Noriko Nagata, 永田憲子

Noriko Nagata, 永田憲子 is Director of the Japanese Studies Program in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She teaches Japanese language, linguistics, and culture.

Professor Nagata received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, jointly directed by the Laboratory for Computational Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University. Her general area of research includes natural language processing, Japanese linguistics, second language acquisition, and computer assisted language learning. She conducted a series of empirical studies to examine the relative effectiveness of different types of computer feedback (e.g., intelligent vs. traditional feedback, deductive vs. inductive feedback) and different kinds of computer exercises (e.g., production vs. comprehension practice). She published a number of articles based on these studies in The Modern Language Journal, CALICO Journal, Foreign Language Annals, Computer Assisted Language Learning, System, and Language Learning and Technology.

In light of the results of her empirical studies, she designed and produced a software package called ROBO-SENSEI: Personal Japanese Tutor (published in 2004 by Cheng & Tsui) that employs natural language processing and provides extensive sentence production exercises in communicative contexts and detailed feedback in response to a learner's grammatical errors. She won the 2004-2005 USF Distinguished Research Award.

Her current research project involves developing a new textbook, entitled 『道：日本を探る』The Path: Exploring Japan, which teaches the Japanese language through the lens of the rich variety of cultural landscapes in historical and contemporary Japan. She visited fifty-three major cities throughout Japan during the past five years and captured over fifty thousand photographic and video images for the new textbook. The textbook aims to develop learners’ Japanese language proficiency to the intermediate and advanced levels, based on the ACTFL and JF standards. The textbook will also incorporate online exercises employed by an expanded version of ROBO-SENSEI.

• Chair, Japanese Studies

• University of San Francisco 2004-2005 Distinguished Research Award.
• OPI (oral proficiency interview) certified tester, ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), obtained in 2011.
• Japan Foundation Research Grant, 2013.

• Computer Software: ROBO-SENSEI: Personal Japanese Tutor, Cheng & Tsui Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 2004.
• 『道：日本を探る』 The Path: Exploring Japan (中・上級日本語教科書 Intermediate/Advanced Japanese textbook) supported by the Japan Foundation. In preparation.  (Already used for the Intermediate and Advanced Japanese courses at the University of San Francisco.
• Special Issue on Asian Languages and Technology, CALICO Journal, 19 (3), 2002.
• “Some Design Issues for an Online Japanese Textbook.” CALICO Journal, 27 (3), 2010.
• “An Online Japanese Textbook with Natural Language Processing.” In Ian Lancashire (Ed.), Teaching Literature and Language Online, MLA (Modern Language Association of America), New York, 2009, 384-409.
• “Robo-Sensei's NLP-Based Error Detection and Feedback Generation.” CALICO Journal, 26 (3), 2009, 562-579.
• “Input Enhancement by Natural Language Processing.” In Carolyn Gascoigne (Ed.), Assessing the Impact of Input Enhancement in Second Language Education: Evaluation in Theory, Research and Practice, New Forums Press, Oklahoma, 2007.
• “自然言語処理を応用したインテリジェントランゲージチューター” (“Intelligent Language Tutor as an Application of Natural Language Processing”). In Minami, M. and Asano, M (Eds.), 言語学と日本語教育 (Linguistics and Japanese Language Education) Vol. III, Kuroshio Publishers, Tokyo, 2004.
• “BANZAI: An Application of Natural Language Processing to Web based Language Learning.” CALICO Journal, 19 (3), 2002, 583-599. 
• “BANZAI: Computer Assisted Sentence Production Practice with Intelligent Feedback.” Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computer-Assisted System for Teaching and Learning Japanese (CASTEL/J), 2002.
• “Input vs. Output Practice in Educational Software for Second Language Acquisition.” Language Learning and Technology, 1 (2), 1998, 23-40.
• “An Experimental Comparison of Deductive and Inductive Feedback Generated by a Simple Parser.” System, 25, (4), 1997, 515-534.
• “Rules vs. Examples: An Experimental Study Using the Banzai Parser.” Proceedings of the CALICO Annual Symposium, 1997.
• “An Effective Application of Natural Language Processing in Second Language Instruction.” CALICO Journal, 13 (1), 1995, 47-67.
• “Japanese Courseware for Distance Learning.” Proceedings of the 12th World Congress of International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), 2000.
• “The Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Interactive Glosses.” Foreign Language Annals, 32 (4), 1999, 469-479.
• “The Relative Effectiveness of Production and Comprehension Practice in Second Language Acquisition.” Computer Assisted Language Learning, 11 (2), 1998, 153-177.
• “The Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Metalinguistic Instruction: A Case Study in Japanese.” Foreign Language Annals, 30 (2), 1997, 187-200.
• “Computer vs. Workbook Instruction in Second Language Acquisition.” CALICO Journal, 14 (1), 1996, 53-75.
• “A Study of Consciousness-Raising by Computer: The Effect of Metalinguistic Feedback on Second Language Learning.” With M. Virginia Swisher. Foreign Language Annals, 28 (3), 1995, 337-347.
• “Intelligent Computer Feedback for Second Language Instruction.” The Modern Language Journal 77 (3), 1993, 330-339.
• A Study of the Effectiveness of Intelligent CALI as an Application of Natural Language Processing. Ph.D. Dissertation directed by David Evans, Laboratory for Computational Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University. University of Pittsburgh. 1992.
• “Dropping Ni in Topicalized Position in Japanese,” Technical Report 83094, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, University of San Francisco, 1994.
• New Online Song-based Courseware for Advanced Japanese and a User Survey. With Rumiko Shizato, Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) Annual Conference, Canada, Toronto, 2012 [Presentation].
• A New NLP-based Online Japanese Textbook. Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Annual Symposium, San Francisco, CA, 2008 [Presentation].
• Robo-Sensei's NLP-based Error Detection and Feedback Generation. Workshop on Automatic Analysis of Learner Language, Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Annual Symposium, San Francisco, CA, 2008 [Presentation].
• Integrating New Technology into Asian-Language Classrooms. Cheng & Tsui Session. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, 2005  [Presentation].
• Prospects for an Online Language Textbook with Intelligent Feedback. Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Annual Symposium, East Lansing, Michigan, 2005 [Presentation].
• Integration of ROBO-SENSEI into Japanese Curricula. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2004 [Presentation].
• The BANZAI Project: Empirical Studies on the Effectiveness of Intelligent Feedback and Sentence Production Practice. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2002 [Presentation].
• Teaching Japanese particles: コンピューターによる助詞の効果的な教え方. Northern California Japanese Teachers' Association (NCJTA) Meeting at Foreign Language Association of Northern California (FLANC) Annual Conference, Berkeley, CA, 2002 [Presentation].
• BANZAI in the classroom. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, 2002 [Presentation].
• BANZAI: Computer Assisted Sentence Production Practice with Intelligent Feedback. International Conference on Computer-Assisted System for Teaching and Learning Japanese (CASTEL/J), San Diego, CA, 2002 [Presentation].
• BANZAI: A Web-based Intelligent Language Tutor. CALICO Annual Symposium, Davis, CA, 2002 [Presentation].
• Phrase Structure Rules Applied to Intelligent Japanese Tutoring Software. International Conference on Practical Linguistics of Japanese (ICPLJ). San Francisco, CA, 2002 [Presentation].
• BANZAI: New Intelligent Tutoring Software. Foreign Language Association of Northern California (FLANC) Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2001 [Presentation].
• Japanese Courseware for Distance Learning. World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Tokyo, Japan, 1999 [Presentation].
• Interactive Strategies in Computer-Assisted LanguageInstruction. San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, 1999 [Presentation].
• An Overview of Some Empirical Studies on the Effectiveness of Computer Software in Second Language Acquisition, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 1999 [Presentation].
• Japanese Reading Exercises in Java. CALICO Annual Symposium, San Diego, CA, 1998 [Presentation].
• Rules vs. Examples: An Experimental Study Using the Banzai Parser. CALICO Annual Symposium, West Point, New York, 1997 [Presentation].
• Japanese Language Instruction with the Banzai Program and HyperCard Japanese CALI. Northern California Japanese Teachers' Association (NCJTA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1997 [Presentation].
• The Relative Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Production and Comprehension Practice in the Acquisition of Japanese. Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) Annual Meeting, Tucson, Arizona, 1996 [Presentation].
• The Use of Natural Language Processing in Computer-Assisted Language Instruction. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, 1995 [Presentation].
• Computer-Assisted Japanese Instruction. Foreign Language Association of Northern California (FLANC) Annual Conference, Berkeley, CA, 1995 [Presentation].
• The Instructional Effectiveness of Natural Language Processing. American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 1995 [Presentation].
• Metalinguistic Instruction about Non-Trivial Grammatical Systems. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Meeting, Long Beach, CA, 1995 [Presentation].
• Resources for Teaching Japanese Culture. Ethnic Literature Forum, San Francisco Unified School District, San Francisco, CA, 1994 [Presentation].
• A Study of the Effectiveness of Intelligent CALI as an Application of Natural Language Processing. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1992 [Presentation].
• Assessing the Effectiveness of Natural Language Processing in Intelligent CALI for Japanese. Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 1992 [Presentation].
• “Conventional CALI versus Intelligent CALI: Results of Experimental Research,” National Security Agency, Baltimore, MD, 1991 [Presentation].
• “The Japanese Language and Second Language Instruction,” K-12 English as a Second Language Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989 [Presentation].