Sara Matsumura is currently a PhD student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) at the University of Arizona. She earned her BA in English and Spanish at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa and her MA in Spanish Linguistics with a focus on second language acquisition at Arizona State University. With over 7 years of experience in education as a K-12 tutor, mentor, teacher, and instructor in higher-education, she is passionate about helping students achieve language proficiency through innovative teaching methods and research-driven approaches. Her research areas include computer-mediated communication (CMC), pedagogy, classroom-based research, gestures, and interactional competence. She enjoys teaching beginner to intermediate-level Spanish courses, integrating TBLT and activities that promote communicative competence to help her students feel confident and motivated to use their language skills.
In her free time, you can find her at the beach, doing hot yoga, visiting restaurants/cafes, reading, and traveling.