Lecturer

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu

Lecturer in Tibetan

Office: 502-G Kent Hall

Office Hours: By appointment
Email: st2855@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: Columbia University
MTS: Harvard University
MA: Central University for Tibetan Studies

Research Interests

Tibetan Studies, Religion, and Buddhist Studies

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu has taught topics on religion, Buddhist philosophy, and Tibetan language and literature at monasteries and modern educational institutions in India and the US. He had previously worked as the managing editor of Tibet Journal, an academic quarterly on Tibetan studies, where he also co-edited thematic series on Tibet and British Raj, Tibetan monuments, and a fourteen-issue history of Tibetan art.

Sonam’s doctoral dissertation examined the eighteen-volume Collected Works of Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) to assess the role of the texts in the formation of Geluk School in Tibet during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It studied the significant roles that Je Tsongkhapa’s writings have played in establishing doctrinal authority, defining philosophical boundaries, postulating intellectual identity, and reorienting monastic education for Tibet’s largest school of thought and philosophy.

Trained in several languages, Sonam specializes in translation and interpretation with a focus on classical Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Selected Publications

Precious Garland: Buddhist Polity on Life and Liberation (Rājaparikathāratnāvali, Trans & Annot. LTWA, 2014)

Verses of Naga King Drum (Nāgarājabherīgāthā, Trans. 8400, 2020)

“The Sixth Ling Rinpoche Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Trinlé (1903–1983),” “Emchi Khyenrab Norbu (1883–1962),” “Tuksé Tubten Lhundrub (1906–1955),” and other biographies under National Endowment of Humanities (NEH) Grant (Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalaya, http://www.treasuryoflives.org/) 

Tibet Journal (Managing Editor, 2001–2004)

Tshan rig dus deb (Assistant Editor, 2001–2003)

Fumiko Nazikian

Fumiko Nazikian

Senior Lecturer in Japanese, Director of External Relations (Japanese Language Program)

Office: 516 Kent Hall
Office Hours: M/R 3:00-4:00, or by appointment
Phone: (212) 854-5502
Email: fn2108@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: Japanese Linguistics, University of Sydney
MA: Japanese Linguistics and Japanese Language Pedagogy, Australian National University

Classes Taught

JPN UN1001 Introductory Japanese A
JPNS UN1101 & UN1102 First Year Japanese
JPNS UN2201 & UN2202 Second Year Japanese
JPNS UN3005 & UN3006 Third Year Japanese
JPNS GU4017 & GU4018 Fourth Year Japanese
JPNS G4010 & G4214 Japanese Language Pedagogy

Research Interests

Japanese Linguistics (pragmatics)
Language Pedagogy

Fumiko Nazikian joined Columbia University in 2004, serving as the Director of the Japanese Language Program until the Spring of 2015. In addition to teaching regular language courses, she is a regular instructor in the Columbia Summer M.A. Program in Japanese Pedagogy. Prior to her time at Columbia, she spent 16 years as a Senior Lecturer at Princeton University. She has also taught at the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, and the University of New South Wales.

Her research interests lie in linguistic pragmatics, with a focus on discourse analysis and the connections between linguistics and language pedagogy. She has served as a reviewer for the AP Japanese Language and Culture Course and has been a committee member for the Japanese SAT.

She has also reviewed for publications such as AATJ Journal, Japanese Language and Literature, Journal of Japanese Linguistics (JJL), Pragmatics, and Journal of Pragmatics. From 2008 to 2012, she was a board member of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) and co-directed the AATJ Spring Conference from 2020 to 2022.

Publications

A Practical Guide for Scholarly Reading in Japanese (co-editor, Routledge, 2023)

Social Networking Approach to Japanese Language Teaching: The Intersection of Language and Culture in the Digital Age (co-editor, Routledge, 2021)

“Sentence final particle, yone as an ‘involvement’ marker” in Natural Conversation Analysis in Japanese: Elucidating human communication through the BTSJ Natural Conversation Corpus (ed. M. Usami, Kuroshio Press, 2020)

“Yone as a Discourse-Pragmatic Marker in Blog Messages: An Epistemic and Evaluative Stance” in the Journal of Communication and Media Studies, Vol. 5 (2019)

“How to Develop ’21st Century Skills’ in Foreign Language Education” in Japanese Language and Literature Vol. 50 (co-author, AATJ, 2016)

“Robots can talk—but can they teach?” (Walter de Gruyter, 2015)

Modern Japanese Grammar: A Practical Guide & Modern Japanese Workbook (co-author, Routledge, 2014)

Hiyaku: An Intermediate Japanese Course (co-author, Routledge, 2011)

“The Role of Style-Shifting in the Functions and Purposes of Storytelling: Detective Stories in Anime” (Georgetown University Press, 2010)

“Bringing learners’ perspectives into assessments: Self and peer Assessments in a Blog project” in the AATJ Special Issue of Japanese Language and Literature: Japanese Pedagogy  (co-author, AATJ, 2008)

“Danwa ni okeru jootai no kinoo nitsuite[On discourse functions of da detached style in Japanese]” (Kuroshio Press, 2007)

“Developing Learners’ Communication Skills through Story-Writing in Japanese Language Teaching” (co-author, Princeton University, 2007)

Genkokyoiku no Shintenkai [New Perspectives on Language Teaching]  (co-editor, Hitsuji-shobo, 2005)

Yuan-Yuan Meng

Yuan-Yuan Meng

Senior Lecturer in Chinese

Office: 615 Kent Hall
Office Hours: R 3:00-5:00
Phone: (212)854-0660
Email: ym11@columbia.edu

Educational Background

EdM: Applied Linguistics, Teachers College, Columbia University
MA: TESOL, Teachers College, Columbia University
BA: Education, with a minor in English, National Taiwan Normal University

Classes Taught

UN1101-UN1102 First-year Chinese N I & II
UN1111-UN1112 First-year Chinese W I & II
UN2201-UN2202 Second-year Chinese N I & II
UN2221-UN2222 Second-year Chinese W I & II
CHNS GU4015-GU4016 Fourth Year Chinese I & II
CHNS GU4014-GU4015 Media Chinese I & II

Research Interests

Formulaic Language
Formative Assessment
Second Language Reading, Writing, and Vocabulary Acquisition
Stylistic Features of Chinese Journalistic Language

Yuan-Yuan Meng is Senior Lecturer in Chinese. She is also a certified tester for the Chinese Oral Proficiency Interview by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Her research interests include formulaic language, formative assessment, second language reading, writing, and vocabulary acquisition, and stylistic features of Chinese journalistic language. Her most recent publications include “Written Corrective Feedback: A Review of Studies Since Truscott 1996,” “A curious Lexicographic Relic of the Cultural Revolution (co-authored with David Branner), and “A dynamic view on morphosyntactic accuracy and complexity in dyadic interaction.” She is currently completing a book manuscript, tentatively titled: A dictionary of Chinese idioms.

Publications

Meng, Y. (2019). A dynamic view on morphosyntactic accuracy and complexity in dyadic interaction. In Z.-H. Han (ed.), Profiling learner language as a dynamic system (pp. 17-47). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.          “Written Corrective Feedback: A Review of Studies Since Truscott 1996″ (Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL & Applied Linguistics, 2013)
“A Curious Lexicographic Relic of the Cultural Revolution” (The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2013; co-author)
“Syntactic yoga in Chinese-English lexicography” (Zhōnghuá zìdiǎnyánjiū, 2010; co-author)
Book Chapter David and Helen in China: An intermediate course in modern Chinese (Yale University Press, 1999; co-author)