会員のみなさん、夏の成果はいかがでしたか。2004-2005の新学期も始まり、多少落ち着かれたころかと思います。シカゴでのATJ/AASの大会は来年の３月３１日〜４月３日です。お忘れなく。

Let me first report on the International Conference on Japanese Teaching (日本語教育国際研究大会 ）organized by NKG (Nihongo Kyooiku Gakkai) on August 6 and 7, 2004, where I was representing the ATJ. The conference was postponed one year due to SARS. On August 6 (which I missed due to my other engagements) the presenters included Prof. J.V. Neustupny of Obirin University, who dealt with classroom activities in the post-modern paradigm, while reminding us of the fundamental question of why we should teach Japanese, and Dr. Yuko Miyazoe-Wong of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who focused on the connection between in-class and outside-class activities. On August 7, there was a panel discussion among eight participants on some remarkable Japanese educational issues in their homelands. The panelists were Qiyi Fu (Taiwan), Judit Hidasi (Europe/ Hungary), Simpei Ko (China), Maggie On’yuk Leung (Hong Kong), Seiichi Makino (U.S.A.), Suzuko Nishihara (Japan), Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson (Australia). and Dok-Bong Yi (South Korea).

The following is a Haiku-like summary of what each panelist discussed. In Taiwan, the learners’ needs have become multi-faceted, resulting in a strong need for teachers of special-purpose Japanese, but overall “Japanese studies” (日本研究）are still weak. In Europe, where people have long experienced multi-cultural coexistence, the concept of the “Plurilingual EU-citizen” has arisen in the post-EU era. In 2001 the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) [http://culture2.coe.fint/portfolio/documents_intro/common_framework.html] was completed, and the European Language Portfolio (ELP), which makes it possible to keep track of individual learners’ growth, is also available. In China, with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in mind, the nation is trying to establish professional training which should produce highly skilled foreign language learners (複合型高級外語人材). In Hong Kong, flexible cultural understanding is being made an integral goal of Japanese language education. In Japan the government has to think hard about the repercussions that will arise from the aging of the population and declining birth rates. For example, an expected influx of foreign workers who don’t need to learn Japanese will lead to Japanese as a lingua franca. Japanese educators have to free themselves from the traditional view of "Japanese language only for Japanese." In South Korea, the current focus is on Japanese education for mutual understanding between Korea and Japan, and completion of a cyber infrastructure for all pre-college institutions will be one of the effective means to achieve curricular goals. In Australia, in spite of the very high enrollments – 400,000 – of Japanese language students, 97% of the learners are in pre-college institutions. There remains a problem of articulation between elementary, middle and high schools, and a lack of advanced-level students in college.

What do you think I discussed, as the representative from the United States? Of course: the Advanced Placement Program (about which I wrote in the May issue of the ATJ Newsletter). Now we have received the very good news that the Japan Foundation has decided to fund half of the $1.37 million necessary to develop the program. The funding will enable us to start this most challenging and rewarding program. In September the College Board will appoint a formal Task Force, and it will proceed with course and test development between May 2004 and September 2006, with professional development in Summer 2006, and with the first actual offering of the AP Japanese course during the 2006-2007 academic year followed by administration of the first AP Japanese exam in June 2007.

In two or three years ATJ (and possibly NCJLT) will host the International Conference on Japanese Teaching in the U.S. I am convinced that we have reached the point where we have to think about Japanese education not just in the U.S or just in Japan, but in the world, and Prof. Neustupny’s question about why and how we should teach Japanese appears to be an appropriate theme for the next ICJT.

Last but not least, I would like to use this space to very strongly encourage every ATJ member to invite one person to join the Association. That way we can double the membership, so I will call it a "Membership Doubling Campaign." Tell any graduate student who is seeking or will seek a position teaching Japanese that the ATJ membership is a fine way to show his or her professional dedication. There are many recruiters of Japanese teachers, including myself, who will check if the applicant for a position on our campuses is a member of the ATJ or not. Please give the membership brochure enclosed with this issue of the Newsletter to a colleague or student, and ask the ATJ office for more brochures if needed.

それでは、この秋は11月19日〜21日のシカゴでのACTFLの大会でお会いします。お元気で。

Seiichi Makino