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| Robyn
Spence-Brown |
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Robyn
Spence-Brown (Monash University) |
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I
was honoured to be invited to attend the 2001
Symposium on Japanese Language Education, which was held
at University of Cambridge in September,
to speak about Japanese language education in Australia. The conference
incorporated the 4th Annual conference of the
British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language
and the 6th European Symposium on Japanese Language
Education, and was attended by over 160 teachers from 21 countries.
The Symposium was sponsored by the Japan Foundation, and Mr
Kakazu, then Director of the Sydney Language Centre, also attended.
The theme of the Symposium was bridging the gap between the secondary
and tertiary sectors of Japanese language education, an issue that
has recently emerged in the UK and Europe, where for the first time
growing numbers of students are studying Japanese at the secondary
level, as well as at university. Some of the issues that educators
in the UK and Europe are facing are reminiscent of the situation in
Australia 20 years ago, and there was keen interest from conference
delegates in our experiences and achievements in this country. As
I prepared for my address, it was gratifying to reflect on our success
in pioneering Japanese teaching in schools, on the many exciting and
innovative programs being offered at primary, secondary and tertiary
levels, and on the commitment and professionalism of our teachers.
However, it was also an opportunity to take stock of the challenges
that remain, particularly in this "post-tsunami"
era of general educational belt-tightening. Although our success in
spreading the teaching of Japanese from K-PG is remarkable, in practice
few students progress smoothly along this continuum. Transition problems
are only starting to be adequately addressed between primary and secondary
levels, and while the European delegates were impressed with the range
of pathways available in many Australian university programs in Japanese,
there are still discontinuities and wasted opportunities between the
secondary and tertiary levels as well.
 The
symposium was also an excellent opportunity for me to learn about
the many innovative programs being carried out in the UK and Europe,
and to reflect on the advantages of networking with other Japanese
educators, across and within educational levels, both locally and
internationally. One interesting proposal from the Symposium, partly
inspired by curriculum development projects in Australia and by the
American K-16 curriculum developments (which some readers may have
heard a presentation on at the JSAA conference
in July) was for a European framework for standards in Japanese language
teaching across the secondary and tertiary levels. While common frameworks
may not always be the best solution, the discussions at the Symposium
were certainly an inspiration to me to continue working to develop
a dialogue between teachers across the primary, secondary and tertiary
sectors and to keep in touch with the exciting developments in Japanese
language education across the globe. |
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