Graduate Program in Japanese Linguistics
Ph. D. Program
MA Program
- Nobuyoshi Asaoka
- Nao Hayashi
- Kiyomi Kawakami
- Yukiko Kirii
- Yumiko Konishi
- Yukari Nakamura
- Makiko Osaka
- Eric Terao
Yumiko Matsunaga <ymatsunaga@wisc.edu>
I earned my MA degree in Japanese at the UW-Madison in 2001 and taught Japanese as a full-time lecturer at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for three years before returning to Madison to enroll in the Ph.D. program. Currently, I am interested in how language learners construct their identities through interactions with both native speakers and non-native speakers. The development of interactional competence has attracted my interest since my MA study as well. This year, I presented a paper titled “Teachers’ Perceptions of L1 Use in the Beginning-Level JFL Classrooms” with Shino Hayashi at the 20th SEATJ conference and worked with Prof. Mori on a paper titled “Do ‘native-like’ ways to initiate word search exist?” presented at the AILA 2005.
Kanae Nakamura <knakamura@wisc.edu>
I received my MA in Japanese at UW-Madison in 2002 and continued onto the Ph.D program. My research areas include conversation analysis and ‘Grammar and Interaction.’ I am also interested in the issues of identities in interaction. Currently, I am working on my dissertation, which examines how Japanese people deliver their opinions in conversation in negotiation with the recipients’ reactions. This summer, I presented a paper, “Interactional aspect of TCU construction in Japanese talk-in-interaction,” at the 9th IPrA conference in Riva del Garda, Italy. I also taught Business Japanese Communication as a lecturer in the spring semester, 2005.
Maki Shimotani <mshimotani@wisc.edu>
I received my MA in Language and Culture from Kansai Gaidai University in 2001. In my master’s research, I primarily studied Japanese phonetics/phonology and focused on the Japanese pitch accent system. In 2002, I came to Madison to pursue my Ph.D. degree in Japanese linguistics. Inspired by my advisor, Prof. Naomi H. McGloin, my interest has greatly shifted to Discourse and Grammar Analysis. Thus, for my Ph. D. research, I wish to incorporate my interest in prosody into Discourse Analysis. Currently, I am working on Japanese sentence-final/initial particles/expressions and their pitch types in conversational discourse. Two of my publications on grammar and prosody are available from Fons Linguae 15 and 20. And two of my other working papers on sentence-final particle yo were presented at LSJ 128th meeting in June 2004, and at the 14th Japanese / Korean Linguistics Conference (JK) in Nov. 2004. This year, I will present my paper on sentence-initial e? as a repair initiator at the 15th JK in Oct.
Yan Wang <ywang34@wisc.edu>
I am from China. However, I have been learning or teaching Japanese for over 15 years. I received my first MA degree in Japanese culture from Beijing Foreign Studies University and my second MA degree in Japanese linguistics from UW-Madison. My fields of study include Japanese discourse analysis and pragmatics. In particular, my studies so far have been mainly focused on the functions of Japanese discourse markers. I have given presentations on the sentence-final particle “mono” at the 2005 ATJ Seminar and on “kana” at the 17th CATJ conference. My presentation on the filler “ano” at the 21st SEATJ conference was published in the proceeding. Also my other paper--“Co-constructing dynamic identities in discourse practices” was selected as one of the Top Four papers in the Language and Social Interaction Division of the NCA 2005 conference. Currently, I am most interested in the occurrence/ non-occurrence of the question-marker “ka” in Japanese and “ma” in Chinese. For my dissertation, I hope to integrate the comparative studies into a general cross-linguistic framework.
MA Program
Nobuyoshi Asaoka <asaoka@wisc.edu>
I was born and raised in Fukuoka, in southern Japan. My background is in business – both practical and theoretical – but TA experience at the University of Louisiana at Monroe brought me into this field of Japanese language education and then to the Japanese Language Program at the UW – Madison. My interests include integration of cultural activities into classroom teaching and classroom management. I am currently coordinating a newly formed residential learning community, “Japanese House,” living with 10 Japanese language students in the same dorm. I also work as a TA for the First Year Japanese.
Nao Hayashi <nhayashi@wisc.edu>
I was born in Yamanashi, Japan. After I got my BA in Teaching Japanese as a Second Language at International Christian University in Tokyo, I taught at a high school in Australia as an assistant teacher of Japanese for a year. I came to UW-Madison in 2004, to study for an MA in Japanese Linguistic, hoping to study the basics of Japanese language and be qualified for higher education, while teaching Japanese as a TA (great fun!). This summer, I also had a chance to teach a summer intensive course at Beloit College. I teach one of the discussion sections of Third Semester Japanese this fall.
Kiyomi Kawakami <kawakami2@wisc.edu>
I received my first MA degree in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University. The following year, I taught Japanese at University of Michigan as a part-time lecturer. In order to establish a stronger foundation in teaching Japanese, I came to Madison in 2004 to study for my second MA in Japanese. When I took the course of Conversation Analysis with Prof. Mori, the field immediately captured my interest. Especially, the behavior of small bits of vocalization, such as Japanese "un," in conversation is currently my "obsession." My interest has been also drawn to vocal and non-vocal actions that co-construct interaction in a moment-by-moment fashion. I hope that I can work on my research interest for a long term.
Yukiko Kirii <kirii@wisc.edu>
I am from Japan, and have a B.A in English from Kansai Gaidai University. My interest in this field first started from interacting with students learning Japanese language during my study in Florida as an exchange student. I am interested in effective foreign language learning process and I am looking forward to learning as much as possible to explore various ways to improve future foreign language classrooms.
Yumiko Konishi <konishi@wisc.edu>
I earned my BA degree in Literature, majoring in Western Philosophy at Waseda University in Tokyo. I worked as an English-Japanese translator in Japan for 2 years before I came to the United States to participate in an internship program in the Washington D.C. area. Through interacting with people who learn Japanese in the United States, I became interested in teaching Japanese here. I am also interested in studying how language, culture and society relate each other. I am very excited to explore this field further .
Yukari Nakamura <nakamura1@wisc.edu>
I am currently an M.A. graduate student in Japanese department at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before coming to Madison, I earned Master’s Degree in Education at Carthage College. I taught elementary, intermediate, and advanced level Japanese courses at Carthage College as well. This summer, I also taught intermediate Japanese in the summer intensive program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies as a lecturer. My research interest focuses on the interaction between teachers and students and the proficiency development of students. In this coming fall, I will deliver a presentation on online authentic audio-visual materials at WAFLT Conference 2005 with Nao Hayashi.
Makiko Osaka <osaka@wisc.edu>
I am from Asahikawa, Hokkaido. I have a BA in Japanese linguistics from the International Christian University, Tokyo. After having graduated from the university, I went to Australia for one year to teach Japanese as an assistant in a primary school. My experience in Australia aroused my interest in pedagogy, and I am also interested in linguistics, especially phonology and syntax. The main reason I chose the UW-Madison is that we have an opportunity of both studying and teaching. Unlike the students that I taught in Australia, Japanese language learners at the university level are old enough to ask teachers some useful questions, which I think could become my research topics.
Eric Terao <terao@wisc.edu>
My name is Eric Terao and I'm from Santa Clara, California. I am a second year MA student in the Japanese program with a focus in linguistics and earned BAs in both Japanese Language and Global Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2004. My recent interests include, but are not limited to, student interaction with OHP materials and the usage of foreign language code-switching outside of the classroom environment. For the duration of the Fall 2005 semester, I will act as a TA for the first semester Japanese language class.