Dr. Sachie Banks

Degrees

• Ph.D. Goldsmiths, University of London, UK (Foreign Language Education)
• M.Phil. Goldsmiths, University of London, UK (Foreign Language Education)
• B.A. Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan (Japanese Language Pedagogy, Japanese Literature)

Certificates

• Training Intercultural Competence (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)
• Teaching Japanese as a Foreign and Second Language (Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan)

Professional Employment

Research Interests

Dr. Banks's research focuses on the impact of culture on communication, cross-cultural adaptation and integration, and the use of Japanese literature and pop culture to foster cross-cultural awareness. She examines the culture shocks and sociocultural integration processes experienced by students studying abroad and develops educational support to enhance their interactions with local students. Her current primary interest is designing and evaluating Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) programs for American university students learning Japanese and Japanese university students engaged in global studies. She also integrates Japanese literary works and pop culture into her teaching to explore values, worldviews, traditions, and identities as conveyed through storytelling.

Professional & Community Affiliations

Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR) Japan

Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR) USA

American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)

The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT)

Chicago Futabakai Japanese School

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago

The Japan America Society of Chicago

Courses Taught

• Elementary Japanese (JAPN101, 102, 104)
• Japanese Literature in Translation (LITR245 Japanese Pop Culture, Contemporary Japan)

Club Activities Advised

• Japanese Culture Club
• Anime Club
• Badminton Club

Selected Publications

• Mori, S. & Banks, S. (2024). Effectiveness of continuing online language exchange in Japanese and English: Analysis on motivation for sustainable English learning. Aoyama Standard Journal, 19, 71-88.
• Mori, S., Suzumura-Smith, N. Banks, S. & Fujii, K. (2024). Interactive workshop on Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). International Conference on Japanese Language Education, Panel, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, August 2, 2024.
• Banks, S. & Mori, S. (2024). DEI in the English as a Lingua-Franca classroom: Challenges and hopes. Central States Conference, Minneapolis, March 14, 2024.
• Banks, S. & Mori, S. (2023). Autonomous learning in COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning): Analysis of an English writing project. Aoyama Journal of Academic Writing Research, 2, 39-50.
• Banks, S. & Matsuhashi, Y. (2019). When "real" intercultural learning is happening: Case of American study abroad students in Tokyo, IACCM-IÉSEG 2019 Conference Proceedings, 98-108.
• Banks, S. (2019). When English isn't working, what exactly isn't working? Ethnographic analysis into intercultural fieldtrip of American and Japanese university students, Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics: Taking Risks in Applied Linguistics, 4-6.
• Banks, S. & Matsuhashi, Y. (2019). Gaps in intercultural understanding during interactions: Insight analysis of Japanese and American university students, Journal of Intercultural Communication, 22, 73-84.