Courses

University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC Canada)
Teaching Assistant - LING209 Clinical Topics Dr. Molly Babel (Spring 2024)
Teaching Assistant - LING313 Introduction to Phonetics & Speech Science Dr. Molly Babel (Fall 2023)
Teaching Assistant - LING313 Introduction to Phonetics & Speech Science Dr. Amanda Cardoso (Fall 2022)
Teaching Assistant - LING313 Introduction to Phonetics & Speech Science Dr. Jahurul Islam (Spring 2022)
Teaching Assistant - LING200 Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology Dr. Anne-Michelle Tessier (Fall 2021)

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Honolulu, Hawaii USA)
Teaching Assistant - LING102 Intro to the Study of Language Dr. Kamil Deen (Spring 2020)
Teaching Assistant - LING150 Language in Hawaii Asia-Pacific Dr. Grant Muagututia (Fall 2019)
Teaching Assistant - LING105 Language Endangerment, Globalization, Indigenous Peoples Dr. Grant Muagututia (Fall 2019)
Teaching Assistant - LING102 Intro to the Study of Language Dr. Grant Muagututia (Fall 2019)

Media Appearances

I am a passionate science communicator, and am always open to talk or collaborate.