Dr

Sanako Mitsugi

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 56827

Background

I am a Lecturer in Japanese at the School of Languages and Cultures at UQ.

I work in the area of second language processing, which explores the cognitive mechanisms that underlie second language parsing and learning.

More specifically, I am interested in prediction-driven models in morphosyntactic processing. In language use, we anticipate what we will encounter next even before we receive the actual input. Existing work has shown the ability to predict what comes next is a key to efficiency and robustness in comprehension in native languages. My work examines to what extent such a process is operative in a nonnative language, and various factors that mediates that process.

To address these questions, I use behavioral research methods (e.g., reaction times, eye-tracking, comprehension and production tasks) and corpus-linguistic techniques.

I received my BA in English language and literature from Waseda University, Japan, MA and Ph.D in Second Language Acquisition from Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Prior to joining UQ, I worked at the University of Kansas, USA.

Availability

Dr Sanako Mitsugi is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, Waseda University
  • Masters (Research), Carnegie Mellon University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University

Research interests

  • Psycholinguistics

  • Second language acquisition

  • Morphosyntactic processing

Search Professor Sanako Mitsugi’s works on UQ eSpace

14 works between 2007 and 2022
All (14) Journal Article (8) Book Chapter (4) Conference Publication (2)

1 - 14 of 14 works

2022

Journal Article

Maternal passives addressed to Japanese-speaking children: a usage-based approach

Mitsugi, Sanako and Fukuda, Haruka (2022). Maternal passives addressed to Japanese-speaking children: a usage-based approach. First Language, 42 (5), 014272372211051-648. doi: 10.1177/01427237221105184

Maternal passives addressed to Japanese-speaking children: a usage-based approach

2021

Journal Article

Polarity adverbs facilitate predictive processing in L2 Japanese

Mitsugi, Sanako (2021). Polarity adverbs facilitate predictive processing in L2 Japanese. Second Language Research, 38 (4), 026765832110008-892. doi: 10.1177/02676583211000837

Polarity adverbs facilitate predictive processing in L2 Japanese

2020

Journal Article

Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: a case of numeral classifiers in Japanese

Mitsugi, Sanako (2020). Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: a case of numeral classifiers in Japanese. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 58 (3), 323-349. doi: 10.1515/iral-2017-0118

Generating predictions based on semantic categories in a second language: a case of numeral classifiers in Japanese

2018

Journal Article

Proficiency influences orthographic activations during L2 spoken-word recognition

Mitsugi, Sanako (2018). Proficiency influences orthographic activations during L2 spoken-word recognition. International Journal of Bilingualism, 22 (2), 199-214. doi: 10.1177/1367006916666388

Proficiency influences orthographic activations during L2 spoken-word recognition

2018

Book Chapter

Characterizing learners’ use of passive through constructions: a corpus-driven approach

Mitsugi, Sanako (2018). Characterizing learners’ use of passive through constructions: a corpus-driven approach. Cognitive linguistics and Japanese pedagogy. (pp. 99-128) edited by Kyoko Masuda. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110456554-005

Characterizing learners’ use of passive through constructions: a corpus-driven approach

2017

Journal Article

Incremental comprehension of Japanese passives: evidence from the visual-world paradigm

Mitsugi, Sanako (2017). Incremental comprehension of Japanese passives: evidence from the visual-world paradigm. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38 (4), 953-983. doi: 10.1017/s0142716416000515

Incremental comprehension of Japanese passives: evidence from the visual-world paradigm

2017

Conference Publication

Syntactic prediction in L2 comprehension: evidence from Japanese adverbials

Mitsugi, Sanako (2017). Syntactic prediction in L2 comprehension: evidence from Japanese adverbials. The 41st Boston University of Child Language Development, Boston, MA, United States, 4-6 November 2016. Somerville, MA, United States: Cascadilla Press.

Syntactic prediction in L2 comprehension: evidence from Japanese adverbials

2016

Book Chapter

A usage-based approach to relativization: an investigation of advanced-learners’ written production of relative clauses in Japanese

Mitsugi, Sanako (2016). A usage-based approach to relativization: an investigation of advanced-learners’ written production of relative clauses in Japanese. Cognitive-functional approaches to the study of Japanese as a second language. (pp. 113-136) edited by Kaori Kabata and Kiyoko Toratani. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9781614515029-008

A usage-based approach to relativization: an investigation of advanced-learners’ written production of relative clauses in Japanese

2016

Journal Article

The use of case marking for predictive processing in second language Japanese

Mitsugi, Sanako and Macwhinney, Brian (2016). The use of case marking for predictive processing in second language Japanese. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19 (1), 19-35. doi: 10.1017/s1366728914000881

The use of case marking for predictive processing in second language Japanese

2015

Journal Article

L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause

Mitsugi, Sanako and Shirai, Yasuhiro (2015). L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause. Journal of Japanese Linguistics, 31 (1), 3-30. doi: 10.1515/jjl-2015-0102

L1–L2 asymmetry in animacy effects in the processing of Japanese relative clause

2013

Book Chapter

Japanese language oral proficiency placement examination

Mitsugi, Sanako (2013). Japanese language oral proficiency placement examination. Practical assessment tools for college Japanese. (pp. 33-38) edited by Kimi Kondo-Brown, James Dean Brown and Waka Tominaga. Honolulu, HI, United States: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Japanese language oral proficiency placement examination

2010

Book Chapter

Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences

Mitsugi, Sanako and MacWhinney, Brian (2010). Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences. Research in second language processing and parsing. (pp. 159-176) edited by Bill VanPatten and Jill Jegerski. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. doi: 10.1075/lald.53.07mit

Second language processing in Japanese scrambled sentences

2010

Conference Publication

Cue-based processing of relative clauses in L2 Japanese

Mitsugi, Sanako, MacWhinney, Brian and Shirai, Yasuhiro (2010). Cue-based processing of relative clauses in L2 Japanese. Second Language Research Forum, Honolulu, HI, United States, 17-19 October 2008. Somerville, MA, United States: Cascadilla Proceeding Project.

Cue-based processing of relative clauses in L2 Japanese

2007

Journal Article

Word knowledge development in a second language

Koda, Keiko and Mitsugi, Sanako (2007). Word knowledge development in a second language. Acquisition of Japanese as a Second Language, 10, 87-113.

Word knowledge development in a second language

Current funding

  • 2020 - 2025
    Language learning as a product of syntactic adaptation: Evidence from second-language Japanese
    Queensland Program for Japanese Education
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2020 - 2021
    Cue adaptivity in predictive processing in Japanese
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Sanako Mitsugi is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Available projects

  • The cognitive processes related to adult second language learning and use

    There is a range of projects available to work with me on the cognitive processes related to adult second language learning and use. The specific topic will be negotiated with students. Ph.D. students will learn how to conduct applied linguistic experiments, analyze the data, present the results, and write up the results for publication. Students are encouraged to present their work at conferences nationally and internationally and publish it in academic journals.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Overlapping talk in Bahasa Indonesian Conversations

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin

Enquiries

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