Dr Robyn Spence-Brown - Researcher Profile

Biography

Robyn Spence-Brown is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics and teaches and conducts research in the areas of Japanese language learning and applied linguistics more generally.  She is currently convenor of the Japanese Studies Program, Deputy Director of the Japanese Studies Centre and Chair of the Management and Advisory Committees of the Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education.

Robyn has a long-standing interest in the teaching of Japanese at the school level, and has served on various examination and curriculum development committees.

 

Research & Supervision Interests

Robyn's research interests are in the area of applied linguistics and include work on authenticity in language assessment, the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence of high school exchange students, the use of ICT in language education and the teaching of Japanese in Australia. In 2010 she completed (with Anne de Kretser) a major report on the Teaching of Japanese in Australian Schools, for the Asia Education Foundation and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Qualifications

PHD (APPLIED LINGUISTICS)

Institution: University of Melbourne

Year awarded: 2004

ARTS

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 1987

DIPLOMA IN EDUCATION

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 1981

ARTS (HONOURS)

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 1980

Publications

Books

Marriott, H.E., Moore, T.J., Spence-Brown, R.L. (eds), 2007, Learning Discourses and the Discourses of Learning, Monash University ePress, Clayton Vic Australia.

Book Chapters

Spence-Brown, R.L., 2009, An embedded problem: issues in the use of a pedagogic task for assessment, in Tasks and Criteria in Performance Assessment, eds Annie Brown and Kathryn Hill, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 75-89.

Pasfield-Neofitou, S.E., Morofushi, M., Spence-Brown, R.L., 2009, Jisshakai e no kakehashi, in Gakushuusha shutai no nihongo kyooiku - New Pedagogies for learner agency: Japanese Language Education Research and Practice in Australia, eds Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson, Coco Shuppan, Tokyo Japan, pp. 143-160.

Spence-Brown, R.L., 2007, Learner motivation and engagement in a pedagogic and assessment task: insights from activity theory, in Learning Discourses and the Discourses of Learning, eds Helen Marriott, Tim Moore and Robyn Spence-Brown, Monash University ePress, Clayton Vic Australia, pp. 12.1-12.15.

Spence-Brown, R.L., 2003, Learning from contact situations: individual differences in the framing of a performance activity, in Nihongo kyooiku to sesshoku bamen (Contact situations and Japanese Language Education), eds Shtoshi Miyazaki & Helen Marriott, Meiji Shoin, Tokyo Japan, pp. 271-290.

Spence-Brown, R., 1999, Oosutoraria, Meruborun no haisukuru de oshieru nihongo kyoshi no shokugyo networaku ni tsuite, in Nihongo kyoiku ni okeru kyojusha no kodo netwowaku ni kansuru chosa kenkyu, Nihongo kyoiku gakkai, Tokyo Japan, pp. 119-132.

Spence-Brown, R., 1998, The Real World and the Language Tester: Considerations of Authenticity and Interactiveness in the Design and Assessment of Language Tests, in Development of Spot (Simple Performance-Oriented Test) For the Purpose of Placing Japanese Language Students, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Japan, pp. 64-78.

Spence-Brown, R., 1998, The Usefulness of SPOT As A Placement Test For Intermediate and Advanced Learners with Japan Experience, in Development of SPOT For The Purpose of Placing Japanese Language Students, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Japan, pp. 79-87.

Journal Articles

Spence-Brown, R.L., Hagino, S., 2006, Japanese language education for young learners in Australia: the theory and practice of Japanese language education in primary and lower secondary schools, Nihongo Kyoiku: Journal of Japanese Language Teaching, vol 128, issue 128, Nihongo Kyoiku Gakkai: The Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language, Tokyo Japan, pp. 46-58.

Spence-Brown, R., 2001, The Symbiosis of Japanese Studies and Japanese Language Teaching: A Language Teaching Perspective, Japanese Studies, vol 21, issue 1, Carfax Publishing, Abingdon Axon UK, pp. 77-83.

Spence-Brown, R., 2001, The eye of the beholder: Authenticity in an embedded assessment task, Language Testing, vol 18, issue 4, Arnold Publishers, UK, pp. 463-481.

Spence-Brown, R.L., 2001, The eye of the beholder:authenticity in an embedded assessment task, Language Testing, vol 18, issue 4, Arnold Publishers, UK, pp. 463-481.

Spence-Brown, R.L., 2001, The symbiosis of Japanese studies and Japanese language teaching: a language teaching perspective, Japanese Studies, vol 21, issue 1, Routledge, UK, pp. 77-83.

Conference Proceedings

Mouer, R.E., Spence-Brown, R.L., 2004, Monash University, Directory of Japanese Studies in Australia and New Zealand, The Australia-Japan Research Centre, Canberra ACT Australia, pp. 82-87.

Teaching Commitment

Teaching and Learning Asian Languages (Postgraduate unit)

Second Language Acquisition (Postgraduate unit)

Japanese 1 and 2

 

Activities

Editorships of academic journals

Area Editor (Applied Linguistics)
Japanese Studies
Japanese Studies Association of Australia

Languages

• Japanese

Citizenship

• Australian citizen

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Feedback sessions on Senior Secondary Students' Writing of Japanese: Dyadic Development with a Peer and Tutor..

Supervisors:

Marriott, H (Joint), Spence-Brown, R (Joint-co).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Getting immersed in Chinese.

Supervisors:

Henderson, M (Joint), Spence-Brown, R (Joint-co).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Policy and implementation for the teaching of asian languages in australian primary schools - a case study of japanese in victoria.

Supervisors:

Marriott, H (Joint-co), Spence-Brown, R (Joint).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

The impact of study abroad on Japanese language learners' out-of-class interaction and Japanese-speaking networks.

Supervisors:

Spence-Brown, R (Main), Kurata, N (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Inaba, M.

Program of Study:

L2 literary practices of learners of Japanese outside the classroom. (PHD) 2011.

Supervisors:

Marriott, H (Main), Spence-Brown, R (Associate).

Student:

Kurata, N.

Program of Study:

Opportunities for second language learning and use in foreign language learners' social networks. (PHD) 2008.

Supervisors:

Marriott, H (Main), Spence-Brown ((Double Id)), R (Associate).

Student:

Nishita, M.

Program of Study:

Feedback and Co-construction in the Private Tutorial Context. (Masters) 2008.

Supervisors:

Spence-Brown ((Double Id)), R (Main), Hashimoto, H (Associate).

Student:

Pasfield-Neofitou, S.

Program of Study:

An analysis of L2 Japanese learners' social CMC with native speakers: interaction, language use and language learning. (PHD) 2010.

Supervisors:

Marriott, H (Main), Spence-Brown, R (Associate).

Student:

Sakurai, Y.

Program of Study:

Writing in Japanese as a Second Language: Composing on the computer and by pen-and-paper. (Masters) 2006.

Supervisors:

Spence-Brown ((Double Id)), R (Main).

Student:

Yoshida, R.

Program of Study:

Evaluations of Communicative Competence in Japanese by Learners and Native Speakers. (Masters) 2002.

Supervisors:

Spence-Brown ((Double Id)), R (Main).