Tomoko Takahashi
Tomoko Takahashi, PhD, EdD, LHD
Tomoko Takahashi joined Soka University of America (SUA), Calabasas in 1992. In February 1994, she was appointed as the university’s first Dean of the Graduate School to direct the Master of Arts degree program in Second and Foreign Language Education. In 2001, she was appointed as SUA’s first Provost to serve as the university’s Chief Academic Officer (CAO), overseeing both the graduate and undergraduate academic programs (2001–2014). She currently serves as the Vice President for Institutional Research and Assessment as well as the Dean of the Graduate School.
In 2015, Takahashi was elected to the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC). As SUA’s Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) since 2001 and a frequent visiting committee member since 2008, and as a WSCUC Commissioner (2015–2021), she has gained valuable experience with and made a significant contribution to the accrediting commission.
Takahashi received her BA in English magna cum laude from Albertus Magnus College. She subsequently entered Columbia University for graduate studies, earning a doctorate in applied linguistics. She continued her post-doctoral research at Columbia while teaching applied linguistics and training graduate-level students to become language teachers. She later received another doctorate in translation studies from Monash University in Australia.
Takahashi has published more than twenty books, including scholarly books in English and Japanese on language learning, cross-cultural communication, and lexico-semantics; fifteen textbooks for Japanese learners of English, eight of which have been translated into Chinese and Korean; and Japanese translations of Rosa Parks: My Story, Quiet Strength, and Dear Mrs. Parks. Her research interests include second language acquisition, particularly lexico-semantic transfer and pragmatic transfer, cross-cultural communication, and translation theory. Her research has been widely published and cited in scholarly journals and books in applied linguistics. She has also published numerous articles in magazines and journals for English learners in Japan as well as for the general readership.
Takahashi’s memoir, Samurai and Cotton: A Story of Two Life Journeys in Japan and America, published in November 2011, was named the Winner in the Autobiography category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. It was also honored as an Award-Winning Finalist in the Autobiography/Memoir category of the 2012 International Book Awards. Among many other awards and honors, Takahashi received a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa from Albertus Magnus College in 2006.
An active volunteer, Takahashi has donated her time and expertise to local, regional, and international communities – e.g., as a member of the Board of Trustees of Albertus Magnus College (1996–2017); as an accreditation commissioner (2015–2021); as a visiting committee member, assistant chair, and chair to review degree-granting institutions for WSCUC accreditation (2008–present) and state approval by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (2001–2006); as a member of the steering committee on the annual “Pathways to Freedom” program sponsored by the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development (1995–2000); and as a supporter of several non-profit organizations.
- PhD, Monash University, Australia
- EdD, EdM, MA, Columbia University
- BA magna cum laude, Albertus Magnus College
- Senior Capstone
- Independent Study (e.g., Translation Studies, SLA & TESOL)
- MA Theses in Educational Leadership and Societal Change
- MA Theses in Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (TJFL)
- MA Theses in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
- TESOL Methods and Materials
- Practicum in ESL
- Sociolinguistics
- Language Acquisition
- Introduction to Linguistics
- Global citizenship education
- Study abroad
- Multi-cultural education
- Translation theory
- Second language acquisition
- Cognitive semantics
- Interlanguage pragmatics
- Cross-cultural communication
Selected (Most Recent) Refereed Journal Articles (undergraduate student co-authors indicated with an asterisk):
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2023b. “The Self-translator’s [In]Visibility: Domestication, Foreignization, and More.” The Journal of Translation and Language Studies, 4(1): 23–37.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2022a. “Self-back-translation by Haruki Murakami: A Self-translator’s Perspective.” The Journal of Translation and Language Studies, 3(2): 1-15.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2021. “Wronged Translators in US-Japan Politics.” Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, 8(2): 99-116.
- Aoyama, Tatsuya,* & Tomoko Takahashi. 2020. “International Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English as a Second Language: The Effects of L2 Self-Confidence, Acculturation, and Motivational Types.” The Journal of International Students, 10(3): 703-723.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2020a. “Self-translation as Translation of the Self – Translating the Hybrid Self.” Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies, 7(1): 23-38.
- Kishino, Hinako,* & Tomoko Takahashi. 2019. “Global Citizenship Development: Effects of Study Abroad and Other Factors.” The Journal of International Students, 9(2): 1549–1576.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2019b. “Autobiographical Self-translation – Translator as the Author, Narrator, and Protagonist.” The Translator, 25(2): 118-129.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2019a. “Why Self-translate? – An Autobiographical Author-translator’s Perspective.” Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, 27(6): 861-874.
- Motobayashi, Saori,* & Tomoko Takahashi. 2019. “Changes in Japanese ESL Speakers’ Identities and in Their Attitudes Toward Speaking English.” The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 9(1): 28-50.
- Wu, Hao-Che,* & Tomoko Takahashi. 2016. “Developmental Patterns of Interlanguage Pragmatics in Taiwanese EFL Learners: Compliments and Compliment Responses.” The Asian EFL Journal, 18(1): 130-165.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2014. “Lost and Found in Poetic Translation – A Transnational Experience.” The AALITRA Review, 8: 22-32.
Selected (Most Recent) Books, Textbooks, and Book Chapters:
- Ulin-O’Keefe, David,* & Tomoko Takahashi. 2023. “Many Hats, One Goal: How Language Teachers Impact Refugee Students Beyond Language Instruction.” In S. Karpava (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Language Teacher Identity. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2023a. Zoku Samurai to Wata: Sabaku no Kosumosu [Samurai and Cotton (Part 2) — Cosmos in the Desert]. Hyogo, Japan: Gakujutsu Kenkyu Shuppan.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2022b. “Lost and Found in Humour Self-translation: Difficulty to Realization, Distance to Re-creation.” In M. Dore (Ed.), Humour in Self-translation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2020b. “Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and School Leadership in Action.” In R. Papa (Ed.), Oxford Encyclopedia of Educational Administration. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2017b. Aite to Bamen de Tsukaiwakeru Eigo Hyōgen Handobukku [English Expression Handbook: Choosing the Right Phrase for the Occasion]. Tokyo, Japan: ALC Press.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2017a. Ningen Kankei o Tsukuru Eikaiwa [English for Better Interpersonal Relations]. Tokyo, Japan: CosmoPier Publishing Co.
- Takahashi, Tomoko, & Nanaho Hanada. 2016. Denwa Eikaiwa Marugoto Furēzu [Essential English Phrases for Telephone Conversation].Tokyo, Japan: ALC Press.
- Takahashi, Tomoko, & Tamotsu Fujita. 2016. Ryokō Eikaiwa Marugoto Furēzu [Essential English Phrases for Travelers]. Tokyo, Japan: ALC Press.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2011. Samurai and Cotton: A Story of Two Life Journeys in Japan and America. Indianapolis, IN: iUniverse.
- Takahashi, Tomoko. 2010. Samurai to Wata, Nihon to Amerika [Samurai and Cotton — Japan and America]. Osaka, Japan: Fueisha.
Translation Works (Books)
- Takahashi, Tomoko, trans. 2021. Rōza Pākusu Jiden [Rosa Parks: My Story] by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins. Tokyo: Ushio Shuppansha Co. (Revised Pocket Edition and eBook)
- Takahashi, Tomoko, trans. 1999. Rōza Pākusu Jiden [Rosa Parks: My Story] by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins. Tokyo: Ushio Shuppansha Co. (Revised Edition)
- Takahashi, Tomoko, trans. 1998. Rōza Pākusu-no Seishun Taiwa [Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today’s Youth] by Rosa Parks and Gregory J. Reed. Tokyo: Ushio Shuppansha Co.
- Takahashi, Tomoko, trans. 1996. Yūki to Kibō: Rōza Pākusu-no Kotoba [Quiet Strength] by Rosa Parks and Gregory J. Reed. Tokyo: Simul Press.
- Takahashi, Tomoko, trans. 1994. Rōza Pākusu Jiden [Rosa Parks: My Story] by Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins. Tokyo: Simul Press.
Find more information about Dr. Takahashi’s publications on the Library Guide page.
- Soka University of America Merit Award (2022)
- Elected to the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) (2015)
- Winner in the Autobiography category, Next Generation Indie Book Awards (2012)
- Finalist in the Autobiography/Memoir category, International Book Awards (2012)
- Grace Dodge Society, Teachers College, Columbia University (2008)
- Daisaku Ikeda Medal (2007)
- Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD) Honoris Causa, Albertus Magnus College (2006)
- Honorary Pallbearer, funeral service for Rosa Parks (2005)
- Soka University Award of Honor (2002)
- Alumni of the Year Award, Albertus Magnus College (2002)
- Soka University of America Award of Honor (1999)
- Soka Gakuen Award of Honor (1996)
- Elected to the Board of Trustees, Albertus Magnus College (1996)
- Who’s Who in the World (14th Edition)
- Who’s Who in American Education (3rd, 4th, & 5th Editions)
- Who’s Who of American Women (17th Edition)
- International Who’s Who in Education (3rd & 4th Editions)
- Culture Award of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (1987)
- Kappa Delta Pi – honor society in education (1981)
- Magna Cum Laude, Albertus Magnus College (1977)