RESERCH ON TRAINING OF JAPANESE TEACHERS TO BE SENT ABROAD

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 08041010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for international Scientific Research
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: Field Research
• Research Institution: TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF FISHERIES
• Principal Investigator: ISEDA Ryoko TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF FISHERIES,FACUTY OF FISHERIES,PROFESSOR, 水産学部, 教授 (30168281)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TANAKA Sachiko SOPHIA UNIVERSITY,FACUTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES,ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, 外国語学部, 助教授 (60236586) ; YAMADA Izumi OSAKA UNIVERSITY,INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CENTER,PROFESSOR, 留学生センター, 教授 (30210438) ; SAKUMA Katsuhiko SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY,FACUTY OF LIBERAL ARTS,PROFESSOR, 文学部, 教授 (10162330) ; MATSUOKA Hiroshi HITOTSUBASHI UNIVERSIRY,INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CENTER,DIRECTOR,PROFESSOR, 留学生センター, センター長教授 (30114804)
• Project Period (FY): 1996
• Keywords: JAPANESE NATIONALS TEACHING JAPANESE / TEACHER-TRAING / CROSS-CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT / TEACHING JAPANESE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE / REGULATIONS FOR SENDING TEAGHERS ABROAD / QUALITATIVE RESEARCH / THAILAND / CHINA

Research Abstract

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO CONSIDER THE BEST METHODS FOR TRAINING JAPANESE NATIONALS TEACHING JAPANESE ABROAD.INSTEAD OF TAKING A QUANITTATIVE APPROACH LIKE QUESTIONNAIRES,OURS WAS BASICALLY QUALITATIV : WE INTERVIEVED EACH NATIVE-JAPANESE TEACHER AND TOOK AS MUCH TIME AS NECESSARY TO LISTEN DIRECTLY THEIR INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES AND OPINIONS.AS COUNTRIES WHERE NUMEROUS NATIVE JAPANESE TEACHERS OF JAPANESE ARE FOUND,WE CHOSE CHINA AND THAILAND.RESERCHERS VISITED EACH COUNTRY AND COLLECTED DATA IN THE FORM OF INTERVIEWS OF FAPANESE NATIONALS TEACHING JAPANESE AS WELL AS NON-NATIONALS AND OTHERS WHO WERE CONNECTED IN SOME WAY TO THE RESERCH PROJECT.
IN THE INTERVIEWS,THOSE WHO HAD GONE THROUGH LONG TRAINIG IN UNIVERSITIES,GRADUATE SCHOOLS,OR TEACHER-TRAINIG COURSES AFFIRMED THAT THE TRAINIG THEY HAD RECIEVED WAS USEFUL IN THEIR WORK,WHILE THOSE WHO HAD RECIEVED ONLY SHORT TRAINIG REPLIED THAT THEIR TRAINIG WAS NOT ENOUGH,AS EXPECTED,BUT BOTH GROUPS POINTED OUT THAT THEY LACKED SATISFACTORY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE COUNTRY THEY WENT TO TEACHIN.IN THAILAND,IT WAS CLEAR THAT THE JAPANESE NATIONALSLACKED THE READINESS TO ADJUST TO THAI CULTURE SO THAT WE FELT A GREAT NECESSITY FOR INCLUDING CROSS-CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT AS A PART OF THEIR TEACHER-TRAINIG PROGRAM.IN CONTRAST,HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS OF JAPANESE FROM JAPAN TEACHING IN CHINA INDICATED A HIGH LEVEL OF READINESS TO ADJUST TO CHINESE CULTURE.THERE ARE SEVERAL CAUSES FOR THIS DIFFERENCE,BUT ONE CHIEF CAUSE SEEMS TO BE THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LONG HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL THES BETWEEN JAPAN AND CHINA AND AN ADMIRATION FOR THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF CHINA ON THE PART OF THE LATTER GROUP.ALTHOUGH THIS GROUP IS AN EXCEPTION TO THE USUAL EXPERIENCE OF JAPANESE NATIONALS TEACHING ABROAD,IT BECAME CLEAR THAT WE MUST SEE THE PROBLEM OF TEACHER-OF JAPANESE NATIONALS FROM A BRODER PERSPECTIVE.