Incorporating Culture in the
Japanese Language Classrooom:
An Institute in Japan for Japanese Language Teachers

AATJ and the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, jointly sponsored a four-week institute in Japan during Summer 2010.

Twenty teachers of Japanese in the United States (both native- and non-native speakers of Japanese, at any instructional level) visited schools, museums, and other cultural sites; collected authentic materials for classroom use; received training in the use of new media and Web 2.0 technologies; and collaborated in creating thematic units on contemporary Japanese culture and society for use in their classrooms and for dissemination to colleagues in the Japanese language education field.

The institute took place at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute in Urawa, Japan, June 18 – July 17, 2010. There was also be a pre-departure orientation in the United States. Project Director for the summer institute was Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku of the University of California, San Diego; other faculty members included the Japan Foundation’s Urawa Japanese-Language Institute faculty and a number of guest lecturers and resource persons.

Most of the costs of the program were covered by the Japan Foundation and by the Alliance, which received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program. The Alliance is also grateful to the Shoyu Club and the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for financial support.

Please watch this space for thematic units from this summer program, which will be posted in late 2010.