Teacher Information

• ***

PROFILE

• My areas of specialization and research are: applied linguistics, English communication, curriculum and materials development, English media literacy skills, and English in popular global culture. I'm particularly interested in morphology (how words are formed), etymology (the origin, development and history of words) and collocation (how words are combined naturally). I'm also interested in pragmatics (the study of what we really mean when we communicate) and media literacy (learning how to understand and interpret media messages). My current research topics (2020~) include teaching controversial issues, developing a media literacy course for university students in Japan, the study of the cultural impact and the resurgence of ‘slow media’ and a Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research project as co-researcher in the creation of a Japanese- English parallel corpus to develop search software for use in the classroom or at home and for the creation of dictionaries (日本人中高生のための英語表現コーパスの構築とその活用 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31: project area number: 19K00771). In the Department of Liberal Arts at Tamagawa University, Tokyo, I teach various courses. These are, Presentation Skills in English (a course that teaches how to make different types of presentations in English), Academic Communication (a course that teaches how to participate successfully in an academic debate on important global issues), Issues in Japanese Studies (a comparative research course whose aim is to establish where Japan stands on political, social and ethical issues in a global context) and 2 English Media Literacy seminars where we access various media sources, understand and evaluate media messages, interpret the messages and respond to them often by creating our own media. I have spent over 25 years developing curricula and materials for many organisations. I have created numerous materials for NHK (from 2012 to 2015 I was the creator and author of the NHK radio texts “Kiso Eigo” 2 and 3) and also for other organisations and publishers including BBC, Asahi press, Kirihara Shoten, Longman, Gakken, Sanrio, Mezzo Piano, Poplar, Gakko Tosho and Marubeni Corp. among others. My message to our students is: learn how to hone your critical thinking skills, always look at every issue from a variety of perspectives, and, as Einstein once famously said, “…never stop questioning.”

Affiliation

• Tamagawa University　College of Arts and Sciences　Department of Liberal Arts

Title

• Professor

Other affiliations

ACADEMIC DEGREES

• Master in Applied Linguistics (TESOL)　　
• BA (hons) Modern Languages　　

Area of research

• Linguistics　　Pragmatics, implicature in media
• English linguistics　　English communication: Principal area of research: English Media Literacy (current affairs, politics, history, religion, ethics, philosophy, geopolitics etc.) Other areas of research: Phonetics and phonology. Pronunciation. Evolution of language. English in popular culture (music, film, literature).
• Others　The resurgence of slow media: the LP record as the ultimate hybrid medium　slow media: music, art, language, culture

Research project

• 日本人中高生のための英語表現コーパスの構築とその活用　　
• The resurgence of slow media: the LP record as the ultimate hybrid medium　Individual　I am in the process of creating a library of vinyl records as a valuable supplementary tool for my research on language and culture, media literacy and human communication. The vinyl medium is the ultimate hybrid medium and it is an integral element in my chosen areas of research. The library will be a valuable and tangible resource to study, among many other things, language use, cultural context, historical evolution, and aesthetic dimensions. It will provide limitless linguistic data and an invaluable insight into the cultural and historical aspects of particular time periods. Crucially, it will allow me to engage in multidisciplinary exploration. My primary research concerning the vinyl medium is on retro media with an interest in the medium of art as a communication tool together with the interactive and tactile nature of vinyl records. I want to understand not only the linguistic dimension of music/lyrics/spoken words over different decades, but also the cultural, aesthetic, psychological, social and sensory dimensions of the multi-faceted medium of vinyl and reasons for its resurgence.
• English Media Literacy　Individual　English Media Literacy: How to understand and interpret media messages in English.

Biographical information

• 2002-04　～ Present　　Tamagawa University　　
• 2001-04　～　2003-03　Tamagawa Women's Junior College, Tokyo, Japan　　
• 1999-04　～　2012-03　Ferris University, Yokohama, Japan　　
• 1996-09　～　2001-03　Seishin Women's Junior College, Kashima, Japan　　
• 1991-09　～　2001-03　Hampton School of English, Tokyo, Japan　　

Graduate School attended

• Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia　Language Curriculum Development. Second Language Acquisition. Functional Grammar. Phonetics and Phonology. Pragmatics. Discourse Analysis. G　Completed　2001-04
• University of Westminster, London, England　Spanish language. Spanish literature. Latin American politics and economics.Italian language. Italian politics and economics. World histor　Completed　1987-06

University attended

• University of Padova, Padova, Italy　　Italian language. Italian politics and economics.　1987-02　
• University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy　　Italian language. Italian literature.　1986-11　Other
• University of Veracruz, Xalapa, Mexico　　Spanish language. Latin American politics, economics, history.　1986-09　Other

Teaching qualification / certification

Affiliated academic society

Record of committee membership

Academic prizes awarded

Research achievements (PUBLICATIONS)

• The Development of an English for Liberal Arts Course　玉川大学リベラルアーツ学部研究紀要　　2024/03　玉川大学リベラルアーツ学部研究紀要　　
• Understanding the Power of Media and the Importance of Media Literacy in the Digital Age　玉川大学リベラルアーツ学部研究紀要　　2020-03
• The Case for Compulsory English Media Literacy Education in a New Media Literacy Age　玉川大学リベラルアーツ学部研究紀要　　2017-03
• -　　　2016-03-15
• -　　　2015-03

Research achievements (PUBLICATIONS/REVIEWS (Misc))

Research achievements (BOOKS)

• 小学生が夢中になる！ 英語の教養マンガ　佐藤久美子　主婦の友社　校正　2023-08-21　Other
• 東京都教育委員会NHK　TEEP　教材 (20)　　　　2021　Co-author
• 絵で見てわかるえいごずかん（全５巻セット）　　学研プラス　英文校閲　2020-02-07　Co-author
• 新レインボー小学英語辞典　ワイド版（オールカラー）　　学研　英文執筆　2019-11-28　Co-author
• 東京都教育委員会NHK　TEEP　教材 (30)　　NHK　英文執筆　2019-11　Co-author

Research achievements (Lectures, oral presentations, posters, etc.)

• Learning Through DVD - An introduction to Natural Remedies　JACET 45th Annual Convention. Pedagogical Considerations for University English Instruction. Kansai Gaidai University, Nakamiya Campus　2006-09-09

Research achievements (Other)

• Building and utilizing an English expression corpus for Japanese junior and senior high school students　2019

Research achievements (Patents)

Overseas research

• -　　2005-08-05　～　2005-09-02
• -　　2005-02-26　～　2005-02-28
• -　　2005-02-23　～　2005-02-25

Overseas research activities

• 2005

Acceptance of special research students

Courses you have taught (To be displayed on Researchmap)

Course taught (Course for regular students)

• 2024　1　Academic Communication　Monday　34　US　講義　文・農・工・経・教・芸・LA・観　2　
• 2024　1　Academic Communication　Monday　34　US　講義　文・農・工・経・教・芸・LA・観　3　
• 2024　1　ﾘﾍﾞﾗﾙｱｰﾂｾﾐﾅｰ IA　Tuesday　56　学科科目　演習　LA　10　
• 2024　1　ﾘﾍﾞﾗﾙｱｰﾂｾﾐﾅｰ III　Tuesday　78　学科科目　演習　LA　9　
• 2024　1　ﾘﾍﾞﾗﾙｱｰﾂｾﾐﾅｰ IIA　Tuesday　78　学科科目　演習　LA　1　

Course taught (Course for correspondence students)

Other subjects

Educational innovation, text books and other matters worth mentioning

Presentations / Lectures

Involvements with student field work / Study trips

• 2006　Student Lead　English Communication: 2nd year research trip - Hato Bus tour 2006　　33　2006-09　～ Present　
• 2005　Campus internship　Project Seminar: Materials Development　　9　2005　～　2006
• 2005　Student Lead　English Communication: 2nd year research trip - Hato Bus tour 2005　　22　2005　～ Present　
• 2005　Student Lead　English Communication: 2nd year research trip - Hato Bus tour 2004　　42　2004　～ Present　
• 2003　Student Lead　English Communication: 2nd year research trip - Musical: On Your Toes 2003　　30　2003　～ Present　

Extracurricular activities, etc.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES

Achievements in fine arts / sports