| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper reviews the state of Japanese language teaching today, discussing 'things to celebrate' to 'things to lament and think about'. The former include the 'normalisation' of Japanese language teaching, its strength at all levels (particularly in numerical terms) and the achievement of a home-grown Australian capacity in Japanese studies. The latter centre on the high rates of attrition in Japanese, the dissatisfaction of learners which leads to this, and the corrosive effects of failure, not only on the learners themselves, but on the community's future expectations. It surveys six phases in the history of Japanese language teaching, and previews the results of a major research project on the views of students of Japanese in primary and secondary schools, discussing the implications of these views and experiences for the directions in which we must move in future.
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