معرفی
Chris Sheppard is a Professor at Waseda University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, School of Creative Science and Engineering. He holds concurrent appointments at the Faculty of International Research and Education across multiple graduate schools including the Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies and the Graduate School of Japanese Applied Linguistics. As a Concurrent Researcher at the Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering (2024-2026), he bridges engineering and language education disciplines.
His educational background includes a Ph.D. from the University of Auckland (2007), a Master's from Chiba University (1997), and dual Bachelor's degrees in Arts and Science from Victoria University of Wellington. His research focuses on Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, and Critical Thinking development within language education contexts.
Professor Sheppard's scholarly work demonstrates strong emphasis on phonological acquisition, particularly in Japanese learners of English, with significant contributions to understanding discrimination training for sound contrasts and vowel category formation. His research also explores task-based language teaching methodologies, critical thinking development across languages, and the impact of ability grouping in ESP contexts. His publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining how cognitive processes interact with language learning, particularly regarding perception, production, and critical evaluation skills.
He has led multiple significant research projects including 'The mechanism of the acquisition of rhythm at the lexical level' (2016-2019) and 'Understanding, measuring, and promoting crucial 21st century skills' (2015-2019), which produced 284 outputs including 60 academic papers. His teaching responsibilities include supervising Master's theses and conducting seminars in Applied Information Science, demonstrating his interdisciplinary approach connecting language education with information science.