Dr. Akiko Imamura

Biography

Akiko Imamura, Director of the Japanese Language Program at the University of Michigan, specializes in Japanese language use in social interaction through the lens of Conversation Analysis. Her research primarily examines how individuals utilize linguistic and embodied resources, including artifacts, to understand and generate social actions during temporal developments in interaction. Imamura has worked on several projects that investigate compliment responses in everyday Japanese conversation and knowledge negotiation during professional handovers. Currently, she is involved in a project focusing on novice L2 learners' dynamics, such as opening question sequences in virtual language exchanges. By blending her research and teaching interests, she aims to apply her findings to enhance spoken language skills within Japanese language pedagogy and curriculum development. Throughout her career, Imamura has taught Japanese as a foreign language across various levels, placing a strong emphasis on helping students build robust language proficiency that enables them to pursue their own objectives and broaden their future opportunities using Japanese. Beyond language acquisition, she is committed to fostering students' cultural understanding and facilitating critical and multifaceted perspectives, believing this approach empowers students to communicate effectively across linguistic, socio-cultural, and ideological divides.

Research Interests