Our Faculty / Staff

I specialize in the field of health promotion. Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health (WHO Bangkok Charter 2005). The course instruction is interactive, focusing on the individuality of students and on establishing exchange of ideas and discussion time. There are four goals set for the students of this course:
1) To understand the concepts of the course in a way that it can be globally applicable.
2) To understand and practice methods of health promotion over the entire course of one’s life.
3) To understand one’s current health status and work toward creating a healthy lifestyle.
4) To focus on risk factors as well as happiness factors and understand the primary social determinants of health.
I believe that pursuing one’s dream will determine one’s future. Your dream will create your tomorrow.

International society is consisted of a few Great Powers and others. Great Powers and the people of them have their particular characteristics. Japan is one of them or not, it’s not easy to judge. But in either case, we Japanese should appeal ourselves and carry out our own duties among them. What should be done by those young people who wants to be a real KOKUSAIJIN and lead such Japanese---is the main theme we are going to study.

Learning about globalization involves thinking about border-crossing politics, economics, culture, and society, as well as the contemporary age in its historical context through reconstructing our existent frameworks for understanding, and transcending areas of research that have become over specialised. Through a focus of the movement and mobilities of people, I have organised collective research projects that have addressed these issues and published the results. The previously unprecedented movement of people has brought about huge changes to the age we know as that of modernity. These changes have significantly affected the form of the nation-state and our frameworks of knowledge. Examples from  Asia including Japan will be important to consider in the future in order to overcome research that takes the West as a model.

I am interested in conducting studies on learner self-efficacy and self-regulation development in the five L2 language skills, including vocabulary skills. In addition to this, I have been exploring effective approaches to improving L2 oral fluency and developing good English teachers with high English proficiency, effective English teaching techniques, and a passion for teaching.
At Juntendo University, I am currently teaching Interactive International English to improve student critical thinking skills, intercultural communication skills, and academic speaking and writing skills. I plan to spend more time in the future in teaching my areas of specialization: Media English and English teacher education course.

Today, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for more than 75% of the deaths worldwide. Cardiovascular diseases account for the most NCD deaths, or 17.5 million people annually, followed by cancers (8.2 million), respiratory diseases (4 million), and diabetes (1.5 million). Atherosclerosis, the clogging of arteries by deposits of fat and cholesterol, is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, to reduce the modifiable risk factors and the underlying social determinants for one of the major NCDs, that is, cardiovascular disease, the Global NCD Laboratory’s primary research focus is the investigation of the epidemiology and mechanisms of atherosclerosis.
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”    -　by Bill Gates  - 

Globalization has given rise to an increase in job opportunities and simultaneously produced greater competition among job seekers for better career prospects. In my “Career Management” classes, students understand the skills and talents required in the workforce of a globalized world. They also realize the needs of the local cultures and individual organizations. Based on this, at this early phase in their life, they are able to identify their career aspirations, the job opportunities available, and work toward planning and achieving a fulfilling career.

My experience of working in the United States for five and a half years has helped me understand the difficulties faced by Japanese companies in organizing their HR systems to meet global standards.
Working assignments tends to be vague in Japanese companies and this makes it difficult for people outside of Japan to get used to the system.
This system works fine for Japanese organizations, but not for others. However, trying to change this HR system might be at the risk of losing the good features inherent in these systems.
My research is on how to balance the finer aspects of the Japanese HR system with changes that are required within it to make it globally applicable.

The seminar promotes and fosters a “DO-LOOK-THINK-GROW” cycle. “DO” refers to activities such as developing an interest in any sport, participating in community events, or collecting information from newspaper clippings to help in the research. “LOOK” stands for confirming the research data, while “THINK” is about analyzing the data. “GROW” refers to constructing a new hypothesis, whereas “DO” concerns the next step in the research to verify the hypothesis. On following these steps, students will be able to acquire an insight into their future growth from a sociological perspective. The seminar strives to cultivate in students an understanding that “the basis to actively participate in a global society starts from understanding one’s own society (Japanese society).” This process, therefore, enhances their ability to have an objective understanding of various social issues and analyze them from different perspectives.

Language and culture affects our thinking and identity at a very deep level. Research into language, culture and cognition shows us that our unconscious mind is “programmed” by the linguistic and cultural patterns we grew up with. That’s one reason that language learning can be so challenging—we must learn a new way of thinking and relating. This is also why many people get culture shock when they spend time in a foreign environment. My research focuses on understanding the deep impact of language and culture on our minds. I also develop educational materials that focus on deep learning of language and culture.

Obesity and associated lifestyle diseases are rapidly increasing all over the world. Therefore, prevention programs are required to increase the QOL of patients and decrease the costs on medical care. However, these prevention programs have not yet been established.
The Health Care Lab will collaborate with faculty of medicine and the faculty of Health & Sports Science to conduct research on lifestyle diseases to develop future health care plans. Our projects will include research on pathophysiology, epidemiology, and on developing devices for prevention of lifestyle diseases.

My research interests involve the skin immune system, with emphasis on the mechanisms of skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, and the role of antimicrobial agents in host defense against skin infection. I teach various subjects in the Global Health Service course and am the organizer of the seminar on Translational Research in Infection and Immunity, which discusses the role of the immune system in protecting against skin infections. Students read and debate papers related to Infection and Immunity, with emphasis on the use of antimicrobial agents as novel therapeutic targets in both healthy and diseased skin. Students also visit various pharmaceutical and health care companies and write their thesis based on their original work. The knowledge acquired during this seminar helps students to gain an in-depth understanding of global health.

I am the chairperson of the teacher-training course. I am in charge of the class “Introduction to the Teaching Profession,” “Curriculum Theory,” “A Method and Technique of Education,” “Student Teaching,” and “Teaching Profession Practice.” With the teacher-training course being in great demand by the students, my relationship with the class continues from 1 annual to 4 annual.
Students being very enthusiastic about joining the teaching profession, I ensure that there are earnest, active discussions during class. As the English department teacher of a junior high school and the high school, I teach the course on practical leadership. My efforts in teaching the course will eventually help students to be leaders in school education in Japan.

[Research] Oxidative stress is a condition faced by organisms that depend on oxygen in the air for their growth. Our research focuses on protective enzymes (SOD), which prevent oxidative stress, and a sensitive marker (6-nitrotryptophan), which is a marker of oxidative stress in organisms. These research findings have been published in 77 research papers and 9 review papers.
[Education] The class “Chemistry and its Application” is offered to freshman students, wherein students will study about the chemistry in the context of social problems. In the sophomore class, “Science in Life Processes,” students will learn about the basic mechanisms of biological activity that form the foundation of human health. Students should note that the second half of the class will be taught in English.

The world is currently facing several global issues such as climate change, a pandemic of emerging infectious diseases, and health problems for those who have been excluded from development and society, like the poor, the minority, and the disabled. I have conducted health research and JICA projects in Thailand, Myanmar, and Bolivia to promote the health of people in developing countries.
I am in charge of lectures on “Global health in global society,” “Community heath in global society,” as well as “Japanese experiences to create healthy people in Japan.” In my seminars, students are required to learn and study interdisciplinary forms of knowledge and skills regarding development in the global community.

Learning a language takes time and effort, but it can be a rewarding and even an enjoyable process. At FILA, we conduct classes with only few students in each class so that a student can interact effectively with other learners and with the instructors. This is not only effective, but also a lot of fun. We also provide counseling and instruction to help students find their own way of studying that is best suited for them. Our classes and the activities at the Learning Center provide students with opportunities and material to enhance their English learning. We are always there to support them in improving their learning and help them achieve their goals.

Mutsuko Tsuboi specializes in translation studies and linguistic anthropology; she is currently working on introducing approaches of media translation and media literacy to intercultural communication studies. Her research focuses on analyzing linguistic and sociocultural practice in media discourse as an interaction based upon the theoretical framework of linguistic anthropology.
The seminar on language and media as well as her other lectures provide students with opportunities to explore human social and cultural activities. The role of the media is addressed from the perspective of intercultural communication, which seeks equality among different cultures and languages of the world.

An increase in the number of unstable occupations and frequent job transitions have produced a change in the relationship between organizations and individuals. The responsibility for a career has shifted from organizations to individuals. People must design their career by themselves and cope with the uncertainties of the job. Currently, my research interests are focused on improving the counseling abilities of career practitioners, exploring counseling at workplaces, and supporting a transition from school to work.
My lectures are on topics such as basic counseling psychology, human relations within organizations, and on how to design a career.

I try to achieve the following two rather big objectives in my English education classes. I train students to not merely memorize English sentences and use them but inculcate in them an understanding of the differences between the two ways of thinking, i.e., the Japanese way and the English way. An understanding of the rather profound differences in syntax and semantics between the two languages can help them have a deeper interest and knowledge of the culture of both. For those students who wish to become English teachers in the future, I emphasize the importance of providing adequate responses to queries raised by students in class. The second is that I try to nurture in them an attitude that will value people who come from different cultures, have different values, and play different roles, by emphasizing the importance of mutual understanding through language. In my English classes for freshmen and sophomores, I emphasize the skills required to gain confidence in sending out messages in English.

“Interpreting” is not just a simple act of “changing Language A to Language B,” but it is sometimes misunderstood as such, ignoring its multilayered aspect. Through discourse analysis of interpreter-mediated communication, we try to explore some aspects of interpreting of which people are not usually aware. We focus on community interpreting in which “dialogue interpreting” plays a part, Our target language combination is Japanese-Spanish-English.
 Currently, the research on court interpreting has shed light on the existing divergence between the communicative and the normative roles of interpreters analyzing authentic court discourse using the key notion of language ideology.

With a background in teaching intercultural communication in the medical field, Naoko is a translator and interpreter, educator, and researcher in the medical field. She was one among the first to introduce medical interpreting pedagogy research and has been recognized internationally in the field. Since 2015, she has been a member of the Board for Critical Link International, an international, non-profit organization committed to the advancement of the field of community interpreting. She graduated with a PhD in Health Communication in Japan and headed the project for training medical interpreters. She is currently working on a number of research projects on health communication and medical interpreting.

In China, the Buddhist sutras have been translated since ancient times and theories of translation have originated from those early days. These theories have also been modified in accordance with the changing times. These translation theories reveal information on many matters, such as the social background of the period, the purpose of interpretation, the role of interpreters, and so on. My research is on translation–interpretation theories of China. Investigating these theories enables me to analyze matters relating to interpreting, such as its social significance and its relationship with the normative consciousness of interpreting for interpreters.

I currently conduct a mixed-methods research exploring the effectiveness and meaningfulness of individual writing sessions for students who learn English as an additional language. I also work on materials development, writing curriculum, needs assessment, and program evaluation. I have worked in a wide range of multi-cultural settings in Japan, Canada and the U.S. such as Japanese schools abroad; ESL programs; an Aboriginal health literacy project, Deaf schools; and on Bonin/Ogasawara islands. Using these experiences in practice, my freshman and sophomore English courses help students gain wide and deep perspectives on events occurring around their life as well as in the global arena, while also developing their interactive and collaborative skills as global citizens.

Translation connects people from different cultures. In the Translation Studies Seminar, we approach translation as a form of intercultural communication from various perspectives. Students conduct research on translation texts and/or translators in their own and other cultures. They learn basic translation theories from works by established researchers of Translation Studies and write a thesis based on their original research. The possible research topics in this field are translation’s role in a particular society, relationships among translation, languages and cultures, and translators as intercultural communicators. Participating in this seminar will help students gain an insight into communication between people from different cultures.

I work in developing/developed countries to improve health at the population level. My research interests include monitoring and evaluation of health services, analysis of health systems, and global health policies. Currently, I am conducting a joint research covering several countries in Southeast Asia　including Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. This research is financially supported by the Grants‐in‐aid for Scientific Research. I am also engaged in the technical cooperation project for health system strengthening in Bolivia, South America.
I give lectures on various subjects such as malaria and global infectious diseases, and the history of public and medical systems in Japan. I lead the Statistical Literacy Seminar and provide opportunities for students to collect and analyze quantitative data and discuss the results among the seminar participants.

I work in preparing members of our courses for professional life and empowering real-life career skills. This requires a balance of competencies, especially information synthesis ranging from reading to world issues, economics and applications of critical media literacy. My research interests are focused on second language reading and the role of listening for building working and long-term memory, and critical media literacy, especially online. I give lectures, teach courses and conduct teacher training workshops on subjects such as recent findings in research on reading fluency and applications in second language contexts; literature and global issues in language teaching; developing critical media literacy with worldwide news; and journalism with present-day tools.

True global citizens should be capable of more than just language use. To become one, the basis to see other cultures and languages is necessary, that is, to have and use knowledge of our own country and culture. This basis helps us deepen intercultural understanding and language learning as well. However, Japanese are seldom proud of themselves, especially when using other languages, which is so unlike global citizens. To be internationally proud users of other languages, we Japanese need to be aware of our characteristics and appreciate them. When we get lost we can always come back to where we started.

The focus of my research is discourse analysis. In particular, I study differences between Japanese and English language and how these relate to the unconscious knowledge or assumptions that speakers have concerning normative language use in particular contexts (sociocultural epistemology). Cross-linguistic studies have shown that speakers of these languages do have differing underlying assumptions concerning aspects of language use in context. To become a good user of English, learners need to become more conscious about these assumptions.The students at FILA are required to consider the gaps between English and Japanese languages and seek the most effective ways to convey what they are thinking.

Languages are a tool for communication, so it’s important for students to be able to communicate actively in the language of study. The classroom should be a safe place to try communicating our thoughts and feelings in English. I want to support students to express their ideas clearly and confidently.
My beliefs about teaching come largely from my experiences as a student of Japanese language, culture and history. I think that through sharing our ideas, we can discover our own identities.

Learning French as a second foreign language, is a long span cognitive process, but it is also a chance of knowing, experiencing and building a new identity. As we say in French "science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul", educational process aims, by transmitting knowledge, to strengthen and enlarge the individuals as full human being. When I get involved in Japanese culture, I study and translate Japanese classic texts, but I also perform them to feel, deeply experience, understand and pass them on to the audience. Learning a new language is a global experience, a humanism where cognition, culture, interaction and feelings are strongly involved.

Intercultural competency is the ability to communicate your ideas effectively in an intercultural setting. This skill has become very important for people who need to interact with people around the world. The goal of IIE and EGC is to help students develop English communicative skills and critical thinking in order for students to discuss important issues about Japan to others around the world. My role is to guide students through the challenges of learning a language and using the language to articulate very complex ideas.

The focus of my research is on language testing, specifically on the TOEFL®Test. The TOEFL® governing body, ETS introduced TOEFLPBT® in 1964, TOEFLCBT® in 1998, and TOEFLiBT® in 2006. As a TOEFL® researcher and an instructor, I’ve been conducting research of the washback effect on instructors and test takers caused by the resurgence of TOEFL® as a standard measuring tool. Many students I have taught have achieved improvement in TOEFL® scores in the past decades. I’d like to make the beauty and the excellence of TOEFL® known to this department, too. Through the study of TOEFL®, I’m sure the students in FILA will have a brilliant future ahead of them.

Studying language and learning about different cultures is a great way to learn about the world and develop your own identity. In our English classes at Juntendo students are able to think about their own culture, while deepening their understanding and forming knowledge of other cultures. English classes in FILA are small and students are able to actively participate, become more autonomous learners, build on critical thinking skills, form lifelong friendships and gain confidence. I believe that learning another language should be enjoyable and I try to make my classes as much fun as possible.

Language learning is a challenging, yet ultimately very rewarding, process. As a teacher, it is my job to assist learners with their language learning by carefully applying teaching and learning principles based on theory and research in my English classes. In the Faculty of International Liberal Arts students work together within a friendly, cooperative class atmosphere and are provided with a wide range of learning opportunities to support them as they continue on this journey.