Member Presentation Showcase
Date: Thursday, December 6, 2018
Time: 18:30 to 21:00
Location: Rikkyo University Ikebukuro Campus Building 14 and Room D301
3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Japan 171-8501
Access: http://english.rikkyo.ac.jp/map/index.html
Fee: Free for members, 1000 yen for non-members
RSVP: http://bit.ly/TokyoJALTPresentations
Featured Presentation: Foreign Femininity and Masculinity in Japanese Translation
Dr. Momoko Nakamura (Kanto Gakuin University)
Abstract: How are non-Japanese femininities and masculinities represented in Japanese translation, and how they affect the understanding of Japanese genders? I attempt to answer these questions by examining the ways Japanese translators use the gendered features in translating the speech of non-Japanese women and men in English and Russian literary works, TV dramas, films and newspaper interview articles. The analysis shows: (1) Japanese translators overwhelmingly use feminine features in translating non-Japanese women’s speech, and (2) while they also employ masculine features in translating non-Japanese men’s speech, with respect to the casual, laid-back speech of non-Japanese men, they have created a specific Japanese style used only in the translation of the speech. The findings suggest: (1) the predominant use of feminine features for the speech of non-Japanese women works to naturalize Japanese femininity beyond linguistic and ethnic boundaries, and (2) the invention of the style for non-Japanese men serves to enregister the Japanese stereotype of non-Japanese casual masculinity, depending on which Japanese masculinity maintains its idealized status.
Bio: Momoko Nakamura, Ph.D. is Professor of English at Kanto Gakuin University, Japan. Her research interest includes linguistic construction of gendered, sexualized identity and historical discursive formation of gendered styles. She is the author of Gender, Language and Ideology: A Genealogy of Japanese Women’s Language (2014), Honyaku ga tsukuru Nihongo: Hiroin wa onna kotoba o hanashi tsuzukeru [Translation and Japanese: Heroines Speak Women’s Language] (2013), Onnakotoba to Nihongo [Women’s Language and Japanese] (2012), Onnakotoba wa tsukurareru [Constructing Women’s Language] (Received the 27th Yamakawa Kikue Award, 2007), Sei to Nihongo: Kotoba ga tsukuru onna to otoko [Sex and Japanese: Woman and Man Constructed by Language] (2007), Kotoba to jendā [Language and Gender] (2001) and Kotoba to feminizumu [Language and Feminism] (1995). She has contributed chapters to The Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality (2014), The Political Economy of Affect and Emotion in East Asia (2014), Femininity, Feminism and Gendered Discourse (2010), The Language and Sexuality Reader (2006), and Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology (2004). She also edited a textbook, Jendā de manabu gengogaku [Learning Linguistics through Gender] (2010), and translated into Japanese Feminism and Linguistic Theory by Deborah Cameron (1990) and Language and Sexuality by Deborah Cameron and Don Kulick (2010).
Tokyo Chapter Presenter Bios and Abstracts
Disability Discourse and Its Implications for Teaching Disabled Students in EFL Classes at Japanese Universities
Liz Shek-Noble (New York University School of Professional Studies Tokyo)
Abstract: Recent changes to disability law have led to scholarship about disabled students and reasonable accommodation in EFL courses at universities. This scholarship draws on the discourse of special needs education to frame recommendations for inclusive practices. The presenter advocates Disability Studies in Education (DSE) as an alternative to special needs education, since disability activists have criticised the latter for its pathologizing attitudes towards impairment. The presenter proposes a conceptual framework for creating accessible skills-based EFL classes using DSE principles.
Bio: Liz is the Academic Coordinator at New York University School of Professional Studies Tokyo. Her research interests include critical disability studies and east-west aesthetics.
Promoting Gender Diversity in the Classroom through Drag
Michael Ellis (International Christian University High School)
Abstract: The presenter shares the experience of showing “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to Japanese high school students (n=109). Each step is discussed, from a pretest and mini-lecture on drag culture to the viewing of the show. Students’ response papers indicated they were able to understand complex concepts, especially gender as a social construct and the importance of individuality. Finally, the presenter offers advice for teachers interested in showing similar material in their own classrooms.
Bio: Michael is the EFL program coordinator at ICUHS. He's interested in reflective practice (among many other topics), and is currently program chair of TD SIG.
More about the Member Presentation Showcase
Each year we invite any Tokyo Chapter member to apply for our Member Presentation Showcase, our annual celebration of the Tokyo Chapter's talent. We believe that it is vital to encourage local presenters, to give them a platform to share their work, and this is our chance to do so.
Interested Tokyo JALT members may apply to present at future Member Presentation Showcases at http://bit.ly/PresentatTokyoJALT. Presentors will also be eligible for Tokyo JALT's Best of JALT spot at next years national conference. For more information, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/tokyojalt/present-in-tokyo.
Special Thanks
Tokyo JALT would like to thank the Gender Awareness in Language Education (GALE) SIG for their support in bringing Dr. Nakamura and MacMillan Education for the lovely refreshments.
