Encounters in Sociolinguistics
Only you can tell your tale. While this sounds obvious, the execution of the task is not. As an educator, I expect my students to engage in regular self-analysis and to actively express themselves and their experiences. However, I find that I struggle when placed in a similar position. That struggle only doubles when I am required to formally record said experiences. Nevertheless, in the paragraphs below I will attempt to untangle the threads of my memory, and record, exactly as I remember it, how I found myself interested in sociolinguistics, and what sort of academic life I have since led.
When retracing my steps, I realise that the course of my life has been greatly influenced by several important encounters. Of course, it is pointless to wonder “what if” in regards to one’s past, however, I feel that if I had not had these encounters, my life would look vastly different. Of course, when I say encounters, I don’t mean only meetings with people, but also with works that I came across due to my particular circumstances, as well as encounters with local communities.
I am originally from the Tohoku region, which is known for its rich regional dialects. When I moved to Tokyo to enter university, I found myself questioning the Tokyo dialect, which was/is still considered the “standard Japanese”. This initial curiosity eventually developed into a thirst to understand how standard languages emerge and what intellectual constructs define which varieties are “standard”. It was then that I came across a book entitled Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society (1983), by Peter Trudgill, a sociolinguist from England. Through this work I carried on an indirect conversation with the author, which both opened up my eyes and moved me, and was the reason that I ultimately opted to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Essex, where Peter Trudgill was a professor.
I was not blessed with any real natural talent, and therefore preparing for graduate school was a gruelling process. However, nothing could have prepared me for the hardship I would face after actually gaining entrance. I could not keep up with the debate in class, which led to my pouring all my effort into combing through every minute detail of texts related to my area of study. If there is one thing that I can give myself credit for, it is the enormous effort that I put into my studies.
David Britain was another encounter without which my life would not be the same. David was a favourite pupil of Professor Trudgill, and he recommended that I continue on to pursue my PhD. David Britain is not only an accomplished researcher, but also an excellent teacher, educator, and someone who I could not respect more as a human being, nor be more grateful to as a mentor. The guidance and advice that he bestowed on me has been indispensable to my life and to my work.
Professor Britain was the one who advised me to study a region that I would want to continue visiting 10 years down the road. I decided to focus my research on Micronesia, which had not yet been widely researched. After spending two months as a type of vagabond researcher in Micronesia, I narrowed down the focus of my research to the Republic of Palau. With its complex language contact history as a colony, as well as its multilingual society, Palau proved to be full of charm and interest for a novice sociolinguist like myself.
Encountering Palau has been the proverbial nourishment for my life as a researcher. For approximately six months, I lived with the locals and conducted both my research and volunteer work. I spent my first days in Palau in a state of continuous bewilderment, as the cultural norms which I had previously considered universal didn’t translate into the local culture. However, I now consider Palau my second home, and feel no discomfort when there. There is no question that I will still want to visit Palau 10 years, even 30 years down the road.
Now that I am an educator myself, here in Komaba, I look forward to providing my students with similar inspiring encounters. I may never be able to write a book that touches its readers, or advise students with a passion that inspires them to the same extent that my mentors have. I may not be fortunate enough to surpass those who have come before me. However, I am incredibly fortunate to have had such rich encounters in sociolinguistics, and I look forward to creating opportunities for my students to experience similar encounters.
