{"id":58,"date":"2026-05-11T10:15:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T01:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakeland-u.jp\/masters\/?p=58"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T05:53:29","slug":"thirty-years-in-the-classroom-what-professor-valdorian-cline-reveals-about-luj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakeland-u.jp\/masters\/thirty-years-in-the-classroom-what-professor-valdorian-cline-reveals-about-luj\/","title":{"rendered":"Thirty Years in the Classroom: What Professor Valdorian Cline Reveals About LUJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the end of the spring 2026 semester, Lakeland University Japan students awarded Professor Cline the 2025\/2026 annual David Black Teaching Excellence Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For thirty-three years, Professor Valdorian Cline has taught students who have come from around the world to learn at Lakeland University Japan. As a key faculty member of the English for Academic Purposes program, Professor Cline has sought not simply to improve students’ language skills, but to help them rethink their own potential studying ability. Having joined LUJ in 1993, just two years after it opened, Professor Cline\u2019s English for Academic Purpose (EAP) classroom philosophy has helped develop the university\u2019s modern academic approach that students experience from EAP, to the undergraduate level and through to the postgraduate school: More academic conversation, more international dialogue, and instilling a belief in students that they are capable of far more than they initially imagine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Shun Arai, an LUJ alumnus who was a student of Professor Cline\u2019s EAP classes, remembered how his teacher\u2019s enthusiasm drove the students to improve their language abilities and helped them pursue an international future, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t want to lose that attitude and that motivation.\u201d Mr. Arai has gone on to further English language studies, specializing in psychology at the University of Victoria in Canada.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mr. Yingzhu Lai, another student of Professor Cline\u2019s who is currently in LUJ\u2019s postgraduate program, also reflected on his unique experience in the class, noting that each EAP\u2019s teacher has their own profound and inimitable perspective, \u201cTheir leadership and teaching style influences their classes, and distinct outcomes. For example, in one of Professor Cline\u2019s memorable lessons, he immersed us in Bach\u2019s fugue, which he brought to class to teach the relationship between music and language.\u201d Like the independent voices in a Bach fugue, students in LUJ classrooms are encouraged to develop individual perspectives while contributing to a larger intellectual conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Cline explained almost his three decades of dedication to LUJ\u2019s EAP program by saying, \u201cI taught undergraduate writing courses before, but I chose to return to the EAP program because of its unique educational freedom\u2026\u201d He described EAP classes to explore topics across science, literature, history, music, and art, all while developing students’ English proficiency. However, the undergraduate program often focuses on fixed content within the details, which could bring precision and complete concepts in certain academic fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what the greatest challenge has been during his time teaching at LUJ, Professor Cline noted that the greatest barrier to his teaching English as a second language is students\u2019 fear of grammar. Many students enter the EAP program believing grammar is naturally difficult because of negative educational experiences that insist upon stressful grammar tests and public correction in class. However, having taught thousands of students from countless countries. He observes that once students start to find confidence in their English abilities, the specific skills needed to succeed in LUJ\u2019s undergraduate and postgraduate programs naturally develop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After more than 30 years, Professor Cline\u2019s presence at Lakeland University Japan continues to inspire staff, students and faculty. His method of teaching and professional philosophy has become embodied in the fabric of LUJ, ensuring that successful teaching is quantified not only through curriculum goals or by focusing on setting strict grade limits, but by proudly acknowledging that learning is a joy in and of itself. Professor Cline embodies all that is best about working and studying at an American university in Tokyo when he says that  \u201cMy greatest joy in a class is seeing students reach an achievement that they thought was beyond their ability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n