Peterson’s dedication and love for teaching earns him recognition as one of the best language instructors in the state.
Of the many foreign language teachers working at universities across Utah, one BYU professor recently stood out from the crowd. Assistant Professor Jeff Peterson (Extensive Reading, Online Language Learning), who teaches Japanese here in the College of Humanities, won the 2024 Teacher of the Year Award from the Utah Foreign Language Association (UFLA).
The UFLA grants the award to “teachers who demonstrate outstanding language teaching, impact on student learning, leadership in the language teaching field, and advocacy for language learning.” Associate Professor Paul Warnick (Japanese Language Pedagogy) originally nominated Peterson, who then submitted a series of personal statements, documents, and letters of recommendation showcasing his skills and values as a university-level language instructor.
A member of BYU faculty since 2019, Peterson teaches a variety of Japanese courses. He constantly looks for ways to improve his curriculum, and he especially focuses on promoting tasks that will help students demonstrate both language proficiency and real world usage skills. Student Emily Seals (Family and Consumer Science Education ’26) says, “Professor Peterson is outstanding in his ability to help his students learn the feelings behind customs and traditions in Japanese culture . . . His teaching helps his students to be able to envision what it would be like to have actual conversations and interactions as native Japanese people would have.”
Peterson looks forward to continuing his work in the Japanese program to gather student interest and provide opportunities for engagement both in and outside of classroom. He says, “I’m humbled to be among those who have earned this award previously. It’s an honor to be recognized for the work that’s been put in to help improve [both] the classes that I teach here at BYU and student learning in general.”
Learn about the Utah Foreign Language Association.