CJLEA Newsletter  
A publication of the Colorado Japanese Language Education Association
March 2001
The CJLEA Newsletter encourages articles of interest to instructors, researchers, administrators and students at all educational levels on theory, research, and classroom practice in language teaching. Articles dealing with pedagogical strategies, materials and curriculum development, language teaching technology, the teaching of literature, assessment, community awareness projects and international studies would be equally welcome; the foregoing list illustrates the range of concerns that might be addressed in submissions. We welcome manuscripts from teachers at all levels. Contact Keaton or Slotsve. We also welcome comments and/or suggestions.





Mark Your Calendar!
CJLEA SPRING ASSEMBLY is March 31.

皆様、

I hope to see you at the CJLEA Spring Assembly 2001 on Saturday, March 31, 2001. Share with us your ideas as we explore "Japanese as a Foreign Language in the 21st Century: Vision and Direction." Our thanks go to Beecken-sensei who is hosting this daylong event at Colorado State University.

Those who wish to make a presentation may do so by filling out the form on the web page http://stripe.colorado.edu/~saegusa/cjlea/assembly/spring01.htm#form and sending it to me by Friday, March 9, 2001. Maps and Directions to Colorado State University at Fort Collins are found at the same web page.

Between 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM we will discuss both current and future Japanese activities and projects in our respective institutions. Topics include the Japanese Teacher Certification Programs in Colorado, grant proposals, outreach, online courseware, teaching Japanese through drama, and technology. Please refer to the web page for more details.

では, Fort Collins でお会いしましょう。

Joan E. Ericson
Co-President

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CJLEA Seeks Share Session Proposals

CJLEA is soliciting session proposals for presentations at our next meeting on March 31, 2001. The theme of the meeting is " Japanese as a Foreign Language in the 21st Century: Vision and Direction." Deadline is March 9, 2001. For more information, visit here.

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CJLEA Special Assembly Report

The first CJLEA breakfast meeting was held at the Raintree Plaza Hotel in Longmont, on Saturday, February 24th. Eleven members and culture demonstrators gathered for the meeting. The breakfast was sponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Asian Studies Program at the University of Colorado-Boudler.

The main topic was Outreach projects. Minutes have been e-mailed to all of the current members. If you are a current member and have not received the minutes, contact Kyoko Saegusa. Discussion of the topic will be continued as a Panel Discussion moderated by Takeko Sakakura at the Spring Assembly on March 31.

Three articles, Trend in Japan, Japanese Culture in "Context," and Boom in Green Tea Drinks Takes Hold, introduced by Sakakura during the meeting can be found at Japan Now.

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CCFLT Spring Conference Report

The CCFLT Spring Conference was from February 22nd to February 24th at the Raintree Plaza Hotel in Longmont, Colorado. This year we had two presentation sessions and three culture demonstrations by CJLEA members and affiliated people from CU-Boulder.

  • Out of the Classroom and Into the Street: Katakana Signs
    Kyoko Saegusa, CU Boulder, D. H. Gordon, Metropolitan State College
  • Articulation through Textbook Content Survey
    Mako Beecken, CSU
  • Japanese table manners and other etiquette
    CU-Boulder Student
  • "A culture trunk"
    CU-Boulder Programs for Teaching East Asia
  • Japanese Okinawan Dance and Bon Dance
    Yoshiko Kuno, Mako Beecken , CSU
Thank you all for making it happen!

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Report on the Conference on Japanese Language Teaching Credentials  by Kyoko Saegusa

I had the opportunity to attend a very unusual conference in early February. The Conference on Japanese Language Teaching Credentials was sponsored by the Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese and was hosted by the Japan Foundation, February 2-3, 2001, in the sunny Santa Monica, CA. Of the 51 institutions that have Japanese teacher certification programs of one kind or another in the U.S., 21 participated. The unique feature of the conference was that each institution had been asked to send reps from both the Japanese pedagogy contingency and from the school of education. I was unable to bring anyone from the school of education, so I attended alone. Ericson sensei, on the other hand, came with her counterpart in Education.

I would say 75% of the most prominent professionals in Japanese education in the U.S. were present. It was interesting to find out that the Japanese certification program at CU-Boulder was actually one of the oldest and most productive in the U.S. (It is a shame that CCHE is threatening to eliminate all teacher certification programs at CU-Boulder.)

We discussed issues and concerns in Japanese language teacher training in plenary and small group breakout sessions for a day and a half. We identified priorities and possible actions. The top priorities included establishing JFL (Japanese as a foreign language)/LCT (less commonly taught)-specific methods courses; partenering between academic departments and schools of education; AND state department of education; recruiting teacher certification candidates. The majority also agreed that addressing classroom management issues, proficiency issues, and offering separate training for native and non-native teachers were important.

Suggested activities included national and local networking, strengthening the tie with Education partners, planning possible workshops and summer institutes for pre- and in-service teachers, and doing lots of outreach to recruit teacher trainees. We all sadly agreed that we needed money to do many of the activities.

Ericson sensei will be discussing this issue at the spring membership meeting.

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Kudos  

Yumiko Guajardo, our Past-Past President and an Assistant Professor at the US Air Force Academy, received the Program Leadership Award at the CCFLT Spring Conference. The Award is given to a foreign language educator who has provided exceptional leadership and innovation in programs beyond the classroom level. Congratulations!

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March WWW Resources:

Doll Festival (雛祭り) 

White Day (ホワイト・デー) 

  • White Day
    Kids Web Japan, Japan Information Network
  • White Day
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日)

Hanami (花見) 

These are a few examples of what you find on the Internet. You may conduct your own search using search engines. One of the recommended is Google.

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Monthly Member Biography

Mako Beecken

Hello, everyone. I’m Mako Beecken. Well, actually my real/official name is Masako Beecken, but somehow I can’t relate to that name very much. I always have to tell people how to pronounce my first AND last names. Mako rhymes with Taco, but please don’t spell it M-A-C-O! Beecken is a German name and is pronounced just like “Bacon.” You see, just like “Beethoven.” No, I’m not from Germany, but my husband’s ancestors were. Yes, I’m married to an American whose ancestors were from Germany, etc., etc. What I like about my name is that I can carry on an intellectual conversation for 2-3 minutes, as long as I’m talking about my name. (You can see how much space I’ve already used up in this Newsletter.)

I was born a long time ago. I was born in a part of Tokyo called Akasaka, near famous “Roppongi.” In fact, I lived in Roppongi for a while. Well, I happened to get married in Akasaka a long time ago, too.

To make a long, exciting, fascinating story short, I’ll talk about my teaching career. I started to teach Japanese at Colorado State University in 1888. Oops! I mean in 1988 when CSU finally decided to offer Japanese as a regular academic course. I’ve been teaching Japanese since then. We have a 4-year Japanese minor program. It has been a very rewarding 13 years for me.

I don’t know what else to say about myself, so if there is anything else you would like to know, please contact me directly. I’ll be happy to tell you what I can.

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Website of the Month  by Kaoru Slotsve

Quiz Japan (Sakai's Lesson Plans for the International Communication Class)

"Quiz Japan" is a web site that my students enjoyed last semester. Quiz Japan was created by Mr. Sakai, an English and technology teacher at Seiryo Commercial High School in Nagoya, and his students. My level 1 students have been exchanging mail with the class since September. Quiz Japan consists of questions regarding objects, gestures, andpopular folk tales Mr. Sakai's class thinks are interesting for Japaneselearners to know: fancy hearse, tofu, abacus, box lunch jar,vacuum clearner for blackboard eraser, lose socks, etc. Quiz Japan 1 is for advanced students and 2 for beginners. In my case, students spent 30-40 minutes to answer all the questions(QJ 2); pair work seemed to work better as they exchange ideas and knowledge with each other to figure out what the graphic is. Then, next week, my students checked their answers on the correct answers site. The answer pages are well done and students read each explanation with interest.I am planning to create "Quiz U.S.A." with my advanced students. If you come up with a good idea that is ordinary objects/things forU.S. residents, but it should be interesting or surprising for Japanese, please let me know.

You can access "Quiz Japan" at http://Oz2400.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/
(I recommend to have students try Quiz Japan 2 first, then challenge Quiz Japan 1.)

To check answers for Quiz Japan 2, go to http://Oz2400.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/00246qj/ralist.html

To check answers for Quiz Japan 1, go to http://Oz2400.hyper.chubu.ac.jp/QJ/ralist.html

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Online Exercises: Character Recognition
by Ryoko Yoshida Keaton

I have been developing courseware and online exercises for Guajardo sensei at the United States Air Force Academy for more than four years. One of the popular exercises among cadets is Katakana/Kanji Recognition Exercises.

Currently there are 26 categories, ranging from Vegetables to Space Programs. Students will see words in Katakana and/or Kanji on the left hand side and colorful pictures on the right hand side. There is an answer button at the bottom of each page for quick feedback.

CJLEA members are welcome to use the exercises. Click here to go to the index page. Please note that Internet Explorer is required to view these pages correctly at this time. E-mail comments to Yumiko Guajardo or Ryoko Keaton.

I will introduce more online exercises available on the Internet in the coming issues.

To download Internet Explorer for Windows, click here. For Macintosh, click here.

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Professional Development Funding
from AATJ

The Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese has established a fund for the purpose of helping K-12 teachers who are members of the Association of Teachers of Japanese (ATJ) or the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers (NCJLT) take advantage of professional development and in-service training opportunities. A limited number of grants are available to individual teachers for a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $600. An individual teacher may request funding only once each calendar year. Funding may be used to cover workshop or conference attendance, but not tuition costs for credit. Grant funds may also be used to hire a substitute teacher while you engage in an activity.
Application for Professional Development Funding

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Position Available

Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, Colorado has an opening for a Japanese teacher for the 2001-2002 school year. Responsibilities would include teaching two classes at the second year level and combined third and fourth year levels. For more information, please contact Phyllis Emerich at (303) 982-8727.

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Candidate Available

Atsuko Ooura, Looking for a teaching position in CO

TEL/FAX: (614) 438-0119
E-mail: a.ooura@worldnet.att.net

I have six years of experience teaching Japanese in the United States and an additional three years of experience teaching English at a middle school in Japan.

In 1992, I had the opportunity and privilege to work with Mr. Fred Lorish at South Eugene High School in Oregon. Through team teaching, I was able to gain extensive experiences as well as improve my skills in developing curriculum and teaching materials, and managing the classroom efficiently. In the same year, I completed an intensive training program for Japanese teachers at University of Oregon under the supervision of Dr. Hiroko Kataoka.

After I earned a M.S. in TESOL from Central Connecticut State University in 1996, I taught Japanese for three years to a variety of ages and grade levels at a public elementary school in Norwalk, Connecticut. Subsequently, I taught Japanese at an intensive Japanese program for high school students which was founded by the state of Connecticut. Then , at Central Connecticut University, I worked with Dr. Shizuko Tomoda, a Japanese professor at CCSU, to develop a lesson plan, curriculum and conduct oral-aural assessments. Since 1999, I have been working at an elementary school in Columbus, Ohio as a full-time Japanese teacher. In all these teaching situations, I have successfully raised the students・ motivation to learn Japanese, which is perceived to be a difficult language, by combining several different methodologies according to students・levels and needs. I am also certified in Japanese both in Connecticut and Ohio.

In summary, during the past nine years my teaching experience has ranged from elementary schools to colleges. Each different teaching situation offered me a broader scope of responsibilities and the opportunity to utilize my expertise as effectively as possible. My past experience can be successfully drawn upon in a teaching capacity to motivate students at any level. I feel I have the expertise, willingness for further personal development, interest, and patience required to work with students, and I am confident I could become a valuable asset to any school.

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Upcoming Conferences & Events

March

April

May

June

July ~

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Links to Professional Organizations

Japanese Language

Foreign Languages

Computer Assisted (Language) Learning

Others

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Membership and Renewal

Please consider our invitation to join or renew membership in the Colorado Japanese Language Education Association (CJLEA). The aims of the Association are to promote interest in and improve the quality of instruction of Japanese language at all levels in the state of Colorado, and to provide for the professional/educational growth of the membership. The CJLEA was established in April 1995, with a grant from the Japan Foundation Language Center. Among the benefits of membership are receiving a newsletter, attending events and networking with Japanese educators and other professionals.

Membership is open to teachers and students of Japanese language and others interested in Japanese language and culture education.
Membership and Renewal Form

For additional information, please contact:
Joan E. Ericson, CJLEA Co-President
jericson@coloradocollege.edu
or
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton, CJLEA Co-President
Ryoko.Keaton@tbr-inc.com

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This web page was designed and crafted by
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton, Transpacific Business Resources, Inc.