The
BiannuallyS p ri n g 2 0 0 2/ Nu mb e r 2 5

T H E J A PA N
F O U N DAT I O N
Los Angeles
Language Center

国際交流基金
ロス・アンジェルス
日本語センター

1

JF Relocation News

2

Japan Foundation London Nihongo Center

4

Japanese Teacher Certification Program at
Arizona State University

7

2001 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
Report8

2001 ACTFL Report
Survey on Learners of Japanese in the U.S.

9

Report on the Computer Technology Workshop
Report on the Online Professional
Development

10

From the Nihongo Librar y

11

Online Copyright Issues

12

The Ninth Summer Pedagogy Workshop

13

Announcements, Word Play, etc.

16

Staff Directory, Map, etc.

Moving to the new location!

SpringChanges

As was disclosed some months ago at The Japan Foundation Luncheon during theAmerican Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Conference inWashington DC, the Los Angeles Office & Language Center will be relocating from its
present location in Santa Monica to downtown Los Angeles on April 19th, 2002. This
marks a return for The Japan Foundation to the downtown area, where it first opened
its doors in February of 1983 in Little Tokyo. The new office will be situated within
the Wells Fargo Building, with the following contact information:
The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office & Language Center
Address:
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2250
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Telephone:(213) 621-2267
Fax:(213) 621-2590*Our web-site remains the same at http://www.jflalc.org
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Mon-Fri (Office and Library closed on Sat. & Sun.)
Despite this change in venue, we wish to ensure our patrons that our library services andcommitment to Japanese language education remain the same. Please note that the
Library will be open beginning May 13th. We look forward to having you visit us atour new location soon!

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

CLASS ACTS: SUCCESS STORIES FROM THE UK JAPANESE CLASSROOMAre you curious about Japanese language education in the U.K.? Now "Class Acts," the videotape
is available to view classrooms in the U.K. "Class Acts" was a project undertaken by The JapanFoundation's London Nihongo Center and the result of a year's filming in 19 secondary schools, andprovides a snapshot of the current national scene with 33 teachers demonstrating a range of successful teaching techniques and approaches to the teaching of Japanese. "Class Acts" aims to bea training tool for existing and trainee teachers of Japanese; to help head teachers plan for Japaneseat their school; and to brief interested colleagues in the wider languages world, in other educational
sectors and overseas about the current secondary scene. This 150 mins. videotape contains a mix
of classroom practice, advice on planning issues, and teacher and pupil comments on the teaching
and learning process in the UK. This videotape is available to loan from our Nihongo Library.

While this is the ideal, a second pattern is slightly
more common. This involves a later start, usually atyear 9 and sometimes preceded by language awareness classes, with Japanese being one of many
options. In some schools it is considered suitable
only for the brighter pupils (the same restriction often
applying in these schools for any second language
take-up), while in others, it is offered as a ‘try again’
subject for those who have ‘failed’ to master French.
A third pattern, originally the most usual but now on
the decline, offered Japanese in years 12 and 13 as
an enrichment subject alongside the normal sixth
form curriculum.
A major result of the growth in provision has been thepressing need to find both teachers and resources
for the subject. Private schools are not required to
employ fully trained teachers and have successfully
recruited and trained a variety of Japanese speakers,
native and non-native alike. For the maintained
schools the position has been more perilous but
there are now two established Post Graduate
Certificate of Education university courses for teachers of Japanese and a variety of OTJ training
schemes overseen by accrediting agencies such as
CILT. Returnee JETs are a prime source of entrants
for these courses and they bring a youthful enthusiasm and a wealth of EFL ideas (particularly suited totarget language teaching) to the subject which hasdone much to enliven classrooms and motivate thestudents.
The examination system in England does not allow
the syllabi to stipulate a textbook and numbers of
pupils are still too small for a publishing company totake on the task of providing a core text. For the past
six years several small groups have been working on‘virtual’ alternatives (encouraged by a remit toencourage the paperless classroom!) and a pilot
scheme for year 7 is now underway. In the absenceof anything home grown most departments use text
books from Australia or New Zealand (Kimono, Isshoni, Mirai, Obentou etc.) but the cost of these is highand none of these imported courses exactly fits theexamination syllabi currently in force in the UK. Thus,
much in-house material is prepared and sharedthrough workshops arranged by the Nihongo Centre,
the Japanese Language Committee of the
Association for Language Learning and other interested groups.
In the early seventies, I attended a workshop forteachers of Japanese/Japanese Studies. There were
15 teachers there, we all knew each other and we
represented almost the sum total of the teaching
going on outside universities at the time. At thatworkshop Richard Thames, a keynote speaker,
asked “Why teach about Japan/ Japanese?”. He
replied to his own question “Because one can.” And
it is true that even then, one could. Resources were
becoming available, The Japan Foundation, newly
formed, was looking to support any efforts and theseeds were sown for the healthy crop of Japanese
students we see today. Next month I will attend a
Nihongo Centre course; having looked at the list of
attendees I see that, for the first time in regular
INSET course attendance, I shall only know 10% ofthem. This to me is the clearest indication I can giveof how the language has expanded and it gives me
great confidence for the future.
When Margaret Wells visited the UK nearly twenty
years ago to talk of the Australian experience she
countered critics who suggested that we didn’t needa lot of Japanese speakers by reminding us thateveryone studies Math in school and we don’t all
become actuaries! Japanese now has a place in the
curriculum in UK schools and in this brief review I
have no place to cover the many knock-on effects
this has as cultural/area studies go hand in hand withlanguage learning, exchanges (real and virtual) blossom and the ripple from that well known leaping frog
spreads far and wide.
3.

Japanese Language
TEaching in the UK
Mary-Grace Browning
Teacher of Japanese and member of the Japanese Language Committee of ALL
As I write this overview of the current Japanese
Language Education situation in the UK on 30th
January 2002, I reflect that it is one hundred years to
the day since the signing of the first Anglo Japanese
Friendship Treaty. Though that friendship has beentested to the limit in the century which followed, there
has always been a core of British people who maintained an interest in Japan and the Japanese language, and this has grown steadily in the last fifty
years with an additional spurt since the beginning of
the 80s.
Accurate statistics were not collected until 1993 but it
is known that from the late 50s a very few private
schools offered some Japanese tuition. There were
five well established universities and at least one institute of further education offering language courses but
numbers of graduates were small.
During the 70s the modernization of the school language curriculum led to the inception of the graded
test movement which offered staged testing in all languages (as requested by individual teachers motivated enough to devise their own tests where none
already existed) in four elementary levels up to
Ordinary Level (the examination then taken at the endof compulsory education). These tests moderated by
local centres and the uptake for Japanese grew from
3 to 20 schools until the process was centralized at
the University of Lancaster and became more widely
available.
In the mid 80s many educational changes and much
lobbying by teachers and others concerned about thefate of the small but growing interest in Japanese
resulted ina) Japanese being included as a National
Curriculum Language i.e. one which could be taught
in schools to General Certificate of Education (theexam which replaced Ordinary Level) Levelb) The concurrent development of Japanese syllabi,
firstly as Mode 3 GCSE and finally as a fully accredited examination with all four strands – listening,speaking, reading and writing – assessed.
The advent of the language colleges in the 90s gavea further boost to numbers as, being required to teach2.

an ‘other script’ language, many chose Japanese.
Figures for 2002 show that of the 141 language colleges, 82 (58%) offer courses in Japanese and theteachers in these schools are at the forefront of new
developments. They have worked hard to devise
teaching strategies to cope as dictats from the
Department of Education have enforced total target
language teaching and then rescinded this orderpiecemeal over the years. Other proscriptions haveincluded the use or otherwise of dictionaries in examinations, the use or otherwise of target language
instructions in examinations etc. Thanks to the effortsof these teachers Japanese has been able to retain
parity with the European languages despite it’s all too
obvious differences from them and thus maintaincredibility as a viable subject.
Pressure for further qualifications post GCSE led torevision of the old Advanced Level Examination(which had existed unchanged since 1956) to provide
the modern two tier post compulsory educationassessment: AS level (mainly grammar based) and A2(literature based) allowing students to continue forone or two more years.
As students enter university with more than just abasic knowledge of the language, the 48 universities
now offering courses have had to rethink their programmes of study and offer post beginner level inyear 1. This figure of 48 universities in 2002 shows agreat increase from the 27 courses on offer in 1993
and indicates just how interest in the language learning has expanded.
Looking back over the past 10 years in schools, we
can see that from 2,164 learners in 98 schools (1993)
there has been a 175% growth to 8,500 learners in
270 schools. The pattern is not even across the county and the differences in schooling systems in each of
the four parts of the United Kingdom and Northern
Ireland make accurate comparisons difficult. However
two common patterns of provision are apparent. The
first gives Japanese equal parity with other modern
foreign languages and offers classes from year 7 (age11) to year 13 (off shoots of this pattern may involve
language circuses in year 7 to allow choice at year 8).
Where this system is in place, pupils can choose
Japanese as their first or second (occasionally third)
language.

Japanese Teacher Certification Program at
Arizona State University
Miko Foard
Arizona State University

According to the article, “Japanese
Teaching Credential Programs in
the U.S.” by Hiroko Kataoka et al(Breeze, Spring 2000), ArizonaState University is one of 48 schools
in 26 states that offer Japanese
Teaching Credential Programs. The
degree is a Bachelor of Arts in
Education –Secondary EducationJapanese, which students can pursue through the College of
Education. In the case of Arizona,
Teacher Certification is issued by
the State of Arizona, and theCollege of Education at ASU has an
Initial Teacher Certification (ITC)
Program that prepares students forthis state Teacher Certification.
There are ITC programs for undergraduates and post-baccalaureate
ITC programs for those who hold abachelor’s degree other than in education. Basically, these two programs are the same except for thenumber of credit hours necessary tocompletetherequirements.
Individual cases for post-baccalaureate students will also differ.
Japanese Teacher Certification canbe pursued at the Secondary
Education (7th-12th Grade) Level.
The ITC program includes academic specialization courses, as determined by the faculty in the academic discipline, which in this case is theJapanese faculty in the Departmentof Languages and Literatures.
Therefore, ITC students work with
two academic units, the College of
Education and the Department of
Languages and Literatures (DLL).

The ITC Program at ASU
If you would like to get Teacher
Certification in the state of Arizona,
you first enroll as pre-professional
status in the College of Education,
and admission to the ITC is a separate process. Since the ITC is com4.

petitive and standards are higher
than those for the university, admission to the ITC program is not guaranteed. The requirements for ITC
programs include the following,along with the university requirements and a special application forthe post-baccalaureate ITC program:
1. a minimum cumulative GPA of
2.50;
2. completion of at least 56 semester hours by the time of ITC
admission;
3. submission of scores on theAmerican College Test (ACT)*or the Pre-Professional Skills
Test (PPST).
*According to a recent graduate ofthis program, Eishi Ikeda, even
American students sometimes failthe ACT. But those who have failed
can be admitted with provisional
admission and they may take thetest again until they pass. The
College of Education provides atutor if you fail this test.
The ITC is a four-semester sequential program consisting of 36 to 58
semester hours, ranging from 9 to
16 hours per semester. In addition
to the coursework, students are

required to participate in directed
field experiences during each of thefour semesters of the program. The
culminating field experience iscalled student teaching, and it
occurs in the fourth semester of the
ITC program. Other requirements
needed to obtain teacher certification, but which are not required aspart of the ITC program, include
courses in the U.S. Constitution and
the Arizona Constitution, as well as
the Arizona Teacher Proficiency
Assessment, which consists of professional knowledge and subject
knowledge tests*.
* As of now, a Japanese content
area test is not available.

Courses for the Academic
Specialization Area
Once you are in the ITC program,
you will have two advisors, one in
the College of Education and one in
the Japanese section of the DLL.
The Japanese program requires all
ITC students to complete a courseof study equal to that required of a
traditional Japanese language
major: 30 credits of JPN coursesthat must include 24 upper divisioncredits in language and literature,B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

and 15 credits in related courses.
Among the 15 credits of related
courses, 6 must be taken in
Chinese or Korean languages,
Korean cultures, or Chinese literature. The other 9 credits should beselected under the guidance of theJapanese faculty advisor. Normally,
courses that have an emphasis on
East Asian Studies, such as
Japanese Religion, Art of Japan,and History of Japan, will be recommended. The following is a list of
JPN courses offered for Japanesemajors and ITC students.

Issues Concerning Students

ciency to teach high school courses.
The problem is that theJapanese Section has a policy thatnative speakers cannot take 100
through 300 level Japanese.
Therefore, these people must take24 credit hours solely within the 400
level courses. Unfortunately, there
will not be many 400 level course
offered each semester, so it takes
time to fulfill the 24 credit hourrequirement for these students. In
order to speed up the process, theyalmost always have to take repeatable courses such as Japanese
Literature and Advanced Readings,

Required Courses (Total of 15 credits)
JPN 313 (Third Year Japanese I)
JPN 314 (Third Year Japanese II)*JPN 321 (Japanese Literature)
JPN 414 (Introduction to Classical Japanese)
FLA 421 (Japanese Literature in Translation)

3 credits
3 credits
3 credits
3 credits
3 credits

Elective Courses (Total of 9 credits)
JPN 309 (Intermediate Japanese Conversation)
JPN 310 (Intermediate Japanese Conversation)
JPN311 (Japanese Conversation and Composition)
JPN312 (Japanese Conversation and Composition )2 credits
2 credits
3 credits
3 credits(No more than 8 hours may be selected from JPN 309, 310, 311 and 312)**JPN435 (Advanced Readings)3 credits**JPN 485 (Problems of Translation)**JPN394 (Special Topics)**JPN494 (Special Topics)**JPN499 (Independent Study)

3 credits
1-4 credits
1-4 credits
1-3 credits* May be repeated, and despite the number 321, it is considered a 400 levelcourse.
** Not regularly taught courses

Who Have a Diploma FromJapanese High Schools andColleges
If you have a high school or college
diploma from Japan (hereafter, I will
use the term native speakers), getting necessary credits from theJapanese area is not so easy.
Since the state of Arizona does notwaive anyone its requirement of 24
credit hours of JPN prefix courses,
native speakers must take upperdivision JPN courses even though
they have sufficient Japanese profi-

or take independent studies over
and over again. If students cannot
get an agreement with theJapanese faculty to have an independent study, they simply have towait, thus resulting in a prolonged
duration of their ITC program, which
is normally a four-semester sequential program. Our section finallyapproved native speakers’ exemption from 6 of the required 30 credit
hours, when the state of Arizonachanged its requirement from 30 to24 credit hours. However, thisexemption is not automatic. It
occurs only if the faculty who are
guiding these students come to theconsensus that this “native speaker” of Japanese actually has the
proficiency of native speakers inJapanese. If the Japanese faculty
cannot come to this consensus, the“native speaker” must demonstratethat they have the same proficiency
as that of the Level One Japanese
Language Proficiency Test given by
The Japan Foundation, and at least
AdvancedHigh
Speaking
Proficiency according to the ACTFL
Oral
Proficiency
Interview
Assessment. We use previous
Japanese Language Proficiency
Tests, which are published by The
Japan Foundation every year, andconduct an unofficial OPI to assess
native speakers of Japanese. If
these native speakers fail to show
evidence of these proficiency levels, they will not be exempt from 6
credits of Japanese courses, eventhough they are actually native
speakers of Japanese. This is agreat irony. According to Prof.
Kataoka’s article, mentioned above,
more than one half of Japaneseteachers are native speakers ofJapanese. Eighty percent of my
ITC advisees in the past have been
native speakers of Japanese. And
yet, our curriculum for ITC students
is not at all native speaker friendly.
Another problem is that among ourregular JPN courses, none are on
Japanese methodology or theory ofJapanese language.

Field Experience and Student
Teaching:
Problems
inArizona
The ITC students are required toparticipate in directed field experiences (observing actual classrooms) during each of the foursemesters of the program. During
the first semester, students observe
their mentor teacher’s class. Even
though students are not required toteach in the first semester field
experience, they are encouraged to5.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

participate in the class by walking
around desk to desk while highschool students engage in somekind of activity, or by being a partnerin conversation practice. For thesecond and third semester field
experiences, students are asked to
do model teaching for 3 to 8 hours
during the semester. However, thetime and the degree of teaching differ depending on the mentor
teacher. Some were told to teach acertain grammar point, while others
taught the entire class. For the final
semester of the ITC program, students are required to do student
teaching. In order to be admitted to
student teaching, a student musthave attained a high level of professional standards in the previous field
experience assignments. Student
teaching is a full-day, full-semester
obligation. According to Nozomi
Tanaka, the student teaching iscalled “student teaching from hell”
among people who have been
through this. Normally, during thisperiod, students receive their mentor teacher’s advice and commentson their performance in the classroom.
One problem with field experienceand student teaching is that it is so
hard to find a mentor teacher in highschool, since each district has its
own regulations. In some districts, anovice teacher of less than three
years experience in that district cannot take student teachers. My
impression from being the ITC advisor in DLL is that there are moreprincipals who do not welcome student teaching practice than ones
who do. One time, the College of
Education asked for my help to finda mentor teacher in a high school,
and I personally called each highschool teacher to see if they could
take our students. I found that eventhough teachers themselves werewilling, the administrators often
turned us down with various excuses. Currently, there are only six
Japanese high school teachers in
the Phoenix area. Therefore, often
6.

the ITC students end up observing
willing community college or university teachers’ classrooms to fulfill
their field experience requirement.
Maybe this is not an issue in states
like California or Washington.

theory courses are sufficient, but
Eishi argues for the benefit of learning Japanese-specific subjects, forexample, the history of kanji.

Problems to be Solved

Writing this article was a good
Graduates’ Voices
chance to re-examine our curricuI interviewed two recent graduates, lum for ITC students. In the current
Eishi Ikeda and Nozomi Tanaka, situation, I cover Japanese National
who acquired Japanese Teacher Standards and Arizona Standards
Certification through the College of and their implementation in the
Education at ASU. Both of them classroom in my independent study
agreed that the observation of other for ITC students. But these courses
teachers’ classes, at both the col- should be taught as requirements
lege and high school levels, was for the ITC. Also, we need to maketheir most valuable experience while our curriculum more native speakerpursuing their degree at ASU. friendly, especially since more thanNozomi strongly feels that she fifty percent of Japanese teachers inlearned how to teach Japanese as a the U.S. are native speakers of
second language by observing Japanese. Students might be able
experienced teachers’ classes. to take 400 level courses more easEishi was fortunate to be able to do ily when we implement our MA prohis field experience with high school gram next fall, if we can have underteachers. These teachers were graduate course numbers available
non-native speakers. He summa- for 500 level courses that are relatrized the pros of non-native speaker ed to pedagogy or linguistics. The
teachers’ classes as follows:
most important and urgent thing to
do is to improve the ITC program as
1. You can learn about class man- a whole with cooperation among theagement in an American high Department of Languages andschool classroom.
Literatures,theCollegeof
2. Since teachers themselves are Education, and the Arizonalearners of Japanese, they are Department of Education (ADE).
very good at explaining grammar Somehow, we need to stop the ADE
and you can learn how to explain requirement of 24 hours of JPN pregrammar effectively.
fix courses for native speakers.
3. Students seem to relax with non- Either that or the ADE must admit
native speaker teachers, and they some form of test to prove native
speak the target language more speakers’ proficiency in Japanese
freely without worrying about mak- and waive the 24 credit hours ofing mistakes.
JPN courses. For native speakers
4. Non-native speaker teachers are of Japanese, these hours should begood at creating an atmosphere used for more Japanese specificthat makes their students feel that methods courses or other disciplilearning Japanese is easy and nary courses. One action that mightfun.
lead us toward a solution is that the
DLL, together with the College ofEishi also commented that he Education, sent a recommendation
wished he had been able to take to the Arizona Department ofcourses in Japanese methodology Education to drop the requirement
and theory in DLL, while Nozomi of 24 hours of language for native
feels they can be learned by observ- speakers of Japanese.
ing master teachers’ classes.
Nozomi feels general (none-language specific) methodology andB re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

2001 Japanese
Language
Proficiency Test
ResultS REPORTThe 2001 proficiency test was held in 100 cities in 38
countries throughout the world on December 2nd,
2001. The total number of applicants was 270,851 andincreased 15.3% from the previous year. In the U.S., it
was the 9th year of the test and held in four major cities:
Honolulu, Chicago, Los Angeles (Torrance, California)
and New York. The number of applicants in the U.S.
also increased significantly this year. We are very
pleased to see that the test has been steadily gaining
recognition in the U.S., reflecting countinued interest in
the Japanese language. Lastly, wadopted online-registration in the U.S. for the first time for applicants’ convenience as well as administrative efficiency of the test.
The following charts and graphs reflect the results of
the last test in the U.S. We hope more learners ofJapanese will take this test this year. The application
will be available after August, so please do not hesitate
to contact the following address for any questions orsuggestions:
The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office andLanguage Center
Address:
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2250
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Telephone:(213) 621-2267
Fax:(213) 621-2590
E-mail:noryoku@jflalc.org
URL:
http://www.jflalc.org/noryoku.html

Average Test Score by Test Location
284

267

263

251

ChicagoHonoluluLA

New York

Total Number of Test Takers by Test Location
340

204
175
128

ChicagoHonoluluLA

New York

Test Score by Test Level & Section
Test Score by Test Level & Location

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Average

ChicagoHonoluluLA

New York

285.7
231.2
239.6
248.1
251.15

302.9
254.9
287.3
289.5
283.65

289.9
246.1
270.4
259.9
266.58

286.9
244.4
259.9
262.4
263.4

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Average

Reading

Vocab

Listening

Total Score

144.5
107.3
123.8
121.5
122.9

69
68.2
71.1
72.7
70.3

77.7
70
68.7
63.4
69.5

291.2
245.5
263
257.5
262.6

Pass / Fail Ratio by Test Level

Pass
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Tota\

97
121
149
134
501

Fail

Total Test #of Taker

Passing Ratio

74
109
86
77
346

171
230
235
211
847

57%
53%
63%
64%
59%
7.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 00 2

2001 ACTFL Luncheon Report
The Renaissance Washington Hotel was the site of
the 2001 edition of The Japan Foundation Luncheon.
Attracting a lively and near sell-out audience,
Japanese educators and supporters alike were treated to an informative and entertaining two-hour program. Speakers included Japan-America Society ofWashington, DC Executive Director Ms. JoAnna
Phillips, who delivered the keynote address, and Mr.
Toshihisa Tanaka (Director) and Mr. Takashi Imai
(Deputy Director) from The Japan Foundation Los
Angeles Language Center. Making this year’s luncheon especially successful were the generous contributions made by The Japan Foundation’s invaluable
supporters (please see list). Because of them, manymembers of the audience went home with more baggage, not necessarily a bad thing in this case, and abigger smile. Thanks to everyone once again, andalthough we will not be holding a luncheon this coming year, we look forward to seeing you at our booth inSalt Lake City, UT.

LIST OF DONORS (in alphabetical order)
Aurora Foundation
Cheng & Tsui
Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc.
Hitachi, Ltd.
Holiday Inn, Torrance
The Japan Forum
Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd.
JETRO
Kay Communications, Inc.
Kinokuniya Bookstores
Kintetsu International Travel Consultants Company
Kitagawa & Ebert, P.C.
Kodansha America, Inc.
Makita USA, Inc.
Morinaga Nutritional Foods, Inc.
Pentel of America, Ltd.
Seiko Instruments Austin, Inc.
Tokimec USA, Inc.
Wakunaga of America, Co., Ltd.

Survey on Learners of Japanese in the U.S.
The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Language Center (JFLALC)
conducted an informal survey of Japanese language learners
about why and how they study the language. It was an attempt
to see the complete picture of current Japanese language education/learning in the U.S. after a 1998 survey revealed thestate of language education from institutional aspects.
The following is the first report of the results of this web-based
survey that has been conducted since September 2001.
(http://www.jflalc.org/ssv/index.html)
Graph 2: School Level
Reason for Study

Graph 1: Age8.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

Report on the Computer Technology Workshop
Date: February 17, 2002
Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Place: Language Center, The University of Southern California
In this hands-on workshop, we invited twenty-one K-12 and heritage
school teachers of the Japanese language from throughout theSouthern California area, and had a total of eighteen participate. The
purpose of this workshop was to encourage teachers with little or noknowledge of computers to take advantage of this technology for theirteaching. The participants learned the basics of computers and theinternet, and how to search online resources of teaching materials.
In the morning session, the participants learned the basic knowledge ofcomputers and how to set IBM-compatible computers Japanese capable.
In the afternoon session, the participants learned the basics of theinternet. For example, how to create E-mail accounts, Internet security, copyright issues, and how to search online teaching materials. At
the end of the session, we went through some useful websites that are
excellent sources of teaching materials.
A 47-page handout was given to the participants at this workshop
so that they can review at home what they learned. A sample versionof this handout featuring how to make an IBM-compatible computer
Japanese capable is now available to every teacher and student.
Requests are accepted at our official website. For more information,please visit http:www.jflalc.org.

Report on Online Professional Development
Date:

February 22 - 23, 2002
Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Place: The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office & Language Center
Participants: Tom Abbott (California State University-Monterey Bay), Amy
Camp (Center for Applied Second Language Studies, University ofOregon), Joan Keck Campbell (Director, GOLDEN Project),Elizabeth Hoffman (ACTFL Online Project Development Team),
Takashi Imai (JFLALC), John Ittelson (California State UniversityMonterey Bay), Laurel Rasplica Rodd (University of Colorado;
President, Association of Teachers of Japanese), Yoshiko SaitoAbbott (California State University-Monterey Bay), Susan Schmidt(Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese), Patricia
Thornton (University of Minnesota), Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku (Universityof California-San Diego), Maki Watanabe (JFLALC)This two-day workshop was organized by The Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) for discussing andbrainstorming their ongoing project, Japanese Online Instruction Network (JOINT).
During the workshop, successful professional development programs such as GOLDEN in German, Touchstones by
University of Oregon, and the Foreign Language Methods On-line Course by Weber State University and ACTFL were
examined. The results from surveys of Japanese language teachers were also discussed and brainstorming towards the
successful development of JOINT was conducted.

9.

Nihongo Library

Nihongo Library's New Acquisitions
Academic Japanese for International Students / Mizue Suzuki,
Yoshiaki Murasawa, Kazuyo Hosoi, Kiyoko Fujio.
中・上級者用日本語テキスト：大学で学ぶためのアカデミック・ジャパニーズ
佐々木瑞枝、村澤慶昭、細井和代、藤喜代子

This text aims to develop foreign students’ Japanese abilities needed in university through various tasks. Each chapter simulates a real-life situation,and includes various exercises and tasks that are key elements in getting
through Japanese university, such as listening to lectures, writing reports,taking notes, participating in panel discussions and debates, making aspeech in public, communication skills, etc. This text is accompanied by a
CD for listening tasks, and a booklet containing answers, scripts for the CD,
and comments for teachers.

Bridging the Communication Gap Lessons in Conversational Japanese/ Mami Meguro, [etc.]
コミュニケーションに強くなる日本語会話: 日常生活・留学生活に必要な会話ができる 日本の社会や異なる文化の理解に役立つ/ 目黒真実/[ほか]著

This book contains various examples from daily Japanese conversation divided into functions and situations. It ranges from conversations to chime inwith others and how to break the conversations, to how to complain and urge
people to do something. It also contains some examples of erroneous expressions made by foreigners: those that are understandable, however, incorrect
due to communication gaps. The purpose of such examples is not only tomake a collection of such errors, but, to help foreigners understand theJapanese mind. This entire text is written based on the point of view that thecomprehension of each culture is much more important than the acquisitionof language skills; in that sense, it is very unique.

Atarashii N i h o n g o Gaku Nyumon: Kotoba No Shikumi O
Kangaeru / Isao Iori.
新しい日本語学入門

ことばのしくみを考える/ 庵功雄著

While Japanese grammar is the central theme of this book, it also covers phonetics, phonology, dialectology, morphology and social linguistics by taking thelatest research into account. The structure of Japanese and technical terms are
explained thoroughly, with pleasant columns such as Kono Pirafu Zenzen Oishii,
etc.
10.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 00 2

ONLINE copyright ISSUESIn recent years, we have been benefiting increasingly from the development of internet technology. On-line teaching materials are one of themost beneficial fruits to us. Many of them areavailable for free, and, since they are in a digitalform, they are easy to save and edit as you wish.
However, there is something important regarding
on-line materials that we tend to overlook or misunderstand. It is the issue of copyright. Now,
let's look at the following questions. How manyof them do you think are true?
1.
2.
3.

If there is no "copyright" sign on a web
page, it is copyright free.
(c) can substitute © for in US.
Fair Use is universal.

The answer is "ALL FALSE." Although it is often
believed that educators can get off copyright
infringement under the name of "Fair Use", thereality is not that simple. If you do not understandwhat the copyright and fair uses are and what isprohibited even for educational purposes, you
could find yourself in big trouble. In order toavoid copyright related problems, the following
web sites might be useful. You will find information on the copyright law of both the U.S.A. andJapan.

Copyright in the U.S.A.
Copy Right Crash Course(http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/copyright/index.html)
This site is a self-learning course made by theIntellectual Property Section of the Office ofGeneral Counsel for the University of Texas
System.
Ten Big Myths About Copyright Explained(http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html)
Explaining common misunderstandings, this site
will help you correct your knowledge about the
copyright.
Copyright and Fair Use in the Classroom, on theInternet, and the World Wide Web, University of
Maryland University College.

Information and Library Services(http://www.umuc.edu/library/copy.html)
This site provides you with basic copyright information for educators.
Copyright Website(http://www.benedict.com/)
This is a very informative web site. You can also
learn about famous copyright law suit cases.
United States Copyright Office(http://www.loc.gov/copyright/)
This is an official web site of the library of congress.
Copyright on the Internet(http://www.fplc.edu/tfield/copynet.htm)
You can learn what you should avoid when you
create your own web site.
Better Ethics Online(http://www.fplc.edu/tfield/copynet.htm)
This site tells you how to check if there is anyone
who violates your on-line copyright.

Copyright in Japan
ネットワークにおける著作権問題等について(http://member.nifty.ne.jp/itaru_watanabe/chosakuken/frame.html)
This site explains the copyright issues in Japan.
著作権問題と日本語教育(http://202.245.103.41/resources/chosakuken.htm)
This site will give you information not online copyright, but also other copyrights of other kinds of
media in Japan. There are useful links, too.
著作権法の森(http://www.big.or.jp/~daba/index/copy.html)
This is another informative site for copyrightissues in Japan.

11.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

The Ninth Summer Pedagogy Workshop
in Los Angeles for U.S. K-12 School Teachers of Japanese Language

Goals and Objectives:
Workshop participants will improve their everyday
teaching practices by learning about the Standards
for Japanese Language Learning and how to apply
the Standards to their classrooms. Participants will
also learn how to apply computer technology totheir teaching.
At the end of this workshop, successful participants
will be able to:(1) demonstrate their knowledge of the Standards
for Japanese Language Learning;(2) create practical Standards-oriented learning
scenarios which are appropriate to their programs;(3) develop lesson plans and assessment tools
based on the learning scenarios that they havecreated;(4) adapt current textbooks based on Standards;(5) adapt computer technology to their programs inan efficient way.
Content:
The 5 Standards will be introduced and individually
analyzed during the 6-day workshop with a synthesis of the 5 C's at the end of the workshop. The followings will be covered:(1) Principles:
Participants will become familiar with basic principles for Standards-oriented instruction.
(2) Application:
Participants will explore through demonstrations
and discussions how to apply principles forStandards-oriented instruction into their own
teaching contexts. Participants will also watch
videos of real classroom teaching using
Standards-based instruction for discussion.
(3) Text Analysis:
Participants will analyze textbooks and supplementary materials including the ones currently
used in their schools.
(4) Supplementary Materials:
Participants will create their own activities tosupplement commercially available materials.
12.

Some activities will be technology based, suchas web quests.
(5) Teaching Plan Design:
Participants will set their own goals to improvetheir teaching and incorporate Standards-based
instruction, create a teaching plan to achieve
their goals, and implement the plan in a simulated teaching scenario.
(6) Simulated Teaching Practice:
Each participant will demonstrate his/her teaching in 20-25 minute presentations at the conclusion of the workshop; the session will be videotaped and given to the participant as a resource
for self-evaluation.
Duration:
7/1 (Monday) ~ 8/4 (Sunday) Pre-workshop assign ments (reading and online discussion)
8/5 (Monday) ~ 8/10 (Saturday) Workshop
Participants:
Up to 15 in-service K-12 school teachers ofJapanese, both native and non-native speakers.
Application Eligibility:
Applicants must meet the following criteria:(1) in-service K-12 teachers of Japanese, native or
non-native speakers. (Please note that teachingassistants are not considered in-service teachers.);(2) reside in the United States;(3) are to resume teaching after attending this program;*Priority is given to those who have neverattended a previous pedagogy workshop at The
Japan Foundation Language Center in Los
Angeles.
Venue:The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office &Language Center Los Angeles, California
Teaching Staff:
Lynn Sessler-Schmaling, Japanese instructor at
Menasha Joint School District in Wisconsin
Maki Watanabe, Academic Specialist, The JapanB re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

Foundation Los Angeles Office & Language Center
Expenses:
The Japan Foundation & Language Center in Los
Angeles will bear the following expenses for those
who complete the course with satisfactory attendance. Tuition is free.
(1) Breakfast and lunch(2) Accommodations with double occupancy at adesignated hotel.
(3) Half of airfare. The participants should travel toand from Los Angeles area airports and theirnearest home airport by the cheapest round-trip
direct flight.
*Note: Reimbursement will be provided after theworkshop. A copy of the receipt must be submitted
for the reimbursement of airfare. If you choose tostay in a single room or in a hotel different from theone that The Japan Foundation designates, only theamount up to the half expense of a double occupancy room at the designated hotel will be reimbursed. If you commute from home or a friend's
house,
no reimbursement will be provided.
Participants are responsible for(1) $100 registration fee.

(2) Half of airfare.
(3) Transportation to and from airport of departureand Los Angeles area airport and hotel.
(4) Dinner Meals.
Deadline:
Applications must be postmarked no later than May
13, 2002.
Notification:
You will be notified in May.
Credit:Participants can earn university credits from UCLA
Extension (Education) upon completion of thiscourse. Details will be announced later.
Additional Information:
Please Contact:
Maki Watanabe, Academic Specialist
The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office& Language Center
Address:
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2250
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Telephone:(213) 621-2267
Fax:(213) 621-2590
E-mail: maki_watanabe@jflalc.org

NEW VIDEOTAPE!
The Foundation’s Japanese-Language Center,
Urawa has developed a new video teachingmaterial using TV commercials for the secondary
education level.
The videocassette cannot be sold and/or donated by The Japan Foundation due to legal agreements with the copyright holders, but, can berented toJapanese language programs in the UnitedStates through the Los Angeles
Language Center. The Nihongo Library is planning to make this material
available for loan to library members beginning
April 2002. Please contact
the Nihongo Library at nihongolib@jflalc.org orcall (310) 449-0027 (before

April 19) or (213) 621-2267 for more information
and/or to request.
A brief description of the video:
TV Commercial Video (1 volume, 30 min.)+ 37 commercial films from the “All Japan CM
Film Festival Awards”+ includes booklet of script and teaching manual+ uses the commercial films for teaching the language only, not foradvertising commercial products and service
appearing in the films

13.

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

WELCOME!
WaTANAbe Maki SENSEIThe Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office and Language Center is pleased to announce the addition of a new member to its staff, Ms. Maki Watanabe as an Academic Specialist. Ms. Watanabe
was trained teaching Japanese as a foreign language under the guidance of Professor Akira Miuraand Professor Naomi McGloin and earned a Master's degree in Japanese Linguistics under theguidance of Professor Kazuhiko Tajima at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Besides her job
at The Japan Foundation, Ms. Watanabe is simultaneously working toward a Ph.D. degree at the
University of Southern California. Recently, she presented a technology workshop and received
much positive feedback from the participants. Please join me in welcoming her and feel free to ask
her for any assistance.

Invitation to SenseiOnline
SenseiOnline is an online community for those who areconcerned about Japanese language and culture education. It will help networking, sharing ideas and supporting each other. Members include Japanese teachers of various levels from all over the world, as well as
English teachers in Japan, CALL specialists, language
lab technicians, engineers, web designers, graduate
students and eager learners of Japanese from various
parts of the globe.
SenseiOnline uses both asynchronous and synchronous modes of online communication. For the asynchronous part, it uses Yahoo Groups. It is based on alistserv, where a member posts a message, that all
members can read. Members have options to read
only at the web site and receive daily digests instead ofindividual messages. Membership is free.
In order to join, please do one of the following:
1) If the email account is NOT from school
Write to Keiko Schneider, the Manager, to show yourintent to subscribe and brief description of where youteach or why you are interested.
I do this to make sure whoever is joining is not interested in just wanting to send spam/unwanted advertisement messages; It can be very brief. Understanding
and cooperation on this matter is deeply appreciated.
You can take venue 2) as well, but they are going to geta message from the Manager anyway.
2) If the email account IS from school
Fairly automatic. But there are a couple of ways.

14.

2-1 Send a blank message to senseionline-subscribe@yahoo groups.com
2-2 Go to http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/
about/senseiOnline.html and put your email and push
the purple "Yahoo Groups Join Now" button
2-3 Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/senseionline/
and click on “Join This Group” link towards the rightSynchronous part of the community takes the form of amonthly online forum called Benkyoukai. It is a live discussion session online similar to a conference presentation. We invite list members to contribute a shortpaper and have an online, live interaction with theauthor/presenterat
TAPPEDIN.
(http://www.tappedin.org) TAPPED IN is an online conference center for educators. Guests are welcome andmembership is free. Most of previous events have alog of the conversation. Please write to Keiko
Schneider, if you are interested. Events for the year
2002 will be announced through the senseiOnline list
and TAPPED IN calendar.
If you have any questions, please contact SenseiOnline
Manager, Keiko Schneider at kschnei@sabotenweb.com
SenseiOnline Info Page:
http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/about/sensei
Online.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/senseionline/
Benkoukai page: http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/about/benkyoukai.html
TAPPED IN
http://www.tappedin.org
Manager email (Keiko Schneider):kschnei@sabotenweb.com

B re ez e S p r i n g 2 0 0 2

The MONTEREY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONALSTUDIES is pleased to announce the Summer
Intensive Language Program (SILP), June 18-August
14, 2002. Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese,
Russian and Spanish language
courses will be offered at the elementary, intermediate
and, in some languages, advanced levels. Courses willmeet 4.5 hours a day, Monday through Friday for eightweeks. Join us in Monterey, a beautiful venue for language study in a supportive, small-class environment.
Contact: SILP Office, Monterey Institute ofInternational Studies, 460 Pierce St., Monterey, CA
93940; (831) 647-4115, Fax: (831) 647-3534,
E-mail: silp@miis.edu, Website: www.miis.edu.

The Center for Applied Japanese Language Studies(CAJLS) is developing online assessments and relatedmaterials for teachers of Japanese. The assessments
are standards-based measurement of student proficiency in reading and writing. Students take theassessments online, and the reading results are available to the teacher right after the test. The teacher canuse this information to identify topics or functions thatstudents need to work on. They can then access activities to address those needs. These activities are called
Dynamic Activity Templates (DATs). Teachers can printout the DATs as they appear on the screen, or they candownload them onto their hard drives and customize
them according to the needs of their students. DATs areembedded in a planning tool called PEP (Proficiency,
Efficiency, and Planning), which walks teachers
through the same steps master teachers go throughwhen planning a course, a unit, and a lesson. PEP
allows teachers to search for activities according to
topic, function, purpose, and activity type. This system
will start coming online in September 2002. Anyone
interested in learning more about these services cancontact Olivia Berkey.
E-mail: oberkey@oregon.uoregon.edu for details.

Note: The various frog sounds below all translateroughly as "ribbit." ポチに遭遇（そうぐう）したカ
げろげろ。Some frogs
エルたちはけろけろ、
croakat Pochi:"Kero kero, gero gero." ／森（もり）の中（なか）でも げろげろ、 けろけろ、 ぐる
るる、 けけっけ。The forest echoes with theircries: "Gero gero, kero kero, gurururu,
kekekke."／そこにいたのはふ わーっ、 ほわーっ、
ふわーん、 ほわーん と ホ タ ル の フ ァ ン タ ジ ア 。
And all aroundthe fireflies flutter slowly andgracefullythroughthe airina fantasiaof light.
15.

The

Office Personnel Comings and Goings:
H AYATO O G O, DI R E C TO R
TA K A S H I I M A I , DE P U T Y D I R E C TO R
E I I C H I I TO, L I B R A R I A N
M A S A KO M I WA , OF F I C E SU P E RV I S O RJU S T I N M I YA I , P RO G R A M A S S I S TA N T
MA M I KO NA K A I , AC A D E M I C A S S I S TA N T
M A K I WATA NA B E , AC A D E M I C SP E C I A L I S T
NAO KO WATA NA B E, PRO G R A M ASSOCIATE

To our readership: The Japan Foundation Los Angeles Office & Language Center has witnessed
many changes in the composition of its office personnel these past few months. First, after two
years of service as Director of the Los Angeles Office & Language Center, Mr. Toshihisa Tanaka
returned home to Japan in mid-March, with his successor Mr. Hayato Ogo scheduled to arriveand assume responsibilities shortly. Next, as noted elsewhere in the Breeze, Ms. Maki Watanabe
has joined the office as its Academic Specialist. Lastly, The Foundation bid farewell to two longtime employees, Receptionist, Ms. Grace F. Kataoka and Library Assistant, Ms. Keiko Martin; wethank them for their many years of dedicated service and will miss them greatly!

R I M I YA N G , L I B R A R I A NoOffice Hours:
L i b ra ry Hours:
Address:

f

f

i

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e

M

A

P

9:30 - 5:30
10:00 - 5:00
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2250
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Driving Directions to The Japan Foundation:

Telephone:(213) 621-2267

Fax:
General E-mail:Home page address:(213) 621-2590
jflalc@jflalc.org
http://www.jflalc.org

Wells Fargo Center is located on South Grand Avenue at 3rdStreet in
Downtown Los Angeles. The parking entrance is located on
Hope Street.

T H E J A PA N F O U N DAT I O N
L O S A N G E L E S L A N G UAG E C E N T E R
333 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2250, Los Angeles, CA 90071▲

N

The closest freeway exits are as follows:
110 Freeway: 4th St. exit (from both North and South)
101 Freeway: Temple St. exit (from West), Grand Avenue exit(from East)

Presorted
Standard
U.S. Postage

PA I DMERCURYMAILINGSYSTEMS INC.