A specialist in East Asian language pedagogy, Mari Noda’s primarily areas of interest span curriculum, material development, teacher training, and assessment. She has produced numerous pedagogical materials, theoretical pieces that continue to shape the field, and trained numerous teachers of Japanese and Chinese. She has worked in seminal field-guiding endeavors including testing,

Noda is the lead producer of the NihionGO NOW! : Performing Japanese Culture (2021 and 2025, Routledge), a beginning-to-intermediate-level learning material consisting of four textbooks, four Activity Books, and a supporting website.  Grounded in the Performed Culture Approach, this material supports learning of Japanese language for participating in the culture. She is the executive producer of the parallel NihonGO NOW! Web Video Series, directed by Hiroki Ohsawa (2020, Hiroki Ohsawa Productions). She is a co-author with Eleanor H. Jorden of three-volume Japanese: The Spoken Language (1987, 1988, and 1990, Yale University) and their supplements. She worked with Jorden to produce the first volume of Japanese: The Written Language (2005, Yale University) and with Jorden, Marcus and Itomitsu to produce the second volume (2018). The JSL series with the accompanying interactive CD-ROM for Part 1 and DVD-ROM for Parts 2 and 3 programs (2005 and 2008, Yale University) were groundbreaking and instrumental in supporting a generation of learners of Japanese. 

Noda has published for teachers and researchers, including “Remembering the future: compiling knowledge of another culture” (with Galal Walker, 2000, National Textbook Company; reprinted in 2010, National East Asian Language Resource Center at The Ohio State University). The article continues to be a pivotal piece on the Performed Culture Approach. She was co-author with Matthew Christensen of A Performance-based Pedagogy for Communicating in Cultures: Training Teachers of East Asian Languages (2002, National East Asian Language Resource Center at the Ohio State University). She is co-author with Hiroshi Nara of Acts of Reading: Exploring Connections in Pedagogy of Japanese (2002, University of Hawaii); the book includes several chapters by Noda. 

Noda’s work related to study abroad includes an appointment as Director of Language Program at the Kyoto Consortium for Japan Studies in the 2008-2009 academic year. She was the primary force behind developing the Community Involvement Project, which continues to be the hallmark of the program. She is the lead author of Action! Japan: Field Guide to Communicating in the Culture (2018, Routledge), which helps study-abroad participants engage more actively with what the host community affords. 

Noda has worked for decades in teacher-training. She taught in Exchange: Japan (1988-2001) and ALLEX Foundation (2007-2025) Teacher Training Institutes. She served as Academic Director (or Co-Director) of the ALLEX program (2014-2025). She also founded and directed OSU’s SPEAC (Summer Programs East Asian Concentration, 1993-2023), which offered training for a number of graduate students and young faculty members across the US as well as intensive language in Chinese and Japanese. SPEAC currently offers intensive Japanese.

Noda was a member of the four-member task force, led by J. Marshall Unger, that produced A Framework for Introductory Japanese Language curricula in American High Schools and Colleges (1993, National Foreign Language Center, Johns Hopkins University). The volume guided the development of Japanese language programs in the U.S. The same task force was responsible for designing the first SAT II Subject Test in Japanese with Listening (College Board, discontinued in 2021). She led the production of Japanese Sills Test (JSKIT), a low-stake online assessment tool (discontinued in 2023). 

Noda’s research and professional activities have been supported by funding from the Japan Foundation, Annenberg/CPB, Tuttle, Ameritech, Ohio Board of Regents, Spencer and Teagle Foundation, National Security Agency, and various OSU funding bodies among others. She was a Hakuhō Foundation research fellow in 2018. She has presented her research in academic contexts in the US, Europe, Japan, Korea, and China, 

Noda is a long-standing member of the Board of Directors of Japan-America Society of Central Ohio (JASCO) since 1997. She served as Interim Executive Director for JASCO in 2023 to host the John Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Japan-America Grassroots Summit in Columbus, and again in 2024-2025. She serves on the Board of Directors of the John Manjiro-Whitfield Commemorative Center for International Exchange-US.