JOHN C. MAHER is Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Society, Culture and Media, International Christian University, Tokyo, where he teaches sociolinguistics.

He was Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and Senior Academic Member at St Antony’s College, Oxford. He is Programme Director of Linguapax Asia. See his recent book: MULTILINGUALISM: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017.

The Past 
John C. Maher was born in Leeds, England, in 1951, and he attended in schools in Yorkshire and Scotland. He is a resident of Tokyo and Edinburgh. His family ancestry derives from England (West Riding of Yorkshire) and Ireland (County Mayo) and he is a dual national of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Academic Background 
John Maher studied philosophy, education and linguistics at the University of London (BA, M.Th. PGCE), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (M.A.) and the University of  Edinburgh (Ph.D.). He is is a dual national of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

He  is currently a Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Society, Culture and Media at International Christian University , Tokyo (国際基督教大学、東京).

He was lecturer in Japanese at the University of Edinburgh, Senior Academic Member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and a Visiting Research Fellow of Gakushuin University. 

He has been a British Council Lecturer at De La Salle University, Manila, a guest lecturer at the University of Leeds, Monterey Institute of International Studies, University of Manchester Centre for Cosmopolitanism and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Université de Paris VI. He is a founding member of Nihon Gengo Shakai Kagakkai 日本言語社会科学会 (Japan Association of the Sociolinguistics). 

Research 
Sociolinguistics, Globalization, Metroethnicity, Semiotics, Languages of Japan, Multilingualism, Language and Education, Medical Languages. 

Consultancies and Reports
Brand Semiotics for: Unilever, The Gold Council, Max Factor, Liptons, Nokia and so on. 

Academic Awards/Grants 
1. Julius Scholarship in Linguistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1981
2. The English-Speaking Union, 1st Prize. Best Academic Paper of the Year (“English as an
International Language of Medicine,” Presented at Buckingham Palace, London. 1986.
3. Vans Dunlop Fellowship in Linguistics, Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh, 1982-84.
4. Japanese Government Research Grant,  Immigration and Immigrant Languages, 2009-2013.
5. Nominated Candidate of Linguapax Asia for Linguapax Award 2014.
6. ‘Kakenhi’ (Government of Japan Research Grant) ‘Multilingualism in Japan’ 2015-2018.