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STANDARDS FOR JAPANESE LANGUAGE LEARNING
1998
Prepared by the Japanese National Standards Task Force
Introduction
The Standards for Japanese Language Learning document is the result of an effort by K-16-level Japanese language educators to bridge the publication Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century, developed by The National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, with Japanese language classrooms in the United States. (Formal publication of a volume containing the generic standards plus the language-specific standards developed for Japanese as well as for a number of other languages, is scheduled for spring 1999. Inquiries should be directed to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), at 6 Executive Plaza, Yonkers, NY 10701.)
Close examination of the Foreign Language Education Project standards allowed the task force to determine what modifications were appropriate to meet the unique needs of Japanese teaching and learning environments. The resulting Japanese-specific standards adopt the strengths found within the original standards document while incorporating changes that address issues specific to the field of Japanese language education.
As these standards are based upon the Standards for Foreign Language Learning, their interpretation and effective application is dependent upon familiarity with the original document. The Standards for Foreign Language Learning may be obtained from The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Inc. It is assumed throughout this publication that individuals are acquainted with the philosophy and content of the original standards. The organizing principles remain parallel to the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. The five goals of language instruction--communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities--remain the pillars of this vision. Each goal is accompanied by standards or statements of what students are familiar with and are able to do at a given educational level. Each standard is followed by several progress indicators that serve to define student progress in meeting the standard. The final segment of the document offers learning scenarios, illustrative examples for teaching and learning, which incorporate the standards.
The document, Standards for Japanese Language Learning, was developed by a diverse team of educators. Task force members representing elementary, middle, high-school, and post-secondary teachers of Japanese from diverse geographic locations and teaching contexts worked together to develop this vision for K-16-level language programs. Native and non-native speakers of Japanese shared their respective insights and expertise. The collaboration of this diverse group of professions resulted in a document intended to serve the needs of the diverse Japanese language field.
In developing the Standards for Japanese Language Learning each goal, standard, and progress indicator of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning was carefully assessed and modified as necessary. A draft of the Japanese standards was disseminated throughout the profession for feedback. Comments from the field informed the revision of the final document. Learning scenarios based on classroom instructional experience were elicited from practicing educators to exemplify how the standards function within the Japanese classroom context. The strength of these standards stems from invaluable contributions from educators nationwide.
The standards are designed to aid teachers and learners of Japanese, yet their benefit extends beyond the walls of the classroom. They present a vision of Japanese language education within the American educational context to administrators engaged in language planning, parents, educational advisors, teachers of other disciplines, and supporting organizations and agencies.
The philosophy and premises that underlie the Standards for Foreign Language Learning remain the foundation upon which the Japanese standards were developed:
"Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. The United States must educate students who are equipped linguistically and culturally to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad. This imperative envisions a future in which ALL students will develop and maintain proficiency in English and at least one other language..." (p.7, Standards for Foreign Language Learning)
Japanese language education at the K-16 level should support this vision. All learners can benefit from the study of Japanese when language programs are developed and adapted to fulfill the needs and interests of students of varying abilities and backgrounds. Individual teachers are encouraged not to limit themselves to a single approach to teaching in accomplishing program goals. Methodology and approaches to language learning will vary depending upon the composition of a class, on the educational needs of one's students, and on the individual instructor's particular background and style. While the standards help in setting goals and objectives, it must be recognized that there are many ways in which these can be achieved.
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Japanese Language Education in the U.S.
Standards for Foreign Language Learning points out that a variety of benefits are gained by the study of a foreign language. These include learning more about one's native language and about language as a general phenomenon, gaining an appreciation of both one's own and other languages and cultures, improving general cognitive and communication skills, and gaining access to other cultures and bodies of knowledge. Studying a linguistically and culturally distant language like Japanese is especially likely to awaken in learners an understanding of the degree to which languages and cultures can vary and of what is distinctive about their own culture.
In addition to the benefits of language learning to individual learners, an increase in the number of Americans who are proficient in foreign languages benefits the United States by improving the level of knowledge of and ability to communicate with other countries in the world. With the increasing global importance of Asia and the Pacific Rim, and the economic and strategic significance of the U.S.-Japan relationship, it is important that more Americans become proficient in Japanese in order to gain access to information available only in Japanese, to increase our national level of understanding of Japan, and to better communicate a deeper knowledge of the United States to Japan.
While traditionally the study of Japanese in the United States was limited to a small number of academic and diplomatic specialists, the importance of Japan in the global and Asian contexts means that a knowledge of Japanese language and culture benefits not only those learners who will eventually become "Japan experts" but also those in a variety of different fields, such as business, tourism, journalism, science and technology, and the humanities and social sciences. A growing awareness of this fact has led to a great increase in the numbers and backgrounds of students of Japanese and a broadening of their goals during the last 15-20 years.
Today, students learn Japanese in increasingly diverse contexts. In addition to traditional programs at the college and graduate level, students now study Japanese in K-12 classes, at community colleges, in heritage language schools, in immersion programs for children, in extension classes, in distance-learning programs, and on their own with the aid of computerized learning programs. Between 1986 and 1991, for example, the number of high schools offering Japanese language rose from about 200 to over 770 (Jorden and Lambert, p. 17). Not only are students learning Japanese in more contexts, but within specific learning environments a growing variety of students take Japanese. No longer is it a language studied only by the elite.
In the near future, not only will we see an increasing number of students of Japanese; we will see a wider variety of backgrounds among students choosing to study Japanese. Students may enter Japanese classes with no, little, or considerable background in Japanese. Some may have a Japanese heritage background. Some students may come from having studied another language or languages. Some may choose to begin language at the middle school or high school level. Some may study Japanese, then another language, and later return to Japanese. Schools must provide programs with multiple entry points.
Students will benefit from the study of Japanese even when sequential Japanese may not be available for them throughout their school years from kindergarten through college: in addition to what they learn of the language and culture, they will also acquire basic language learning strategies, higher thinking skills, and broader perspectives from their Japanese studies.
Given this situation, it is critical that those involved in Japanese language education hold high standards for the achievement of Japanese learners. Only by having high expectations can we continue improving the quality of Japanese language education in order to benefit both individual learners and the country as a whole. Teachers will find the standards, goals, and indicators found in this document helpful as they plan a curriculum that best meets the diverse needs and abilities of their students. Teachers will be guided by looking at the sample progress indicators at various levels and adapt them to the particular needs and abilities of their students.
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Features of Japanese
The unique features of the Japanese language and culture make it highly appealing, yet sometimes challenging, for students in the United States. While studying Japanese, students develop the skills necessary to exist within a linguistic and cultural structure very different from their own. They gain access to the writing system, cultural practices, and expressive arts, as well as career opportunities available only to those who speak Japanese.
For American students who have never been exposed to non-Western cultures, the study of Japanese opens the door to Asia. For Japanese-American students, it is a venue in which to understand their cultural heritage. When planning, creating, or implementing a Japanese language program at any level, it is important to emphasize the unique and exciting, as well as the challenging, features of Japanese for American students.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when considering Japanese language learning and teaching in the United States is the length of time it takes native speakers of English to achieve a high level of proficiency. The Foreign Service Institute of the State Department, for example, has set the normal maximum training time for a Category 4 language like Japanese at 88 weeks of full-time study, as compared with only 24 weeks for Category 1 languages such as Spanish and French (Ehrman, p. 87). Because of this, it is critical that those involved with Japanese programs not expect that students' skills will advance at the same rate as those of students of many of the other languages taught in the United States.
There are a variety of reasons that Japanese takes so much time for native speakers of English to learn. Both linguistically and culturally, it is very distant from English. One consequence of the linguistic distance is that there are no cognate words in English and Japanese. The grammar of Japanese is also extremely different from that of English. For example, students must get used to putting the verb at the end of the sentence, using postpositions instead of prepositions, and putting relative clauses before instead of after the nouns that they modify. On the other hand, these difficulties are somewhat mitigated by the fact that Japanese has a relatively simple sound system and by the existence of large numbers of loan-words from English that may be easy to learn for students who already know English.
In addition to the linguistic distance, the cultural distance between the United States and Japan leads to other challenges. Basic communicative functions such as requesting, disagreeing, and inviting are performed very differently in Japanese culture. Merely translating American English interactional patterns into Japanese vocabulary and grammar does not result in acceptable Japanese communication. Learners must also grapple with new concepts such as the necessity of expressing social relationships in language. For example, the same basic content takes very different linguistic forms (or is not expressed at all) depending on social factors such as the gender, age, status, and closeness of the people speaking to each other.
Not only does the distance between English and Japanese grammar and American and Japanese cultures increase the time needed to acquire the language; the nature of the Japanese written language also leads to its own set of challenges. In order to be able to read Japanese materials written for adult native speakers, students must learn two different phonetic writing systems and approximately 2000 Chinese characters (kanji), most of which have multiple meanings and readings. While it is true that being able to speak a given language does not imply ability to read and write, the gap between written and spoken language is particularly wide in Japanese.
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How to Use This Document
These standards were compiled in the hope that the opportunity for Japanese language learning will become available to students across the United States beginning as early as the kindergarten years. At present, this opportunity does not exist in most communities. Therefore, it will be necessary for teachers and administrators to adapt these standards to presently existing programs while they explore possibilities for achieving the standards more fully in the future. In programs in which Japanese language education does not begin in kindergarten, teachers and administrators need to adapt the standards to the levels of instruction currently offered.
Learning progress indicators in the five goal areas are listed for grades 4, 8, 12, and 16. Teachers can use the grade indicators to measure their students' progress in any existing program. For example, progress indicators for grade 4 can be applied at the 8th grade level in programs in which Japanese language study begins at the 5th grade. However, when adjusting indicators, teachers must take into consideration appropriateness to the age of their students.
Experience suggests that the ideal situation for optimum language learning is daily exposure to the language. In cases where classes meet on a block or modular schedule (i.e., two or three times a week), in so-called "pull-out" programs (in which students are taken out of the regular classes for short periods of time each week), or half-year programs (in which for staffing or economic reasons the language cannot be offered throughout the academic year), the students may not acquire language at the same pace as those who are exposed to it daily or as those students who are in immersion or partial immersion programs. Therefore, the standards must be adjusted, or adapted, to meet the circumstances of the individual program.
Other factors that may influence student progress include the percentage of time the instructor uses Japanese in class, the pedagogical methods used, and the language proficiency of the instructor. These standards encourage using Japanese in class as much as possible, including its use in giving classroom instructions and in daily expressions. However, the instructor may find it necessary to use English when explaining a topic that is beyond the current linguistic capability of the students. The occasions when use of English may be necessary have been noted in this document.
These standards do not dictate a specific course content or curriculum, although they suggest the adoption of certain activities which will help students attain the goals set forth in the standards. We have included scenarios which highlight unique aspects of the Japanese language. These scenarios are provided as examples and can be adapted to meet the needs of individual students or instructional settings.
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Technology
In implementing these guidelines, instructors should remain aware of advances in technology which may accelerate or enhance the achievement of these goals and standards within the classroom. We live in an age when rapidly changing technology is a fact of life. For example, e-mail in Japanese makes direct written communication with native speakers easier than ever before. Today's students readily accept such change and are often eager to apply the latest technology to their studies. While teachers should not blindly accept every new gadget that enters the market, they need to keep abreast of changes in technology.
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References
Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar. New York: Bantam Books, l973.
Jorden, Eleanor H. with Richard D. Lambert. Japanese Language Instruction in the United States: Resources, Practice, and Investment Strategy. National Foreign Language Center Monograph Series, 1991.
Kuroyanagi Tetsuko. Totto-chan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, l982.
Natsume Soseki. Natsume. Botchan. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, l968.
Wardell, Steven. Rising Sons and Daughters. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Plympton Press International, 1995.
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Project Personnel
Task Force Members
Pamela Delfosse, Madison West High School, Madison, WI
Yumiko Guajardo, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
Kimberly Jones, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Yoko Kano, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC
Hiroko Kataoka (Chair), California State University, Long Beach/The Japan Foundation and Language Center, Santa Monica, CA
Waunita Kinoshita, Urbana High School, Urbana, IL
Norman Masuda, Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, CA
Toyoko Okawa, Punahou School, Honolulu, HI
Carrie Penning, East Hartford Glastonbury Magnet School, East Hartford, CT
Jessica Thurrott, Maloney Magnet School, Waterbury, CT
Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku, University of California, San Diego, CA
Yasuko Ito Watt, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Board of Reviewers
Marty Abbott, Fairfax Co. Public Schools, Falls Church, VA
Leslie Birkland, Lake Washington High School, Kirkland, WA
Yoshiko Brotherton, Clements High School, Fort Bend, TX
Anita Bruce, World Languages, Honolulu, HI
Yoshiko Elmer, Burges High School, El Paso, TX
Kyle Ennis, Aloha High School, Beaverton, OR
Fumiko Foard, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Lynette Fujimori, School Renewal Group, Honolulu, HI
Hiroko Furuyama, The Japan Foundation, Santa Monica, CA
Kyoko Hijirida, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Sonomi Ishida, Great Falls Elementary School, Fairfax, VA
Eleanor H. Jorden, Teacher Training Institute, Exchange:Japan, Ann Arbor, MI
Takuo Kinoshita, M.L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL
Hiroyuki Kuno, Spencer Elementary School, Savannah, GA
Kimi Matsumoto, Los Alamitos High School, CA
Atsuko Morse, The College Preparatory School, Oakland, CA
Marci Muench, John F. Kennedy Middle School, Palm Beach, FL
Mari Noda, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Yoko Pusavat, California State University, Long Beach, CA
Charles Quinn, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Nobuyuki Sassa, Great Falls Elementary School, Fairfax, VA
Ann Sherif, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Donald L. Spence, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Christopher St. Clair, Dr. Hornedo Middle School/Lincoln Middle School, El Paso, TX
Chihiro K. Thomson, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia
Mamiya Sahara Worland, Great Falls Elementary School, Fairfax, VA
Contributors to the Learning Scenarios
In addition to the Task Force members, the following people contributed to the writing of the learning scenarios:
Fumiko Foard, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Lee Link, Madison-Oneida BOCES, Hamilton, NY
Sandra Lopez-Richter, Crestwood Middle School, FL
Kimi Matsumoto, Los Alamitos High School, CA
Teachers of Richmond School Japanese Magnet Program, Portland, OR
Special Thanks to:
Judy Brisbois, USAFA, Colorado Springs, CO
Hiroko Furuyama, The Japan Foundation and Language Center in Los Angeles
Arturo Guajardo, Colorado Springs, CO
Mufi and Gail Hanneman, Honolulu, HI
Noriko Hara, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Kyoko Hijirida, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Akiko Kakutani, Earlham College, Richmond, IN
Earl K. Okawa, The Japan-America Society of Hawaii
Laurel Rasplica Rodd, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Susan Schmidt, ATJ, c/o University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Rebecca Still, Richmond Community High School
Isao Tsujimoto and others, The Japan Foundation and Language Center in Los Angeles.
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