ATJ Seminar Is Back

After a hiatus of one year (replaced in 2006 by the International Conference on Japanese Language Education in New York), the ATJ Seminar will be back in 2007 in its usual format: a one-day fiesta of presentations and panels to take place in Boston, MA, on Thursday, March 22, 2007. The Seminar will be held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), which takes place at the Boston Marriott Copley Place March 22–25, 2007.

Information on the AAS Conference, including the schedule and venue, is available now at the AAS website: www.aasianst.org. Please look for information on the ATJ Seminar on ATJ’s website (www.colorado.edu/ealc/atj) in January, and in the February issue of the Newsletter.

A registration fee will be charged this year for the Seminar: $15 for regular members of ATJ or NCJLT, and $10 for students. Non-members will be charged a registration fee of $50 to attend the Seminar. So renewing your membership is especially important: please look for a letter in the mail if your membership is up for renewal this year. Memberships can be renewed online at any time. Seminar registration will also be available online beginning in February, as well as on-site in Boston.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Language and Culture SIG Session at AAS Conference, March 2007

ATJ’s newly formed Language and Culture SIG (Special Interest Group) will meet during the annual Association for Asian Studies (AAS) conference in Boston next March. The SIG meeting will take place on Friday evening, March 23, from 7:00–9:00 p.m. The session (like the conference) will take place at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Please check the ATJ website in January, or the February issue of the Newsletter, for the specific room. The meeting will feature three presentations: Ichiro Noguchi (University of Wisconsin at Madison), “Nihongo kyookasho ni arawareta bunka no setsumei no mondaiten ni tsuite”; Masako Dorrill (Dillard University), “A re-examination of culture at the discourse level”; Akiko Murata (University of Pennsylvania), “Bunka-jinruigaku teki shiten kara mita anime fan no jiko-kyooiku to nihongo-kyooiku no setten: “Bunka nooto” to fan club no kenshuukai no bunseki kara.” The SIG members hope to see many ATJ members in Boston!

ICJLE Plenary Sessions Available on DVD

The four plenary sessions at the International Conference on Japanese Language Education (ICJLE: Aug. 5-6) were videotaped with the permission of the presenters. The recordings are available in DVD format, together with copies of supporting materials for each presentation, as follows:

1. Merrill Swain, “Languaging and Agency in Second Language Learning”: DVD video of presentation (in English), 6-page handout (in English), and summary.

2. Susan Napier, “From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Eyes of the West”: DVD video of presentation (in English) and 10-page transcript of talk (in English).

3. Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku, “The Roles of Assessment in the Japanese Language Classroom”: DVD video of presentation (in Japanese), 24-page handout (in English and Japanese), and summary.

4. Representatives of Japanese Language Education Associations around the World, “The Three C’s of Standards: Cultures, Connections, and Communities” (Panel Discussion): DVD video of panel discussion (in Japanese) and 19 pages of supporting documents from six of the presenters (in Japanese).

If you are interested in obtaining any of these sets of materials, please contact the ATJ office by email (atj@colorado.edu) to request them. The $10 fee for each session covers copying and postage costs.

ATJ Membership Renewal for 2007

Membership renewal letters and forms will be in the mail soon. Remember that you can now renew on-line: www.aatj.org/membership. html. Please consider taking out a 5- or 10-year membership this time: it saves money and means that you will not have to remember to renew next year. It also sends the message that you support your profession!

ATJ Endowment Is Growing

ATJ has joined the ranks of other non-profit organizations in establishing an endowment fund. Contributions of any amount to this fund, which are tax-deductible, will help to ensure that the Association can continue to provide services to members in the future. Contributions have recently been made to the Endowment by Wesley M. Jacobsen, John Mertz, and Rumiko Simonds. Please consider donating when you next renew your membership, or by mail at any time. For more information, contact the ATJ office.