Community Involvement Project in Study Abroad Program

Co-researchers: Mari Noda, the Ohio State University; Chihiro Yamaoka, Mariko Uemiya, Orie Maeguchi, Itsuko Nakamura, KCJS

1. •This ongoing project aims to encourage students' active participation in community.
   

2. •The study has been conducted to examine the students' experiences in the project and the effects on Japanese languagve learning.
   

3. •The study was presented at the Spring Conference of the Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language in 2009.
   

Developing Critical Literacy through Textbook Rewriting Project

Co-researcher: Yuri Kumagai, Smith College

1. •The project was designed to give the students the opportunity to analyze the textbook critically and produce a new text based on the analysis.
   

2. •This study explored ways to incorporate critical literacy activities into curriculum.
   

3. •The results of this study were presented at various conferences such as CATJ19 and published in Japanese-Language Education Around The Glob 19.
   

Culture and Participation: Blog and Podcast in Japanese Learning

Co-researcher: Shinji Sato, Columbia University

1. •The purpose of this project is to examine how blogs and Podcasts facilitate the integration of cultural and language learning in Japanese class activity.
   

2. •The products of this study were presented and published.
   

Bridging Japanese Language Teaching and Culture Through Video Clips

Co-researcher: Fumiko Nazikian, Columbia University

1. •This study investigated how the teaching of culture can be incorporated into the curriculum by use of engaging scenes from movie clippings.
   

2. •This study was presented at the annual meeting of ACTFL in 2005.
   

Survey on Use of Computers by Japanese Teachers in Northern Calfornia

Co-researchers: Yasuhiro Omoto, UC Berkeley; Keiko Schneider, Sabotenweb Design

1. •This survey study investigated the current computing situations surrounding Japanese teachers in Northern California, with emphais on: 1) computers that teachers use and their Japanese capability, 2) technical support available to them, 3) computer facilities at school, and 4) recommended Web sites and computer-enhanced projects done in the classroom.
   

2. •This study was presented at the seventeenth annual meeting of the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese, Charleston, SC.
   

3. •This paper appeared in Y. Chikuma (Ed.), Proceedings of the seventeenth annual meeting of the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese (pp. 71-85). Charleston, SC: College of Charleston.
   

Survey on Use of Computers by Japanese Teachers in the United States

Co-researchers: Yasuhiro Omoto, UC Berkeley; Keiko Schneider, Sabotenweb Design

1. •This study expanded the Northern California survey study and involved 500 Japanese teachers all over the United States. We revised the questionnaire based on our pilot study, but the major focus remained the same (computing situations, technical support, computing facilities, and Web sites and projects).
   

2. •This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages, Salt Lake City, UT, in 2002, at the Association of Teachers of Japanese SIG Seminar, New York City in 2003, and the eighth biennial conference of the International Association for Language Learning Technology, Ann Arbor, MI, in 2003.
   

Interviews with Japanese Teachers in the United States on Implementation of Technology

Co-researchers: Yasuhiro Omoto, UC Berkeley; Keiko Schneider, Sabotenweb Design

1. •This study, an extension of the national survey, explored real voices of Japanese teachers regarding how and why they use or do not use technology. We interviewed several teachers among those who participated in the national survey so that we could gain deeper insights into the current computing situations around practicing Japanese teachers.
   

2. •This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages, Philladelphia, PA, in 2003.
   

Using the Internet for The Integration of National Standards into The Classroom

Co-researcher: Yoko Nakamichi, Indiana University

1. •In this study, we examined how e-mail exchange with native speakers of Japanese addressed the Japanese Standards' 5Cs in a college advanced-level Japanese course.
   

2. •This study was presented at presented at the third international conference on Computer Assisted Systems For Teaching & Learning/Japanese (CASTEL/J), La Jolla, CA.
   

3. •This study appeared in Y.-Y. Tohsaku (Ed.), Proceedings of the third international conference on Computer Assisted Systems for Teaching & Learning/Japanese: Computer Technology and Japanese Language Education (CASTEL/J), (pp. 171-174). Tokyo, Japan: CASTEL/J Office.
   

Use of the Internet to Learn Japanese: From Students' Perspectives

1. •In this small-scale study, I explored Japanese learners' opinions about the Internet as a tool to learn Japanese.
   

2. •This study was presented at presented at Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association fall conference, Indianapolis, IN.
   

3. •This study can be read as: Educational advantages, obstacles, and implications: A preliminary study of students' accounts of using Internet applications for Japanese language learning. ERIC Document (ED463652).
   

Doctoral Dissertation

Title: "Bringing the Standards for Foreign Language to Life through an Internet-Based Newspaper Project"
Director: Dr. Larry Mikulecky, Language Education, School of Education, Indiana University
Committee members: Dr. Martha Nyikos, Language Education, School of Education, Indiana University; Dr. Yasuko Ito Watt, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Indiana University; Dr. David Ashworth, University of Hawai'i
Abstract: Click HERE to read the abstract.