Harumi Yamaji earned her Ph.D. in East Asian Studies with a specialization in Japanese Linguistics from the University of Arizona. She also holds an M.A. in Japanese Language/Pedagogy from the University of Oregon. Her research interests include discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and language pedagogy. She has taught various levels of Japanese at colleges and universities both in Japan and the United States. In her classes, students are encouraged to be active participants in learning useful Japanese communication skills. Lakeland College regularly offers four courses in the Japanese language and assists students in need of additional practice through tutoring sessions.