THE JAPAN FOUNDATIONSURVEY ON JAPANESELANGUAGE EDUCATIONINSTITUTIONS 2015:
U.S. DATA
海外日本語教育機関調査: 米国

The Japan Foundation conducts a global survey every three years inorder to gather data on the state of Japanese language education
abroad. This report is a collection of the U.S. data gathered by theJapan Foundation, Los Angeles in 2015 and 2016. I encourage you topurchase the official book of global data and analyses, available on themain website of the Japan Foundation Tokyo Headquarters, jpf.go.jp.

Director Hideki Hara

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CONTENTS
4Contents
Main Survey Description

6Learners, Teachers, Institutions

7Learners by Education Level

8Maps

10

Motivations to Study Japanese

11

Enrollment Changes Since 201213

Enrollment Predictions for 201814

Native-Speaking and Non-Native-Speaking Teachers

15

Teacher Training

16

Teachers and Teaching Resources

17

Supplementary Survey 1 Description

18

Textbooks and Other Materials

20

Teacher Certification and Standards of Language Proficiency

21

Online Japanese Courses

22

AP Japanese Exam: High Schools

23

AP Japanese Exam: Higher Education24

Supplementary Survey 2: School Which Discontinued Japanese

3Page

MAIN SURVEY
DESCRIPTION
ObjectiveTo understand the present condition of Japanese language education in theUnited States.

Purpose• Use the data for needs analyses: decide grant allocations, create new support
programs• Give legitimacy to Japanese language teaching

Survey Target
Organizations which conduct Japanese education in the United States, including
primary, secondary, higher education, and non-academic institutions.
• 50 states ＋ Washington D.C.
• U.S. Navy, Marine, and Army bases in Japan

Definitions••••

Primary: elementary schools
Secondary: middle and high schools
Higher Education: universities
Non-Academic: language schools, preschools, etc

Survey subjects do not include the following:• Organizations which do not physically exist• Schools for children of Japanese nationals residing overseas• Some of these schools offer classes of Japanese as a second language;
Only these classes are included• Broadcasting stations and websites which provide Japanese-language
education for an unspecified large number of people• Very short, hands-on Japanese activities/experiences

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Survey Period
September 2015 to March 2016

Survey Method• By online questionnaire• By phone, entered into the online questionnaire (Minimal)

Cooperating Organizations• Japanese Language Teachers’ Associations• Japan Embassy and Consulates• Various State DepartmentsSurvey return rate： 78％(number of surveys returned /number of institutions we believe teach Japanese)• Number of questionnaires returned：1,462 institutions• Number of non-responders：378 institutions• Declined to be surveyed: 31 institutions”We have never taught/no longer teach Japanese”= 250 institutions contacted

5Survey Universe

IN THE PAST 40 YEARS, LEARNERS,TEACHERS, AND JAPANESE-TEACHING
INSTITUTIONS HAVE INCREASED.

HOWEVER, SINCE 2012 JAPANESE-TEACHING
INSTITUTIONS HAVE EXPERIENCED NOGROWTH AND JAPANESE TEACHERNUMBERS HAVE DECLINED.

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SINCE 2003, THERE HAS BEEN A 22%
OVERALL INCREASE OF LEARNERS.

72006 SAW A 34% DECREASE IN K-12LEARNERS.

THE TOP FIVE STATES SHARE 49% OF ALL LEARNERS.

THE EAST AND WEST COAST STATES REPORTED THE
HIGHEST NUMBERS OF LEARNERS.

AlaskaHawaii80 – 999

1,000 –
1,999

2,000 –
2,999

3,000 –
3,999

4,000 –
9,999

10,000 +WHETHER LEARNERS INCREASED OR
DECREASED SINCE 2012 VARIED WIDELY BY
STATE, BUT WEST COAST STATES ALL
EXPERIENCED GROWTH.

Increasedby 50%+
Increased

No students

HawaiiDecreased
Decreasedby 25%+9Alaska

“INTEREST IN JAPANESE POP CULTURE” HASBECOME THE MOST POPULAR REASON TO
STUDY JAPANESE FOR LEARNERS.

n = 1451 institutions

Q: In your opinion, what are the reasons your learners study Japanese? [multiple responses]

FOR PRIMARY AND NON-ACADEMIC
INSTITUTIONS, “JAPANESE IS THE FAMILYLANGUAGE” RANKED HIGH.

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MORE THAN A THIRD OF ALL INSTITUTIONSREPORTED AN INCREASE IN JAPANESEENROLLMENT COMPARED TO THREE YEARSAGO.

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Q: Has there been any change in the number of Japanese-language learners at your institution (ordepartment) compared with three years ago? Select: Enrollment has increased; Enrollment hasremained the same; Enrollment has decreased.

FACTORS WHICH CAUSED AN INCREASE IN
JAPANESE LANGUAGE LEARNERS(FREE-WRITTEN RESPONSES)n = 273 institutions

FACTORS WHICH CAUSED A DECREASE IN
JAPANESE LANGUAGE LEARNERS(FREE-WRITTEN RESPONSES)n = 176 institutions

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JAPANESE-TEACHING INSTITUTIONS ARE
MORE OPTIMISTIC THAN PESSIMISTIC ABOUTENROLLMENT IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS

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Q: Which of the following statements best describes the prospects of enrollment in the Japaneselanguage programs at your institution in three years’ time? Select: Enrollment is likely to increase;
Enrollment is likely to stay the same; Enrollment is likely to decrease; Do not know.

MORE THAN 75% OF JAPANESE LANGUAGE
TEACHERS IN AMERICA ARE NATIVE SPEAKERS OF
JAPANESE, EXCEPT IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS
WHERE THE RATIO IS MORE EVENLY SPLIT.

n = 1,462 institutions

THE RATIO OF NATIVE-SPEAKING TEACHERS AND
NON-NATIVE-SPEAKING TEACHERS IS ALMOST THE
EXACT OPPOSITE FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD.

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65 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSSTATED THAT THEY TRAIN JAPANESETEACHERS.

n = 613 institutions

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Q: Does your institution/department offer a teacher development program in Japanese languageeducation?

25% OF INSTITUTIONS THINK THEY DON’T
HAVE ENOUGH TEACHERS FOR THE
NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED

n = 1,436 institutions

29% THINK THAT THERE ARE NOT ENOUGHTEACHING RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR THE
NUMBER OF STUDENTS ENROLLED

n = 1,428 institutions

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SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEY 1
DESCRIPTION
米国日本語教育機関追加調査2015
ObjectiveTo further understand the present condition of Japanese language education in theUnited States.

Purpose• Ask further questions that directly relate to education issues in America, as opposed toonly global issues.

Target• Japanese-teaching institutions which also answered the Main Survey.

Response Rate17• Number of questionnaires returned：664 institutions (45% of institutions which filled outthe Main Survey)

THE MOST COMMONLY-USED TEXTBOOKSARE GENKI AND ADVENTURES IN JAPANESE.

n = 659 institutions

Q: Which textbooks are your teachers mainly using to teach Japanese? [multiple response]

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ALMOST ALL JAPANESE LANGUAGE
PROGRAMS MAKE THEIR OWN TEACHINGMATERIALS.

n = 653 institutions

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Q: What other materials are your teachers using to teach Japanese? [multiple response]

88% OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS REQUIRETHEIR JAPANESE TEACHERS TO HAVE A TEACHERS’LICENSE, CREDENTIAL, OR CERTIFICATION.

Q: Does your institution require that its Japanese language teachers have a teachers’ certification/
lic6nse /credential?

88% OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS BASE THEIRCURRICULUM ON STANDARDS OF LANGUAGE
PROFICIENCY, BUT ONLY 56% OF COLLEGES AND
UNIVERSITIES DO.

n= 662 institutions

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Q: Does your institution base your Japanese curriculum on
any standards of language proficiency?

10% OF SURVEYED INSTITUTIONS OFFER AN
ONLINE JAPANESE COURSE OF SOME KIND.
MORE THAN HALF OF THEM ARE HIGHER ED.

n= 64 institutionsn= 660 institutions

MORE THAN 40% OF THOSE INSTITUTIONSOFFER A HYBRID COURSE DURING WHICH
THE INSTRUCTOR IS SOMETIMES IN THE
ROOM

Q: What kind of online course(s) are your students using?

21n= 64 institutions

AP DATA: HIGH SCHOOLS

n= 288 institutionsn= 286 institutions

INSUFFICIENT ENROLLMENT IN INTERMEDIATECOURSES IS THE MOST COMMON OBSTACLE
TO OPENING AN AP JAPANESE COURSE
Popular “Other” answers:•We are IB•
We do not offer
enough years of study•
Our HS students getcollege credit directly

n= 178 institutions

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Q: What is preventing you from offering an AP Japanese course?

AP DATA: HIGHER EDUCATION

n= 259 institutions

Popular “Other” answers:•We give our own
placement test•
Not enough students
took AP23n= 123 institutions

SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEY 2: SCHOOLS
WHICH DISCONTINUED JAPANESE

n= 49 institutions*Note: This short survey was only distributed to institutions which responded,“We no longer teacher Japanese.”

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This report was written by Amanda Rollins, Program Coordinator forJapanese language education programs at the Japan Foundation, LosAngeles.

© The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles.
All rights reserved.