Macquarie University

Macquarie University

Macquarie University is a research-intensive and a student-focused institution. Macquarie endeavours to serve the need of industry and the community through its innovative approach to teaching and the latest research of an international standard. Macquarie University believes that learning should be applied and engaged with the community.

Japanese Language Program

Macquarie's Japanese Studies, sharing the same mission, aims to offer programs that are practical, scholarly and innovative, designed for graduates of the 21st Century.

Currently approximately 400 students study at the Japanese Studies. They come from various different disciplines including Law, Economics, Education, and International Relations. It is our hope that the students engage and maintain relations in each area of their expertise through the knowledge of Japanese language and culture.

Macquarie's Japanese Studies Centre (The MJS Centre), the new specialist centre, was established in 1995 to build on the teaching strength of the Japanese Studies Department and to develop new initiatives in this field including programs for community outreach. The Japanese Studies Department and the MJS Centre work together to fruition the coherent and continuous education of Japanese language and culture across the whole community.

The MJS Centre and the Japanese Studies Department will jointly introduce a new Postgraduate Certificate in Intercultural Language Pedagogy in 2009. The program is a direct response to the current development in language education in Australia. "National Plan for Language Education in Australian Schools" by MCCETYA (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs) states that education in a global community needs to foster intercultural sensitivity through the teaching of language. Macquarie's new program is intended for teachers seeking further professional development in this area.

Macquarie's Japanese Studies Centre, in response to the national plan, also plans Youth Seminar Series. High school students in the community and Macquarie's undergraduate 　students are the main participants of the seminar. With a problem-solving approach, the seminar series is tailored to offer an opportunity for young students in the community to form a youth think-tank. The main message to be conveyed here is "Be engaged in a global world!"

The inaugural session will be held in late October with guest speakers Prof. Anthony Liddicoat (Advisor to Commonwealth Government on Language Education) and Fr. Paul Glynn (renowned for his strong and constant role in reconciliation between Australia and Japan after World War II).

A plan for Writing and Project Competition is currently formulated to encourage young students in the community to engage in recognising their roles in the world, particularly in Japan-Australia relations. With the main theme "In search of the third place," the project will identify an objective and unbiased position or a cross-section of interculturality in areas of literature, history, environmental sustainability, music, etc.

From inception in 1988, Macquarie's Japanese Studies has been a prime mover in Japanese teacher education. As seen by its nomination by the NSW Department of Education as a training centre for Japanese teachers in 1989, Macquarie's Japanese Studies maintains its strength in high quality teaching of Japanese through continuous research and the latest knowledge of learning methodology.

Nippon Foundation Funds for Japanese Language Education Program (NF-JLEP)

The programs managed by the MJS Centre at Macquarie aim to disseminate the new definition of language teaching – viz. "Intercultural Language Learning" in the community. The following programs were made possible by the Nippon Foundation Fund.

Postgraduate Certificate in Intercultural Language Learning

Professional Development Program for teachers to effectively deliver the current language syllabus with strong emphasis on the correlation between language expressions and culture.

Teaching Resources Development Grants/Scholarships

The grant aims to facilitate research initiative in the community that would have immediate impacts on Japanese language teaching in the community and internationally.

The recipients of grants include:

"Establishment of online Stage 6 Beginners Course for Distance Education"
by Open High School (Dissemination of high quality teaching in the remote areas)
*Currently, high school students in country areas with limited resources receive materials (textbooks and CDs). The completion of the online program will enable these students to engage in Japanese studies in a highly interactive mode.

"Establishment of a comprehensive resources website for Japanese Anime"
by Japanese Studies, Macquarie University
*Visual literacy is a new key area in school curriculum.

"Understanding how the Japanese language is structured through the use of homophones"
by the cognitive psychology research team, Macquarie University
*Foundation research for more effective and theoretically sound teaching resources development

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Youth Seminar Series
The seminar series is tailored to create holistic and coherent learning opportunities for young students learning Japanese in the community.

Writing and Project Competition