The Research Writing Conference Online
| TOPICS: | AUTHOR: | DATE: |
 Conference volume 20... |
PJM | 22-01-04 - 5 year |
  Request for copy |
Osama M | 24-02-04 - 5 year |
| Future conferences |
P. Matthews | 12-09-03 - 5 year |
Research Writing in Japan
The conference on 'Research Writing in Japan' was hosted by the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, 15-16th March, 2003. Some of the conference history is recorded here, and the main results have been published (see above right).
Free copies of the conference volume can be requested for personal study and teaching purposes. Make a request in the bulletin board above, or contact Peter Matthews (pjm at gol dot com). Please give a postal address (can be anywhere in the world, no charge) and indicate how many copies are needed. Indicate reasons if more than two are needed; priority will be given to requests from libraries and teachers.
Readers of the conference volume will find a wealth of practical advice about the writing, editing, translating and publishing of academic research in Japan (Akamine, Flint, Goel, Hara and Fukuno, Kobayashi, McCreery, Riggs and Murray, Ohgai, Takeda, Weisburd). There are also many observations concerning the history and use of English and Japanese languages by students, researchers, and in academic publishing (Akamine, Bradford, Eades, Kobayashi, Kotani, Takeda, Temese, Yakai). For many researchers in Japan, the article by Riggs and Wilkinson on SWET (the Society of Writers, Editors and Translators) may be a useful introduction to the diversity of professional language services that are available in this country.
The 2003 Conference on Research Writing in Japan may have been the first attempt to look broadly at research writing in Japan, with broad participation by students, researchers, publishers, and language service professionals.
The present volume is intended to be of interest to anyone working in a multi-lingual context (Japan and elsewhere, and online), and sshould be useful for graduate students, language professionals, educational administrators, and researchers - and for teachers who need materials for courses on research writing. Within Japan, we hope that this volume will help improve communication between academic researchers, graduate students, publishers, and language professionals in the language services industry.
Writing is an obvious and critical link in the process of doing and publishing research, but one that has not received sufficient attention among educational and research administrators. It is hoped that the papers presented in this volume will be a useful contribution to the development of educational policies in Japan and other countries.
Future conferences
During the 2003 Conference on Research Writing in Japan a small number of people covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.
There was general agreement among participants that holding a similar conference again would be worthwhile. In the future, a more balanced participation by Japanese and foreign researchers, students, and language professionals would be good. It may also be useful to focus more specifically on particular themes and problems that were discussed during the 2003 conference.
In theory, the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, could host this conference again, but this is not necessarily the best option. The present organiser would like to see the emergence of a migrating conference, one that is hosted by a different organisation in a different place every two or three years, for example. This would help to spread the costs, efforts, and benefits of holding the conference.
Anyone who is interested in this proposal can either contact Dr Peter Matthews, at the address below, or place their ideas online using the forum above. Suggestions about possible venues, sponsors, and institutional or commercial participants will be very welcome.
Thank you. (PJM 26.4.03)
