ANNOTATED. episode 03: Liv Peralta

Lydia Wiernik: Welcome to Annotated, the podcast of the Undergraduate Linguistics Association of Britain. I'm Lydia Wiernik, editor of JoULAB, and today I'll be speaking with Liv Peralta, whose paper To Align or Disalign? Navigating Japanese First Person Pronouns from the Classroom and Beyond was published in Volume 2, Issue 1 of the journal. Our mission at JoULAB is to provide these same publishing opportunities for many more students to come. We hope that the behind-the-scenes insight from our authors helps demystify the process and encourages listeners to get their work out there. LW: Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's such a pleasure to speak with you. If you could start by introducing yourself, past and present, so where you were when you had your paper published and where you are now. Liv Peralta: Yeah, thanks for having me, first of all. I'm currently an undergraduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and when I had my paper published, I was actually studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan. So I was there the whole academic year last year, and I wrote that paper spring semester of my third year undergrad, and then went to Japan from fall semester. So I was there while I was doing the whole review and edit process, and then I was still there when I got it published, and I just came back to Hawaii about a month ago, and I just started my last semester. LW: Were you still studying linguistics when you were in Japan, or were you studying Japanese? LP: I went there on a scholarship to fund my Japanese studies, so I had to study Japanese while I was there, and that was also the main reason why I wanted to go, to be immersed in that environment so that I could really acquire those language skills. But because, obviously, I'm a double major in linguistics and Japanese at University of Hawaii, so I really wanted to get involved in the linguistics community at my Japan university if I was able to. So I actually wasn't able to register for courses that were not Japanese language courses, because that was part of a, like a separate program, a separate department within that university, but I really wanted to get involved, so I actually looked up linguistics classes on my own, and I just showed up to one of the classes on the first day. I looked up the syllabus, the syllabi, and I found a course that I thought, it was content that I had already reviewed at University of Hawaii, so I thought, and it was taught in Japanese, so I thought if I did some content that I already knew, that language gap, that language barrier wouldn't be too much of a hurdle for me, it would be a good challenge. So I just showed up to that first class, and after that class, I went up to the professor, and I explained to him my situation, and he actually knew my university, I guess, within the linguistics world. He knew immediately University of Hawaii, and his face kind of lit up, and he instantly took me into his, like, linguistics community. He had, like, they call it seminars in Japan, but they're actually more like research groups, so he invited me to attend those. It was actually graduate level research groups throughout the following spring semester, and yeah, I got to listen to all the cool research that the graduate students were doing over there, and yeah, so I was really grateful to have that experience with that professor, and it allowed me to get involved in the linguistics community in Japan as well. LW: That sounds like so much fun, that's awesome. So had you had a paper published before JoULAB, or gone through a review process like this before? LP: Yeah, I actually did my, University of Hawaii has their own journal, but it is open to all types of work, not specifically academic research. Also more creative works as well, so it wasn't strictly, like, an academic research journal, and there were less, I would say because it was more open-ended and more for a general audience, the, like, requirements to get in weren't as strict, I would say, but even through that process, I did have to go through the whole, like, the reviews and edits and all of those. LW: So you said you're going into your final year, your fourth year of university, do you have to write a dissertation, and if so, will you continue a similar line of study to the paper you published in JoULAB? LP: I actually don't have to write a dissertation, because I wasn't required to have that type, like, that type of research experience wasn't built into my program, I still wanted to get that hands-on experience anyway, which is why I decided to kind of go on my own and pursue this research project, which I ended up, the paper that got published. LW: So that's actually a great lead-in to my next question, which was, what was your paper originally written for? Tell us a bit about that. It sounds like it was a bit of a passion project of yours. LP: Yeah, passion, but also just kind of curiosity as to what the research experience was like, because I couldn't really find many opportunities to get that first-hand experience with academic research that I wanted, and so I, yeah, I kind of decided to make that opportunity for myself, I guess. It actually started as a paper, a final project for a language and gender kind of socio-linguistics class the previous semester, and then I kind of discussed with that professor my ideas, and she allowed me to kind of build it in a way where I could extend it after that class had ended, and yeah, so that's what it turned into. It's like she allowed me, well, she kind of led me in the right direction to where I could expand on it and make it a full-fledged research project of my own that following semester. LW: Your paper is a really direct example of how speakers construct identity through language. Were you interested in language and gender or socio-linguistics before that class, or was this your introduction to it? LP: Naturally, I'm more drawn to linguistic anthropology, I would say, more so than socio-linguistics, because I think it's a common thing for why people decide to, or they're like, people's first introduction to linguistics, but my first introduction was like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and that's what was kind of mind-blowing to me as a high school student, this idea that language could shape kind of the way you think. So that's what got me into linguistics, and then kind of the really core of that research project, although, you know, after talking to that professor, and then I actually had to change mentors halfway through, had some schedule conflicts, and so my mentor that I ended up with really helped me to change this kind of broad concept or inspiration that I had into an actual research project that I could kind of qualitatively measure. So even though it started off as this big idea, I guess, it kind of, I made it work so that, I made it work within the class, first of all, because I needed a research project for that class. Yeah, it kind of went from there. LW: So what kind of stages did your paper go through before publication, either in terms of personal editing before you submitted it to the journal, or revisions based on reviewer comments that you received? LP: Yeah, there were, I think it was mostly the big ideas that I had, I really had to make sure that I was communicating them clearly, which I think as an author, you kind of assume the readers know what you're talking about, even though you may not be saying it in the most clearest of ways. So I think most of the comments were me really having to be more specific, and really grounding my research in either more specific, like theoretical backing or more specific wording and evidence. So I think that was the main thing. Yeah, it was, it was really helpful to see those comments, because like I said, if not, I wouldn't have realized the kind of the gaps that I left in the writing myself. And even like the kind of mentors that I had, because they are also in the, you know, obviously, they're in the field that I wrote my paper in. So even they might not have noticed those gaps or those areas for improvement that the reviewers pointed out for me. LW: So how did you feel going into the review process, knowing that PhD students would be reviewing your work? Was it more excitement that people further along in the field would be able to give you some helpful tips and advice? Or was that a bit daunting? LP: I think, well, my, the papers that I had got published before with my university, I believe those reviewers were not PhD students. I think they were, I want to say, even maybe faculty. So, and that first paper really has to go through way more edits and revisions than the paper for Jolov had to. So I think going through that first process, it prepared me for the following and any future publication processes. I know like what I was getting myself into more. And so I felt more prepared going into, you know, the next research paper. And so I think knowing this time around that PhD students were going to read and review my work kind of made me, I don't want to say more relaxed. Maybe I realized that PhD students were, they could identify with my position more as a student rather than a faculty member or someone with much more expertise and years of experience within that field. But I think it, it did make me more willing to submit my paper. I'd want to say as an undergraduate student, I think knowing that other students were going to be on the other end reading my paper helped to kind of take that first step and be more willing to, or more open to those comments as well. LW: Yeah, that's, that's really good to hear that it was actually less daunting given the first experience that you had. So to switch gears a bit, tell us about your writing process. Do you always start papers the same way or does it depend on what you're writing for? LP: The first, my first publication process was really, it was a struggle because I really didn't know what I was getting myself into having it be my first time with the whole publication and research process and everything. But so the second time around, I knew to be more organized, first of all. So when I would look, when I was reading all of the research articles for my background section or my theoretical framework section, I made sure I kept them all organized on my desktop, on my computer, in a folder. I made sure I labeled them and I made sure I took good notes as I was going through them. And I made a whole, not a spreadsheet, but like a chart to organize like the big ideas and the quotes that I liked, and I thought maybe I could put in my paper. I think that's where I kind of started writing the paper. Well, before that, obviously I had a outline of the, which my mentor helped me with, of the ways I could break down my report, the ways I could break down the analysis and how I could tie that in and like kind of helping me figure out what types of sections I would need within that paper. And then from there, I started like actually writing, which of course began with reading all of the research articles. LW: Do you have a part of the writing process that you find to be the hardest? LP: I think the introduction slash background information section was probably the hardest. Probably because getting started is the hardest thing for me, just getting into that flow, especially when it's such a long paper and you know you have a long way to go. But just getting started on that was kind of tough. I also made sure to remind myself to keep, when I was writing the data analysis section, reminding myself to keep tying it back into that like theoretical framework section, tying it back into theory and previous research. I think that I, or I really didn't do that for my first publication process. I learned to have that academic research style way of writing. I kind of got my first sneak peek of that in the first publication process. So I knew this time around to be more strict on myself with that, or I knew the ways that I could keep myself in line better. LW: Do you have any plans for future work you'd want to do? Are you thinking of continuing in the realm of sociolinguistics, or do you have outside interests you'd like to explore too? LP: As of right now, I don't have any plans. But like I said, my research interests are mainly linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, even second language acquisition, and also Japanese broadly. That being said, I am still unsure what I will do after graduation. I don't know if I will continue on to grad school to pursue academic research further. So I really don't know yet. But I know that linguistics is exciting to me, and I would love to find a career that is related to the field somehow. LW: Yeah, I agree that linguistics is one of those fields where you can't really leave. There's always something that draws you back in. So we're reaching the end of the interview, and I'd like to ask you something I ask all guests on the podcast, which is, if you could give just one piece of advice, drawing on all your experiences, and your insight and your knowledge, one piece of advice to undergrads, what would that one piece be? LP: My one piece of advice would just be to go for it. I'm kind of the type to just, if I set my mind to something, and I feel like I want to do it, that I'm just going to do it. I'm going to like, find a way to do it, even if the resources might not be like immediately available to me. So I think, especially if you're really interested in something, but you know, your university might not have as many resources as another university, that shouldn't discourage you from wanting to pursue that passion, or even that little interest that you have, that spark. I think it's important to just hone that and believe in that. I think it's always worth it to just to go for it. And even if you make mistakes, you know, I think people will recognize and appreciate that effort. I think that effort is always going to be recognized by others. LW: So before we wrap up, is there anything that you wanted to add that we haven't discussed or touched on yet? LP: I would also like to say about the, I think about the whole review process, a really great piece of advice that my mentor gave me was that reviewers are not always right. And I hope that doesn't come off in the wrong way. But you know, especially as an undergraduate student submitting to a journal, it can seem pretty daunting. But remembering, like, just believing in your own piece of work, and like being able to defend your, whatever you've written. I think if my mentor hadn't told me that, well, of course, my mentor, who has years of experience in the field, and knows the ins and outs of, you know, research publications and everything, she, she told me that and she told me to like, you know, not let the reviewer comment discourage me or let, don't let them change the paper into whatever they're commenting on. If I don't think my paper should be changed in the way that the comment is suggesting, then I don't have to. And I'm always able to kind of defend my work. And I think that was really, I think it's important for undergrads to know that going into this process. LW: So this brings us to the end of the interview. Do you have any socials or a website where we can keep in touch with you? LP: Um, no website, but I guess my academic email is the best place to reach me. It's just livp@hawaii.edu. And I would welcome any questions, comments from undergraduates and any students, anyone really. I would love to chat about anything. LW: Thank you so much. ANNOTATED. is the podcast at the Undergraduate Linguistics Association of Britain. This series focuses on JoULAB, our journal, and its authors. JoULABis the world's only journal publishing solely undergraduate research in all areas of linguistics. We accept everything from squibs to write-ups to dissertations, as long as the bulk of the work was completed when you were an undergrad. You can still submit work you've done during your degree if you've graduated, as long as no more than three years have passed since you were an undergraduate. We're always looking for new submissions from undergraduates and PhD students to review that work. Interested? Find out more on our website ulab.org.uk, or you can find us on Twitter and Instagram at @ULAB_Journal. If you have any questions or want to get in touch, you can DM us or email us at ulabjournal@gmail.com.