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Matsunaga, Yumiko

Teaching Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Yumiko Matsunaga's research is focused on issues that foreign language learners face, such as identity construction, participation framework, and community building. Ever since her dissertation work, she has been researching foreign language housing (FLH), a form of special university housing for language learners. FLH has increasingly attracted attention among both foreign language educators and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers who have been dedicated to understanding language learning and the development of language competency in community learning settings for the last decade. Her FLH research focuses on the complex interactions/configurations of each participant’s unique expectations and contributions to this setting. In June, 2020, her book chapter, 'Learners’ Investments and Identities in the Japanese House: A Study of JFL Learners Living in Foreign Language Housing,” was published. Currently, she is researching remote conversation meetings between Japanese language learners and Japanese people.

keywords

  • Teaching Japanese as a second/foreign langauge, Japanese linguistics, second language acquisition

Publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • JPNS 1010 - Beginning Japanese 1
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2018 / Fall 2018 / Summer 2019 / Fall 2019 / Summer 2020 / Fall 2020 / Summer 2021 / Fall 2021 / Summer 2022 / Fall 2022 / Summer 2023 / Fall 2023
    Provides a thorough introduction to modern Japanese, emphasizing speaking, listening, reading, and writing in a cultural context.
  • JPNS 1020 - Beginning Japanese 2
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Summer 2018 / Spring 2019 / Summer 2019 / Spring 2020 / Summer 2020 / Spring 2021 / Summer 2021 / Spring 2022 / Summer 2022 / Spring 2023 / Summer 2023 / Spring 2024
    Continuation of JPNS 1010.
  • JPNS 2110 - Intermediate Japanese 1
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2018 / Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Summer 2020 / Fall 2020 / Summer 2021 / Fall 2021 / Summer 2022 / Fall 2022 / Summer 2023 / Fall 2023
    Continued study of oral and written modern Japanese in a cultural context.
  • JPNS 2120 - Intermediate Japanese 2
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Summer 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Summer 2020 / Spring 2021 / Summer 2021 / Spring 2022 / Summer 2022 / Spring 2023 / Summer 2023 / Spring 2024
    Continuation of JPNS 2110.
  • JPNS 3110 - Advanced Japanese 1
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Summer 2021 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
    Enhances student competence and performance in Japanese language in a holistic and integrative manner.
  • JPNS 3120 - Advanced Japanese 2
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Summer 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
    Continuation of JPNS 3110. Enhances student competence and performance in Japanese language in a holistic and integrative manner.
  • JPNS 3331 - Business Japanese
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2021 / Summer 2023
    Designed to teach Japanese with emphasis on using Japanese for professional purposes. The course aims to foster the skills and the knowledge of effective cross-cultural and interpersonal communication in Japanese and to develop intercultural competence in business contexts. Recommended prerequisite: JPNS 3110.
  • JPNS 4050 - Japanese Sociolinguistics
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2020 / Summer 2022
    Explores issues related to contemporary Japanese language and society, such as language and identity, language and ideology, and language variation and change in Japan. More specifically, we will reconsider topics such as diversity in gender language, honorifics, dialects, and use of English in Japanese society that have been unidirectionally taught in Japanese language classrooms. The course aims to provide students opportunities to incorporate critical perspectives of sociolinguistics into analyses of Japanese literature and Japanese language education. Same as LING 4050.
  • JPNS 4110 - Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese 1
    Secondary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
    Surveys a variety of material written in modern Japanese, including texts from literature, the social sciences, religion, and cultural history. Emphasizes content and style. Texts and selections vary from year to year.
  • JPNS 4120 - Advanced Readings in Modern Japanese 2
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2024
    Continuation of JPNS 4110. Texts and selections vary from year to year.
  • JPNS 5980 - Practical Issues in Japanese Language Pedagogy
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Fall 2020 / Spring 2023 / Fall 2023
    Focuses on practical issues in Japanese language pedagogy for students who will serve as teaching assistants in Japanese language class. Examines the connection between theory and practice as well as practical methods for teaching Japanese. Discusses how to teach Japanese as a second language in a communicative approach and how to assess student language learning. Knowledge of Modern Japanese at the level of JPNS 4120 is required. Same as JPNS 4980.
  • LING 4050 - Japanese Sociolinguistics
    Primary Instructor - Summer 2020
    Explores issues related to contemporary Japanese language and society, such as language and identity, language and ideology, and language variation and change in Japan. More specifically, we will reconsider topics such as diversity in gender language, honorifics, dialects, and use of English in Japanese society that have been unidirectionally taught in Japanese language classrooms. The course aims to provide students opportunities to incorporate critical perspectives of sociolinguistics into analyses of Japanese literature and Japanese language education. Same as JPNS 4050.

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