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Mieko Sperbeck, Ph.D.

Contact

Adelphi University

Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Alumnae Hall, Room 112

Garden City, New York 11530

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Department of Modern Languages and Literature

524 West 59th Street, Room 7.66

New York, NY 10019

Research Interests

• Cross-linguistic speech perception and production

• Japanese linguistics

• Second language acquisition

• Second language pedagogy

• Speech-training for second language learners

Education

• Ph.D.       City University of New York, the Graduate Center, New York.

• M.Phil.   City University of New York, the Graduate Center, New York.

• B.A.          Temple University, Philadelphia.

Research Experience

• Research Assistant at Speech Acoustic and Perception Lab (directed by Dr. Winifred Strange) of CUNY, the Graduate Center.

Teaching Experience

• Adelphi University - Adjunct Professor, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (August 2010 - present)

• John Jay College of Criminal Justice  -  Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literature (August 2013 - present)

Courses taught

• Descriptive and Historic Linguistics

• Elementary Japanese Level I (Level 1)

• Elementary Japanese Level II (Level 2)

• Intermediate Japanese Level I (Level 3)

• Intermediate Japanese Level II (Level 4)

Grants and Fellowships

• Research Foundation CUNY Travel Grant (2024)

• CUNY Adjunct Professional Development Grant (2023)

• Institute for Language Education in Transcultural Context Grant (2016-2017)

• The Sue Rosenberg Zalk Student Travel and Research Grant (2008, 2009, 2010).

• CUNY Doctoral Student Research Grant (2008-2009).

Publications and Presentations:

• Saito, K. and Sperbeck, M. (accepted to be presented on May 11, 2024).  Reassessment of Course Design: Practical Strategies for Three Modes of Communication.  Virtual presentation at The 37th Annual Japanese Language Teachers' Association of New England (JLTANE) Conference.  Wesleyan University, CT.  

• Saito, K., Sperbeck, M., & Wallestad, C. (accepted to be presented on May 6, 2024). Navigating the Realm of Bridging Language Education through Task-Based Virtual Exchange in Novice Japanese Language Course Design. Poster presentation at the 30th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

• Saito, K. and Sperbeck, M. (2024). Empowering Educators: Strategies for Effective GenAI Integration in the Language Classroom and Reskilling Initiatives. Boston Area Pedagogy Conference: An Inter-Institutional Interdisciplinary Dialogue on the Teaching of Languages and Culture. Northeastern University. Boston, Massachusetts.

• Sperbeck, M. and Saito, K. (2024) From Readers to Authors: Fostering Language Proficiency Through Original Book Projects.  Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA)’s 55th Annual Convention. Boston, Massachusetts.

•  Saito, K. and Sperbeck, M. (2023). Unleashing Potential: the GenAI and the Future of Language Learning. The 22nd Annual CUNY IT Conference. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, New York. 

• Saito, K. and Sperbeck, M. (2023). We Authors for Second Language Writing - Student Tadoku Project. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Conference, Chicago, Illinois.

• McPherson, N., Saito, K., Sperbeck, M., & Takahashi, A. (2023).  Exploring the Benefits of "Tiny Tadoku": Practical Insights from Seven Schools across the Northeastern United States.  Virtual presentation at The 36th Annual Japanese Language Teachers' Association of New England (JLTANE) Conference.  Trinity College, Hartford, CT.  

•  Sperbeck, M. and Saito, K. (2023). Standard-based course design aimed at improving proficiency starting from beginners: A case study of using open educational resources ‘ We Authors'.  The 29th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

• Sperbeck, M. (2021). Practical Report on Using the Movie 'An' in Elementary Japanese Class: Discourse on Discrimination. Pre-recorded presentation at the 27th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

• Nagano, T., Sperbeck, M., Mizoguchi, A., & Choi, J. (2018). Phonological Advantages of Heritage Learners of Japanese. Poster presentation at the 24th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

• Nagano, T., Mizoguchi, A., Sperbeck, M., & Choi, J. (2017). Phonological Advantages of Heritage Learners of Japanese. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Conference, Nashville, Tennessee.

• Sperbeck, M (2015). Phonological characteristics of Japanese loanwords. The Graphic Novel Club Meeting at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY. April 22, 2015.

• Sperbeck, M. (2012). An acoustic analysis of consonant clusters by Japanese speakers. NYS TESOL The 33rd Annual Applied Linguistics Winter Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, NY

• Sperbeck, M. (2011).  The production and perception of English consonant sequences by Japanese-speaking learners of English. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 9: Issue 1, pp. 06005.  

• Sperbeck, M. & Strange, W. (2010). The production and perception of English consonant sequences by Japanese-speaking learners of English. The 159th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Baltimore, Maryland.

• Sperbeck, M. & Strange, W. (2010). The perception of complex onsets in English: universal markedness?    University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 16: Issue 1, Article 22.

• Sperbeck, M. (2009). Perception of complex word-initial onsets in English by native speakers of Japanese. The 157th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Portland, Oregon.

• Sperbeck, M. & Strange, W. (2009). The perception of complex onsets in English: universal markedness? The 33rd Penn Linguistics Colloquium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Sperbeck, M. & Strange, W. (2008). An Epenthetic Vowel between consonantal clusters in perception and production by Japanese learners of English. The 156th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Miami, Florida.

• Sperbeck, M. (2008). Perceptual illusion: the case of vowel epenthesis and deletion in English. Showcasing Quirky and Unusual Ideas in Development (SQUID 2008) Conference, CUNY Graduate Center, NY.

• Ito, K., Law, F. II, Sperbeck, M., Berkowitz, S., Gilichinskaya, Y. D., Monteleone, M., & Strange, W. (2007). Speeded discrimination of American vowels by experienced Japanese late L2 learners. The 153rd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Salt Lake City, Utah

• Law, F. II, Gilichinskaya, Y. D., Ito, K., Hisagi, M., Berkowitz, S., Strange, W., Sperbeck, M., & Monteleone, M. (2006). Temporal and spectral variability of vowels within and across languages with small vowel inventories: Russian, Japanese, & Spanish. The 4th Joint Meeting Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan, Hawaii, USA

• Adams, K., Beller, Y., Monteleone, M., & Sperbeck, M. (2006). For the Sake of "Sake": The Mechanisms of Loanword Adaptation. Showcasing Quirky and Unusual Ideas in Development (SQUID 2006) Conference, CUNY Graduate Center, NY

• Sperbeck, M., Strange, W., Hisagi, M., & Nishi, K. (2005). Training Japanese L2 learners to perceive difficult American vowel contrasts. The 149th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

• Sperbeck, M. N., Strange, W., Hisagi, M., Nishi, K., & Ito, K. (2005). Effects of training on Japanese listeners’ perception of American English vowels. NYS TESOL The 27th Annual Applied Linguistics Winter 2005 Conference, Borough of Manhattan Community College, NY