On 11 June 2017, the Japan Foundation, Bangkok held a reception for the first group of participants in the fifth Thai-bound NIHONGO Partners Program, run by the Japan Foundation Asia Center. The event included a ceremony in which Director Mamoru Shibayama of the Kyoto University ASEAN Center presented 69 copies of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) package to the Foundation, to be used by the 69 NIHONGO Partners Program participants.
The software package, "Multilingual Multimedia CALL Materials: Introduction to Japanese Traditional Culture", was developed by Professor Masatake Dantsuji’s laboratory at the Department of Educational Support at the KU Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS) as an aid for introducing Japanese and Kyoto culture in English, Chinese, and Thai.
The NIHONGO Partners Program sends Japanese language teachers and assistants to ASEAN countries as "partners" for local teachers and learners, who assist classes and introduce local students to Japan, while also studying the local language and culture so as to be able to serve as a bridge between home and host countries.
The 69 participants in the present Program have been assigned to secondary education institutions in 35 Thai provinces.
According to the Japan Foundation, Bangkok, around 110,000 Thai high school students are currently learning Japanese, and the numbers of Japanese learners and teachers, as well as institutions offering Japanese language education, increase year by year, suggesting the need for further language-education support from Japan.
Director Shibayama (left) presenting ACCMS's CALL package to the representative of Japan Foundation, Bangkok
Reception attendees
Related Link
- Applied Linguistics Laboratory (Dantsuji Lab), Department of Educational Support, Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS), Kyoto University
http://www.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/accms_en/en/activity/research/labo/al.html
