Dear Sensei No.45

The 7th Annual Japanese Language Performance Day & 3rd Creative Art Exhibition

The Japan Foundation Sydney Language Centre, in co-operation with the NSW Department of Education & Training and the Consulate-General of Japan, Sydney, was once again pleased to present the Japanese Language Performance Day & Creative Art Exhibition on Sunday 23 November 2003.

This year over 100 students from primary and junior secondary levels participated in the performing arts division. All students displayed boundless enthusiasm and entertained all who were present with song, dance, readings, skits, speeches and video performances. The creative art division was also a success, with nearly 200 students working together to submit paintings and handicrafts, which were displayed in a weeklong exhibition prior to the Performance Day. The students’ dedication and genuine deep interest in Japanese language and culture once again resulted in an extremely entertaining and successful event.

Mr Keishi Abe from the NSW Department of Education and Training was once again our enthusiastic and popular Master of Ceremonies, and organised a “Japan True or False Quiz”, which tested everyone’s knowledge of Japan. We would like to thank everyone for their support, and JAPAN BOOK PLAZA for generously donating prizes, making this year’s event such a success.

Please visit our website and photo gallery at http://www.jpf.org.au/slc/ for pictures and a list of all prizes awarded from the Performance Day.

The 20th Japanese Language Proficiency Test

The table below shows the number of applicants for the 2003 Japanese Language Proficiency Test and the number of examinees who sat for the test on Sunday 7 December 2003.
The test was conducted for the first time in Adelaide as a branch of the Sydney test site, administered by the Sydney Language Centre in conjunction with the Australia-Japan Friendship Association, South Australia. Although the overall number of applicants has increased, the actual number of examinees has decreased slightly compared to the figures from 2002.

TEST SITE		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Level 4		Total
TEST SITE		2003	2002	2003	2002	2003	2001	2003	2002	2003	2002
Sydney*	Applicants	45	48	123	88	134	117	117	77	419	330
Sydney*	Examinees	35	42	107	81	117	102	100	64	359	289
Canberra	Applicants	5	11	11	19	10	20	33	30	59	80
Canberra	Examinees	4	11	9	17	9	16	24	23	46	67
Melbourne	Applicants	21	24	52	54	62	77	47	69	182	224
Melbourne	Examinees	17	16	44	49	50	70	38	59	149	194
Perth	Applicants	3	15	32	26	40	39	36	25	111	105
Perth	Examinees	3	11	24	24	35	34	30	23	92	92
Brisbane	Applicants	42	25	63	64	64	96	45	50	214	235
Brisbane	Examinees	37	25	54	57	56	86	35	46	182	214
Australia	Applicants	116	123	281	251	310	349	278	251	985	974
Australia	Examinees	96	105	238	228	267	308	227	215	828	856

*NB: Numbers for Sydney also include applicants and examinees from the trial Adelaide branch.

The 2003 Overseas Japanese-Language Education Organization Survey

みなさんお疲(つか)れ様(さま)でした！

We would like to thank all institutions that co-operated with us and responded to the survey. 3143 out of 3251 schools (96.7%) responded, which was an excellent result. All responses have now been sent to the Urawa Institute for processing, and will provide The Japan Foundation Headquarters with valuable information on the current state of Japaneselanguage education in Australia.

Compared with the last survey conducted in 1998, this year’s survey saw an 18.7% increase in the number of institutions offering Japanese and a 15.5% increase in the number of students studying Japanese, although the number of Japanese-language teaching positions has decreased by 5.5%. This demonstrates that the popularity of Japanese as a LOTE in Australia continues to grow. All schools that responded will receive in the near future a published report with the worldwide results of the survey, as well as a CD-ROM with all Activity Resources created by our Advisory Lecturers to date. We will be publishing our own calculations of the results from Australia in the next issue of Dear Sensei. We would once again like to thank everyone for helping the Japan Foundation by completing the survey - well done!

Advisory Committee Meeting

The Sydney Language Centre’s annual Advisory Committee Meeting was held on 28 November, with eight representatives from the Departments of Education in each state and territory reporting on the state of Japanese and LOTE education throughout Australia. The meeting was an excellent opportunity for committee members and the Sydney Language Centre to share ideas and discuss the most effective means of supporting and promoting the teaching of Japanese in schools across the country, and for the states and territories to make recommendations to the SLC on how its activities can most effectively support Japanese teaching.

January Intensive Seminar

The Sydney Language Centre conducted its 20th Intensive Seminar for Teachers of Japanese from 12-16 January. Twenty-six senior secondary teachers from around Australia and New Zealand were selected to take part in the seminar, which focused on teaching methodology and upgrading of language skills. As well as attending classes throughout the week, the participants were able to interact with members of Sydney’s Japanese community in a special interview session. There were also cultural activities, including Japanese cookery and a karaoke night.