Japanese Teachers’ Association of NSW (JTAN) Inc.
ABN 94 045 344 808
PO Box 6453, North Sydney 2060
http://www.jtan.org.au
2015 JTAN AGM & Workshop
Date:
17 October 2015 (Sat.)
Booking:
http://www.jtan.org.au
⇒ Login ⇒ click on 'Events' tab.
Venue:
Japan Foundation Sydney (JPF)
Level 4, Central Park
28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008
Near Central Station, Opposite UTS Tower
(Access via elevator only)

Cost:

FREE
Schedule:
Note:
Booking will be closed on
14 September or earlier when
fully booked.
Eating/Drinking outside the
room is not permitted (Please be
aware that there will be other
visitors for the library and
exhibition).
09:30 -
Registration
09:55 -
Opening
10:00 -
Seminar 1
'Retaining and motivating students of Japanese to year 12 and beyond'
Presented by Dr. Robyn Spence-Brown, Monash Univ. Melbourne
Morning tea (provided)
11:15 11:45 -
Seminar 2
Teaching 'The Ainu' (Some teaching materials will be provided)
Presented by Mrs. Sally Mizoshiri, North Sydney Girls High
12:30 -
JTAN Annual General Meeting & Door prizes
13:30 -
Lunch (Food court is open - Each participant receives set lunch money)
14:30 -
Seminar 3
'Using Japanese and making it fun in a Japanese learning community'
Presented by Dr. Chihiro Kinoshita-Thomson, UNSW Australia
15:40 -
Discussion & Evaluation
16:20 -
Tidy up (Please leave the venue before 16:30).
16:40 -
Members networking drinks with hot and cold edibles (Cost: free)
Eve's place bar at Mercure Hotel at Railway Sq. (818-820 George St.)
TPO for details
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Japanese Teachers’ Association of NSW (JTAN) Inc.
ABN 94 045 344 808
PO Box 6453, North Sydney 2060
http://www.jtan.org.au
Dear Members,
This year, the themes of the Seminars are 1) The Ainu and 2) Retention of students studying Japanese
at high schools - Issues and Approaches.
'The Ainu' has not been spotlighted before, so we hope that it will inspire you to teach about the
indigenous people and the culture. We have also invited two prominent figures in studies of language
teaching and learning, and below are their seminar briefs.
Retaining and motivating students of Japanese to year 12 and beyond
This session explores the reasons why students do, or do not continue with their language studies into
the Senior Secondary years. How important is liking/being interested in a subject, and what role do
perceptions of future ‘usefulness’ or of ‘level of difficulty’ play? How do different school and
educational structures influence the decisions of students? Drawing on a major survey of year 11
students of Japanese which I conducted nationally in 2014, as well as on the latest research
internationally on what motivates study of a second language, and what determines student subject
choices I will address these and other questions, and set the scene for a discussion later in the day of
what teachers can do to encourage students to continue.
Dr. Robyn Spence-Brown
Senior Lecturer, Coordinator, Higher Degree by Research Program, Linguistics and Applied
Linguistics
Japanese Studies and Division of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Monash University, Melbourne
Using Japanese and making it fun in a Japanese learning community
Our students have fun when they can successfully use Japanese. They are proud of themselves when
they can get things done using Japanese. I believe one of the most important jobs as teachers of
Japanese is to create and offer such opportunities to our students. For this we need to consider
something larger than a lesson plan. We need to plan and design a learning environment, a learning
community, in which our students are active and responsible participants. In this talk, I would like to
share with you some ways to create a classroom where the students have specific roles to play, and to
connect classes to increase interaction opportunities in Japanese. I would also like to share some
student centered activities, there lie concepts of Communities of Practice, and sociocultural approach to
learning. I will briefly outline these concepts to aid your understanding of how to enhance student
learning.
Dr. Chihiro Kinoshita-Thomson
Professor, Japanese Studies
Convenor, Bachelor of International Studies
School of Humanities and Languages, UNSW Australia
Australian Representative of the Global Network of Japanese Language Education
We hope that you will deepen your insights towards language education.
Convener: Teruko Sharif (email: pobox6453@jtan.org.au)
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