Attending: Seiichi Makino (President), Naomi McGloin (President-Elect); Hiroko Furuyama, Keiko Schneider, Lawrence Marceau, Yasuko Ito Watt, Ken-ichi Miura, Yuki Johnson, Lindsay Amthor Yotsukura, Mutsuko Endo Hudson, Junko Mori (Board members); Tim Vance, Hiroshi Nara (Journal editors); Susan Schmidt (staff). Not attending: Pat Wetzel (Past President).
The meeting was called to order by Makino. Yuki Johnson and the University of Toronto were thanked for hosting the meeting.
The minutes of the March 2004 meeting were approved as corrected (Mori added to Seminar committee list).
President’s Report: Makino reported on Nihongo Kyoiku Gakkai’s international symposium in August 2004, which he attended as representative of ATJ and of the Japanese field in the US. He reported that representatives from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, the US, the EU, and Korea addressed the conference. A 3-volume set of Proceedings was produced, and copies will be sent to all Board members. In his report on the situation of Japanese language education in the US, Makino selected the upcoming development of an Advanced Placement program as the major topic for his remarks. Other countries mentioned problems of articulation, professional development, and standards as issues that are facing them. In Japan, Makino reported, the discussion centers on the question of the role of Japanese language in Japanese society as it diversifies.
Makino reported that Nihongo Kyoiku Gakkai’s current head, Suzuko Nishihara, requested that ATJ host the next international conference on Japanese language education in the United States, and that he and 2005-2006 President McGloin had volunteered to lead the discussion of its possibility. Further discussion was postponed until later in the meeting.
Makino next reported on the results of the survey of the membership which was conducted in spring 2004. About 22% of the members returned the survey with their comments and replies to questions about the organization. Among the findings that merit special interest were:
1) There is confusion about the nature and purpose of the three organizations ATJ, NCJLT, and AATJ. The characteristics of the organizations and the relationship among them should be explained better to the membership and to the outside world.
2) There is interest in having more regional and local workshops, in addition to the ATJ Seminar.
3) Opinions were divided on whether the name of the organization should be changed, but a clear majority of those who responded were not in favor of changing the name.
4) There is interest in the activities of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and there were suggestions for new SIGs, including one for Cultural Studies.
Some of these topics were returned to later in the meeting, as New Business.
Makino reported that he was often asked, while in Japan, for the Japanese name of ATJ. The Board discussed the question of a Japanese name, and decided on the following:
ATJ (日本語・日本文学学会)
President-Elect’s Report: McGloin reported on attending the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) annual conference in April as ATJ’s representative. Laurel Rasplica Rodd was honored at the conference with the NCOLCTL annual Walton Award (having been nominated by ATJ). McGloin also attended the Japan Foundation’s first National Symposium on Japanese Language Education, "No Teacher Left Behind," on August 1-2. At the symposium representatives of 25 national and regional organizations in the US were invited to talk about the issues facing the field in general and their organizations in particular. The focus was mainly on pre-college education, with particular emphasis on the development of the Advanced Placement (AP) program by the College Board and on the No Child Left Behind legislation and its impact on language education and on teachers facing re-certification requirements. McGloin pointed out that the AP program is also important for university-level language education because it promotes articulation from high school to college level.
During the year of her presidency McGloin will take initiative on the proposed international conference to be held in 2006 and on strengthening ties with organizations in other countries. She asked the Board members to think about new initiatives that the organization should undertake.
Membership Report: Schmidt reported that membership stood at 869 members as of August 31. Membership tends to follow an annual pattern of many members joining at the time of the Seminar in the spring and then not renewing their membership the following year. Efforts to recruit new members included personal email messages to members who have not renewed, mass mailing of membership brochures, and a special outreach effort to language faculty who write recommendation letters for Bridging Scholarship applicants but are not ATJ members. These efforts resulted in several dozen new memberships in 2004. It was suggested that a personal email acknowledgment be sent to each member who renews, and Schmidt promised to do so. Makino urged Board members to recruit graduate students as new members; he announced that he is launching a membership-doubling campaign, in which each member will be asked to invite one new member to join. It was pointed out that the capability of renewing on-line (with credit card payment) might make it easier for some members to renew. Schmidt promised to investigate the possibility of on-line renewal (e-commerce) and report at the next meeting.
Financial Report: A summary of ATJ’s finances as of August 31 showed that total resources (in checking and money-market accounts) were $209,868. Income was $394,680 (of which $30,430 was membership dues, $79,857 was grants, and $280,000 was Bridging Scholarship stipends). Expenditures totaled $421,765 (including $280,000 for Bridging Scholarship stipends, $60,055 to the University of Colorado for salaries, postage, and overhead, $27,174 in unspent grant funds that were returned to the funder, $16,974 for Bridging Project administration expenses, and $14,059 for the Newsletter, Journal, and other publications).
Journal Editor’s Report: Tim Vance, Coordinating Editor, reported that the most recent issue of the journal (Volume 83:1) was the largest every published in number of pages. This was largely because of the backlog of Dissertation Abstracts that were published in the issue. The next issue, 38:2, is being printed, and will have even more pages. The large size means higher paper and postage expenses. The compiler of the Dissertation Abstracts, Frank Shulman, has begun to include foreign-language dissertations as well as English-language ones. Vance suggested that in future foreign language dissertations be reported only with a title in English, rather than a full abstract, in order to take some burden off Dr. Shulman. The Board approved this suggestion. The next issue (Vol. 38:2) is dedicated to Samuel Martin, and Vance reported that a birthday celebration had been held for Martin at Portland State University, which included a presentation of an advance copy of the issue.
Newsletter Report: The next issue of the Newsletter will be published in November. Board members and others are requested to send news items by October 20.
Bridging Project Report: The Bridging Scholarships are awarded twice a year, to about 100 students each year; ATJ receives more than 500 applications for the scholarships. Several Board members serve on the Advisory Committee. Any interested Board members are encouraged to volunteer for the committee. Application materials since 1999 are archived at the ATJ office and are available for research on study abroad in Japan by American students.
SIG Reports: The Heritage SIG is ready to solicit contributions for a refereed e-journal (the bilingual web site capability has been developed, with Schneider’s help). The SIG hopes to have a guaranteed slot at the ATJ Seminar in Chicago, but will submit a competitive proposal as well.
The Community College SIG is just getting started. Recruiting of members is difficult because there is no good information on the number of community colleges with Japanese programs. Community colleges fall through the cracks on surveys like the one conducted by the Japan Foundation. One possibility is to hire a graduate student to research and locate teachers. It was suggested that a free workshop might be held for community college teachers, in conjunction with the ATJ Seminar or the ACTFL conference. Furuyama, together with Shingo Satsutani of NCJLT, will have a special community college session at the November 2005 ACTFL conference. The new ATJ membership form will include "community college" in the list of institutional settings that members check, as well as list the SIG.
The SAFAS (Study Abroad for Advanced Skills) SIG held a session, as part of the 2004 AAS conference, on the topic of post-secondary study in Japan. The SIG also sponsored a research workshop at Ohio State University in 2004 and will publish the proceedings.
The Classical SIG sponsored a talk by Professor Steven Carter at the 2004 AAS conference; the talk will be published as an Occasional Paper. Haruo Shirane will publish a new textbook of classical Japanese, which will be the topic at next year’s SIG meeting. Yotsukura suggested the topic of advocating for classical Japanese courses in university departments as a future topic.
The Professional Development SIG would like a guaranteed slot at the ATJ Seminar in 2005. The SIG will hold a business meeting at the 2004 ACTFL conference in November.
The Board discussed the issue of whether ATJ membership should be required in order to participate in a SIG and affirmed the current policy that membership is a requirement for participation in SIG activities. Makino suggested that a new Cultural Studies SIG be formed and asked for suggestions of a chair to organize this SIG.
Committee Reports
Seminar Committee: Watt reported on behalf of the Seminar committee (Watt, Schneider, Furuyama, Mori, Larson) that the Request for Proposals had been published in the September newsletter and would be posted on the website immediately after the Board meeting. Proposals will be accepted only on-line in principle; anyone who wishes to submit a proposal on paper may contact Watt to do so, but it is expected that all proposals will be submitted online. The committee has recruited a large number of readers (including all Board members) to evaluate the proposals, and the selection will be made in December. Members of ATJ and NCJLT can submit proposals, and the RFP will be circulated to NCJLT members via the eOshirase list in order to encourage K-12 teachers to submit proposals.
Proposals will be sought in the areas of Literature, Linguistics, SLA, and Pedagogy. SIGs will be allowed one slot for a designated panel and also a time (lunch) to hold a meeting.
Presenters will be assessed a fee of $25 for use of an LCD projector in an individual presentation at the Seminar; the fee will be $50 for an entire panel.
Ideas were solicited for a keynote speaker. Suggestions included Haruo Shirane, Susan Napier, and Takie Sugiyama Lebra. The committee will approach Lebra first, and Makino will formally invite her if she agrees to speak. An honorarium of $500 can be provided, in addition to expenses.
The issue of holding the Seminar in conjunction with AAS was discussed. The changing balance of members in ATJ toward pedagogy and linguistics and away from literature means that fewer members of ATJ are interested in attending AAS conference sessions, and the cost is considerable. For many teachers the need to schedule the Seminar on Thursday is a hindrance to attending because of school and class schedules. Many members favor holding an independent Seminar, and this has much to recommend it, but for the office the work of setting up an independent conference would be considerable, and we would have to charge a registration fee (which we do not do now, and which might discourage graduate students from attending). As an official Meeting-in-Conjunction, we are not charged anything by AAS for the use of the hotel facilities for the Seminar and the annual general membership meeting, but AAS asks that our presenters register for the AAS conference. In recent years we have had trouble because many Seminar presenters do not register with AAS: at the 2004 only 16 out of 60 presenters registered. ATJ’s affiliation with AAS is a long one, and even if the Seminar is held independently, we may wish to continue to hold Board meetings and/or the general membership meeting at the AAS conferences. For 2005, it was agreed that more effort will be made to publicize AAS sessions that are of interest to ATJ members and to encourage all who attend the Seminar to also attend AAS.
In discussion it was pointed out that in 2006 the Seminar will be combined with the International Conference (to be held in August) rather than at AAS. It was suggested that in 2007 we hold a separate, independent Seminar, in February. Vance suggested the University of Arizona as a possible venue and volunteered to head an organizing committee. The Board agreed, subject to review at the next meeting, to proceed with this reorganization of the Seminar.
Nominating Committee: Miura reported on behalf of the Nominating committee (Miura, Marceau, Johnson, Wetzel) that a slate of candidates for the next election will include three Board positions (two Literature slots and one At-Large slot) and a President-Elect. The membership at large will be asked for suggestions, and the final list will be compiled in November. The nominees will be asked to send short biographies by early December to the ATJ office so that ballots can be prepared and mailed at the beginning of January. Ballots will be due at the ATJ office on March 1 and will be counted by outside faculty members. The results will be announced in Chicago at the Board meeting and general membership meeting.
Alliance Report: Schmidt reported on recent Alliance projects, including a summer 2004 institute in Japan for K-12 teachers (funded by the US Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program, the Japan Foundation, and the Shoyu Club Foundation), a conference of Saturday Schools in the US, the continuing small individual grants program (funded by the US-Japan Foundation and a grant last year from ATJ), and cooperation with the College Board on forming a Task Force for the AP program. She promised that the AATJ web site would be updated with information for teachers and for the general public on the AP program and other issues in the field. It was suggested that the website include recent information on the Japan Foundation’s enrollment survey and other data of interest.
(1) Post-Basic Framework: It was agreed that information on both the Elementary (basic) Framework and the Post-Basic Framework be posted on the website, as well as the text of the draft Post-Basic Framework, and that ATJ sponsor a panel at the 2006 AAS conference on the Post-Basic Framework. Mori volunteered to investigate and perhaps organize this panel.
(2) Funding for ATJ and dues structure: Schmidt pointed out that dues income is sufficient only to cover the expense of printing and mailing publications and holding the annual Seminar; all other expenses are covered by grant income, which must be sought and renewed annually, with no guarantee of continued support. Current funding comes from the Japan-US Friendship Commission (for the Bridging Project and the Alliance), with smaller project grants supplementing. It was suggested that funding might be sought from Apple or other companies that would appreciate the I’mportance of Japanese language education.
Endo moved to amend dues structure to add a new category of part-time instructors, which would make the dues structure as follows:
Regular (full-time) $45
Regular (part-time) $35
Regular, all other countries (full-time) $60
Regular, all other countries (part-time) $50
The motion was seconded by Watt and passed after discussion.
(3) Booth at the AAS conference: For the past two years ATJ has rented a booth in the Exhibit Hall at the AAS conference. The cost is $800 (fee includes conference registration for two staff members). The booth is a chance to meet current members and talk to potential new members; PR value for the organization. It was agreed that ATJ will continue the booth in 2005 at AAS. The theme might be tied in to the Year of Languages declared by ACTFL and the US Congress.
(4) Name of organization: Based on the results of the membership survey, it was decided that the English name of ATJ will not be changed. The Japanese name will officially become
ATJ (日本語・日本文学学会)
(5) International Conference on Japanese Language Education in 2006: The possibility of hosting an international conference in the US in 2006 was discussed. Nishihara sensei of Nihongo Kyoiku Gakkai requested that the US sponsor the next conference (previous conferences have been held in Korea and Japan); it would be the first one outside Asia. It is not necessary to hold as large-scale a conference as the 2004 conference in Tokyo (which was attended by around 1,000 people). It was felt that New York City would be a good venue for a conference as it would attract participants from both Europe and Asia; other possibilities would be the West Coast, Chicago, or Wisconsin. Early August would be the best time for international participants. The conference would combine and replace the 2006 ATJ Seminar, with papers and panel sessions proposed by people from all over the world (including ATJ members). Funding for the conference would be an issue, and it was felt that it will be important to start planning early. A planning committee was formed, with Makino and McGloin as co-chairs; members from ATJ are Furuyama, Mori, Endo, and Yotsukura. Representatives from NCJLT will also be invited to join the planning committee; the content of the conference should include pre-college Japanese language education issues as well as research. It was agreed that the committee would meet during the ACTFL conference in Chicago in November 2004.
(6) Future of ATJ Seminar: The Board discussed the future of the ATJ Seminar and the possibility of holding the Seminar separately from the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conference in the future. The AAS conference seems to draw little interest from linguists and language pedagogy specialists, who now constitute the largest number of ATJ members. Only a minority of presenters and attendees at the Seminar also attend AAS, and the necessity of scheduling the Seminar on a Thursday as a Meeting-in-Conjunction, rather than on a weekend, reportedly prevents many potential participants from attending. It was pointed out, on the other hand, that literature specialists are interested in what the AAS conference has to offer, and that AAS is trying to attract more session proposals on language. Logistically, an independent conference would involve more expense and Board and staff time to organize. If the International Conference on Japanese Language Education is hosted by ATJ in 2006, it will not be possible to hold a Seminar as well; the Seminar will be combined with and incorporated into the International Conference. The Board agreed that this would be the most likely scenario for 2006, and tentatively proposed following with an independent conference in 2007. The best time (not competing with other conferences) would be February, and Vance proposed the University of Arizona (Tempe) as a possible venue. Vance will investigate that possibility further, and the matter will be discussed again at upcoming Board meetings.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Schmidt