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This is a project that my friend Maria and I have been working on for years. Maria takes artistic photos, and that is what she did when she took her first trip to Japan back in 2018. She could have published these photos as a regular collection as she had done with photos of her other trips, but I was honored to be invited to write essays to accompany her photos for this collection. What she wanted was not casual captions to describe or explain the photos; rather she wanted me to engage with her photos as a Proustian moment and tell my personal narrative based on my memories evoked by these pictures. At that time, I had been living in North America for more than 20 years, and Japan was more of a childhood memory. So writing these essays was a major undertaking, and it required me to research, prod my memory, talk to my family, and reflect on my relationship with Japan. So my recherche is also deeply personal, but my goal was to use my personal memory and reflections to offer insights into Japanese society and culture, while simultaneously providing the context for Maria’s pictures. I hope I was able to do justice to Maria’s beautiful pictures and enhance the reader’s appreciation of them.

The book is now available both in print and digital editions.

More information

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7th CUE SIG ESP Symposium

Register now and join us in Morioka on September 21, 2024

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2024 Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant

I am honored to be selected as a recipient of this year's Phi Kappa Phi's Literacy Grant. I am excited to have this chance to support the Grapesyard School in Kenya, which serves over 1000 students in the Korogocho slum. I had a chance to visit this school earlier this year, and I was both impressed and moved by the dedication of Director Edmond Opondo, who started this school from scratch in 1999 and has built it to the point that it can compete with government schools in terms of academic excellence, even though his students are clearly much more disadvantaged. The school was recently hit hard by flooding, and it is struggling to feed its students with the current recession and inflation. This grant certainly won't solve all the problems, but I am very happy to be able to do something to help their effort.

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Publications

Tachino, T. (May, 2024). Reflections after PanSIG: Thank you from CUE SIG for embracing technology while nurturing human connection. CUE SIG Newsletter. Tachino, T. (2024). Language instruction to change the world: Possibilities for action-oriented language instruction in your classroom. Learning Learning, 31(1), 9-14. https://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tachino.pdf Tachino, T. (2018). The Mobilizing knowledge: Reported speech and citation in public policy deliberations. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 15(3), 288–312. https://doi.org/10.1558/jalpp.21053 Tachino, T. (2017). Documenting knowledge mobilization: a quantitative analysis of citation and reported speech in a Canadian public inquiry. Text & Talk, 37(6), 735-757. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2017-0025 Tachino, T. (2016). Multiple intertextual threads and (un)likely uptakes: An analysis of a Canadian public inquiry. In M. J. Reiff & A. Bawarshi (Eds.), Genre and the performance of publics (pp. 178-98). Logan: Utah State University Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/187/edited_volume/chapter/1759826 Tachino, T. (2012). Theorizing uptake and knowledge mobilization: A case for intermediary genre. Written Communication, 29(4), 455-476. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0741088312457908 Tachino, T., & Russell, D. R. (2012, January). Analyzing GM Food Risk Arguments through an Online, Multi-media Case Study. In Between Scientists & Citizens: Proceedings of a Conference at Iowa State University, June 1-2, 2012 (pp. 379-392): Great Plains Society for the Study of Argumentation, Ames, IA. https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/6866ee96-6406-4179-9995-16946d24edb9 Russell, D. R., & Tachino, T. (2012). Reasoning from Scientific Information: How Do University Students Construct Policy Arguments in a Multimedia Online Case?. Intercompreensão: Revista de Didáctica das Línguas, 16, 23-65. Tachino, T. (2011). Book Review: “Academic Writing in a Global Context.” [Review of the book Academic writing in a global context by Theresa Lillis and Mary Jane Curry]. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 25(4), 492-495. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651911411044 Tachino, T. (2010). Genre, ideology, and knowledge in academic research and public policy. Linguagem em (Dis)curso, 10, 595-618. https://www.scielo.br/j/ld/a/cgtdkYT8pY59LjdwWWNVyDc/?lang=en Tachino, T. (2009). Book Review: “Rhetorical Genre Studies and Beyond.” [Review of the book Rhetorical genre studies and beyond, by N. Artemeva & A. Freedman]. Inkshed 25(2), 14-19. Tachino, T. (2005). Book Review: Conversations about Writing: Eavesdropping, inkshedding, and joining in. [Review of the book Conversations about writing: Eavesdropping, inkshedding, and joining in by M. E. Sargent & C. C. Paraskevas]. Inkshed 22(2), 10-13. https://casdw-acr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/inkshednewsletter22-2-2005-summer.pdf Tachino, T. (2005). Book Review: “The Rhetoric of Risk: Technical documentation in hazardous environments.” [Review of the book The rhetoric of risk: technical documentation in hazardous environment by B. Sauer]. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 19(2), 219-222. Tachino, T. (2003). An academic strikes back: Transgressing the genre of bureaucracy. Inkshed 20(3), 1-6. https://casdw-acr.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/inkshednewsletter20-3-2003-autumn.pdf

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Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing/Association Canadienne de Rédactologie

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2024 ESP Symposium Hosted by CUE SIG and the Iwate-Aomori Chapter

This year marks the 7th biennial College and University Educators (CUE) event uniting  researchers and practitioners who are involved in tertiary education in Japan. This all-poster event focuses on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which encompasses teaching English for any specific profession or academic discipline, including business, medicine, nursing, law, among many others.

Also Read -

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Tosh Tachino Shares Tips for Crafting a Powerful Speech

Join us as we dive into the art of speech writing with Tosh Tachino, a seasoned writing coach and expert in rhetoric. With over 20 years of experience, Tosh shares practical tips for crafting speeches that captivate and inspire. Learn how to structure your speech, choose impactful words, and engage your audience effectively. Discover the power of storytelling and rhetorical techniques to leave a lasting impression. Tune in and elevate your speech writing skills with Tosh Tachino’s expert advice!

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Tosh Tachino’s Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Powerful Speeches

Unlock the secrets to crafting unforgettable speeches with Tosh Tachino expert guide! Join us as we dive into audience connection, powerful language, and personal storytelling to make your speeches shine. Perfect for writers, speakers, and anyone looking to inspire. Tune in now!

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Tosh Tachino's Top Techniques for Overcoming Writer's Block

By Tosh Tachino, Ph.D.

Academic writing can often feel like a daunting endeavor, especially for those transitioning from school writing to scholarly writing. Unlike school essays, academic publications demand a different approach, one that is reader-centered and contributes meaningfully to the field. Here are some practical tips for aspiring scholarly writers.

Understand Your Audience

In school writing, your audience is typically your instructor, who is obligated to read your work to assess your knowledge and knows your topic more than you do. In contrast, the audience of scholarly writing is other scholars who are not obligated to read your work. Their motive is to obtain relevant information they don’t know for their purposes. So your writing must contain useful information for them and serve their purposes.The point of scholarly writing is not to impress your reader with your knowledge (to get an “A”) but to provide useful information that advances the field.

Shift Your Focus

Moving from school writing to scholarly writing involves several key shifts:

From Writer-Centered to Reader-Centered: It is no longer about your learning. Focus on how to be useful to your readers.

From Synthesizing to Creating Knowledge: You are no longer just reading other people’s research and summarizing for an academic exercise. You are now producing your own new knowledge that relates to other people’s research.

From an Observer to a Participant: The work cited is no longer a list of random names. They are now people you actually speak with, and they will talk back to you.

Emphasize the news value of your research. What is new and non-trivial about your findings? How does your work advance scholarly conversations?

Become Familiar with Your Field

To make a significant contribution, you need to:

Know the Current Conversation: Stay updated with the latest research and discussions in your field.

Identify Knowledge Gaps: Know what people in the field want to know but don’t yet know.

Make Timely Contributions: Certain topics have been discussed to death already. Make sure your research addresses these gaps and contributes to the present scholarly debates.

Regularly read key journals and attend conferences to stay informed about current trends and gaps in your field.

Use Textual Features Meaningfully

Student papers and scholarly papers share many textual features. But the meaning of these textual features are different in scholarly writing.

Organization & Formatting: They are no longer about arbitrary requirements. The expected organization and formatting in the field help readers find information easily without reading the entire article.

Jargon: They allow you to be precise and concise.

Boosters & Hedges: They are not about your personal confidence, but they allow you to manage nuanced knowledge claims.

Citations: Who you cite and how you cite tell a lot about who you are as a scholar, including your theoretical allegiance, your relationship with other scholars, and your position within the field.

Reflect on these familiar features and know why you are using these textual features the way you are using.

Final Remarks

Transitioning to scholarly writing requires a shift in mindset and approach. By focusing on your readers, engaging with current scholarly conversations, and using the textual features reflexively, you can write an academic article that makes a meaningful contribution to your field.

Best of luck with your academic writing endeavors!

About the Author:

Tosh Tachino is a university lecturer and a language and communication consultant. He has taught and tutored many students and clients of all levels to achieve their goals in academic English. His previous work appeared in Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, Text & Talk, Written Communication, Inkshed, Winnipeg Free Press, among others.