Areas of Expertise

Japanese Linguistics, Sociolinguistics.

Teaching Interests

Associate Professor Saito teaches all levels of Japanese language.

Research

Junko Saito’s research interests include sociolinguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis, particularly focusing on workplace discourse, language and gender/sexuality, and identity construction.

Representative Publications

  • Saito, J. (2013). Gender and facework: Linguistic practices by Japanese male superiors in the workplace. Gender and Language, 7(2), 233-261.
  • Saito, J. (2012). Construction of institutional identities by male individuals in subordinate positions in the Japanese workplace. Pragmatics, 22(4), 697-719.
  • Saito, J. (2011). Managing confrontational situations: Japanese male superiors' interactional styles in directive discourse in the workplace. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 1689-1706.
  • Saito, J. (2010). Subordinates' use of Japanese plain forms: An examination of superior-subordinate interactions in the workplace. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 3271-3282.
  • Saito, J. (forthcoming). “We’re family”: Japanese characters’ categorizations of a gay man in a TV drama. In J. Kroo & K. Satoh (Eds.), Linguistic tactics and strategies of marginalization in Japanese. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Saito, J. (2020). Contesting and advocating gender ideologies: An analysis of sararīman (salaried men) characters’ hegemonic masculinities in a Japanese TV drama. Gender and Language 14(3), 286−304.
  • Saito, J. (2020). The (re)construction of ideologies of English-speaking elites at a global corporation in Japan. Asian Englishes 22(2), 163−178.
  • Saito, J. (2018). “Sarariiman” and the performance of masculinities at work: An analysis of interactions at business meetings at a multinational corporation in Japan. In H. M. Cook & Janet S. Shibamoto-Smith (Eds.), Japanese at Work: Politeness, Power, and Personae in Japanese Workplace Discourse (pp. 97−121). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Saito, J. & Cook, H. M. (2017). Directives workplace discourse. In B. Vine (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Language in the Workplace (pp. 203−208). New York: Routledge.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Japanese linguistics, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • M.A. in Japanese pedagogy, University of Iowa
  • B.A. in Communication studies, Eastern Washington University

Professional Affiliations

  • International Pragmatic Association (IPrA)
  • International Gender and Language Association (IGALA)
  • Japanese Association of Sociolinguistic Sciences
  • Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language

Previous Appointments

  • Adjunct faculty, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies
  • Adjunct Faculty, Sophia University
  • Adjunct Faculty, University of Hawaii at Manoa