FEBRUARY 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO. 1

AATJ NEWSLETTER
全米日本語教育学会 American Association of Teachers of JapaneseIn this issue...
OFFICERMESSAGESAATJ SPRINGCONFERENCENENGAJOCONTESTRESULTSADVOCACY DAYHIGHLIGHTS
J.LIVE '22
REPORT
BRIDGINGSCHOLARSHIPS
AWARDED
NJE
INFORMATION
AND MORE!

Messagefrom thePresident

新年、あけましておめでとうございます。
2023年1月に会長に就任いたしました札谷新吾です。1963年卯年生まれの僕自身も全米日
本語教育学会（AATJ）もどちらもちょうど還暦を迎えることになりました。2020年1月ちょうど新型コロナウイルスがまさに猛威を奮わんとしている時に副会長に就任し副会長としての２年間の任期中は新型コロナウイルスによるパンデミックと重なってしまいましたが、昨年2022年は次期会長として高見会長をサポートし、アベロ副会長とも連携しながら
AATJの運営に携わってきました。今年2023
年は会長として会員の先生方や日本語学習者をサポートすべく全力をあげて頑張りたいと思いますのでよろしくお願いします。

AATJの前身であるNCJLT(全米日本語教師会)の会長を務めさせて頂いてからおよそ20年を経て新たな気持ちで会長職を担わせていただ
くことに大きな感慨を覚えます。また当時、2006年の夏にニューヨークのコロンビア大学
SHINGO で 日 本 語 教 育 国 際 研 究 大 会 (ICJLE) に 「 前 会」として運営参加いたしましたが、来年
SATSUTANI 長
2024年の夏にウィスコンシン大学で開催予定の同大会に再度「前会長」として運営参加することにも何か不思議な時の流れを感じています。
今世紀初頭の10年余り、全米日本語優等生協会(JNHS)の世話役を通して全米各地の高校の先生方と交流していたことが会長職を果たして行く上で貴重な体験となっています。会長選挙のときには、全米のすべての日本語学習者を念頭に“Although I teach at a community college, I am deeplyinterested in K-12 Japanese education. I want school children togrow up with open minds, and to be as enthusiastic about peace as
they are about Japanese culture. Among the most important issues
in Japanese education in the U.S. are the transitions in learning
Japanese language from K-12 to college and from community
college to senior institutions. In order to facilitate smoothtransitions, I have been emphasizing communication among
Japanese teachers at all levels, from kindergarten throughcollege”と書かせていただきました。また、継承日本語学習者に関しても、以下のように言及いたしました。“Becoming a father has caused
me to focus on Japanese as a heritage/second language (JHL/JSL). I
have just begun communicating with local JHL/JSL teachers and willcontinue discussing with them what we can do for our children.”学
校や地域の垣根を越えてできるだけ多くの方々とのコミュニケーションを通して励ましあっていくことを念頭に会長として責任を果たしていく所存です。
「コロナ禍」は大きな負の遺産を残しました。病欠に限らず、学生や生徒
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1 2L . | 2N0O . 1の欠席が以前よりも増し、困っていらっしゃる先生方の多い教育機関も少なくないと思います。授業をして行く上での様々な悩みやアイデアを共有しながら共に前進しましょう。
AATJは日本語日本文化だけでなく日本現代文学、日本古典文学など日本(語)文学に関する研究者や教授が集う貴重な場でもあります。AATJの文語関係のSIG (Classical Japanese SIG)は毎年、AAS年
次大会と同時期に行なう春の学会でSIG発表会を欠かさず行なっている活発なグループです。日本語だ
けでなく日本語の周辺の研究分野や教授領域のサポートもしっかりと進めていきたいと思います。この春の学会ですが、オンラインやハイブリッドなど様々な形での学会開催を検討いたしましたがオンライン開催にかかる多額の費用やパンデミック期間中に実施できなかった対面開催の重要性などを鑑み、今年は米東海岸のボストンにて３月１６日木曜日に対面で行うことになっています。より多くの方々の参加をお待ちしています。
春の学会に加えて秋には例年通り秋の学会(ACTFL)が僕の地元シカゴで開催されます。昨年からお手伝いいただいているプレヒューメ先生と立山先生に加えて新しくエリザベスタウン大学の高橋先生に加わっていただきます。是非参加をご検討ください。
新型コロナウイルスとの「付き合い方」が模索される中、日本の水際対策も緩和され「今か今か」と待っていた日本関係の学術研究者や日本語学習者の短期訪日も可能となりました。今年は日本への学生引率を計画されている先生方も多いと思います。僕自身、自分の出身地京都へは春と夏にそれぞれ20名ほど引率することになっていて既に定員に達しています。夏に京都訪問を計画されている先生、
京都でお会いしましょう。連絡をお待ちしています。
全員参加の「全米日本語教育学会」を目指して頑張りますのでよろしくお願いします。

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副会長に就任して早２年目となりました。多くのご支援ご指導をいただき会
長のサポートをさせていただくことができましたことに御礼申し上げます。
１月２８日にアフィリエイトのズームミーティングを行いました。今回は国際交流基金ロサンゼルス(JFLA)からイアン・オストヤさんと村田メーガンさんにご参加いただき、グラントやアドボカシーグッズ等の有益な情報等をご説明いただくと共に参加者同士でお互いの現状や問題点について話し合う機
会も設けました。このような形で今後も全米の各教師会との連携と教師会同
士の横の繋がりの強化を推進していきたいと思います。
２０２３年度も昨年同様全米日本語教育学会最優秀教師賞( AATJ TeacherAwards)の選考を行います。各地で数多くの先生方が多方面において教育現場や各コミュニティでご活躍なさっています。この機会に是非推薦していただけますようお願いいたします。

Messagefrom the ３月１６日にはボストンでAATJ 2023 年次春季⼤会が開催されます。２０１
Vice ９年以来の対面という事で皆様にお目にかかれるのをとても楽しみにしています。
President
MIEKO AVELLO

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AATJ 2023 Spring Conference
SUSAN SCHMIDTEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The 2023 Annual Spring Conference will be held in person on Thursday, March 16th, 2023, in Boston, in
conjunction with the 2023 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference. The venue is the Hynes Convention
Center in downtown Boston and the Sheraton Boston Hotel next door to it.
We look forward to seeing many members at our first in-person Spring Conference since 2019!

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

The Spring Conference features a full day of concurrent sessions, with more than 70 individual and panelpresentations on Japanese language education. Topic strands include Literature; Linguistics; Second Language
Acquisition; Curriculum and Course Design; Materials Development; Language and Technology; Language,
Culture, and Identity; Assessment; and others.
Presentation sessions will begin at 9:00 AM (US Eastern time) and continue until 5:30 PM. A keynote talk will
follow. The program schedule is linked below; PDF versions of the full conference program will be posted inearly February.
In addition to the presentations listed in the printed program, there will be publishers’ exhibits in the large lobby
outside the meeting rooms, as well as several workshops sponsored by publishers during the lunch break from12:30 – 1:30 PM.
Two of AATJ’s Special Interest Groups will hold meetings in Boston on Friday evening (March 17th), from 7:309:30 PM. The Classical Japanese SIG meeting will take place in the Fens Room at the Sheraton Boston hotel.
The Translating and Interpreting SIG will meet in the Riverway Room at the Sheraton. Please check the Spring
Conference website for more details.
The conference program is available online at https://www.aatj.org/conferences-spring/, and is also printed inthis issue of the newsletter on pages 5-10.
We encourage AATJ members to also attend the Association for Asian Studies conference, which will be held at
the same venue on March 17th-19th. The AAS conference features presentations on all parts of Asia and in all
disciplines, including literature, history, and culture, and a huge exhibit hall featuring the latest books and otherresources in Asian studies. Entrance to the exhibit hall is open to all (registration is required for other sessions).
Information on the AAS conference can be found at https://www.asianstudies.org/conference/.

REGISTRATION

Conference registration is open! Registration rates are: AATJ members (college level): $55; AATJ members (K12): $30; AATJ members (students): $30; Non-members: $105. Online advance registration is available until
March 9; after that date, only on-site registration will be available, at $105.
The conference schedule and links to online registration are available at https://www.aatj.org/conferencesspring/. For hotel accommodations in Boston, please reserve at the Sheraton Boston at special rates through the
AAS website https://www.asianstudies.org/conference/hotel-accommodations/.

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2023 Year of the Rabbit
Nengajo Contest Results
Total Teacher Participants
By Local Affiliates
AFFILIATETOTALTEACHERPARTICIPANTS

TOTAL
WINNING
CARDS

AFTJ

8

5

AITJ

1

0

AKATJ

2

0

ATJO

4

1

CAJLT

19

8

CJLEA

2

0

GATJ

2

4

HATJ

11

1

IATJ

3

1

No Affiliate

6

1

JTAT

23

6

KAJLT

6

2

MAATJ

36

15

MCTJ

3

0

NCATJ

4

2

NECTJ

22

3

NJATJ

3

0

OATJ

3

0

UATJ

2

0

WATJ

20

0

WiATJ

4

1

ANDREW SCOTTNENGAJO CONTEST DIRECTOR

Congratulations and thank you to all the student and teacher
participants in the 2023 AATJ Nengajo Contest. The judges and I
were excited to see the creativity and talent the students
demonstrated in addition to their passion for the Japanese language
and culture!!! As the Nengajo Director, I would like to congratulate
you on your participation and thank you for all of the patience you
showed us!
With this in mind, we had 646 judged cards, with 87, 119, 407, and33 from elementary, middle, high school, and college, respectively.
This does not count those cards (41) that were disqualified for thefollowing reasons: submitted late, naming conventions not followed,
member submitted too many cards, etc. The eligible cards were
judged by 6 professionals, who were not given any information
about student/school/teacher names.
The cards selected represent the best of the best eligible cards andreflect a great deal of talent, creativity, and effort. All of thestudent-participants will receive participation certificates, andstudents with winning cards will receive certificates, in addition toonline Amazon gift-cards as prizes (end of February).
Congratulations! Below, you will find the winners listed with theirteachers and school (italicized). Thank you sincerely for yourpatience and participation!!!! I hope you have a wonderful Year of
the Rabbit and look forward to seeing your cards next year!!!

Total Cards Submitted Per Level
ES

MS

HS

CL

TOTAL

2023

87

119

407

33

646

2022

94

157

465

40

756

2021

119

100

288

14

472

2020

101

138

440

37

730

2019

111

155

440

62

758

(+22)

(+17)

(+2)

Note: For 2023, there were 41 cards that were disqualified prior to judging.

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FEB 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO.1

Nengajo Contest Results
GRADE LEVEL / PLACEARTISTIC

COMICAL

Lower Elementary
1st

Phoenix Mulligan
Keiko EndoFox Mill ES

Alexis Powell
Ayaka Monheim
Great Falls ES

2nd

Ellie Zhao
Ayaka Monheim
Great Falls ES

Victoria Rodriquez
Ayaka Monheim
Great Falls ES

3rd

Tadashi Teramoto
Kimie Matsumoto
SE Japn. School

Mirai The
Keiko EndoFox Mill ES

Upper Elementary
1st

Moe HoKimie Matsumoto
SE Japn. School

Nathan Saito
Kimie Matsumoto
SE Japn. School

Maddie Yappel
Noriko Otsuka
Fox Mill ES

2ndFelix Waer
Reina Miyamoto
John Standord Int’l

Yuria Ito
Hiroko Hunter
Stonewall ES

David Mohrbacher
Noriko Otsuka
Fox Mill ES

3rdGraceson Chan
Noriko Otsuka
Fox Mill ES

Jackson Nelson
Noriko Otsuka
Fox Mill ES

Middle School
1st

Maffe Tupaz
Kumiko Gale
Brandon MS

Tynan Nealis
Miyuki Johnson
Elkins Point MS

Swapna Thomas
Kristin Laidlaw
Felix V Festa MS

Sohi Toida
Emiko FuruyaSouth Acad. Int’l Lang

2nd

Kendyl Orndorff
Miyuki Johnson
Elkins Point MS

Hina Lew
Kimie Matsumoto
SE Japn. School

Norah Lawrence
Susumi Yasutake
St. Paul’s School for Girls

Christopher Arana
Aya Tachiki
Gulliver Prep.

3rd

Elliot Commisso
Keiko Hall
Spectrum Progressive

Valentina Ramirez
Miyuki Johnson
Elkins Point MS

Ami Stanford
Takako Reckinger
Hamilton Int’l MS

Tamyla Chenault
Mari Peterson
Jessie Clark MS

High School
1st

Nancy Zheng
Mieko AvelloMiami Palmetto HS

Kennedy Wardlaw
Fumi Masuda
Sacred Hearts Acad.

Isabella Kee
Kyoko Vaughan
Hayfield Secondary

Emiliano Rivera
Mieko AvelloMiami Palmetto

2nd

Isabella Masarweh
Mieko AvelloMiami Palmetto HS

Vivian Hong
Susan Watson
Long Beach Polytech

Danial Syed
Kyoko Vaughan
Hayfield Secondary

Jeffrey Beller
Dale Gerrard
Centennial HS

3rd

Maya Stricher
Tomomi Takeuchi Sasa
Los Alamitos HS

Peyton Polito
Emily Kariya
Santa Monica HS

Isabella Pearson
Akiko Yoshioka
Issaquah HS

Khanh Duong
Mieko AvelloMiami Palmetto HS

College
1st

Meryl Jiang
Midori Tanaka
Univ. of TX at Austin

Morgan Lemons
Yuki Waugh
Texas A&M

Tiffany-Linh Tran
Jing Liu
University of Houston

Veranda Colbert
Jing Liu
University of Houston

2nd

You WuJinhwa Chang
Mt. Holyoke

Prachi Brahmbhatt
Jing Liu
University of Houston

3rd

Emily Basurto
Kazuko Saito
Lehman College, CUNY

Chloe Kim
Aiko Kitamura

College of William and Mary

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CGI

ENCOURAGEMENT

Amanda Simmons
Arlen Beyer
Makiko Fukuda
Aiko Kitamura
Univ. of TX at San Antonio College of William and Mary
Meredith Almonte
Kazuko Saito
Hunter College, CUNYFEB 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO.1

Nengajo Showcase - Elementary Winners

See Chart on Page 12 for teacher and school information

Phoenix Mulligan
Lower Elementary
Artistic - 1st

Alexis Powell
Lower Elementary
Comical - 1st

Moe HoUpper Elementary
Artistic - 1st

Nathan Saito
Upper Elementary
Comical - 1st

Maddie Yappel
Upper Elementary
CGI - 1st

Ellie Zhao
Lower Elementary
Artistic - 2ndVictoria Rodriquez
Lower Elementary
Comical - 2ndFelix Waer
Upper Elementary
Artistic - 2nd

Yuria Ito
Upper Elementary
Comical - 2nd

David Mohrbacher
Upper Elementary
CGI - 2nd

Tadashi Teramoto
Lower Elementary
Artistic - 3rd

Mirai The
Lower Elementary
Comical - 3rdGraceson Chan
Upper Elementary
Artistic - 3rdJackson Nelson
Upper Elementary
Comical - 3rd

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FEB 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO.1

Nengajo Showcase - Middle School Winners

See Chart on Page 12 for teacher and school information

Maffe Tupaz
Artistic - 1st

Tynan Nealis
Comical - 1st

Swapna Thomas
CGI - 1st

Sohi Toida
Encouragement - 1st

Kendyl Orndorff
Artistic - 2ndHina Lew
Comical - 2nd

Norah Lawrence
CGI - 2nd

Christopher Arana
Encouragement - 2nd

Elliot Commisso
Artistic - 3rd

Valentina Ramirez
Comical - 3rd

Ami Stanford
CGI - 3rd

Tamyla Chenault
Encouragement - 3rd

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FEB 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO.1

Nengajo Showcase - High School Winners

See Chart on Page 12 for teacher and school information

Nancy Zheng
Artistic - 1st

Kennedy Wardlaw
Comical - 1st

Isabella Kee
CGI - 1st

Emiliano Rivera
Encouragement - 1st

Isabella Masarweh
Artistic - 2nd

Vivian Hong
Comical - 2nd

Danial Syed
CGI - 2ndJeffrey Beller
Encouragement - 2nd

Maya Stricher
Artistic - 3rd

Peyton Polito
Comical - 3rd

Isabella Pearson
CGI - 3rd

Khanh Duong
Encouragement - 3rd

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FEB 2023 | VOL. 12 | NO.1

Nengajo Showcase - College Winners

See Chart on Page [#] for teacher and school information

Meryl Jiang
Artistic - 1stMorgan Lemons
Comical - 1st

Tiffany-Linh Tran
CGI - 1st

Veranda Colbert
Encouragement - 1st

You WuArtistic - 2nd

Prachi Brahmbhatt
Comical - 2nd

Amanda Simmons
CGI - 2nd

Arlen Beyer
Encouragement - 2nd

Emily Basurto
Artistic - 3rd

Chloe Kim
Comical - 3rd

Meredith Almonte
CGI - 3rd

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Eau Claire's Close Call

Defending the Japanese Program by Mobilizing Community Members
HIROKO NAGAIEAU CLAIRE DISTRICT JAPANESE LANGUAGE TEACHER
At 2pm on Wednesday, November 16th, when I was about to take my 50 Japanese students to a local Japaneserestaurant, the Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) Teaching and Learning Department Executive Director andmy school principal suddenly showed up to my room. Out of the blue, they told me, “We plan to completely
terminate the Japanese program by the 2025-2026 school year. As the first step we will not offer the Japanese level
1 program next year (2024-25).” Currently I have 120 students at both Memorial and North High Schools (9th - 12th
grade). ECASD offers Japanese Language Levels I-IV in person. The Japanese programs are NOT declining in numberof students! I was shocked to receive this termination notice.
Upon receiving these words, I first shared this news with members of professional groups such as Wisconsin
Association of Teachers of Japanese (WiATJ), Minnesota Council of Teachers of Japanese (MCTJ), and Departmentof Public Instruction (DPI). Kazuko Stone, who teaches Japanese at Denmark High School (Denmark, WI), wrote a
letter right away to the ECASD Superintendent. In her letter, the history of Wisconsin Japanese education was
described well. Here is the text of her letter:In the early 1990s, Ms. Peggy Hagmann from the Eau Claire Area School District was one of the earliest
Japanese teachers in Wisconsin along with Steve Webb at Denmark High School. Those teachers werehighly recognized trailblazers in the pre-college field of Japanese language education. The Wisconsin DPI
and many school districts saw the necessity of exposing our young students to a world language and cultures
besides European languages and cultures.
Dr. Lloyd Joyal at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire developed the original Japanese language culture
curriculum for K-12 which was used at the Eau Claire Area School District and throughout the state of
Wisconsin and was highly respected throughout the United States. Because these pioneer teachers spent
many hours of language training and lesson planning to provide the best Japanese language education
possible, your school district has built one of the best Japanese language programs in the entire UnitedStates.
The letter inspired me to fight to defend the Japanese program. To come up with strategies, I started to revisit thereasons to terminate the program in the “World Language Program Review Executive Summary” document preparedby the district's academic services.
To provide some background, ECASD currently offers six different languages: Spanish, French, German, American
Sign Language (ASL), Hmong and Japanese. Given the size of the district (just two high schools and about 3500
students 9-12 grade), the district administrators found it challenging to sustain all six languages. The executive
summary described the procedures and criteria that the district used to arrive at the conclusion to discontinue Hmongand Japanese in favor of keeping all European languages and ASL. The reasons given in the document, however, did
not make sense to me at all.
It stated,"For the past few years, Japanese has been taught as hybrid due to only having one teacher and very low
enrollment in the upper Japanese courses. It is challenging to find teachers that are licensed to teachJapanese, and it is predicted this will continue to be challenge as teacher shortages were considered.
Although employers are seeking candidates that can speak Japanese, sustaining high quality instruction inthese courses has been difficult.”
In fact, the same document also indicates that the German program was predicted to have fewer students thanJapanese next year. In addition, ECASD hasn’t found an in-person German teacher yet this school year, and as aresult, German students are still learning the language only via virtual instruction two times a week. This means that17

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the issue of teacher shortage and the necessity to incorporate remote or hybrid learning arrangements applies not
only to Japanese but to German as well.
With the reconfirmation of the lack of clarity and transparency in the district’s justification, I informed my current
students of the termination notice and explained the situation to them in class. I also sent messages to their parents,
asking them to write letters of support or come to the next school board meeting to speak. However, I was worried
about getting support from the students’ families. Usually, the Japanese students' families are not participating muchin school-related activities. In fact, a lot of parents are not native English speakers.
The demographic profiles of students in the district consist of 75.4% White, followed by 9.9% Asian or Asian PacificIslander, 6.2% Hispanic/Latino. But, the composition of students in the Japanese classroom looks significantly
different. The majority of Japanese program students are Hmong students. Sometimes the Hmong parents don't
even know what classes their children are taking. In the Hmong community, it’s the kids who decide which classes totake. Also, half of the students’ parents are divorced, so many parents are working in the evening. I wondered how
these parents would be able to come to the board meeting at 7:00 pm.
In addition to the students and their parents, I also spread this message to all my old students and local friends andfamilies through email, Facebook and Instagram. During the 27 years of teaching in ECASD, I have created a large
network of community members. My former students even created a group chat to discuss how to support theJapanese program.
Finally, at 7pm on Monday, November 28th, at the ECASD board meeting, during the public hearing, many peoplecame to speak about the values of the Japanese and Hmong program programs. Speakers started with powerfulremarks by Andrew Seaborg, Honorary Consul of Japan in Wisconsin, who drove 3 hours from Madison for only a 3minute speech. There were tearful speeches by my former students. There were so many students, parents andcommunity members who came to the meeting or joined virtually. This memorable public forum, which lasted morethan one hour, attracted media attention, and the local newspaper and TV station further spread the words about thepotential termination of the two Asian languages. By that time, countless support letters reached the ECASD schoolboard and superintendent (see the list of organizations below). Several days later, the Leader-Telegram reported that
ECASD decided to keep both Japanese and Hmong programs.
The ECASD Japanese program was saved by so many people. It was an incredible amount of support that I received. I
was very humbled and appreciated it.
I would like to give two pieces of advice through my experiences. One is to investigate the reasons for thetermination. Please ask yourself, "Do you find the reasons (that the school district presents) for termination
convincing?” If not, then please disseminate the termination story and ask for support from your professional groups,
students, and their parents, as well as community members. I highly recommend encouraging your supporters to
speak their thoughts at a board meeting, not only writing letters.
As mentioned earlier, Wisconsin was leading the nation for the establishment of K-12 Japanese language educationin the 1990s. Sadly, however, the number of programs and full-time Japanese teaching positions have declined over
the years, particularly during the last 10 years.
Currently, ours is the only K-12 public school program that has a full-time position dedicated to Japanese language
education. I will do my best to keep this last-standing full-fledged Japanese program for a long time.

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Support Letters From:
American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ)

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Japanese Program

Wisconsin Association of Teachers of Japanese (WiATJ)

Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago

Minnesota Council of Teachers of Japanese (MCTJ)Japan America Society of Minnesota

Japan Foundation, Los Angeles

ECASD: Currently Enrolled Japanese Students’ Parents

Wisconsin Association For Language Teachers (WAFLT)ECASD: Japanese Student Graduates

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Asian Language and Culture

Japanese Teacher Colleagues

University of Wisconsin-Madison
Center for East Asian Studies

Community Members

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J.LIVE Talk 2022 Report

TAKAE TSUJIOKA
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

去る2022年11月13日、ジョージ・ワ
シントン⼤学主催の第8回J.LIVE Talk
(Japanese-Learning Inspired Vision
and Engagement) が、初のハイブリッド形式で開催されました。
１次審査には、全米11州及びワシント
ン特別区から74名の応募者があり、厳正な１次・2次審査を経て選ばれた12⼈のファイナリストのうち高校部門の3名がオンライン上で、大学部門の9人がジョージワシントン大学エリオットスクールで対面式の発表を行いました。最終選考審査員には、全米日本語教育学会会長、
高見智子先生をはじめ、在アメリカ合衆国日本国大使館相航一総務公使、ワシントン日本商工会財団日本語教育支援理事酒向由紀様の三名をお迎えしました。
高校部門では、今回初の試みとして「私たちとそれを取りまく環境」というテーマのビデオ部門を設け、事前審査で選ばれた上位３校への視聴者投票が行われました。最終選
考の様子は、こちらのリンクよりご覧頂けます。また、コンテスト出場者紹介などを含むプログラムは、こちらをご覧ください。結果は以下の通りです。

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高校グループビデオ部門
金賞: Lake Braddock Secondary School
銀賞: Centennial High School
銅賞: Hayfield Secondary School
副賞として、金賞受賞者には$300、銀賞受賞者には$200、銅賞受
賞者には$100の副賞が贈られました。さらに、大学部門I-IIIの金賞受賞者には、それぞれ南山大学、長沼スクール、国際基督教大学で2023年夏期講習を受けるための航空券と生活費も贈られます。
ポストコロナ期において、GW日本語プログラムは、前代未聞の経済的・人員的困難に直面しておりますが、今回イベントを開催できたのは、様々な団体のご協賛と先生方のご協力のおかげです。
J.LIVE Talkの第一の目的は、広く日本語教育及び継承語教育の可視化を図ることですが、今回、審査員としてご参加頂いた商工会の酒向様から、以下のような温かいお言葉を頂きましたので、ぜひご共有したいと思います。酒向様のご許可を得て、以下、掲載させて頂きます。
「この度のJ Live Talkについて、商工会・商工会財団にてサポートさせていただく機会をいただき、また、審査員としてお招きくださいまして、誠にありがとうございました。この数年、オンライン授業を強いられたり等、私には想像もできないほどのご苦労が現場ではあったのではないかと思いますが、この間の先生方や生徒さんのご尽力・頑張りがどれだけすごいものであったのかということが、にじみ出ていました。心から尊敬します。一部の先生方より、この数年、生徒さんが、このような機会がなく（あるいは全てオンラインとなり）自信がなかったということを教えていただきましたが、このような大会が対面で開催されることの意義について、外部者である私にもよくわかりました。プレゼンの内容もよく練られていて、ハッとさせるようなアイディアや見方もあり、私自身、大変刺激も受けました。
商工会関係者にも伝えたいと思います。」
また、今年新設された高校ビデオ部門で銀賞を受賞したアイダホ州センテニアル高校のGarrad先生からは、以下のメッセージが寄せられました。
“Thank you again for letting us enter this contest. I thought you might be interested to know
the impact of your contest does not stop in the United States; I used the assignment to send toa school in Japan so that they could watch it and react. Now they will be making a video
introducing their school for us (in English).”
どうか今後益々、皆様の日本語プログラムのアドボカ
シーにJ.LIVE Talkをご活用頂けますよう、心から願っております。J.LIVE Talk運営の大部分は日々の授業を抱えた教員や学生の無償ボランティアで成り立っております。今後とも至らない点が多々あるかとは思いますが、どうか引き続き温かいご支援・ご協力を賜りますよう、お願い申し上げます。
文責：ジョージ・ワシントン大学
J.LIVE Talk 2022 執行委員長 浜野祥子
J.LIVE Talk 2023 執行委員長 辻岡孝枝

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Language Advocacy Day 2023

JUNKO TOKUDA SIMPSONANNUAL FALL CONFERENCE CO-DIRECTOR
Language Advocacy Days 2023 took place virtually from February 8th through 10th, 2023, organized by the Joint
National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS).
This year, 220 language advocators representing all 50 states and DC participated in the event. The theme of thisyear’s event was “Building Opportunity through Multilingualism,” and attendees were given opportunities toemphasize the importance of multilingualism by listening to speeches from various featured speakers and having
conversation with other language educators. The following were the three objectives this year:
Hearing from featured speakers from a variety of language backgrounds and experiences
Participating in activities that highlight how multilingualism increases our capacity to grow as a nation
Engaging in self-reflection of your own personal language experiences to develop your language advocate story
and strengthen your advocacy
Attendees were also given opportunities to attend the meetings with their state’s Senators and House representatives
respectively to promote language and international education. In this special event, AATJ was represented by Ann
Jordan (AATJ Past President) and Junko Tokuda Simpson (AATJ Advocacy Co-Director).
The legislative requests focused on in 2023 were as follows:
World Language Education Assistance Program (World LEAP)
Biliteracy Educational Seal and Teaching Act (BEST)
Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Act
At least an additional $15 million for the World Language Advancement and Readiness Grants (WLARA)
Program in FY24
$3 million for the recently established Native American Language Resource Center at the US Department of
Education
The America’s Language Caucus
You can find more detailed information on
JNCL-NCLIS’s website. Please visit their
Resources, Newsbrief, and Advocacy Alerts
pages. As a member organization of JNCLNCLIS, AATJ will continue to advocate
world language education aligning with
NCJL-NCLIS. Also, AATJ provides
resourcesforadvocating
Japaneselanguage education on the Advocacy Page
on AATJ’s website. Let’s promote Japanese
language education together!

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Spring 2023 Bridging Scholarships Awarded

SUSAN SCHMIDTEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Seventeen undergraduate students from colleges and universities across the United States have been named
recipients of Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan. These seventeen scholars combine with the fallrecipients to total ninety-six Bridging scholars for the academic year 2022-2023. The winners will receive awards
ranging from $2,250 to $2,500 to assist with their expenses while they study in Japan for a semester in Spring 2023.
Since 1999, more than two thousand scholarships have been awarded, with funding from the US-Japan Bridging
Foundation.
The goal of AATJ’s Bridging Project is to promote study abroad in Japan by larger numbers of American
undergraduate students. The American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), which promotes education in
Japanese language, literature, and culture, administers the Bridging Scholars scholarship program for the US-Japan
Bridging Foundation. Contributors to the fund for the 2022-2023 Scholarships include dozens of foundations,businesses, and individuals in Japan and the United States.
These Bridging Scholars hail from a variety of schools–public and private, large universities and small colleges–in 12
states and Puerto Rico. Their majors range from biochemistry to fine arts, but they share a common interest in Japan,
its society, and its language and culture. Their destinations also vary, from giant campuses in Tokyo to small colleges
in rural Japan. A list of the recipients, their schools, their destination programs, and their majors follows.
For information on the US-Japan Bridging Foundation, visit www.bridgingfoundation.org.

Recipients of Bridging Scholarships for Study Abroad in Japan, Spring 2023
Teala AVERY / Spelman College / Tsuda University / photography; women’s studies
Abigail CAMPBELL / University of Findlay / University of Fukui / TESOL; Japanese
Mario DEPAVIA / Stanford University / Doshisha University / East Asian stuies
Jasmine DOCTOR / University of North Carolina, Greensboro / Nagoya University of Foreign Studies /animation
Miguel GONZALEZ VAZQUEZ / University of Puerto Rico / Toyo University / industrial biotechnology
Teyonda HAMLER / University of Wisconsin, Whitewater / Kansai Gaidai University / Japanese
Jacob JACKSON / University of Denver / Waseda University / biological sciences
Junlong KWAN / Case Western Reserve / Temple University Japan / Japanese studies
Michelle LEE / Baruch College, CUNY / Waseda University / operations management
Annalaye MERCADEL / University of Texas, Austin / Tokyo University of Foreign Studies / international
business; Japanese
Susana OLIVO SANDOVAL / University of North Georgia / Nanzan University / East Asian studies; Spanish
Josiel PEREZ / University of California, Riverside / Toyo University / political science
Jace RETTIG / Furman University / Nanzan University / computer science; Asian studies
Arianna RODRIGUEZ / San Francisco State University / Meiji Gakuin University / sociology
Katherine SONGER / University at Albany, SUNY / Tokyo University of Foreign Studies / psychology; East
Asian studies
Danielle TAKAHASHI / University of Southern California / Sophia University / media arts & practiceMina WALKER / University of Denver / Doshisha University / Japanese; ecology & biodiversity

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2023-24 Bridging Scholarships
Applications Open
Applications are open for scholarships to study in Japan beginning in Fall 2023.
The term of study can be the Fall 2023 semester, the 2023-2024 academic
year, or the Spring 2024 semester. There will be no later, separate application
deadline for Spring 2024 scholarships.
Bridging Scholarship recipients receive stipends of $2,500 for a semester’s study
program of $4,500 for an academic-year program. Awardees join the Bridging
Scholar community and gain access to our extensive alumni, donor, andsupporter network. Foundation programming includes in-person and virtual
mentorship opportunities as well as career and networking events.
The Bridging Foundation seeks to recruit a diverse cohort of students and has
allocated a number of scholarships for students from underrepresented
communities.
The deadline to apply for 2023-2024 scholarships is March 15th, 2023.
Application information is online at https://www.aatj.org/japan-bridgingscholarships/.

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AATJ Officers, Directors and Staff
Officers
President: Shingo Satsutani (College of DuPage, IL)
President Elect: Yoshiko Mori (Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.)
Immediate Past President: Tomoko Takami (University of Pennsylvania, PA)
Vice President: Mieko Avello (Miami Palmetto Senior High School, FL)

Directors
Global Network: Junko Mori (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Newsletter: Elizabeth Hojo (The Woodlands College Park High School, TX)
Professional Development: Yoshiko Saito-Abbott (California State University, Monterey Bay)
Advocacy: Noriko Otsuka (Fox Mill Elementary School, VA)
Diversity and Inclusion: Will Matsuzaki (All Saints Episcopal School, TX)
Student Activities (Nengajo Contest): Andy Scott (Kamehameha High School, HI)
Japanese National Honor Society: Holly Didi-Ogren (The College of New Jersey), Kumi Kobayashi(Los Gatos High School, CA)
National Japanese Exam: Tomomi Sato (University of Virginia)
Fall Conference (ACTFL-affiliated): Nobuaki Takahashi (Elizabethtown College), Yuko Prefume(Baylor University), Jaime Tateyama Gusman (Moanalua High School, HI), Junko Tokuda Simpson(University of California, San Diego)
Spring Conference (AAS-affiliated): Jae DiBello Takeuchi (Clemson University), Yoshihiro
Mochizuki (University of Michigan), Shinsuke Tsuchiya (Brigham Young University)

Staff
JLPT Assistant: Yoshie Arima
Membership Assistant: Maiko T. Bacha
JLPT Coordinator: Michiyo Colclasure
Executive Director: Susan Schmidt

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Contact our social media director, Noriko Otsuka HERE!

American Association ofTeachers of Japanese, Inc.
Campus Box 366
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0366