Jae DiBello Takeuchi

Jae DiBello Takeuchi serves as Associate Professor of Japanese and Japanese Language Program Coordinator within the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University's Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. Her academic home is situated in the Global and International Studies Building on the Bloomington campus.

Dr. Takeuchi's research centers on Japanese sociolinguistics with particular focus on second language speakers' experiences in Japan. She examines how L2 speakers navigate Japanese speech styles including dialects and keigo (honorifics) across various social contexts such as local communities, workplaces, and leisure activities. Her methodological approach combines qualitative analysis of interaction with ethnographic interviewing to investigate language ideologies, linguistic microaggression, and issues of speaker legitimacy. A core thread throughout her work addresses native speaker bias and monolingual bias in Japanese language communities.

Her publication record reveals consistent exploration of language ideologies and speaker legitimacy, with her 2023 book examining native speaker bias in Japan and her 2025 chapter analyzing monolingual bias regarding code-switching. These works demonstrate her scholarly commitment to understanding how linguistic diversity intersects with social acceptance and speaker identity in Japanese language contexts.

At Indiana University, Dr. Takeuchi teaches advanced Japanese language courses including Third-year Japanese I & II, Japanese Language and Society, and Business Japanese. Prior to her position at Indiana, she taught Japanese at Clemson University and directed the Languages and International Business program there.

Beyond traditional academic work, Dr. Takeuchi maintains an active intellectual presence through her Substack publication 'Small Talk,' where she critically engages with issues surrounding generative AI's impact on higher education and cognitive processes. Her recent commentary includes analyses of AI marketing tactics, linguistic implications of AI tools, and concerns about how AI might reshape thinking and learning processes in academic settings.