top of page

2023-2024 Kobe JALT Chapter Officers

Chhayankdhar Singh Rathore.jpeg

             President
Chhayankdhar Singh Rathore (CD)

bj.png
Shirley Counterpoint.png

Vice-President/Web Administrator/Program Co-chair
Shirley M. Ando

Kyle Undem_Profile.jpeg
at.png

Treasurer
Anthony Torbert

Noriko Headshot22.jpeg
mw.png

Membership Chair &Facilities Co-chair
                 Marian Wang

ad.png

Program Co-chair
Brent Jones

              Publicity Co-chair
                  Kyle Undem

 

Publicity & Facilities Co-chair              Noriko Mori

Publications Chair
Armando Duarte


Chhayankdhar Singh Rathore is a lecturer at the Department of English for Global Communication in the Faculty of Global Studies at Konan Women's University. His areas of interest include performance in education, language acquisition, TESOL, CLIL, sociolinguistics, self-access learning, and World Englishes. Within performance in education, he is involved in the use of process drama, role-plays, debate, and presentation in English language classrooms. He is a graduate of St. Stephen's College, the University of Delhi, where he read English Literature and Political Science, and of the M.A. TESOL program at Soka University, Japan.

Shirley M. Ando is a retired associate professor at Otemae University where she was the director of its English language education program. Retirement has given her the time to travel, spend time with family, and learn new skills such as creating websites and playing the ukulele. 

Anthony C. Torbert, Kobe Gakuin University, Faculty of Business Administration

Marian Wang is an associate professor at the Center for Education in General Studies at Konan University in Japan. She has taught at Kobe University, Kwansei Gakuin University, and the International Trade Institute (Taiwan). She has experience working for international organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam American, Partners for Democratic Change, The World Trade Organization, and UNICEF. She holds an Ed. D. from the University of Liverpool, an M.A. in TESOL from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Certificate in International Studies in Economics and Politics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Her research focuses on fostering global citizens and World Englishes. 

 
Brent A. Jones grew up in California, Oregon, and Hawaii before coming to Japan in 1989 as an exchange student. He has master's degrees in language education and instructional design from Indiana University and an educational doctorate from the University of Reading. He is currently the Director of Language Programs at Konan University, Hirao School of Management, and has been an officer of Kobe JALT off and on since 1996 (or thereabouts).
 
Noriko Mori is a part-time lecturer at Otemae University where she teaches Multiculturalism. She also works with the board of education to teach JSL children Japanese and assist their parents as a school interpreter at elementary and junior high schools. She has been involved with community work for over 20 years to support foreign residents. Her interests include children's bilingualism. 
 
Kyle Undem is a former participant of the JET Programme (Yamaguchi Prefecture, 2010-2012) and has lived and taught in Japan for nearly ten years. He completed an MA-TESOL at Hamline University (2021) and currently teaches in the Center for Education in General Studies at Konan University in Kobe, Japan. His interests include L2 identity, L2 motivational systems, systemic functional linguistics, and equal opportunity for all learners of English. He also enjoys photography, running, learning Japanese, and writing songs.


Armando Duarte is currently an instructor of English as a foreign language at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda campus. He is currently the publication chair and one of the editors of Kobe JALT Journal. He was previously chapter president and program chair.

bottom of page