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Mayu Negami -Handford Handford

Ms Mayu Negami -Handford Handford

Lecturer in Japanese Studies

School of Modern Languages

Overview

In both UK and Japan, I have conducted language teaching in various contexts, including university classes, professional business organizations, secondary and primary schools’ lessons, enabling me to gain diverse skills and the capability to deliver and develop a wide range of methods suitable for small group seminars and large lectures. The main responsibility for me is to enable learners to use language effectively. I encourage learners to achieve better communication through language.

I teach Japanese language and culture to undergraduate and postgraduate students. I am also an examination liaison officer for Japanese team and an organizer of the Cardiff-Japanese Lecture Series (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY0U-_Js-AQdDbb1qKyjQZkwTzeFrXp6p). My duties include: designing and delivering the modules and assessments as module leader, supervising undergraduate students’ dissertations, developing teaching materials, evaluating students’ progress and performance, designing various language-related trainings and workshops, personal tutoring, pastoral care for exchange students, conducting/arranging various promotional sessions in schools in the UK, dealing with inquiries about the courses, dealing with students’ applications for admission to the School, liaising with external examiners, liaising with local Japanese-related organizations and communities in Wales, applications for various funds, and other administrative duties collaborating with PS colleagues.

Research

My present study investigates the discursive construction of gender identities in popular music songs in Japan and the UK through the analysis of relevant linguistic items that index gender in the lyrics. This study draws on the methodologies of a discourse analysis approach and corpus linguistics to analyze popular music song lyrics. I compiled two lyrics corpora of respective popular music songs that achieved commercial success between 2008-2020 in Japan and the UK, to investigate how gender-indexing linguistic items to investigate the discursive construction of gender identities in popular music songs in these cross-cultural settings.

Teaching

I teach undergraduate/postgraduate students who have opted to study Japanese language and culture in the School of Modern Languages.

Modules that I am/was involved in:

  • ML5366 High-level Proficiency in Japanese Language
  • ML5364 Memory and Symbols in Japan
  • ML1548 Post-A Level Japanese
  • ML5280 Intermediate Japanese
  • ML1549 Elementary Japanese
  • MLT408 Specialised Translation: Subtitling
  • MLT406 Specialised Translation: Scientific and Technical
  • MLT433 Training Placement
  • ML5363 Final Year Dissertation -Japanese

Biography

I am a Japanese national, and a native speaker of the language. I have had extensive work experience in various working environments, such as education, the media industry and professional organizations, enabling me to gain diverse skills and the capability to communicate with many different types of people.

I have conducted language teaching in various contexts both in the UK and Japan, including university classes, professional business classes and children’s lessons. Also, I have worked as an administrator and translator in several companies and organizations. The types of documents I translated concerned such as nurses working rights and opportunities, cross-cultural differences in working practices and improving conditions for employees in the health sector. At the same time, I have experienced working in writing and doing FM radio DJ in Japan.

Education and qualifications

  • 2022 - present: Part-time PhD Researcher (Gendered Identities in Popula Music: Corpus-driven Discourse Analysis of Song Lyrics in the UK and Japan in 2008-2020), Cultural Studies, Music and Sound, University of Gloucestershire, UK
  • 2017 - 2019: Part-time PhD Researcher (Gendered Identities in Popula Music: Corpus-based Discourse Analysis of Song Lyrics in the UK and Japan), Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication, Birkbeck University of London, UK
  • 2012 - 2013: MA (with Merit, ‘Gender in Popular Music: A Corpus Informed and Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Top-selling Albums in 1971 and 2011’), Critical Discourse, Culture and Communication, Department of English, University of Birmingham, UK
  • 2009 - 2011: BA, English Literature, College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University, Japan

Honours and awards

  • Nominated for Most Outstanding Learning Experience in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2024 by Cardiff Student Union
  • Nominated for the Most Uplifting Staff Member in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2023 by the Cardiff Student Union
  • Nominated for the Personal Tutor of the Year in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2023 by the Cardiff Student Union
  • Nominated for the Personal Tutor of the Year in the Enriching Student Life Awards 2022 launched by the Cardiff Student Union
  • Nominated for the Most Inspiring Teacher Award 2016 launched by School of Modern Languages

 

Professional memberships

  • Member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland
  • Member of the Japanese Association for the Study of Popular Music
  • Member of the British Association for Japanese Studies
  • Member of the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language

Contact Details

Email Negami-HandfordM@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29206 88686
Campuses 66a Park Place, Room PGR Suite, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3AS

External profiles