1999年4月 | The British Council |
2002年4月 | 東京電機大学 |
2006年12月 | The University of Nottingham, UK. MA (Hons) Applied Linguistics/ELT |
2008年4月 | 国際基督教大学 |
2009年4月 | 杏林大学外国語学部准教授 |
2018年4月 | 同教授(現在) |
My primary fields of interest in terms of research are twofold. Firstly, the Scottish writer James Kelman and his use of non-standard language, and secondly, the field of World Englishes and postcolonial literature, in particular the use of non-standard forms and invented language. I also have a keen interest in Vocabulary, in particular loan words and the process of borrowing.
Growing up in Scotland made me deeply aware of the complexities of language choice and the need for an ability to switch between varieties and registers as the need arose. In many parts of the world, knowing four or five (or more) languages is the norm, but using the entirety of your linguistic repertoire in literature is still not so common. Thus, the question of why characters in fiction or in the media are unable to use their own voices interests me from both a linguistic and socio-political point of view.
I feel that Japanese students can benefit greatly from more exposure to the varieties of English that they are increasingly likely to encounter in the real world. One way in which this can be achieved is through study of the literature of the outer and expanding circle countries such as, for example, works written in Asian Englishes. As well as enjoying works of literature that might otherwise be unavailable to them, students can learn about the cultures of Japan’s neighbours, and express their own identities through their own variety of English.
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, English (for better or worse) continues to be vitally important for communication. However, the growth in status and importance of Asian varieties in particular gives those students who possess an awareness of this an advantage in the workplace.