Paper short abstract:

This presentation introduces a course based on the principles of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) targeting advanced learners of Japanese at Munich University and combining language instruction with a critical approach to the history of National Socialism.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation introduces a course based on the principles of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) held at Munich University in winter term 2016/17. Targeting advanced learners of Japanese I developed classes that combined language instruction with a critical approach to the history of National Socialism, particularly focusing on Munich's local history.

When interacting with speakers of Japanese in a global context, learners will often find themselves in situations that require them to talk about their own country by providing factual information or revealing their personal views on political and social issues.

However, as Japanese language classes tend to focus on Japan-related content, even advanced learners will usually find it very difficult to accurately express their views on more complex topics related to their country's history and society. The course therefore aimed at:

1. Enabling students to express their knowledge and opinions on topics related to the history of National Socialism in the target language and

2. Enabling students to adopt multiple perspectives in engaging with their country's history.

Classes met weekly for 90 minutes per session (15 weeks). Learning activities were structured along three steps:

3. Reviewing the major historical events from 1918 to 1946 and introducing the vocabulary and sentence patterns necessary to discuss these events in Japanese (2 weeks)

4. Gathering information at the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism

5. Individual and group presentations on various topics in Japanese. Japanese exchange students were invited to join these sessions and actively participated in the discussions following the presentations.

The course fostered student's critical awareness of National Socialism as part of Munich's local history and reached beyond the goals of traditional language instruction. This can be seen as a contribution to citizenship education in an international context.

Paper short abstract:

Focusing on lecturers of Japanese nationality in pre-war Europe, how social background and systems affected the individual language teaching, and further the significance of Japanese language teaching in Europe through their activities and its influence afterwards will be reported.

Paper long abstract:

The applicant has made the clear the true state of Japanese language courses in pre-war Europe, by focusing on lecturers of Japanese nationality and students, as well as the systems that promoted it. In Ogawa (2010), the activities of lecturers in 1930s Germany, Italy and neighboring countries and their relation to the Japanese government were clarified; the investigation is being continued, broadening the time period and regions. In a series of research, by close investigation of Japan-Europe mutual document archives and personal effects, amongst others, it was made clear regarding organizations that promote Japanese courses, the differing of course goals, the duties and treatment of lecturers etc., changed with Japanese foreign policy. In relation to the teachers, a section of contemporaneous teaching activity was able to be seen, through a chronology of new post uptakes and local evaluations.

In this presentation, I report on the influence and significance of the experiences of Japanese language teaching in Europe, following the activities and thoughts of these lecturers. The scope of the investigation will be not less than 60 lecturers in pre-war Europe. Amongst them, there are also those who, post-war, continued to interact with their students, and introduced Europe's various cultures and societies to Japan. The applicant also was one of those who formerly taught Japanese in Eastern and Northern Europe, however I also had the good fortune of being able to hear stories from two persons who taught Japanese at Sofia and Helsinki University in the 1940s, and a person who studied Japanese in a German Gymnasium in 1944. In addition, materials pertaining to contemporaneous activity have been obtained from the family of a person who learned at Helsinki University in 1943 and a person who taught at Berlin University in 1936. In this presentation, the ways in which social background and institutions affected the individual language learning or educational activity, and further the significance of Japanese language teaching in Europe through their activities and its influence afterwards will be reported.

Paper short abstract:

This presentation highlights our intermediate Japanese program designed for the learners to think critically and express the thoughts effectively in the everyday as well as academic contexts. The second stage of our medium-term research will be discussed based on the qualitative analysis method.

Paper long abstract:

In recent years, goalposts for Japanese learning widened to include 'ability to think,' self-expression, and social participation, in addition to simple 'language ability.' Popularity of activities and courses with relevant objectives attests that the learners' focus has shifted from the language itself to 'leaners´ empowerment' by understanding a new language and applying it for social interaction. Aiming to cater for such needs, we are in process of revising our intermediate course at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

This paper summarizes the second stage of our medium-term research with the focus on the following two points.

(1) Our university makes it mandatory to study in Japan for a year after completion of first four semesters. We aim to maintain continuity of our Japanese program and outside learning. The ultimate objective is, therefore, to promote students' ability to think more critically and to communicate more assertively gradually before / during / after the study in Japan about the societies in which they participate. This time the results of our students' questionnaires and interviews conducted during their stay in Japan (the second stage) are analyzed to see changes in their social awareness and communication ability.

(2) These students took the redesigned theme-oriented course in the fourth semester last year (the first stage) and one of the points to reflect on was the students' sense of resistance and bewilderment at the beginning. This was due to the fact that such a course was suddenly introduced in the fourth semester in which reading, discussions, compositions and presentation about the pre-selected themes were integrated. To improve this point, in the third semester for the following generation, rapid reading (scanning and skimming), reading comprehension, and compositions about the pre-selected themes are offered once a week along with the grammar-oriented elementary courses. The examples of activities on a specific theme and the analysis of the results of our student questionnaires are presented. Besides, the students are compared with those from last year regarding the acceptance degree of the theme-oriented course when they start taking it in the fourth semester.