People who convey voices from the sea
People who convey voices from the sea
Engaging in language research that is useful to society through relationships with various people and institutions
Faculty of Marine Life Science Department of Ocean Policy and Culture Keisuke Imamura Associate Professor
Relationships with various people and institutions,
Linguistic research useful for society
Faculty of Marine Life Science Department of Ocean Policy and Culture Keisuke Imamura Associate Professor
Biography
Keisuke Imamura(Keisuke Imamura)
Faculty of Science Division of Ocean Policy and Culture Associate Professor
Graduated from the Faculty of Urban Liberal Arts, Tokyo Metropolitan University,
Completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Humanities,
In 2014, he obtained a Ph.D. (Japanese Language Education).
After working as an assistant professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University,
From 2020, Associate Professor, Faculty of Marine Life Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.
- Q What department do you belong to?
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- The Department of Ocean Policy and Culture is a department where you can broaden your horizons by studying a wide range of fields such as ocean literature, sociology, economics, and sports science.It's only been a year since I arrived at Ocean University, so I'm still trying to find out what kind of department it is.I listen to students' worries, including job counseling, and interact with them as friends.Students are naive, obedient, earnest, and excellent.I have the impression that they are learning freely, and I enjoy taking classes.A state of emergency was declared soon after I arrived, and many of the lectures are held remotely, but I think that the atmosphere of the University of Marine Science and Technology still feels good.The fact that students and teachers spend a lot of time together during onboard training may also be a factor.
- Q What kind of classes do you teach?
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- I am in charge of Japanese language classes for international students, Japanese expressions for learning how to write and present reports (1st year), and understanding Japanese society and culture (1rd year).Japanese expression is a compulsory subject at Ocean University. (Nowadays, more and more universities are making Japanese expressions a compulsory subject, but I hear that when the University of Marine Science and Technology introduced it, there were almost no examples, and it was the first to make it a compulsory subject.Writing up to high school and writing a report in college are different.Recently, research ethics, such as how to cite literature, etc., are being emphasized.I think it's good for students to learn from undergraduate students what they need to know when writing a thesis, such as how to distinguish between their own opinions and the facts written by others.Japanese expression is a subject for first-year students, but since it is a useful subject even in higher grades, I am thinking that there is something I can do to help second- and third-year students so that they will remember it when writing their graduation thesis.
- Q What kind of research are you doing?What do you find interesting about that research?
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- I specialize in the field of sociolinguistics, which explores the relationship between language and society.In particular, I am researching Japanese in Micronesia.When asked why I chose Micronesia, I can only say, "I chose Micronesia by chance." The real pleasure of this program is that you can deepen your understanding of the society and culture of the field by going to the field for about 2-XNUMX weeks and conducting interviews about the language, talking to people, and observing the field.It is possible to narrow down the subject of research to language alone, but it is also important to observe a wide variety of things in society as a whole.Instead of thinking by myself, I can meet people and be stimulated to come up with new ideas.
General store in Pohnpei, Micronesia
Dance practice scene in Palau, Micronesia
Beach in Chuuk, Micronesia
- Q What inspired you to do this research?
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- When I entered the undergraduate school, I entered the Department of Physics.I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia as part of an undergraduate exchange program, and found the differences between Australian and American bob博彩公司_申博体育在线-投注*官网 and my own language acquisition very interesting.I took that as an opportunity to change my department, and from there I started reading a lot of books about linguistics.When I was an undergraduate, I remember thinking about linguistics theories in my head and being absorbed in connecting them together.Looking back, when I was a child, I was not good at reading long sentences, but I liked grammar.For my graduation thesis, I tried to analyze the Japanese particles "wa" and "ga", but I remember that I ended up getting confused.At this time, even if the conclusion is reached, what is the use of this?Is it just funny?I came to think.Because of that experience, I wanted to do research in a field more closely related to society than linguistic research, which is completed only in my head (sometimes called armchair linguistics, meaning sitting in a chair and thinking). I settled into the research field of academia.
Photo with my roommate when I was studying abroad - Q What number of SDGs is your research related to?
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- It's a tough question.It is true that the idea that we must conduct language research that is useful to society is spreading among the trends of research in recent years.Also, I think that I have the same feeling in any kind of work, but I also had a vague idea that I wanted to help someone with what I was doing.
Linguistics research is a difficult research to visualize its usefulness to society.Many linguists doubt this, and I myself struggled with this point when I was a graduate student.
At that time, when I was researching bilingualism at a German school in Yokohama, I met a Japanese parent who sent his child to a German school.I received a consultation from the parent about her words, but I couldn't answer at all.She wondered if the study she was doing could help people in need, and what use language research could be.
However, one of the recent initiatives that made me feel like I was able to contribute even a little was Goal 17, “Partnerships to achieve the goals.”Linguistics research is fundamentally far from practical science.It is useful only when you think about how to apply that knowledge to society.In the end, I believe that this cannot be done by a linguist alone, but can be achieved through involvement with various people and institutions, and through partnerships.I would like to continue to cherish partnerships and put into practice what is useful to society as a linguist.
As a first step, 500 copies of the Palau Japanese Loanword Dictionary were produced and distributed with the cooperation of Palauan government agencies.Palau has many Japanese words (loanwords) due to the historical background of being ruled by Japan during the war.There are more than 1,000 words, and these Japanese loanwords have been compiled into a dictionary.The words used by the elderly and younger generations are changing, and there are loanwords from the United States and other countries, so some Japanese loanwords are becoming obsolete. However, some loanwords continue to stick.I have compiled it with such a situation in mind.I think it's only natural that Japanese loanwords will disappear when the generation that ruled Japan is gone, but I think it's also important to preserve them in a visible form as documentation.I also think that this dictionary can be used for local education.Making this dictionary alone will not have any impact on the local community, so I am thinking together with the Ministry of Education of Palau how we can get people to use this dictionary.In addition, by keeping in touch with the Embassy of Japan in Palau, the dictionary will lead to the production of a friendship video between Japan and Palau and the planning of speech contests using Japanese loanwords. It is used to promote friendship.From that experience, I thought that rather than simply ending up as an interesting research among linguists, partnerships would be useful for society.Since it became a disaster after the distribution, we will be at the stage of verifying the situation of local usage, but we will continue to use it as an opportunity for Japanese people to learn about the background of Japanese being used in foreign countries. I would also like to consider research.
Book "Various Aspects of Japanese in Palau" - Q What are your future goals as a researcher?What kind of "dream" do you want to give to the world through your research?
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- As I continued to work as a researcher, I became more and more realistic.Since language lies at the root of human activity, I believe that linguistics has the potential to be more useful to society.Under the current framework of linguistics research, contributing to society is not linguistics research, but I would like to connect my research to the real world and create a flow of such research, even if only a little.Therefore, I would like to be able to proudly say that my research is useful to people like XX.It may sound like a dream too realistic, but it's not easy.I think the good thing about Kaiyo University is that you can have a dream and have the desire to make it a reality.
A picture of a dictionary introduction in a Palauan newspaper
reference
https://islandtimes.org/palausloanwords-from-japanese-language-published-into-a-dictionary/ - Q: Looking ahead to 2030, what kind of research would you like to do with incoming students?
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- I once again realized that it is important to have an image in your mind of where you want to go in 10 years, and where you want your research to go.Even if it's vague, I feel that I have to pursue how I can make use of what I have produced as research where people need it.There are some things that I can't see concretely, but I think that we must not forget to proceed with the perspective and thoughts of being useful to society.
Palau also had the same thoughts, so I was able to connect with people who had the same thoughts.After all, I would like to think about how to connect language research to society, rather than linguistic research in a place far away from the world, and to be able to produce concrete results.In the case of Micronesian Japanese, how can such resources be linked to the friendly development of Japan and Micronesia, and how can local people use them for education?In the case of research on bilingualism, I would think about how to use the research theories and research findings, such as how to raise children's bilingual abilities in bilingual families, and how to use them in the real world. I would like to continueTo that end, I believe that we must not only conduct basic research, but also go beyond the framework of conventional research while always thinking ahead.I think that is how to expand the SDGs 2 partnership that I mentioned earlier.I hope to gradually shape it in the future.
Ocean University is a university where you can take on various challenges and experiences, so I want students to actively put their thoughts into action.If you take advantage of various opportunities and go out to various places, your curiosity will be stimulated and you will begin to have an awareness of problems, which will eventually lead to your future.I think that you can see who you are and what you want to do in the future by accumulating experience, so I want you to go out more and more.
