FACULTY

Shiro Ojima

OJIMA, Shiro (尾島 司郎), Professor

ResearchMap site : https://researchmap.jp/shiro_ojima

Personal web site : https://ojima-lab.w.waseda.jp/

E-mail : [see personal web site]

It is generally believed that children are better language learners than adolescents and adults. Past research has also suggested that there is a biologically determined critical period for language learning. I focus on the English learning of Japanese children and adults, utilizing both linguistic methods and neuroscientific techniques such as event-related brain potentials (ERPs). My research aims to determine whether children truly have an advantage over adolescents and adults in second language learning, and if so, what the nature of that advantage may be.

Education

  • B.Ed. in English education, Okayama University, 1998
  • B.A. with Honours in Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne, 1998
  • Ph.D. in Language and Linguistics, University of Essex, 2005

Current CELESE responsibilities

Administrative roles : Coordinator for Communication Strategies 2, TOEIC organizer

Courses : Academic Lecture Comprehension, Academic Reading, Communication Strategies

Research areas and interests

Second language acquisition, Brain science of language, Early English education

Representative works

  • 尾島司郎 (2022) 「言語の脳科学」大津由紀雄、今西典子、池内正幸、水光雅則（監修）、杉崎鉱司、稲田俊一郎、磯部美和（編集）『言語研究の世界: 生成文法からのアプローチ』
  • Ihara A.S, Matsumoto A, Ojima S, Katayama J, Nakamura K, Yokota Y, Watanabe H & Naruse Y. (2021) Prediction of Second Language Proficiency Based on Electroencephalographic Signals Measured While Listening to Natural Speech. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 15: Article 665809, 1-14

Other

  • JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B, Principal Investigator. “Cognitive brain science of early foreign-language learning” (早期英語学習の認知脳科学的研究). 2019-2023.
  • Japan Second Language Association, Public relations committee chair
  • YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC98eya_bKq-zMSIDJi5shiw/videos
  • Twitter/X https://twitter.com/Shiro_OJIMA