The Japan Association for Language Teaching

Pragmatics SIG

Pragmatics Special Interest Group

(Read the archived description for the Pragmatics SIG)

Pragmatics SIG Events in 2007

Events archive by year:
2007; 2005 [3];

Wednesday, April 25th, 2007

"Boku" as a pragmatic marker:How did it develop as

Speaker: Katsue Akiba Reynolds, Ph.,D.
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (Wed., April 25th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Tokyo
City: Tokyo
Venue: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS)
Description: Special Lecture

Sponsored by

JALT Progmatics SIG, GALE SIG and West Tokyo Chapter

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

6:30-8:00

at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

TUFS Research lecture bldg.,

language laboratory Rm. 419

http://www.tufs.ac.jp/common/is/university/access_map.html

Katsue Akiba Reynolds, Ph.,D.

Professor of Japanese linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa

"Boku" as a pragmatic marker:

How did it develop as a first person term and why is it a problem?

As some critics (e.g. Takao Suzuki 1972 & 1995) have pointed out, one of the incommensurables between Japanese and English lies in self-referencing: Japanese has, according to a dictionary, more than one hundred forms for gIh in English. This gap presents serious problems in many areas of practice, such as, translation and language teaching. The problem urgently needs the attention of researchers in view of the rapidly globalizing communication. In this study I approach the issue from the perspective of historical pragmatics with particular focus on boku, attempting to better understand the nature of Japanese self-referencing. I will present data to show (i) that boku was pragmaticalized as an expression of modern self by intellectual leaders of the Meiji Restoration, (ii) that it has become dysfunctional by taking on contradictory meanings in the process of standardization. In conclusion I suggest that self-referencing in Japanese may be on its way to a new system like that found in English.

Katsue Akiba Reynolds http://www.hawaii.edu/eall/ppl/indiv/Jap/ReynoldsKatsueAkiba-biblio.htm

Ph. D in linguistics from UCLA (1978).

Currently, professor of Japanese linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Sunday, June 24th, 2007

The First JALT Pragmatics SIG & Teaching Old Learners SIGs joint mini-conference

Speaker: Curtis Kelly, Yamashita Sayoko, Matsuoka Reiko, Eric Skier, Julia Harper-Tanaka and Yamaga Naoko.
Time: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Sun., June 24th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Tokyo
City: Tokyo
Venue: Temple University Japan Rooms 206/207
Description: Cosponsored by: Temple University Japan Campus (Graduate College of Education), JALT Tokyo and West Tokyo Chapters JALT Pragmatics SIG, JALT Teaching Older Learners (TOL) SIG, Graduate College of Education at Temple University Japan Campus, JALT Tokyo and West Tokyo Chapters are pleased to announce the following mini-conference consisting of six wonderful presentations by Dr. Curtis Kelly of Osaka Gakuin University, Dr. Sayoko Yamashita of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Dr. Rieko Matsuoka of National College of Nursing, Japan, Eric Skier of Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Julia Harper-Tanaka of Overseas Training Center, & Naoko Yamaga of Tokyo Junshin Women's College. Space is limited for participation in this conference. If you are interested in attending, please send email to bromleycross@hotmail.com for pre-registration. If you have further questions, please contact Megumi Kawate-Mierzejewska at mierze@tuj.ac.jp.

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

Gender and Leadership: Some Socio-Pragmatic Considerations

Speaker: Professor Janet Holmes
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., October 6th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): TBA
Fee (One-Day members): TBA
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Temple University Japan, Osaka
Description: The opening lecture, "Gender and Leadership: Some Socio-Pragmatic Considerations,h will be given on Oct. 6 by Janet Holmes (Linguistics Chair, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand). Professor Holmes is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and teaches Sociolinguistics, specializing in language in the workplace, New Zealand English, and language and gender issues. She was Director of the project which produced the Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English, and is currently Director of the Wellington Language in the Workplace project. She has published on a range of sociolinguistic and pragmatic topics, including New Zealand English, New Zealand women's usage, sexist language, pragmatic particles and hedges, compliments, apologies, disagreement, humour and small talk, and other aspects of workplace discourse. Her most recent books are the Blackwell Handbook of Language and Gender, co-edited with Miriam Meyerhoff, and Power and Politeness in the Workplace, co-authored with Maria Stubbe. For more about Professor Holmes: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/staff/janet-holmes/holmes.aspx

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

Gender and Beyond

Speaker: Various presenters
Time: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (Sun., October 7th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): TBA
Fee (One-Day members): TBA
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Temple University Japan, Osaka
Description: On Sunday October 7 various paper presentations/discussions will be held as well as a closing panel discussion led by Prof. Holmes.

For more details see: http://gale-sig.org or http://www.Osakajalt.org

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