A New Era in Japanese Studies: The 1980s1990s and Beyond ATJSponsored Roundtable Discussion in Honor

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A New Era in Japanese Studies The 1980s1990s
and BeyondATJ-Sponsored Roundtable Discussion
in Honor of Dr. Hiroshi Miyaji (19252007)
Japanese Language Education in the U.S.
Association for Asian Studies Annual
Meeting Atlanta, GA April 4, 2008
Mutsuko Endo Hudson Michigan State
University endo_at_msu.edu http//www.msu.edu/endo
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0. Introduction
What happened in the 1980s-90s and since then?

• in the foreign language (FL) teaching field in
  the U.S.

• Proficiency-oriented instruction
• The Standards
• Instructional technology

• in the Japanese language (JL) teaching field in
  the U.S.

• SAME AS ABOVE
• Much more!

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0. Introduction
What happened in the 1980s-90s
in my humble life?

• ?????????
• Visiting Senseis home while teaching Japanese
  and pedagogy workshop at Middlebury Summer School
  in 19811990
• Attending Nanzan University Symposium with Miyaji
  Sensei in 1987
• As a colleague at Middlebury College, 1987-88
• Going to Montreal with Miyaji Sensei go-fusai and
  Miura Kenichi-san
• Co-authoring Modification with Miyaji Sensei and
  Ogawa Sensei, 1991
• Serving as a board member, 1993-96, during Miyaji
  Senseis tenure as the ATJ President (1990-96)
• etc., etc.

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1. in the FL teaching field
1. What happened in the 1980s-90s (and since
then) in the FL teaching field in the U.S.? (of
particular relevance to JL teaching)
1.1. Proficiency-oriented instruction
PROFICIENCY is the ability to use language to
perform language functions within a variety of
contexts/content areas, with a given degree of
accuracy, and by means of specific text types.
J. Liskin-Gasparro (1987) Middlebury Magazine,
(Winter) 26-27
proficiency If you cant use a language, you
dont know a language.
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1. in the FL teaching field
1.1. Proficiency-oriented instruction

• ACTFL Oral Proficiency Guidelines (1982)
• Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) (1982)
• ACTFL Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners
  (1998)
• ACTFL Proficiency GuidelinesSpeaking (1999),
  Writing (2001)

Major impact of the documents in FL teaching in
the U.S. (cf. Shrum Glisan 2005)
In the research field Speech samples from Oral
Proficiency Interviews (OPIs) provide rich data
for research on the language, language
acquisition during study abroad, etc.
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1. in the FL teaching field
In the classroom The documents served as a
catalyst for major changes at all levels of
instruction as the profession moved from focus on
grammar to focus on communication. (Shrum
Glisan 2005)

• Contextualized, communicative, functional
  activities
• Meaningful practice self-expressions
• Balancing fluency accuracy
• Student-centered teaching interactions among
  students
• Consideration of learners cognitive affective
  needs
• Use of authentic materials integration of
  cultural content
• Emphasis on communicative competence, including
  strategy instruction
• Performance-based outcomes bridging communicative
  language teaching language assessment

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1. in the FL teaching field

• 1.2. Standards the 5Cs
• National Standards for Foreign Language
  Learning Preparing
• for the 21st Century (1996)
• Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the
  21st Century (1999)
• Includes language-specific standards for Chinese,
  Classical Languages, French, German, Italian,
  Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish
• Objectives are set in terms of what learners
  should know and be able to do with a foreign
  language they learn.

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1. in the FL teaching field
Abbreviated emphases added COMMUNICATION
Communicate in Languages Other Than
English Standard 1.1 interpersonal
communication Standard 1.2 interpretive
communication Standard 1.3 presentational
communication CULTURES Gain Knowledge and
Understanding of Other Cultures Standard 2.1
rel. betw. the practices and perspectives of the
culture studied Standard 2.2 rel. between the
products and perspectives of the
cultures CONNECTIONS Connect with Other
Disciplines and Acquire Information Standard 3.1
knowledge of other disciplines through the
foreign language Standard 3.2 knowledge of
distinctive viewpoints only available through L2
C2 COMPARISONS Developing Insight into the
Nature of Language and Culture Standard 4.1 the
nature of language through comparisons of L2 and
L1 Standard 4.2 the concept of culture through
comparisons of C2 and C1 COMMUNITIES
Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home
around the World Standard 5.1 language use both
within and beyond the school setting. Standard
5.2 evidence of becoming life-long learners by
using the language for personal enjoyment and
enrichment
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1. in the FL teaching field
The new paradigm in the Standards

• student-centered instruction cooperative
  learning
• consideration of the role of affect, learner
  motivation variability
• maximum use of the TL, meaningful teacher
  feedback
• integration of authentic texts
• interdisciplinary connections, integration of
  cultural academic content ? content-based
  instruction (CBI)
• learners exploring personal interests on the
  Internet, etc.
• assessment in terms of real-world task completion

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1. in the FL teaching field
1.3. Instructional Technology

• Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)
• ? Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) /
• Computer-Enhanced Language Learning,
• including Computer-Mediated Communication
  (CMC)
• Use of the Internet
• Use of digital equipment e.g. CDs/DVDs, i-pods,
  audio recorders, video cameras

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1. in the FL teaching field
1.4. Other

• Sociocultural theory applied to FL teaching
• ? Constructivist approaches to teaching culture
• (Cf. information-acquisition approach)
• A story-based approach to instruction of grammar
• etc., etc.

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2. in the JL teaching field
2. What happened in the 1980s-90s and since then
in the JL teaching field in the U.S.?
Similar to what happened to the FL teaching
field, and then some!
2.1. Proficiency-Oriented Instruction of Japanese

• ACTFL Japanese Proficiency Guidelines (1988)
• (Makino Sensei contributed to both the Generic
  and J Guidelines)
• Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI)
• More certified OPI testers in JL than in any
  other language!

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2. in the JL teaching field

• 2.2. Standards
• Japanese-specific standards (1999)
• Content-based instruction
• etc.
• 2.3. Instructional Technology
• CALL yes! Computer-mediated conversation??
  (Cf. Kanji)
• Use of digital equipment yes!
• Use of the Internet yes!
• e.g. information, materials, e-mailing/blog
  sharing/chat with students
• in Japan, course management, pod casting,
  web page creation,

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2. in the JL teaching field
2.3. Instructional Technology

• Online professional training courses to start
  in 2008
• The Alliance of Associations of Teachers of
  Japanese
• (AATJ) will launch a web-based Japanese language
  teacher training program
• (JOINT Japanese Online Instruction Network for
  Teachers).

2.4. AP Japanese!
AP (Advanced Placement) course in JL and culture
started in the school year 2006-07, and the first
AP test was administered in 2007.
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2. in the JL teaching field
2.5. ATJs big makeover
1990-1996 President Miyaji Sensei 1996-2002
President Rodd Sensei 1997 Susan
Schmidt-san hired as Executive Director
of the Bridging Project 1999
Bridging Scholarships for Study in Japan and
Alliance of Associations of
Teachers of Japanese
started 2002 Triumvirate system for
presidents started
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2. in the JL teaching field
2.5. ATJs big makeover
1990-96 President Miyaji Sensei

• Expanded the awareness about ATJ among JL
  teachers and
• scholars
• Greatly increased the membership
• Expanded the horizons of the profession, as his
  own interests
• were broad
• Encouraged the formation of NCSTJ (now NCJLT)
  for high
• school teachers
• Secured the first grants for professional
  development for
• high school teachers from the US-Japan
  Foundation
• etc., etc.

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2. in the JL teaching field
2.5. ATJs big makeover
1990-96 President Rodd Sensei

• Made the JL field prominent nationally, being
  actively involved in national organizations for
  FL education (e.g. JNCL-NCLIS, NCOLCTL)
• Worked for articulation between college and
  pre-college levels.
• Served as a middleperson between language and
  literature.
• Successfully applied for the grant that started
  the Bridging Project, which made it possible to
  hire a staff for the first time for ATJ
  (Executive Director Schmidt-san!).

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2. in the JL teaching field
2.6. Other

• Advances in discourse studies within Japanese
  linguistics ? JL teaching
• Move from sentence grammar to discourse
  grammar
• Importance of context

• (2) JL Proficiency Test (1984)
• ????(????????58? 2007)
• ?2009??????????????????
• ??????????????????????????????
• ??????
• ????????? (can-do statements)?????????
• Cf. Standards Objectives are set in terms of
  what learners should
• know and be able to do with a FL they learn.

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2. in the JL teaching field
2.6. Other

• (3) Expansion of study abroad to Japan, and
  research on study abroad
• E.g. Special Issue of Japanese Language and
  Literature (JLL) on Study Abroad, Journal of the
  ATJ (Oct. 2007)
• (4) More attention to Advanced JL than before
• CALPER at Penn State University
• SAFAS (Study Abroad For Advanced Skills) SIG of
  ATJ
• JL for specific purposes e.g. business,
  technical Japanse (ATJ SIG)
• NOTE The 2006 MLA survey noted that Japanese
  has one of the more favorable ratios of students
  who continue beyond the second year of language
  study. (ATJ Bulletin Dec 07)
• (5) Japanese National Honor Society -- High
  School Chapter (NCJLT) 00-01
• (6) Japanese National Honor Society -- College
  Chapter (ATJ) 07-08

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2. in the JL teaching field
2.6. Other
(7) Test for Teacher Certification in Japanese
e.g. Michigan 2007 (8) Requirement of the
Intermediate-High rating for JL teacher
candidates 2007 (NCATE) (9) Enrollment figures
In the 1980s Dramatic surge in JL student
enrollment "Nihongo Boom," "Economy (and
technology), stupid!" In the 1990s "bubble
economy burst --gt "anime generation"? JL
enrollment hit a plateau at the college level,
but at the secondary school level, it
skyrocketed
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2. in the JL teaching field
2.6. Other (9) Enrollment figures
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2. in the JL teaching field
2.6. Other (9) Enrollment figures
Japanese courses are offered in more than 600
U.S. secondary schools, according to the Japan
Foundation. (Education Week (www.edweek.org),
December 8, 2004 )
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3. Conclusion
What do all these mean, and where are we headed?

• Japanese is no longer a LCTL.
• But, it still shares many problems (and joys)
  with current LCTLs. We should tell our stories
  to help LCTLs within and outside of our own
  school re. how to build and maintain a program,
  how to network, how to
• Note LCTLs may be defined as all of the world's
  languages except English, French, German, and
  Spanish. (cf. CARLA site)
• We also need to further strengthen our
  collaborations with other fields, especially,
  with teachers of Chinese and Korean. (It takes a
  ?!)
• cf. New mantra formulated by Dean Bosquet
  collaboration,
• innovation, integration, and advocacy.
  (cited in Rodd 2004)

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4. Conclusion
What do all these mean, and where are we headed?

• There is a need for more vigorous research in
  language pedagogy including action research, as
  well as in SLA, to continue our search for more
  effective JL education, and also to be taken
  seriously as a field (education as
  scholarship)
• Cf. Special Issue of JLL on Pedagogy, to be
  published fall 2008

So what do we have to do?

• Just keep up the good work!

Thank you very much!
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References
????. 2007.???????????????????????????? (?)??????
???58?? ?????. 2008.????????????????????????? (?)
????????????? -- ??????????? --? ??
?????????????. 1991.???????? pp. 1-15.
?????? Draper, J.D., and J. H. Hicks, 2002.
Foreign Language Enrollments in Public
Secondary Schools, Fall 2000. ACTFL Miura, A.
1998. Japanese language teaching in the U.S.A. A
historical overview. Proceedings of the 10th
Annual Conference of the Central Association of
Teachers of Japanese. Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN. Modern Languages Association.
Nov. 13, 2007. New MLA Survey Shows Significant
Increases in Foreign Language Study at U.S.
Colleges and Universities. MLA Press Release.
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References
National Standards in Foreign Language Education
Project. 1999. Standards for Foreign Language
Learning in the 21st Century. Yonkers, NY
National Standards in Foreign Language Ed.
Project. Rodd, L. 2004. Award presentation talk.
NCOLCTL. Shrum, J. L., and Glisan, E. W. 2005.
Teachers Handbook Contextualized Language
Instruction (3rd ed.). Thomson Heinle. Wells,
E. B. 2004. Foreign Language Enrollments in
United States Institutions of Higher Education,
Fall 2002. ADFL Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 2, Winter.