KONAN UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF LETTERS

Department of English Literature and Language

The curriculum is divided into three main fields: British literature and cultural studies, American literature and cultural studies, and English linguistics. Competence in the English language forms the foundation of all these studies. Given our responsibility to society to produce graduates with a clearly measurable level of English ability, we require of our students a minimum TOEIC score for graduation (currently 600). We offer an intensive program of workshop classes to ensure students are able to reach the required level. Students appreciate the value of this program when they start job-hunting, as employers increasingly require applicants to have a TOEIC qualification.

Studying abroad is a proven way for students to improve their mastery of English. Konan University has an extensive international exchange network, and every year our department is well represented among the group of students who choose to study abroad for a year during their time at Konan.

The curriculum requires freshmen to strengthen and broaden their English language skills by taking introductory courses and seminars in all the departmental areas of study. In subsequent years, students can concentrate upon cultural history, English literature, or the English language from a linguistic perspective. Our aim is to help students experience the rich cultural areas which are hidden behind the barrier of language. A high value is placed upon developing self-expression skills. Students are expected to give presentations in their seminars; those with sufficient ability are encouraged to write their graduation theses in English.

Our department also endeavors to produce graduates who are computer literate and can contribute to the information society. Internet-based courses are offered, and a computer language-learning program has been introduced in which students can study in their own time and monitor their own progress. Studies in this department can be continued right through the final year of the Graduate School, and qualifications can be acquired in teaching and librarianship. We aim to create a challenging yet caring department in which students are encouraged to study hard while being given a high degree of personal attention and help with their problems.

Faculty member

Name Title Field of Research Subject of Research
AKIMOTO, Takafumi Professor American Literature, American Studies Interrelationship between the changing of American Paper Currency System and Imagination in Contemporary American Fiction.
MARTIN Andrew T Professor Phonology, Psycholinguistics Acquisition of phonological categories. Phonological characteristics of infant-directed speech.
INOSE, Kumie Professor Modern British History & Cultural History of the British Empire Rethinking of the Modern British Society, paying attention to the colonial impacts on the Metropole and its cultures.
IWAI, Gaku Professor British Literature and Culture Rereading the 20th century British novels in the social and political context
OTANI, Yuji Lecturer American Literary Modernism Modernism with a focus on gender and affect in twentieth-century America
KAMBAYASHI, Tomohiro Lecturer Transnational History, African History Africa in the World, English in Multilingual Societies
SUGIURA Yuko Professor British Literature; Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Theatre Research on Shakespearean drama;Sources and adaptations of Shakespeare's Plays; Children's companies.
DUFFIELD, Nigel G. Professor Language and Cognition, Linguistic Relativism,Vietnamese Grammar Crosslinguistic Syntax, Language Acquisition and Processing
NAKATANI, Kentaro Professor Linguistics, Psycholinguistics Lexical semantics and its interaction with syntax. Human processing of English and Japanese sentences.
HAMAMOTO, Ryuzo Associate Professor American Literature in 19th Century Research on 19th Century America with Mark Twain's Literature
FUKUSHIMA, Akitoshi Professor English Phonetics Acoustic differences between verse and prose. Function of pause.