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Barbara M. Northwood
Barbara Northwood is an experienced teacher of music, Japanese and English as a Second Language (ESL). Her pupils range from kindergarten to university. She lived and worked in Kyoto, Japan for twelve years and during that time completed a Masters in Linguistics (Macquarie University, Australia). Having returned to Australia, Barbara’s most recent position was teaching EFL at the Language Centre, University of Newcastle (NSW). She was involved in a large-scale study with Professor Chihiro Kinoshita-Thomson investigating the motivation of learners of Japanese in Australia. Barbara was awarded a Ph.D. (in Japanese linguistics) from the University of New South Wales in 2013. She is now an independent researcher, keenly interested in Japanese studies and Japanese culture. Barbara’s research focus is second language motivation and the role it plays in persistence of study, and in the possible development of a language identity among learners.