Miyabi Ozawa, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Japanese
Contact
Department of Languages
Office: 510 Strode Tower
Email: mozawa@clemson.edu
Education
Ph.D in Japanese linguistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2024); M.A. in Linguistics, University of Colorado-Boulder (2019); M.A. in English, Japan Women's University (2015)
Courses
Language and Culture, Language in Japanese Society, Selected Topics in Japanese Culture (Introduction to Japanese Linguistics), Japanese Conversation & Composition, Japanese for International Business
Research Interests
Japanese linguistics, Conversation Analysis, discourse analysis, usage-based approaches, corpus linguistics
Miyabi Ozawa is an Assistant Professor of Japanese in the Department of Languages at Clemson University. Her research interests lie in the study of actual language use among genres and modes of discourse, as well as its application to language education. Her current research foci include the use of first-person singular pronouns and wh-question words in Japanese. She also conducts research on Chatbot pragmatics by comparing it with human-human interactions. Before coming to Clemson, Miyabi taught at universities in Japan including Ochanomizu University, Rikkyo University, and Senshu University.
Selected Professional Works
Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Published)
Ozawa, M. (2025). Dynamic Occurrence of Overt First-Person Singular Pronouns in Japanese Naturally Occurring Conversation: In the Sequence Involving “Assertions”. In H. Tanaka, K. Hata, E. Yoshida, & M. Yamaguchi (eds.), Dynamic Pragmatics 4 (pp.102–115). Tokyo: Kaitakusha.
Ozawa, M. (2023). The Use of Overt First-Person Singular Pronouns in Opinion-Negotiation Sequence in Japanese Conversation. Studies in English and American Literature 58, Japan Women’s University. 49-76.
Ozawa, M. (2018). Co-Constructing Gender Binaries in a Japanese Interaction. SALSA XXVI Proceedings 61.
Ozawa, M. (2017). An Analysis of the Use of the First-Person Pronoun in Japanese and English Interaction. JELS 34. 278-284.
Conference Presentations (Delivered)
Ozawa, M. (2026). “Self-initiated my-case tellings with first-person singular pronouns in Japanese talk-in-interaction.” American Association for Applied Linguistics, Chicago IL.
Ozawa, M. (2026). “dooshite, naze, and nande: The use of why-questions in Japanese.” Association for Asian Studies, Vancouver. (Panel contribution for “Corpus-based approaches to Japanese language teaching: What we do is not what we think we do” organized by Michiko Kaneyasu)
Ozawa, M. (2025). “A comparative study of human-human interactions and human-ChatGPT interactions in Japanese.” International Pragmatics Association 19th International Pragmatics Conference, Brisbane.
Ozawa, M. (2024). “Use of the First-Person Singular Pronouns in Japanese Conversations and Essays.” International Conference on Japanese Language Education, Madison WI.
Ozawa, M. (2023). “Practices of Using the Overt First-Person Singular Pronouns in Japanese Conversation: The Case of Displaying Disaffiliative Stance to Assertions.” International Pragmatics Association 18th International Pragmatics Conference, Brussels. (Panel contribution for “Referential Practices in Action: A Usage-Based Perspective on Canonical and Non-Canonical Uses of Pronouns Referring to Persons” organized by Jens Lanwer, Wolfgang Imo, Evelyn Ziegler, and Melitta Gillmann)
