Masako Hirotani, a leading expert in psycho-linguistics, will be researching in Germany (Photo: Seon Park)
 
 
Masako Hirotani, an assistant professor of linguistics and cognitive science at Carleton, has been appointed to a three-year term at the prestigious Max Planck Society in Germany, conducting research in the way the brain interprets language.   
 
Hirotani will be working in the department of neuropsychology at the society’s Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and it’s a move that has her and Carleton’s School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies (SLaLS) very excited.
 
“I’m very happy to work with the institute,” said Hirotani. “It’s going to be a great collaboration, and I hope that it will continue.”
 
Hirotani’s methods of research will include using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to look at brain activity associated with language processing. She will also examine brain waves to determine how people use speech cues like pauses and changes in pitch and how the brain responds to such cues.
 
Hirotani said that linguistics is important in general because it helps us to understand who we are as a species. 
 
“Language is something that is unique to human beings,” she said. “So I think it’s important to study it because it’s really a part of us.”
 
Randall Gess, director of SLaLS, said Hirotani’s research is “at the cutting edge of her field in psycho-linguistic processing.” 
 
Assistant professor of linguistics Ida Toivonen, who will teach a course titled The Mysteries of Language with Hirotani this winter, said that she wasn’t surprised about Hirotani’s appointment because “she is very dedicated to her research.”
 
The timing of Hirotani’s appointment to the Max Planck Society coincides with SLaLS celebrating its 40th anniversary.
 
Gess said he thinks this is a sign of renewal for SLaLS.
 
“All departments go through rejuvenation periods,” Gess said. “Almost all of the people who work in the tradition of [linguist] Noam Chomsky are new here since 2004 . . . so I think that aspect of the school is in a period of renewal.”