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Kuniko Yoshimitsu, Lecturer

Biography
Qualifications
Contact Details
Subjects Taught
Supervision
Research Interests
Publications

Biography

I obtained my BA in English and American Literature at Notre Dame Women's College, Kyoto , where I worked as a research assistant before I came to Australia . I began my association with Monash University as a postgraduate student and a tutor. Teaching Japanese as a foreign language was a completely new area of study and profession for me back then.

I have taught and coordinated various Japanese language programs from beginners' to advanced level s as well as at the postgraduate level. Communication in Japanese business organizations was the focus of my MA thesis, and this led to my earlier involvement in developing Japanese subjects for specific purposes such as Japanese Business Communication at the postgraduate level. More recently, I was involved in the Arts GOLD Project and developed on-line materials for an advanced - level Japanese language subject . My postgraduate supervision has been in the areas of language maintenance and shift, bilingualism and academic discourse in contact.

My main research interests include language maintenance of Japanese school children, literacy development of Japanese bilinguals, and study management of Japanese home-background students at Australian tertiary institutions. For my PhD , I studied the language planning for first language maintenance of Japanese school children in Melbourne . I continue to focus on this area in my current research with Japanese home-background students . I am interested in h ow they fit into a global society where English is becoming an increasingly demanding communication tool.

Qualifications

PhD (Monash University)

'Language maintenance efforts of Japanese school children in Melbourne'

MA (Monash University)

'Some aspects of communication within a Japanese trading company in Melbourne'

BA (Notre Dame Women's College, Kyoto)

'Character analysis of Henry James' A Portrait of A Lady'

Contact details

Room:	421 Menzies Building (Building 11), Clayton Campus
Phone:	(03) 9905 2279 (international: 61 3 9905 2279)
Email:	kuniko.yoshimitsu@arts.monash.edu.au
Fax:	(03) 9905 5437 (international: 61 3 9905 5437)
Mailing Address:	Dr K. Yoshimitsu School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Building 11 Monash University Australia 3800

Subjects Taught

Undergraduate

Japanese 7 and 8
Th ese advanced level units (available to both undergraduate and graduate students) aim to integrate the competence in spoken and written Japanese to the advanced level where the students can apply their knowledge and skills more creatively in a wide range of natural situations. Learning Japanese in a culturally appropriate and realistic way using authentic materials is emphasised. It is expected that the students develop the skills of independent learning and monitoring own learning.
Advanced Japanese Reading Skills
This advanced level language unit (available to both undergraduate and graduate students) aims to develop skills in rapid reading and summarising Japanese texts from a variety of field s and to expand the students' capacity to read Japanese materials in a larger quantity, while recognising features of the different genres covered. It emphasises the students' independent reading in Japanese through on-line learning materials and web based resources.

Postgraduate

Guest lecturer for JAL4140/5140 Asian languages in contact.

Supervision

Current:

Japanese exchange students' English academic competence and adjustment to a new academic context (PhD joint supervision)

Recent:

Language planning for Japanese pre-school children of mixed marriage (MA Research paper)
Japanese exchange students' English academic competence and adjustment to a new academic context (PhD joint supervision)

The effectiveness of adult input for child language acquisition (MA Research paper)
Outcomes of in-country experience: Changes in the use of receptive strategies (MA Minor Thesis)

Research interests

Fields of research: Sociolinguistics, Applied linguistics

Language planning for first language maintenance
Interaction in business contact situations (Japan-Australia)
Acquisition of the Japanese accent by the advanced learners
Japanese language education outside Japan (Australia, Japanese colonies)
Study experiences of Japanese-background students at Australian universities

Current research

Study experiences of Japanese bilingual students at Australian universities
- identify the students' study difficulties and their management strategies
- examine the university's teaching strategies of these students
Who are the Japanese native speakers at Australian universities?
- identify the differences in their study experiences in and outside Japan
- examine their bilinguality in the academic context

Curent Project

Joint project with Associate Professor Helen Marriott
Project title: Language planning and policy making in L2 academic literacy acquisition

Plan for this year

Based on the current project, I am planning to submit two papers for publication.

Publications (recent)

2000 Japanese school children in Melbourne and their language maintenance efforts. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 10:2, 255-278.

2003 Parental role in children's first language maintenance: The case of Japanese school children in Melbourne . In Nihongo kyooiku to sesshoku bamen (Studies in Contact Situations and Japanese Language Education) , ( eds.) S. Miyazaki and H. Marriott, Tokyo , Meiji Shoin, 143-164.

2001 Sanyokansatsu ni yoru kenkyuu no shikii o koete (Crossing the threshold of participant observation). In J.V. Neustupn and S. Miyazaki (eds.) Gengokenkyuu no houhou (Research methods in Japanese language education). Tokyo , Kuroshio Shuppan, 175-180.