John C. Maher


John C. Maher is an Irish-British linguist, academic and author, professor of linguistics at International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan.

Biography

Maher was born in Leeds, England and attended schools in Leeds, Mirfield and Dumfries. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Theology from the University of London, a Master of Arts from the University of Michigan and a PhD in linguistic from the University of Edinburgh.

Career

Maher specializes in sociolinguistics with particular reference to multilingualism. He has pioneered frameworks for the description of multilingualism in Japan. He also developed the concept of metroethnicity as a hybrid, portable, lifestyle ethnicity used for aesthetic effect. He was lecturer in Japanese in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and taught English at the University of Hiroshima, Shimane Medical University and the English Language Institute, University of Michigan. His paper on English as an International Language of Medicine won the English-Speaking Union Prize for Best Academic Paper of the Year. He was a British Council Lecturer at De La Salle University, Manila.
He is a founding member of Nihon Gengo Shakai Kagakkai 日本言語社会科学会.

Publications