| John C. Maher | |
| Birth Date: | 22 January 1951 |
| Birth Place: | Leeds, England |
| Nationality: | Irish-British |
| Education: | University of London, B.A. (1974) University of London, Heythrop College, M.TH.(1976) University of Michigan, M.A.(1982) University of Edinburgh, Ph.D.(1986) |
| Discipline: | Sociolinguistics |
| Workplaces: | International Christian University |
John C. Maher (born 22 January 1951) is an Irish-British linguist, academic and author, professor of linguistics at International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan.
Maher was born in Leeds, England and attended schools in Leeds, Mirfield and Dumfries. He has a Bachelor of Arts (1974) and Master of Theology (1976) from the University of London, a Master of Arts from the University of Michigan (1982) and a PhD in linguistic from the University of Edinburgh (1986).[1] [2]
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.[3] [4] 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 (1986). 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 (Japan Association of Sociolinguistics).[5] [6]