Free Subscription to Classroom Materials Newsletter
The Japanese Language Teachers Network (JLTN) Quarterly, which had been published since 1985 by the University of Illinois's Center for the Improvement of the Teaching of Japanese (CITJ), is now being published by the Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ). A free subscription to this publication is being offered to ATJ members. For the past five years, the Quarterly has offered "shareware" classroom materials which teachers are free to copy and use in their classrooms. Most of the materials are designed for use in high-school-level classes, but they are easily adjusted for lower or higher levels as well. They feature cultural content as well as language, with units on subjects ranging from sumo wrestling to shopping in Japanese department stores. Many units also offer practice for American students learning to explain their own culture in Japanese. All of the units are classroom-tested before publication. Teachers who have been subscribers to the Quarterly will continue to receive it. Other ATJ members can request to be placed on the subscription list by sending an e-mail message to atj@colorado.edu. Sample issues can also be requested. The upcoming issue, to be published this month, features self-introductions and making presentations on the school day. If you are not already a subscriber, take advantage of this new, free resource!
Occasional Papers Address Professional Development
Together with this issue of the Newsletter you are receiving a copy of the most recent of ATJ's Occasional Papers publication. The theme of this issue of Occasional Papers is Education and Professional Development for Japanese Language Teachers; it features five articles on pre-service and in-service training: "Japanese Teaching Credential Programs in the U.S.," "What Do Non-Native Teachers of Japanese Want?," "Professional Development for the 21st Century," "The Current Status of California Single-Subject Teaching Credentialing in Japanese," and "Japanese Teacher Preparation." A limited number of extra copies of the Occasional Papers are available. If you or a colleague would like another copy, please contact the ATJ office.
Textbook Discussion Board
An on-line resource for teachers has been developed by the Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese. The Japanese Textbook Discussion Board at www.japaneseteaching.org/projects/textbook/index.htm is designed to provide information on Japanese language textbooks that are available for K-16 classrooms and a forum in which teachers can comment on the books and share information on how they use them. This site consists of six different sections: Home, List, How, Distributors, Links, and History. Home is the home page of the site, and How is a guidance page for sending comments on textbooks. The List page is where approximately 35 different textbooks are listed in four different levels (Elementary, Secondary, University/College and General/Adults). The title, author, target level, publisher, and year of publication are given for each textbook, along with a brief description of the book. In most cases, prices of the textbooks, workbooks and/or tapes/CDs are listed, as well as the number of pages. There is a list of more than 40 publishers and distributors on the Distributors page; most of them have web addresses. On the Links page, there are currently six links, including ones to the Japan Foundation and the Association of Teachers of Japanese. The History page shows when and what features have been changed or added to this site. Keiko Schneider set up and is maintaining the site for the Alliance. Please visit the site and share your comments and questions with other teachers.
Endowment Contributions
The Association is grateful to the following members for their recent contributions to the Endowment: Midori S. Burton, Mari Noda, Lawrence Rogers, Cheryl Rodd, Hiroko Sherry, Particia Thornton, and Ikuko Yoshida. The Endowment fund will be invested and used to ensure that the Association can continue to serve members of the Japanese education community. Thanks for your support!