Towards the end of the second year of study, students in the Department of International English listen to short teacher talks about seminar class themes. Students then choose which seminar group they would like to join for their Academic Research study in the third and fourth year. Each teacher has a different area of study they offer to students, and each teacher has their own unique way to run the Academic Research classes. HU and MI were interested in society and language, so they chose the sociolinguistics seminar, which is conducted in English.
（3年生になると、「アカデミック・リサーチ」と呼ばれる通称「ゼミ」で卒業論文のための活動を行います。「大学のゼミって何？」と疑問に思う人も多いと思いますが、今回は、国際英語学科のゼミの様子をのぞいてみたいと思います。）

Each week the students meet with the tutor - in this case in the teacher's office. During the first semester of the third year, students studied a different theme each week, and we held discussions (in English of course), asked questions, and found out further information. Students also had to make presentations on themes of their choice.
（社会と言語の関係に興味を持ったHUさんとMIさんが所属するゼミは、教員の研究室で授業を行います。3年前期に様々なトピックについて学び、ディスカッションやプレゼンテーションを行い（もちろん英語で！）、知識を深めます。）

MI and HU discussing a theme during class in the teacher's office

In the second semester of the third year, students chose a theme to work on in detail. They started to read in depth, collect resource materials, and put ideas into a plan. They also discussed their plans with the teacher and the other student. It is a very collaborative experience. HU is a singer in a band and writes song lyrics, so she is very interested in language - particularly how indirect language is used in song lyrics. She believes "indirectness is one of the important parts of communication and creativity", so she decided to study all about creativity in the lyrics of Ozaki Sekaikan. MI is also very interested in music, particularly K-pop. She regularly looks at K-pop bands' social media pages and noticed just how much English is used in the K-pop world. She told us she is "interested in the relationship between English and K-pop, so she decided to study all about it.
（後期には、いよいよ卒業論文のテーマ設定に向け、資料を読み、計画を立てます。教員はもちろん、クラスメイトとも考えを共有しながら、協働的に取り組みます。HUさんは、尾崎世界観の歌詞に見られる間接的な表現に興味を持っています。バンドでボーカルをつとめるHUさん曰く、遠回し表現はコミュニケーションと独創性にとって重要なのだそうです。K-POP好きのMIさんは、K-POPバンドが発信するSNSで使われる英語に注目しています。）

HU and MI hard at work on the early stages of their graduation thesis

Both students have just started their focused study, but they have already made a draft plan for writing their graduation thesis. They are reading a lot, and getting to know the techniques required for research. They have just started writing the beginning of their thesis in English. Good luck to them!
（2人の学生はそれぞれのテーマに合わせて計画を練り、資料を読みながらリサーチ力を高めているところです。英語での卒業論文の執筆、うまくいきますように！）

It has been great to work closely with HU and MI for the last year. Each week we make a pot of tea, relax, and study hard.  As their tutor, I am delighted they have found themes they are really interested in, and I am really looking forward to working with them each week for the next year. I think they will learn a lot during the next year, and so will I.
（毎週の授業では、時に紅茶を飲んでリラックスしながら、集中して卒業研究に取り組んでいます。自分だけの卒論のテーマを見つけた2人のこれからの研究と成長はもちろん、教員も学生たちと一緒に学んでいくことが楽しみです。）