SIETAR Japan, Kansai Chapter July Meeting  ”Japanese Society and Korean Ethnic Schools: From the aspect of language and cultural heritage” Joint with Japan Society for Multicultural Relations:Chubu・Kansai Chapter

Presenters: 1) Tanaka, Hiroshi

(Representative Director, the Japan Civil Liberties Union/JCLU)

                  2)  Ryu Misa (Doctoral Student at the Graduate School of Human and

Environmental Studies, Kyoto University)

Date: Sunday, July 17, 2011,   14:00-17:00

      (There will be a party at a restaurant after the meeting about 3,000 yen)

Place:  Ryukoku Universiity, Osaka Umeda Campus (14F, Hilton Plaza West Office

        Tower, 2-2-2, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka City)

Access: http://career.ryukoku.ac.jp/ossaka_campus/access/indes.html

Fee:  Free

Language:  Japanese

Inquiries and registration:  Prior registration is requested for attendance and the party.  Please send an e-mail to Soo im Lee: lee@biz.ryukoku.ac.jp, or fax to

06-6658-4642.

 

      Description of the presentations:

 

    (1) Tanaka,Hiroshi

 

“Japan’s Multicultural Co-existence Seen in the Exclusion of Korean Ethnic High Schools from the School Tuition –free program “

 

An act making tuitions free at public high schools and creating a “high school enrollment support fund” was passed on March 31 and was enacted on April 1, 2010.

The school tuition-free program was the only manifest that the Democratic Party of Japan could achieve. The rest of the manifest, such as children’s allowance, toll-free expressways, and financial support for farmers are still undecided.

The tuition-free school program was epoch-making because special training high

schools and schools for foreigners were included in the program. It means that

this time, these schools and Japanese public schools will be treated equally for the first time.

Of these designated schools for foreigners, 17 are international schools, 8 are Brazilian schools, and 2 are Chinese schools. 10 Korean schools were excluded from the program. Support of local governments has also eroded for these schools; for example, the Osaka Prefectural government cut financial aid, and it is affecting other local governments. I want to consider why this problem is occurring within the framework of Japan’s multicultural, multiethnic societal co-existence.

 

Profile of presenter:

Tanaka, Hiroshi is an Emeritus professor of Hitotsubashi University.  He received his MA in Economics from Hitotsubashi University. His fields are the History of Japan-Asia Relationships and post-colonial issues.

    

(2)Ryu, Mie

 

“The heritage Language Acquisition Process of ethnic Korean School Students-

An exploratory research on the elementary school students’ compositions in

Korean and Japanese (progress report)”

 

For the last several decades, ethnic Korean schools have successfully conducted heritage language education for the third and fourth generations in Japan.

This bilingual education enabled children, who spoke Japanese as their mother tongue, to become almost fluent in Korean within a year, so that they could lead their school life using only Korean.

This study focuses on the heritage language acquisition process in third year elementary school students, using compositions of students written in Japanese and Korean. This is a report of the students writing ability who have been studying Korean for three years while examining what the content of the compositions reveals about the awareness of students toward these schools.

 

Profile of presenter:

Ryu, Misa is a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Human and Environmental

Studies of Kyoto University.  Her majors are heritage language education using the immersion method and second language acquisition.

 

 

SIETAR Japan, Kansai Chapter, May 2011    “Helping Women in Developing Countries through Microfinance”

Presenter:  Ms. Marian Wang ( Kwansei Gakuin University)

Date:       Sunday May 29, 2011 (2:00pm-4:00pm)

Place:      Rokkomichi Kinro Shimin Center ( Main Rokkoy Building A,5F,

                   Room B) The South building of JR Rokkomichi Station,

8mins from Hankyu Rokko Station

            Tel:  (078)841-1711   http://www.kobe-kinrou.jp

Fee:        Members and students\500、 Non-members\1000

Language:  English

 

Description of presentation:

After natural or man-made disasters, money and material donations usually pour into the affected areas, and various aid agencies and other organizations are awarded grants to help rebuild devastated communities. What kind of programs are started and how are the most marginalized victims helped? This workshop will look at how assistance was provided to communities in Macedonia after the Kosovo crisis in the late 90s. The Kosovo crisis resulted in mass migration flows of people across the border into Macedonia and other neighboring countries. Eventually, aid was given to marginalized women through programs such as microfinance. This workshop will illustrate how microfinance empowers women in developing countries and will describe the positive and potential negative impacts of humanitarian assistance and development programs. The presenter hopes that through discussions, participants will become aware of the importance of supporting sustainable development programs for women in developing countries.

 

Profile of presenter:

Marian Wang has an MA in TESOL from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a Certificate in International Studies in Economics and Politics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI) in Geneva, Switzerland. She has worked in Europe for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Prior to her current post as an Instructor of English as a Foreign Language (IEFL) at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, she worked as a stockbroker, project assistant for a microfinance program in Macedonia with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and an EFL instructor for graduate students in Taiwan at the International Trade Institute (ITI). When she is not teaching, she enjoys volunteering with Teachers Helping Teachers (THT) and has participated in their teacher training programs in Kyrgyzstan, Laos, and the Philippines. 

SIETAR Japan, Kansai Chapter April 2011 Meeting“Teaching Intercultural Communication in Japan: A Materials Sharing Workshop”

Presenters:   SIETARJapan Members

Deadline for proposals for this workshop is April 3, by email to Miho Yoshioka, usjk30641@iris.eonet.ne.jp (see required proposal information below)

Date:     April 24 (Sunday), 2:00pm-5:00pm

Place:  Takatsuki Shiritsu Sogo Shimin Koryu Center, 3F, Room 1

       ( 1 minute walk from JR Takatsuki Station),  Tel. 0726-85-3721

             http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp    

Fee:   500 yen for members and students, 1,000 yen for non-members

Languages:  English and Japanese, depending on presenters

 

Description of the Workshop

SIETAR members are invited to share their tried and true materials for teaching intercultural communication in Japan.  Each presenter will be allowed a maximum of 20-25 minutes. Presentations (maximum 4 persons) will be selected to assure a balance in the language (presentations may be made in Japanese or English) and topic/content/level.

Call for Presenters:

SIETAR members who are interested in presenting their ICC teaching materials at the April workshop should send the following information by April 3 to: Miho Yoshioka,

usjk30641@iris.eonet.ne.jp

Please put “SIETAR April Meeting” in the subject of the email.

1. Presenter’s Name    

2. Title of proposed presentation

3. Presenter’s professional affiliation

4. Presenter’s contact information: email and phone number  

5. Field/level (who will the presentation be directed at?)

6. Short description of the proposed presentation (about 100 words or less)

Video machine, DVD player, OHC and projector are available for presentation.

Please bring your own computer if you need to use your power point.

Presenters should bring about 20 photocopies of your material to the workshop.

Successful proposals will be notified by April 9.