Japanese Teacher Training Program ALLEX/PSU

The Alliance for Language Learning and Educational Exchange (ALLEX) (www.EastAsia.org) at Portland State University (PSU) Japanese Teacher Training Program will be held June 16-August 8, 2008 at Portland State University in Oregon. The program is an intensive course for current teachers of Japanese and those who plan to enter the field. The intensive eight-week course provides future instructors with a foundation for teaching Japanese and gives current teachers substantial tools to reinforce and strengthen their Japanese programs. Effective methodology in teaching Japanese to North Americans is emphasized over a theoretical analysis of the Japanese language.

The program is directed by Patricia Wetzel, Professor of Japanese at Portland State University and former president of the Association for Teachers of Japanese. Highly experienced visiting professors from across the country lecture in their areas of expertise while mentoring students one-on-one. The eight-week program runs from June 16-August 10 (12 credits, $4,995); the four-week program is from June 16-July 11 (tuition TBA).

The curriculum of the full-time intensive program includes a lecture component covering such topics as the basic principles of effective Japanese language pedagogy, classroom teaching techniques, linguistic analysis of Japanese, and language testing, an observation component during which participants observe and analyze actual Japanese language classes taught by master instructors, and a demonstration component during which participants teach actual Japanese class sessions that are videotaped and critiqued by program faculty members. Limited financial support is available on a competitive basis. More information: www.east asia.org/jtti.htm.

Japanese Workshop at Northeast Conference

Cyrus Rolbin of Keio University, along with several of his colleagues and a number of Keio graduate students, will be presenting a three-hour workshop at the upcoming Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, March 27-29, 2008, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The workshop is scheduled for Saturday morning, March 29, from 9 a.m.-12 noon. It is titled "Lifelong, Online Language and Culture Exchange—Perspectives from Japan." The workshop is part of the NECTFL conference emphasis on the iGeneration, which will include a six-station tech playground created by Apple as well as a presentation by online learning expert Marc Prensky. NECTFL Board member Jessica Haxhi, who teaches Japanese at an elementary school in Connecticut, has helped to recruit a number of presenters and companies to the conference. Complete information and registration forms: www.nectfl.org.

Summer Program for Students in Puppet Theater in Japan

The Japanese Studies Program at the University of Missouri has prepared an opportunity for American college and university students to receive training this summer in traditional Japanese puppet theater, commonly known as ningyo joruri or Bunraku, with traditional troupes, each more than 300 years old. The programs will be in the form of internships in which the students spend about nine weeks training with one of the troupes and participating in a performance or performances at the end of the summer. Students will be able to use their free time for exploring Japan locally or further afield. Three to six hours of independent study credit will be available for the internship for those who want it. Information: http://asianinterstage.com/summer2008japan/.

The costs for the program are relatively low. The number of slots for non-Missouri students is limited, but applications from interested students from other colleges and universities will be considered. Students at any level of Japanese are welcome to apply. Participants in this program need to be thoughtful, self-motivated, responsible students who want to explore a community and who can enjoy a summer in a small city without a teeming expat crowd or any nightlife to speak of. Alumni of the summer training programs in Japan are eligible to audition to perform with Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe, which performs traditional Japanese puppetry around the U.S. The troupe gave three performances at the Smithsonian Institution in April 2007 and at the Kennedy Center in 2005. Repertoire includes Kotobuki Shiki Sanbaso, Yaoya Oshichi, Hidakagawa Iriaizakura, Keisei Awa no Naruto, and other pieces. Recent tours have taken the troupe to the University of Chicago, as well as Indiana, Maine, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Kansas, and Missouri. For information about bringing Bunraku Bay to your institution to perform and/or to offer a lecture/demonstration/workshop, please write to the troupe's director, J. Martin Holman: holmanma@missouri.edu. www.bunraku.org/.