| 内容 |
After amendments to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act in 1990, there was a rapid increase in the number of foreigners in Japan. Regardless of nationality, those who immigrated have lacked Japanese language ability, including many children who have enrolled in Japanese schools. As a result, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) conducted research among young students requiring Japanese language instruction, and then created a policy to support Japanese as a second language (JSL) students. This policy spread the idea of approaching Japanese language instruction as a special curricula. Despite the establishment of the policy, more than a fourth of non-native students are not able to receive sufficient support that will enable them to participate in classes. This study argues that the main cause of this situation is the lack of teacher training in Japanese language instruction. Although many teachers are encountering multicultural classroom settings regardless of their subject area, it is questionable whether they can adequately meet the needs of such students. By evaluating universities’ teacher training curricula, this study will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. |
| 講評 |
Congratulations to the Stevenson Seminar members of the graduating class of 2019! This year’s graduation theses covered a broad range of “globalization, education and culture” issues, spanning topics of ethics in curricula, environmental awareness, fashion, sustainability, concepts of beauty, shutaisei, overseas study, and adventure. Methodologies were nearly as diverse, including the use of text (primary and secondary), qualitative interviews, questionnaires, and field observations. Befitting a university and department that value the moral dimensions of education, nearly all of the theses share an explicit or implicit focus on conscious. In addition, each paper includes an original component, demonstrating the students’ ability to work with new topics or take a new approach to a familiar theme. Also, apart from the normal challenges of researching and writing, each student used at least a few non-Japanese-language sources, and all students wrote their papers in English, evidencing both language ability and tremendous effort. The end result is a collection of papers that have contributed to the growth of the students in terms of both technical skill and intellectual development, and of which the seminar should be proud. |
