Adam Murray is a professor at the University of the Ryukyus. He co-authored Health Matters (2009) published by Pearson Longman Kirihara (republished with Kinseido), Our World Today (Nan'undo), Our World Tomorrow (Nan'undo), and Live Well! (Kinseido). His current research is on classroom-based assessment and the use of listening materials. 

I began teaching in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1990, where I still reside and make my living by teaching at local universities. I also work at the University of Birmingham in their English Language and Linguistics MA Programme as a Teaching Fellow, where I supervise coursework and dissertations.  In addition, I produce multimedia content and write grassroots materials for the Japanese context.  I have a B.Sc. in Business administration, an M.A. in Humanities, a post-grad certificate in Online Instruction, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics. Currently, my research focuses on the student use of video-based materials in university classrooms.

Writing teaching materials from scratch and adapting teaching materials are the two most fulfilling aspects of my teaching career. I have written five published textbooks and have contributed to several others. Most of my materials are global or social issues content-based. See my profile for more information.

Jim is a lecturer at Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University up in Sendai. He is the author of English Care, Therapy Care and Nursing Care, a series of coursebooks for students in health-related English classes. Also, he has authored Frames and Taking Issue which are general textbooks for communication classes. His latest book, co-authored with Jon Catanzariti, Conversation Master, teaches conversation using techniques developed in conversation analysis. See his website for more information.

Matt is the Representative partner of Square One LLC as well as a teacher at J.F. Oberlin University and Tama University’s School of Global Studies. He is the author of the award-winning blog Marshmallow Sensei, and the mini-ebook Marshmallow-Go. He also spends an inordinate amount of time listening to podcasts on early morning trains. 

I was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA in 1965. My father was a football coach and my mother was a math teacher. We moved to Laurel, Mississippi when I was 3 which is where I lived until I moved away from home. In 1986-1990, I traveled as a professional musician until I returned to college in 1990. In 1992, I graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a BA in Cultural Anthropology. In 1993, my first daughter was born. A year later, I was back in school getting my masters in teaching English as a second language. In 1995 I graduated and moved back to Japan. A year later, my son, Forrest Jr was born. These days, I spend my free time working on my computer, or composing or performing music.

I am happy to serve as the treasurer of the Material Writers SIG. After these several years, I have finally gotten a handle on the job (sort of). I came to Japan in 1977 and lived in Matsuyama for two years. Then, I returned to the US to obtain an MA in ESL from the University of Hawaii. I returned to Matsuyama in 1981 and worked for a few more years. I moved to Nagoya in 1984, where I worked for the best Catholic University in the city. After that I moved to a junior college and am still at the same institution although it eventually upgraded to a university. In the 90’s, I travelled to Tokyo every week to attend the graduate school at Temple University, where I was granted an EdD in Curriculum, Instruction and Technology in Education in 1998.

Jeanette Dennisson is an associate professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. She is currently involved in developing new curricula and materials for Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses in undergraduate basic health science program.

I teach English and intercultural communication, my specialization, at universities in Tokyo area. Prior to coming back to Japan in 2005, I also taught Japanese and sociolinguistics in the US, where I did my M.A. and Ph.D. work, and later in New Zealand, residing in these countries for 14 years total. I like teaching English to Japanese students very much, and I feel one of my strengths is the fact that I went through the Japanese education system so I can understand where my students are coming from. To write and publish teaching materials is a newly emerging interest for me, and I look forward to serving the MW SIG as Japanese Coordinator and being a link with the Japanese audience.

Travis works at Meiho Jr. & Sr. High School in Tokyo where he teaches conversation and the 21st century course of the Global Studies Program, which includes training critical thinking skills through a problem-based learning approach. His main goal is to "professionalize" the English conversation teaching field through conversation analysis-based materials and activities. He has been developing and implementing a program which trains students to co-construct open-ended conversations in real time, and firmly believes that Japanese students can master daily conversation by the end of junior high.

Bio coming soon!

Mike is working for MY English School as a teacher and manager and is also the leader of MY's Curriculum Development Team. In his free time he enjoy writing, board games and living by the quote from Robert Heinlein "Everything to excess!  To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.  Moderation is for monks."

Diane Hawley Nagatomo has been living and teaching in Japan since 1979. She is an associate professor at Ochanomizu University and has a PhD in linguistics from Macquarie University. Her research interests include teacher and learner beliefs, teachers’ professional identity, and EFL materials development. Her two academic books, Exploring Japanese University English Teacher’s Professional Identity (2012) and Identity, Gender and Teaching English in Japan (2016) were published by Multilingual Matters. Her most recently coauthored EFL books, Simply Traveling (2015) and Say it Now (2016) were published by Kinseido.