Keiko Rose Nakajima

Senior Lecturer in Japanese; Japanese Language Program Coordinator

Dr. Nakajima did her undergraduate study both at Nihon University in Tokyo Japan and University of Oregon where she received her B.A. degree in International Studies.  She received an MA and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction specializing in TESOL from University of Mississippi.  After teaching various levels of Japanese courses for two years at University of Mississippi, she joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2002.  Her research interests are second language acquisition, cross-cultural communication and pragmatics.  Aside from her teaching, she founded the Tennessee Area Japanese Speech contest in 2008 for university students who study Japanese at any university in the TN area.  Every year, about eight universities participate in this contest.  As a hobby, Dr. Nakajima enjoys playing the Japanese traditional musical instrument called “koto.”   

 Courses taught:

JAPN 1011-1012  Basic Japanese I & II

JAPN 1101-1102  Elementary Japanese I & II

JAPN 2201-2202  Intermediate Japanese I & II

JAPN 3301-3302  Advanced Japanese I & II

JAPN 3891-3892  Fourth year Japanese I & II

JAPN 3851 Independent Study