Suwako Watanabe received her Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University.  Her research interests are discourse analysis, language assessment, Japanese language pedagogy, and US-Japan cross-cultural communication. 

Her publications include "Cultural Differences in Framing:  American and Japanese Group Discussions" in Framing in Discourse edited by Deborah Tannen (Oxford University Press, 1993) and articles appeared in Journal of Association of Teachers of Japanese and Foreign Language Annals.  

 Japanese language assessment is one of her research interests, and she is a certified ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview tester and trainer and a certified Oregon Japanese Oral Performance Assessment (OJOPA) tester.  She has been actively involved in local and national professional organizations by serving as a president, a board of director, and a member of an editorial board.   She directs the third- and fourth-year Japanese language program at PSU.  She is also a serious student of chado (Way of Tea) and serves as the president of Portland Wakai Tea Association (2005-2006) and as a board of director for the Portland Japanese Garden Society (2005-08)