Overview
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
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, Waseda University
- Masters (Research), Carnegie Mellon University
- Doctor of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University
Research interests
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Psycholinguistics
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Second language acquisition
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Morphosyntactic processing
Works
Search Professor Sanako Mitsugi’s works on UQ eSpace
2016
Conference Publication
Characterizing learners’ use of passive through constructions: a corpus driven approach
Mitsugi, Sanako (2016). Characterizing learners’ use of passive through constructions: a corpus driven approach. The 14th conference of the American Association for Corpus Linguistics, Ames, IO USA, 16-18 September 2016.
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
2014
Conference Publication
The distribution of relative clauses in L2 Japanese: a corpus study
Mitsugi, Sanako and Sakaue, Tatsuya (2014). The distribution of relative clauses in L2 Japanese: a corpus study. Rhe annual conference of Georgetown University Round Table, Washington, DC, United States, 13–16 March 2014.
2014
Conference Publication
An animacy-based analysis of the processing of Japanese relative clauses
Mitsugi, Sanako (2014). An animacy-based analysis of the processing of Japanese relative clauses. East Asian Psycholinguistics Colloquium, Chicago, IL, United States, 8 March 2014.
2014
Conference Publication
Animacy configurations for subject-object relative clauses in L2 Japanese: a corpus study
Mitsugi, Sanako and Sakaue, Tatsuya (2014). Animacy configurations for subject-object relative clauses in L2 Japanese: a corpus study. the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Portland, OR, United States, 22–25 March 2014.
2013
Conference Publication
Possibilities of learner-directed assessments: a case for a can-do test
Mitsugi, Sanako (2013). Possibilities of learner-directed assessments: a case for a can-do test. Canadian Association of Japanese Language Education, Toronto, Canada, 22 August 2013.
2013
Conference Publication
Lexical processing made easy: cognate facilitation effects by Korean-Japanese bilinguals
Mitsugi, Sanako (2013). Lexical processing made easy: cognate facilitation effects by Korean-Japanese bilinguals. American Association of Teachers of Japanese,, San Diego, CA, United States, 21 March 2013.
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.
2013
Conference Publication
Online sentence processing of Japanese relative clauses by L2 learners
Mitsugi, Sanako and MacWhinney, Brian (2013). Online sentence processing of Japanese relative clauses by L2 learners. Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Dallas, TX, United States, 16–19 March 2013.
2012
Conference Publication
Anticipating in a second language: processing mechanisms and representations
Mitsugi, Sanako and MacWhinney, Brian (2012). Anticipating in a second language: processing mechanisms and representations. The Annual Conference of the Japanese Society of Language Science, Nagoya, Japan, 30 June – 1 July 2012.
2012
Conference Publication
Processing ditransitive constructions in L2 Japanese: evidence from eye movements
Mitsugi, Sanako and MacWhinney, Brian (2012). Processing ditransitive constructions in L2 Japanese: evidence from eye movements. Second Language Research Forum, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 18–21 October 2012.
2012
Conference Publication
Second language sentence processing of Japanese: case-marking information for incremental processing
Mitsugi, Sanako (2012). Second language sentence processing of Japanese: case-marking information for incremental processing. Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY, United States, 19–21 April 2012.
2012
Conference Publication
Lexical semantic integration in second language sentence processing of relative clauses
Mitsugi, Sanako (2012). Lexical semantic integration in second language sentence processing of relative clauses. The Annual Conference of the Japan Second Language Association, Tokyo, Japan, 2–3 June 2012.
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
2010
Conference Publication
Processing of double-object structure: empirical investigation and model selection for second-language Japanese
Mitsugi, Sanako (2010). Processing of double-object structure: empirical investigation and model selection for second-language Japanese. Annual conference of the Japanese Society for Language Science, Tokyo, Japan, 26–27 June 2010.
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.
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.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Sanako Mitsugi is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Available projects
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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
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Doctor Philosophy
Acquisition of English Tense-aspect system by native Arabic speakres of English
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Anna Mikhaylova
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Doctor Philosophy
Overlapping talk in Bahasa Indonesian Conversations
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ilana Mushin
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Sanako Mitsugi directly for media enquiries about:
- bilingualism
- Japanese language education
- second language acquisition
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