Ayumi Nobuki
Visiting Assistant Professor of Japanese
Associations
Japanese
Asian Studies
About
Ayumi Nobuki is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Japanese and teaches
Japanese language courses. She earned her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the
University of Kansas, with an emphasis on the first language acquisition of
Japanese.
Her research is focused on language acquisition. Taking psycholinguistic
approaches, Nobuki investigates how children and adult second language
learners will be able to comprehend semantic/pragmatic meaning of sentences
like adult native speakers. Her doctoral dissertation examined the
comprehension of the pragmatic meaning of sentences in Japanese-speaking
preschool- and school-age children. She has also conducted experiments on
how second language adult learners comprehend Japanese question sentences
with complex structures. With a background as a linguist and language instructor,
Nobuki aims to continue exploring the mechanism of language acquisition in
different populations and supporting the process of learners acquiring languages.
Having completed her undergraduate studies at the International Christian
University, a liberal arts college in Tokyo, Japan, she is thrilled to rejoin a similar
community as a faculty member.
Current Courses
Fall Semester 2025
Intermediate Japanese I
A continuation of JPN 102, the course stresses the acquisition of new and more complex spoken patterns, vocabulary building, and increasing knowledge of cultural context through role play, video, and varied reading materials. Approximately seventy-five new written characters are introduced. A range …
Upper Intermediate Japanese
A continuation of JPN 202, this course completes the introduction of essential Japanese syntactic forms and sentence patterns and prepares students to read, write, and discuss a range of texts in Japanese. Students continue development of oral skills through culturally realistic exercises involving …
Winter Semester 2026
Intermediate Japanese II
A continuation of JPN 201, this course is normally taken immediately following JPN 201. It stresses further acquisition of complex spoken patterns, vocabulary and cultural knowledge through exercises in culturally realistic contexts. Students extend proficiency in the written language through writin…
Topics in Advanced Japanese
Through the discussion and study of literary and non-literary texts on topics of student interest, faculty expertise, and current event, the course seeks to utilize, develop, and integrate skills acquired in the earlier stages of language learning. Through class presentations and discussion students…