via JapanSociety.orgCarnegie Mellon University's Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics Department will host Dr. Kazuyuki Nomura of Chiba University and his talk "Emotional Distance and Refuge: Rethinking Multilingualism and Language Learning Motivation" on September 24.
Guest lecturer Kazuyuki Nomura (Chiba University) explores how second language learning can serve as an emotional refuge rather than a path to integration, reframing motivation as a narrative process shaped by vulnerability, desire and symbolic distance.The lecture runs from 3:30 to 5:00 pm in 340 Posner Hall (map).
What if learning a second language is less about belonging and more about creating emotional refuge? In his talk “Emotional Distance and Refuge: Rethinking Multilingualism and Language Learning Motivation,” Kazuyuki Nomura challenges conventional views of language learning motivation by examining how adult learners of Japanese form symbolic, emotionally distant relationships with their chosen languages. Drawing on narrative research, he reconceptualizes motivation as a strategy for navigating vulnerability and finding inner peace, rather than a drive toward integration. Framed by the work of Ushioda, Pavlenko and Canagarajah, this talk highlights how multilinguals may seek not just to connect, but to endure and survive through language.
About Our Guest Lecturer
Kazuyuki Nomura is an assistant professor in Japanese language education at the Graduate School of Global and Transdisciplinary Studies at Chiba University in Japan. His research explores second language learning, affect and multilingual identity in the contexts of Hong Kong and Japan. Dr. Nomura’s work has appeared in international journals including International Journal of the Sociology of Language and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. His current project investigates how multilinguals position themselves emotionally in relation to non-obligatory languages such as Japanese, using narrative and other qualitative approaches.