Staff Profile
Dr Maja Skender-Lizatovic
Lecturer
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MA (Ochanomizu University, Japan), PhD (Ochanomizu University, Japan)
A language lover, lifelong language learner, and a former Tokyoite.
I have explored my interest in linguistics and foreign language education during my BA&MA in Indian studies and German language and literature, with a minor in Japanese studies. After a year abroad in Japan I have decided to pursue a career of a Japanese language teacher. As a Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship student, I have completed a master’s course in Japanese language education, and a doctoral course in Applied Linguistic at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo. Prior to coming to York St John University I have taught Japanese in Croatia (University of Zagreb) and in Japan (Sophia University, Senshu University, Teikyo University, Tokyo Central Japanese Language School).
My main research interest is in the field of discourse analysis, pragmatics and conversation analysis and their application in foreign language education.
- School – School of Education, Language and Psychology
- Email – m.skenderlizatovic@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 315
Teaching
I teach on the following modules:
Japanese Communication
Japanese Language and Society
Semantics and Pragmatics
Analysing Texts
Forensic Linguistics
Research
My doctoral research focused on direction-giving discourse, a language behaviour often used in language teaching, specifically on the characteristics of conversations between first-language Japanese speakers and Japanese language learners (the so-called contact situation).
I am currently interested in the development of Japanese language learners' listener responses (repetitions and collaborative finishes) through peer-to-peer interaction.
Publications and Conferences
Peer-reviewed articles
Skender-Lizatovic, M. (2017). Nihongobogowasha ga michi wo oshieru sai no michijunsetsumei no hanpuku: bogobamen to sesshokubamen wo hikaku shite [Repetition of route-description by Japanese native speaker direction-giver: A comparison of contact and native situations]. Gengo bunka to nihongo kyōiku, (52), 11-20.
Skender-Lizatovic, M. (2017). Nihongo no michikikidanwa ni okeru michijunsetumei no kōseiyōso: bogobamen to sesshokubamen wo hikaku shite [Structural elements in Japanese direction-giving discourse: A comparison of contact and native situations]. Ningen bunka sōsei kagaku ronsō, 19, 57-65.
Skender-Lizatovic, M. (2015). Michikiki bamen ni okeru nihongobogowasha to nihongogakushūsha no kikite toshite no ōtō: “aizuchiteki hatsuwa” ni chakumoku shite [Japanese native speakers’ and Japanese language learners’ responses as listener in direction-giving: A focus on backchannels]. Ningen bunka sōsei kagaku ronsō, 17, 67-75.
Presentations
Skender-Lizatovic, M. (2015, November). Michikiki danwa ni okeru kikite no ōtō: bogobamen to sesshokubamen wo hikaku shite [Responses of the listener in direction-giving: A comparison of contact and native situations]. Poster presented at the 51. Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku Nihon Gengo Bunka Kenkyūkai [51st Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Japanese Language and Culture], Tokyo.
Nakai, Y., Akagi, M., Wang, T. & Skender, M. (2014, August). Kaiwa deeta bunseki no “kenkyū to jissen no renkei” no ishikika no kokoromi: daigakuin nihongo kyōinyōsei katei no kyōikujissen wo rei ni [An awareness of “linking between research and practice” utilizing conversational data analysis: An example of the Japanese teacher training course in graduate school]. Poster presented at the Nihongo Kyōiku Gakkai 2014 Nendo Jissen Kenkyū Fōramu [2014 Practical Research Forum of the Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language], Tokyo.
Cho, Y., Gotō, M., Skender-Lizatovic M., Cui, X., Gong, P. & Momoi, N. (2011, December). 2011 nendo tabunkakyōsei nihongokyōiku jisshū hōkoku: jizokukanōsei wo teema to shita jisshū ni okeru jisshūsei no furikaeri [2011 “Multiculturalism and Japanese language education” teaching practice course report: Reflections of participants on the practice course with the topic sustainability]. Poster presented at the 43. Ochanomizu Joshi Daigaku Nihon Gengo Bunka Kenkyūkai [43rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Japanese Language and Culture], Tokyo.
Theses
Skender-Lizatovic, M. (2018). Nihongo no michikikidanwa ni okeru michijunsetumei no tokuchō: bogobamen to sesshokubamen wo hikaku shite [Characteristics of route-description phase in Japanese direction-giving discourse: A comparison of contact and native situations]. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan.
