The Current State of Japanese Language Education in Australian Schools

3.7 Opportunities for Post-school Study

While the focus of this study is on school-level education, it would be remiss not to briefly draw attention to the tertiary sector which school students transition into, and which provides the training for the next generation of teachers. In Australia in recent years, there have been negligible links between policy and curriculum development across the K–tertiary continuum. This contrasts with other countries, for example, in the United States where the National Standards and Frameworks cover both school and tertiary education as one continuum. Attaining proficiency in Japanese (or in any language) to levels which allow its use at a professional level requires continuing study in the tertiary sector after completion of Year 12 and it seems that the dialogue between the school and tertiary sectors needs to be better coordinated.

Japanese is the most widely taught language in Australian universities and other post-secondary providers, and this strength in numbers allows for diversity in courses, providing a wide range of pathways for high school graduates in Japanese. In the larger states and territories and at the larger institutions, students are able to enter courses at several levels – typically beginners, post-VCE, and advanced – often with the option of intermediate entry points for those students who may have been forced to discontinue their studies before senior secondary level, who have had a break in their studies, or who have higher levels of competence. Importantly (and unlike the situation for the primary-secondary transition), at our major institutions, the benefits of advanced entry are maintained throughout the degree, ensuring a higher exit level. Unfortunately, in smaller institutions the range of options is a little more limited.

Postgraduate coursework programs in interpreting and translation are also available in several states and territories, as are coursework and research programs in other areas of Japanese language and studies, including Japanese applied linguistics.

Japanese programs generally focus strongly on communicative skills, and associated studies of culture and society also tend to have a broader focus than in some more traditionally taught languages. Links with Japan are highly developed, and most students who major in the language travel to Japan at some point during their studies. In addition to the courses at major institutions, Japanese is also the most widely taught language at smaller institutions, and is also strongly represented in the TAFE sector.

In summary, there are excellent opportunities for students to capitalise on and extend their study of Japanese at the post-secondary level. Tertiary institutions also produce a significant cohort of Australian-trained graduates (both non-native speakers and background speakers), who form the core of the Japanese teaching profession in Australian schools.

3.8 Resources

3.8.1 Textbooks

Since the inception of Japanese language teaching in Australia, the production of textbooks written by Australian authors has flourished, partly due to the lack of suitable texts produced elsewhere in the world. Most series have comprehensive resources, including workbooks, CDs and flashcards. Successive textbooks have reflected changes in teaching paradigms, and the quality of the materials is generally high. However, most have yet to respond in more than a cursory way to the demands of intercultural language learning and the implication of recent developments in ICT. There is a need for a new generation of comprehensive materials, which take advantage of new technologies, address the literacies required for the 21st century, and incorporate the broader view of language teaching and learning reflected in more recent Australian curriculum documents.

The major textbook series target upper primary/ secondary levels, and are used by most secondary programs but only a very small number of primary programs. Some of those interviewed expressed the view that Japanese teachers had become too reliant on textbooks, and should be using a wider range of materials, particularly authentic and multimedia materials. However, the availability of high quality textbooks designed for Australian conditions has ensured (at least at the secondary level) that even inexperienced teachers, or those lacking in linguistic competence, are able to provide courses of a consistent and minimally acceptable quality. They also provide a base, for both teachers and students, which can be readily supplemented. Other materials that are not packaged as fully developed programs – such as the comprehensive curriculum materials for Japanese developed by Curriculum Corporation in the mid-nineties – have often been neglected by teachers, who find them more difficult to use.

3.8.2 Other Resources Produced in Australia

Most teachers, often with the help of native speaker assistants, develop and use supplementary materials and activities, and the best of these achieve wide circulation through active teacher networking or publication in association newsletters and websites.

At various times, Education Services Australia, Departments of Education, independent and Catholic sector offices, teacher organisations and the Melbourne Centre for Japanese Language Education (MCJLE) have produced Japanese-specific resources or acted as a distribution network for teachers to share the resources they produce.

Resources for Japanese have also been produced in association with public institutions to provide topic or activity based materials, for example, the Zoo Trail materials produced in conjunction with the Melbourne Zoo, and packages produced using the Japanese art collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Victoria.

3.8.3 Materials from Japan

The Japan Foundation has been active for many years, both in providing resources for schools through a generous donation program and in producing numerous high quality resources suitable for schools in Australia, which are distributed internationally, both in print and through web-based interfaces. Some materials are produced in Australia specifically for Australian conditions.

There are several organisations in Japan that provide materials. The Japan Forum has produced an excellent set of photo-based resources taken by Japanese students of their lives, and also hosts a monitored and controlled social networking site to allow students in Japan and around the world to interact with each other.