We exhibit both our research outcomes on Japanese language education and our efforts to support learning at Keio SFC. SFC Japanese section offers not only Japanese language courses but also learning opportunities for students with different cultural backgrounds. Students can also receive support from TAs (teaching assistants) and SAs (student assistants), whereas TAs and SAs are given opportunities to see their communication skills objectively through joint activities such as Japanese tutoring session. Also, the Japanese section provides a learning environment to learn disaster prevention and reduction in a multicultural inclusive society.
Chinese heritage is a big issue for Chinese families in Japan. I am interested in what Chinese means to migrant Chinese families, their problems and how these problems can be improved in the future. Although the language use in Chinese families in Japan is easily thought of as a bilingual combination of Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, I found that there is a complex interaction revolving around language issues between parents and the child at each stage of the child's growth. I am trying to figure out the correlative factors of three aspects which refer to language awareness, language use, and language management, and also the changes of the correlative factors with time. My ultimate goal is to prospect the position of Chinese heritage in this series of changing processes.
The concept of heritage is constantly evolving along with our increasingly connected world. Heritage has become a cultural asset to encourage tourism, as well as to foster particular ideas about societies. In this research, I examine aspects of our recent past, their intentions, and motivations, and how they have remained physically in the form of two buildings facing the threat of demolition: the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo, and the Sirius Building in Sydney. By investigating the experiences of locals, the communities involved, and the tourists that ascribe cultural value, this research seeks to question the construction of heritage, and establish the importance of lived experience in our conceptions of ongoing social connections.
Language plays an integral part in establishing one's identity. The goal of this research is to understand the relationship between language and the dynamic of assimilation and resistance. By examining intercultural language learners of military families in an English as a Second Language class, this study seeks to understand their perceived language learning results, and the effect this has on their confidence and future opportunities. Many of these youth are transient and in job insecure homes, limiting vocational opportunities. Consequently, they are global citizens. Language is vital for them to have meaningful and productive careers. They have potential because of the international experiences but are limited by household unemployment.