Research Presentations

Rivers, D.J., Tsuji, Y. and Yamada, H. (2026, January). Executive function, metacognition, and wellbeing in academic achievement. Paper presented at the 11th IAFOR International Conference on Education in Hawaii. Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America.

Rivers, D.J. (2025, September). Electronic shifting and mechanical nostalgia: Cycling’s digital dialectic in the media. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France.

Rivers, D.J. and Vallance, M. (2025, September). Where roads converge: Cycling, ageing, and embodied health. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society, University of Granada, Faculty of Medicine, Granada, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, November). Toward Society 5.0 and the development of STEAM problem solving competencies. Paper presented at the 16th Asian Conference on Education (ACE2024), Toshi Center Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, November). Assessing educational value in an active collaborative learning environment. Paper presented at the 17th Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation. Barceló Renacimiento Hotel, Sevilla, Spain.

Unser-Schutz, G. and Rivers, D.J. (2024, October). The use of visual images in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japanese municipal newsletters. Paper presented at the Asian Congress for Media and Communication International Conference, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, October). Manufacturing meaning in ghost hunting: Exploring multimodal pragmatics through discursive psychology. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Communication & Media Studies. Interamerican Open University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rivers, D.J., Unser-Schutz, G. and Nonaka, C. (2024, October). Pandemic management in Japan and the United Kingdom: The psychology of COVID-19 and the dangers of authoritarianism. Paper presented at the 14th International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society. Malmö University, Niagara, Malmö, Sweden.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, June). Rural cycling for sustainable development in the post-pandemic era. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Tourism & Leisure. Liverpool John Moores University, England.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, June). Systems information science and the ZWIFT virtual cycling platform: Community involvement and empowerment. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on Sport & Society. University of Granada, School of Education, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, March). Missed opportunities of the COVID-19 pandemic: Validating the Online Learning Appraisal Survey (OLAS). Paper presented at the 17th International Conference on e-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies. Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2024, January). Maintaining academic autonomy in communication studies: Countering the threat of Japanese nativist belief to English-as-a-medium of instruction. Paper presented at the 9th IAFOR International Conference on Education in Hawaii. Hawaii Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America.

Rivers, D.J. (2023, November). The Online Learning Appraisal Survey (OLAS): Configuring education in the post-pandemic landscape. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (iCERi). Barceló Renacimiento Hotel, Seville, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2023, November). The perceived affordance of COVID-19 online education: Mapping the role of personality and responses to stress. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (iCERi). Barceló Renacimiento Hotel, Seville, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2023, November). The metaphorical dehumanization of political actors in cartoons. Paper presented at the 14th International Conference on the Image. San Jorge University, Zaragoza, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. and Vallance, M. (2023, November). Virtual reality in language learning materials design. Paper presented at the 16th Innovation in Language Learning International Conference. Grand Hotel Mediterraneo, Florence, Italy.

Rivers, D.J., Rudolph, N., Unser-Schutz, G. and Nonaka, C. (2023, October). SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy and susceptibility to misinformation: The role of personality and national identity in Japanese youth. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Sociological Society. Rissho University, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2023, September). Safeguarding communication studies: Addressing the challenge of nativist belief in English as a foreign language education. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Communication & Media Studies. Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. (2022, April). Innovation in the physiological analysis of foreign language education anxiety: The Situation Specific Arousal Analyzer (SSAA). Paper presented at the 15th International Conference on E-Learning & Innovative Pedagogies. National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan.

Rivers, D.J. (2022, March). The physiological assessment of situation specific anxiety in education. Paper presented at the 16th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED). Hotel Melia Valencia, Valencia, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. and Vallance, M. (2022, March). Unconscious incompetence and resistance to professional development in Japanese higher education. Paper presented at the 16th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED). Hotel Melia Valencia, Valencia, Spain.

Rivers, D.J. and Ross, A.S. (2019, July). Deflection as a communication strategy: A corpus analysis of President Trump’s Twitter behaviour. Paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) Conference. Museum of Australian Democracy: Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.

Ross, A.S. and Rivers, D.J. (2019, July). The conflicting logics of climate change discourse: The interplay of internet memes and media frames. Paper presented at the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) Conference. Museum of Australian Democracy: Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. (2019, June). Motivational affordances and ICT design in an online social fitness network. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Sport & Society. Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.

Rivers, D.J. and Ross, A.S. (2018, September). Personality and its role in L1/L2 self-efficacy beliefs. Paper presented at the 13th University of Sydney TESOL Research Network Colloquium. University of Sydney, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. (2018, June). Discursive deflection: Accusation of fake news and the spread of mis- and dis-information in the Tweets of President Trump. Paper presented at the Sociolinguistics Symposium 22. University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Rivers, D.J. (2017, November). The sociointeractional function and visiolinguistic form of the internet meme: A case study in multimodal political participation. Paper presented at the 48th Australian Linguistics Society Conference. University of Sydney, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. (2017, March). Categorizations of speakerhood: Reconciling the damage and searching for solutions. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference. Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland (OR), USA.

Yazan, B., Aneja, G., Park, G., Rivers, D.J. and Kubota, R. (2017, March). Privilege and marginalization in English language teaching: Beyond essentialization and idealization. Colloquium presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference. Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland (OR), USA.

Rivers, D.J. (2016, December). The omnipresent other: National identity in English language learning. Paper presented at the 7th Centre For Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J. (2016, August). Intergroup encounters in English language learning: Modeling the impact of national identification. Paper presented at the Psychology of Language Learning 2 (Pll2) International Conference. University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Rivers, D.J. (2016, August). Native-speakerism and the construction of ideological opposition to the native-speaker English teacher. Paper presented at the 26th European Second Language Association (EUROSLA) International Conference. University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Rivers, D.J. (2016, July). White nationalist discourse on hip-hop: A sociolinguistic analysis of otherness construction. Paper presented at the 3rd ISA Forum on Sociology. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Rivers, D.J. (2015, December). Student storytellers: Hip-hop pedagogy and the reconfiguration of English as communication. Paper presented at the International Conference on the Development of English Across the Curriculum (EAC2015). Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Ross, A.S. and Rivers, D.J. (2015, November). Shared territory: Making room for emotion and cognition in applied linguistics. Paper presented at the 4th Combined Conference of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA), the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ) and the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ). University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. and Ross, A.S. (2015, November). Should we listen to students who demand mative-speaker teachers? Paper presented at the 4th Combined Conference of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA), the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ) and the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ). University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Rivers, D.J., Rajagopalan, K. and Liang, S. (2015, June). Beyond bifurcation: Language speakers as complex individuals. Panel ppresented at the Sociolinguistics of Globalization: (De)Centering and (De)Standardization International Conference. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Ross, A.S. and Rivers, D.J. (2015, June). Australian hip-hop: Maintaining voice and representing place. Paper presented at the Sociolinguistics of Globalization: (De)Centering and (De)Standardization International Conference. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2015, June). The validity of victimhood in native and non-native discourse. Paper presented at the Sociolinguistics of Globalization: (De)Centering and (De)Standardization International Conference. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2015, March). Discursive representations of the native speaker as qualification for employment. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference. Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Canada.

Rivers, D.J. (2015, March). Speakerhood status, institutional discourse and voices from the inside: An exploration of the native-speaker criterion and native-speakerism in Japanese higher education. Plenary presented at the Center for English as a Lingua Franca Forum: Language Teaching in the Asian Context. Tamagawa University, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2014, December). The discourse of desire and sought after skills in language teacher recruitment. Paper presented at the 6th Centre for Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J. (2014, September). Trainee teacher narratives: Native-speakerism in the Japanese context. Paper presented at the 2nd International Symposium on Native-Speakerism. Saga University, Saga, Japan.

Houghton, S.A., Rivers, D.J., Hashimoto, K. and Kirkpatrick, A. (2014, August). Native-speakerism and beyond: Constructing the vision of the post-native-speakerist language teacher. Panel presented at the AILA World Congress 2014. Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. (2014, August). Narrative explorations of the burden of speakerhood. Paper presented at the AILA World Congress 2014. Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia.

Rivers, D.J. and Ross, A.S. (2014, March). Teaching English in Japan: Cognitive appraisals of race and native-speakerhood. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2014 Conference. Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland (OR), USA.

Rajagopalan, K. and Rivers, D.J. (2013, September). Language as a political construct. Colloquium presented at the 7th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2013, June). Native-speaker necessity in TESOL: Enslavement, indoctrination or legitimate choice? Paper presented at the 7th Annual International Free Linguistics Conference. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2013, June). Native-speaker dependency: The validity of student preference. Paper presented at the Japanese Association for Asian Englishes (JAFAE) 32nd National Conference. Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2012, December). The properties and parameters of native-speakerism in Japan. Keynote presented at the Japanese Association for Asian Englishes (JAFAE) 31st National Conference. Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2012, December). The cultural complexities of native-English speaker teacher identities. Paper presented at the 5th Centre for Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J. and Ross, A.S. (2012, December). Racialized dimensions of desirable English language teachers in Japan. Paper presented at the 5th Centre for Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J., Houghton, S.A. and Petrie, D. (2012, April). Explorations of native-speakerism in foreign language teaching. Panel presented at the International Conference on Cultural and Linguistic Practices in the International University (CALPIU 12). Roskilde University, Denmark.

Rivers, D.J. (2012, April). Voices of the voiceless: A quest for liberation and transformation in context. Paper presented at the International Conference on Cultural and Linguistic Practices in the International University (CALPIU 12). Roskilde University, Denmark.

Rivers, D.J. (2011, August). Sharing professional concerns in language education. Workshop presented at the Osaka University Extension Course for English Teachers. Osaka University Nakanoshima Center, Osaka, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. and Mcmillan, B.A. (2011, August). Exercising academic freedom: Pursuing research in contentious areas of ELT. Paper presented at the Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) 15th Commemorative International Convention. Seinan Gakuin University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. and Mcmillan, B.A. (2011, July). Censorship and academic freedom in ELT research: Implications for practitioner motivation. Paper presented at the College and University Educators (CUE) 2011 Annual Conference. Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2011, July). National selves and national others: Motivational processes in intercultural contexts. Paper presented at the College and University Educators (CUE) 2011 Annual Conference. Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2010, December). The role of intercultural contact in foreign language learner motivation. Paper presented at the 4th Centre for Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J. (2010, July). Institutional power and nationality-based language policy. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations. HEC School of Commercial Studies, Montréal, Canada.

Rivers, D.J. (2010, July). An analysis of the Global 30 project: Internationalism in Japanese higher education. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations. Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Rivers, D.J. and Houghton, S.A. (2010, June). The peripheralization of foreign academics in Japanese higher education. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations. Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Rivers, D.J. (2010, June). Examining institutional language policy through learner empowerment and awareness. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies. South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.

Rivers, D.J. and Houghton, S.A. (2010, June). Defending against English linguistic imperialism in the international university: Contradictions between theory and practice. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies. South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.

Rivers, D.J. (2010, April). The internationalization of Japanese higher education: Implications for 2012 and beyond. Paper presented at the Inaugural APEC-RELC International Seminar. Seameo Regional Language Centre, Singapore.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, November). Towards optimum target language and first language use through reflection. Paper Presented at the 35th JALT Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Expo. Granship Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, November). Engaging students with first language supported materials. Paper presented at the 35th JALT Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Expo. Granship Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, October). Japanese evaluations of accented English speech. Paper presented at the 15th International Association of World Englishes Conference. Park Lane International Hotel, Cebu, Philippines.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, September). The motivational factors which shape intended foreign language learning efforts. Paper presented at the 15th International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies Conference. Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kumamoto, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. and Mcmillan, B.A. (2009, September). English-mainly: Language choice in learner-to-learner discourse. Paper presented at the 15th International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies Conference. Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kumamoto, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, August). The provision of first language supported classroom materials: Help or hindrance? Paper Presented at the 7th Asia TEFL International Conference at the 29th Thai TESOL Conference. Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, August). MEXT 2013: Preparing for the English-only language classroom. Workshop series presented at the Summer English Education Seminar. Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages, Tokyo, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. and Mcmillan, B.A. (2009, July). First language use and embodied completion in the achievement and maintenance of intersubjectivity. Paper presented at the 11th Annual International Conference of the Japanese Society for Language Sciences. Tokyo Denki University, Saitama, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, June). From knowing and remembering to analyzing and researching: The challenges and changes facing Japanese university freshmen. Paper presented at the Independent Learning Association Conference. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, June). The future of quick response codes in language education. Paper presented at the JALTCALL International Conference. Toyo Gakuen University, Chiba, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, June). The borderless classroom: Quick response codes and mobile tagging. Paper presented at the Independent Learning Association Conference. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, March). A model for TESOL in Asia: Creating an immersion environment in Japan. Paper presented at the International Conference in Continuous Foreign Language Teaching and Learning. North-East State University, Magadan, Russian Federation.

Rivers, D.J. (2009, January). Student perceptions of EFL activities utilizing quick response codes. Paper presented at the 3rd International Wireless Ready Symposium for Digital Technologies in Language Education. Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Nagoya, Japan.

Rivers, D.J. and Mcmillan, B.A. (2008, December). The function of the first language in the EFL classroom. Paper presented at the 3rd Centre for Language Studies International Conference (CLASIC). National University of Singapore, Singapore.