Yuka Matsutani, a PhD candidate in second language studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, is one of only four students nationwide to be awarded the 2018 International Writing Centers Association ( IWCA ) President’s Future Leaders Scholarship.

At the IWCA annual conference, Matsutani presented her paper, “Conversation Analysis as Replicable, Aggregable, and Data Supported Methodology: Grammar Assistance for Multilingual Writers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Writing Center.” She demonstrated how multilingual students benefit from the center’s research and hands-on tutoring.

For the past year, Matsutani has worked closely with the Mānoa Writing Center under the directorship of Georganne Nordstrom. Having thought that it would not be possible for a non-native speaker to become a consultant at the center, Matsutani learned that she could play an indispensable role. She credits Nordstrom for understanding the value of multilingual consultants. “I am thrilled and grateful that the collaborative work I’ve been engaged in as a consultant was why I received this prestigious IWCA award,” said Matsutani.

After earning her PhD , Matsutani hopes to establish more writing centers (with alliances to U.S. centers) at Japanese universities and to continue her research on human interaction.

“The Mānoa Writing Center is the best thing that happened to me,” said Matsutani. “I would not be who I am without being inspired by its hardworking consultants and student writers.”