Mark Sawyer did his M.A. in TESOL at San Francisco State University and his Ph.D. in SLA at University of Hawaii. He has published research in the areas of (1) individual differences in SLA, including aptitude, working memory, and motivation; (2) acquisition of pragmatics of Japanese as a second language; (3) educators' attitudes to Hawaii Creole English use in Hawaiian schools; and (4) adult L2 acquisition of putatively innate semantics/syntax linking rules. His current interests are more focused on exploring worthwhile goals for language teaching in Japan and elsewhere, notably including intercultural competence and intercultural citizenship, and on considering ways to work toward them effectively. Such consideration centrally involves the study of intercultural communication and learner identities.

Education
Ph.D., University of Hawaii