Reflection: “So what is it like to write a dissertation?”

“So what is it like to write a dissertation?”
I suppose this question had always been lurking in my head, and I know from time to time I pondered getting to the other side of 120 pages, only the first half, especially at the time when the project was merely an idea discussed over lunch in [...]

Read Full Post »

New Narrative for Chapter 4

Taking the Narrative Turn
“We are the storytellers, and we are the stories we tell.”
(McAdams, D., Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A., 2006, p. 3)
After the last bite of salad, Dana suggested we take a walk to help digest our huge reunion dinner (it had been a year since we had last met; I was living in [...]

Read Full Post »

First Half of Project Completed!

YATTA! Hurray! Sugoi! Today I turned in the first half of my dissertation – 120 pages, 5 chapters:

Preface explaining role of story in the project and significance of the title
Chapter 1:  Introduction of research questions
Chapter 2:  Language and identity; The social significance of English in the lives of Japanese
Chapter 3:  Sexuality and identity
Chapter 4:  Story [...]

Read Full Post »

Excerpt from Ch. 2, On sexuality

I can remember around the age of 4 or 5 looking at a book titled “Where Do Babies Come From?” My mother, a former elementary school teacher, believed in complete honesty about the human body and reproduction, and the book was meant to help me understand the answer to the question posed in the title. [...]

Read Full Post »

Conversation from JGuyUSGuy

“Have you ever thought of the relationship between studying Japan and American queer identity (the same way you think about English learning and J queer identity)?”
That’s an AMAZING question, 働く犬. I think it may be one and the same phenomenon in that we see ourselves in each others’ struggles and successes. There may be similar [...]

Read Full Post »

Shitty First Draft of Preface and Ch. 1

a

Here’s the skeleton…a lot of development to go. Ch 2 and 3 have both been started. I consider this my shitty first draft (although it’s more like my shitty 27th draft). The climb up the mountain has begun!
(at left, the base of Fuji-san)
Dissertation, Preface and Chapter 1

Read Full Post »

Hermeneutics and Semiotics

HERMENEUTICS OF THE LINGUISTIC ACT
by Göran Sonesson
SEMIOTICS, NATURAL LANGUAGE AND MAN-MACHINE INTERCOURSE
by Melnikov G.P.

Read Full Post »

The books have arrived!

A HUGE THANK YOU to New Victoria Publishers for donating copies of QUEER JAPAN to my study. The book will be used to provide models of writing to participants who will create narratives in response to the question of a possible relationship between English language learning/usage and ideas about sexuality.

Read Full Post »

Mr. Moore and Focus

A few weeks ago I participated in a one-day “retreat” in Nagoya, Japan (click me to view the powerpoint) where I met a recent MA grad whose thesis examines the very topic of my dissertation. Mr. Moore and I were excited to share our ideas and I’ve since had the pleasure of reading his research. [...]

Read Full Post »

Protected: Naoko’s Story

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Read Full Post »