Satomi Suzuki-Chenoweth

Satomi Suzuki-Chenoweth, Ph.D. (University of Georgia, 2011), joined Georgia Tech in 2003 and is a Senior Lecturer in the Japanese and Linguistics Programs. She served as the Coordinator of the Japanese Program from 2020 to 2024. Alongside Dr. Masato Kikuchi, she co-developed ML's pioneering synchronous online Japanese courses nearly two decades ago. Her research focuses on second language acquisition (SLA) theory and foreign language (FL) pedagogy, with a particular focus on students’ learning behaviors and experiences. She has presented her work at major conferences such as AAAL, ACTFL, CALICO, and AATJ. Her 2013 article in the CALICO Journal, “Private Turns: A Student’s Off-Screen Behaviors During Synchronous Online Japanese Instruction,” was named Best Article of the Year. Valuing technology-enhanced learning, she was selected for the 2024–2025 Governor’s Teaching Fellows Program to explore AI usage in the classroom. She is committed to promoting linguistic and cultural diversity, broadening students’ worldviews through the humanities while enhancing their professional skills in the STEM field. Since 2020, she has been supporting the Nakatani RIES Program as a Japanese instructor, collaborating with Biomedical Engineering faculty. Her current projects include development of a new course, “Travel Japanese and Japan’s World Heritage Sites for Engineers and Architects (ML2500),” which integrates Japanese language, history, aesthetics, technology, sustainability, and world peace. Her interest in cross-cultural communication is shaped by her experiences living in Japan, the U.S., Switzerland, and Denmark. In addition to English, she has learned French (DELF B2 certified) and Danish. As an educator, she strives to build bridges across cultures, languages, and people, enriching learning beyond the classroom. She has received multiple teaching awards, including the ML Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation and the Ivan Allen College Non-Tenured Academic Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award (AY2024–2025).