Media&Language -Ikumi Waragai Lab.-

The Function of Religious Language in the Media -A Comparative Analysis of the Japanese, German and American Newspaper Coverage about the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami-

Person in Charge of the Project : Yukiko SatoThis study concentrates on the choice of expressions used in the media coverage and will attempt to analyze several aspects of this phenomenon in the area of cross cultural news coverage, where the basic topic of the news item will be reported in several different languages. This project investigates and compares the differences between the news contents reported in Japan, America and Germany focusing on the use and the function of religious language (Christian symbols, metaphors, figures and gestures) in the news coverage about the Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima catastrophe in Japan.

http://waragai.sfc.keio.ac.jp

Bringing Japanese Digital games to the West: An Analysis of Localization Practices and the Reception of their Outcomes

Person in Charge of the Project : Stefan BruecknerVideo Games are products of the linguistic and cultural context in which they are created. As such, publishing them outside of that context, requires them to undergo various changes, to adapt to linguistic and cultural differences. This research aims to clarify the different processes and practices of game development/design and localization that lead to publishing Japanese video games in Western (Northern American and European) markets. Furthermore, it aims to investigate how consumers receive and evaluate different localization practices. The results of this research could contribute to designing more efficient processes of Internationalization, more closely matched to consumer preferences.

http://waragai.sfc.keio.ac.jp

Learning Design Project

Person in Charge of the Project : Ikumi WaragaiOur learning environment has been changing rapidly from one based on paper to a digital one. Considering this situation, designing a variety of multi-media learning tools that fit an individual's own learning style has become increasingly important. Following the important question, how to design our learning environment, this project seeks to create a new educational environment, for formal and informal as well as lifelong learning. Though this project learning tools such as a word search program using German and English database, German language learning material using video data, a program to train pronunciation while checking the user's voice and muscle movement via Web and iPhone were created.

http://waragai.sfc.keio.ac.jp