Education

Biography

Dr. Xuexin Liu is a professor of Japanese in the Department of World Languages and Cultures (WLC). She earned her Ph.D. in Japanese Linguistics and Literature from Nara Women’s University and her M.A. in Language Education from Nara University of Education. Both of her graduate degrees were fully supported by the Japanese Government (Japanese Ministry of Education) Scholarships. She has taught Japanese at East China Normal University in Shanghai, China and has taught Chinese at Kinki University, Osaka, Japan. She has expertise in both Japanese and Chinese languages and cultures. Her research interests include the US-Japan and US-Asian cross-cultural relations and exchanges. She has received the Spelman College Presidential Faculty Award for Scholarly Achievement.

Dr. Xuexin Liu joined the WLC Department at Spelman College in 1995 and created the Japanese Language Program. She teaches the Japanese courses at all levels. The courses that she teaches satisfy the foreign language/culture requirements for the Japan/Asian Studies minors and for the International Studies.

Dr. Xuexin Liu directs the Spelman Summer Study Program in Japan. She also works for the Student Exchange Programs in Japan, the Japanese University Internship at the WLC Department, and Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. She is the faculty advisor of the Japan Club and organizes various Japanese cultural events on the Spelman campus. She is a recipient of the Spelman College Presidential Faculty Award for Scholarly Achievement. 

Courses Taught

Elementary Japanese (SFLJ 101 – 102)
Intermediate Japanese (SFLJ 201 – 202)
Advanced Japanese (SFLJ 303 – 304)
Advanced Japanese in Cultural Contexts (SFLJ 401 – 402)
Special Topics in Japanese Culture (SFLJ 378)
Introduction to Japan and China for Business and Travel (SFLJ & SFLC 200)
Independent Study (SFLJ 400)

Research Interests

Publications

Dr. Xuexin Liu has published two books, four book articles and numerous research papers on Japanese/Chinese language and culture. Her recent publications include the following: 

Books
"Harukanaru Tonkō he no Michi (The Long Old Road in China)," a historical novel on the Silk Road from West to East (Dunhuang) by Langdon Warner (1926),translated from English into Japanese with the translator’s supplementary historical documentation, pp. 1-232. Tokyo: The Dohseisha Publishing, 2014.

"Kodai nihongo no kenkyū: Shinzoku goi no kokugogaku teki kenkyū (Studies of Classical Japanese --- An Inquiry and Examination of the Vocabulary of Relatives in the Japanese National Language: Its Etymology and Semantics in Relation to the Borrowing of Chinese Characters into Japanese)," pp. 1-228. Tokyo: The Dohseisha Publishing, 1998.

Articles Published in Books
“Koshōno gengo shakaigaku teki kōsatsu (A Sociolinguistic Study of Japanese Addressing Forms)” in Masahiro Mogi (Ed.) Japan-China Exchange, pp. 622-633. Tokyo: The Dohseisha Publishing, 2007.

“Shinzoku o hōkatsu suru ‘ugara’ no gogun (The Lexical-semantic Group of ‘blood relation’ in Relation to Kinship: Their Notation and Meanings in the Nara Period)” in the kokuritsu kokugo kenkyūsho(Japanese National Language Research Institute) (Ed.) Collected Articles on The Japanese Language (Nihongogaku Ronsetsu), Vol. 38, Issue 3: Lexicology, pp. 121-132. Tokyo: The Ronsetsu Shiryo Hozonkai Press, 2001.

“Kodai nihongo no naka no ‘musume’ ‘jō’ ni tsuite (The Lexical Notation and Semantic Change of ‘daughters’ and ‘girls’ in Classical Japanese)” in Studies of the Japanese National Language Lexical History, Vol. 13, Issue 3: Lexicology, pp. 61-92. Osaka: The Izumi Shoin Publishing, 1992.

“Tsuma o imisuru goi ni tsuite (The Forms of Addressing ‘Wife’ and Their Semantic Implications and Social Functions)” in the kokuritsu kokugo kenkyūsho (Japanese National Language Research Institute) (Ed). Collected Articles on The Japanese Language (Nihongogaku  Ronsetsu), Vol. 26, Issue 4: Lexicology, pp. 469-474. Tokyo: The Ronsetsu Shiryo Hozunkai Press, 1990.

Articles Published in Refereed Journals

“Japanese and Chinese Lexical Borrowing as an Outcome of Language Contact and Influence” in Studies in Linguistics and Literature (SLL) Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 107-131.The Scholink, 2024.

Research paper recognized by the academic world:

The research findings of one of my published papers recognized by the academic world and published by both Semantic Scholar and Google Research on the worldwide internet.

“Japanese Simplification of Chinese Characters in Perspective”

“Japanese Linguistic Politeness as Speakers’ Rational Choice and Social Strategy” in "Studies in Linguistics and Literature" (SLL) Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 8-28. The Scholink, 2023.

“Composite Abstract Lexical Structure” (co-author Longxing Wei) in Studies in Linguistics and Literature (SLL) Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 81-93. The Scholink, 2021.

“Code-switching as a Bilingual Lexical Strategy” (co-author Longxing Wei) in Studies in Linguistics and Literature (SLL) Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 84-104. The Scholink, 2021.

“Japanese Adjective Conjugation Patterns and Sources of Difficulty” in Foreign Language Learning” in Studies in Linguistics and Literature (SLL) Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 83-99. The Scholink, 2020.

“Abstract Lexical Structure and Language Transfer in Second Language Learning” (co-author Longxing Wei) in International Journal of Language and Linguistics Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 1-12. The Center for Promoting Ideas, 2020.

“The Light Verb “Suru” in Japanese Lexical-Conceptual Structure and Sources of Leaning Difficulty” in Studies in Linguistics and Literature,Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 352-362. The Scholink, 2019.

“An Audio-Visual Integrated Approach to Japanese Language and Culture” inInternational Journal of Language and Linguistics.Vol. 6, No.1, pp. 1-7. The Center for Promoting Ideas, 2019.

“The Bilingual Lemma Activation Model as a Comparative Approach to Codeswitching" (co-author Longxing Wei) inStudies in Linguistics and Literature,Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 77-109. The Scholink, 2018.

“The Bilingual Mental Lexicon and Language Transfer in Second Language Learning” (co-author Longxing Wei) in International Journal of Language and Linguistics.Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 1-13. The Center for Promoting Ideas, 2017.

“Translation through Cultural Appreciation” in International Journal of Language and Linguistics.Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-8. The Center for Promoting Ideas, 2017.

“Language Transfer in Learning Japanese and Interlanguage Development” published in US-China Foreign Language.Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 236-244. The David Publishing Company, 2015.