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The 12th Annual Conference of the Central Association of Teachers of Japanese, "J2K:
Designing
Japanese Curriculum for the New Millennium," was held at Washington University in St. Louis
on
April 14-15, 2000, supported by grants from the Japan Foundation Language Center and the
Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies. Its primary objective was to enable
Japanese language teachers of all levels (K-16) to convene and discuss four components that
comprise a Japanese language-learning curriculum: goals, effective teaching/learning strategies,
assessment, and technology. It was attended by approximately 60 teachers and professors of
Japanese
language. Keynote speeches were given by Eleanor H. Jorden, Academic Director of the
Exchange:
Japan Teacher Training Institute, Mary Donlon, Alger Professor of Linguistics Emerita at Cornell
University, and Patricia Wetzel, Professor of Japanese and International Studies at Portland State
University. Dr. Jorden's speech, "Where do we go from here? . . . and where is here?," provided
an
overview of the field of Japanese language pedagogy in the U.S., and Dr. Wetzel offered a
critical
view of various teaching approaches in "Chicken Soup for the Japanese Teacher's Soul." The
following papers were also presented at the conference:
- "Over/Under-Use of Wa and Ga in Learners' Spoken Japanese" (Yu Hirata, The Ohio State
University)
- "Acquisition of Japanese Backchannels" (Sachie Miyazaki, Michigan State University)
- "Is it negative or not negative? That is the question!" (Takuo Kinoshita, Martin Luther
King Jr.
Elementary School)
- "Integrating Internet/WWW: Using and Creating Materials On-line" (Keiko Schneider,
Saboten Web
Design)
- "A Study of Listening Behaviors and Strategies of Learners of Japanese" (Motoko
Tabuse, Eastern
Michigan University)
- "Effective Use of Japanese Reading Materials on the Internet" (Yasuhiro Omoto,
University of
Michigan)
- "Evaluating Performance: The Oral Interview Test at Washington University" (Masayuki
Itomitsu,
Washington University)
- Panel: "Sociocultural Concerns for Japanese Curriculum Development: Standards,
Cooperative
Learning, Spatial and Nonverbal Communication, and Technology" (Organizer: Theresa
Austin, University of Massachusetts, MA)
- "Curriculum Developers' Framework for Understanding Sociocultural Issues and the
Japanese
Language Standards" (Theresa Austin, University of Massachusetts, MA)
- "Foundations for Cooperative Learning in Japanese Language Classes" (Kahori
Kobayashi,
University of Massachusetts, MA)
- "Computer Applications and the Learning of Kanji: A Critical Review of Assumptions
About
Becoming Literate in Japanese" (Shingo Moriyama, University of Massachusetts, MA)
- "Uncovering Invisible Aspects of Elementary-level Japanese Curriculum: Nonverbal
Communication Matters" (Mamiko Taguchi, University of Massachusetts, MA)
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