Describes a recent move of scientists and university administrators in Japan to allow external peer review in an effort to convince government bureaucrats that Japan's academic research is up to world standards and therefore deserves more money. (ZWH)

Describes a collaboration between 10 private companies and 10 professors from 4 universities in an effort to keep researchers on the cutting edge of both the science that underlies future generations of electronic devices and the accompanying fabrication techniques. (ZWH)

Seven sentence combining activities designed to be stimulating and effective for college-level Japanese students of English as a Second Language are described. It is also demonstrated that a wide range of subjects can provide viable and engaging topics for the activities. The exercises include the following: (1) combining sentences provided into a…

Class activities and games designed to stimulate student interest and provide feedback in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESOL) pronunciation and phonetics are described. They are intended to address specific challenges of a typical Japanese, ESOL classroom--low student motivation and inadequate feedback--and to supplement conventional language…

Ten speaking and listening activities designed to improve the intercultural communication skills of intermediate and advanced learners of English are presented. The activities are based on seven goals of cultural instruction: (1) sense of culturally controlled behavior; (2) interaction of language and social variables such as gender, age, and…

The comparative higher education course offered at the State University of New York at Buffalo is briefly described, and a course schedule is presented, including required and recommended readings for each topic. The course is intended to provide a broad cross-cultural perspective and considers the growth and development of universities in Europe,…

Problems in teaching English pronunciation to large groups of university students in Japan are discussed, and some solutions are offered. Pronunciation instruction requires close individual interaction between teacher and student, difficult if not impossible to achieve in a typical Japanese university classroom. However, it is possible to get…

A French writing workshop used at the university level in Japan to enhance French language instruction is described. The exercises, in which students write Haiku and minimalist poetry in French, stress such aspects of language use as associations, connotations, and creative word use. Several exercise types are described. (MSE)

Papers on second language testing in Japan include: "Differences Between Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests" (James Dean Brown); "Criterion-Referenced Test Construction and Evaluation" (Dale T. Griffe); "Behavioral Learning Objectives as an Evaluation Tool" (Judith A. Johnson); "Developing Norm-…

Use of authentic content-based videotape recordings to integrate content with English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) instruction and English for academic purposes in college-level courses is discussed, particularly as it is relevant to the Japanese university context. Focus is on adaptation of techniques used in the United States for sheltered…

The East Asian Curriculum Project (EACP) of Columbia University is a national project whose goal is to support education on Asia at the secondary and elementary levels. The project has developed a variety of curriculum resources and collaborated with state and local educators in designing units about Asia for teachers. Each packet contains brief…

This workshop text encourages the use of literature in a student-centered curriculum of English as a second language (ESL). The first section discusses the role of the teacher in the student-centered approach and outlines the reasons for using English-language literature in the Japanese university ESL course. The second section emphasizes the…

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) represents a long-term effort by Stanford University to improve international and cross-cultural education in elementary and secondary schools. This volume of the elementary literature series focuses on the primary grades; utilizes primary source literature from Japan;…

Use of a theme- or topic-based curriculum to teach English as a Second Language in a Japanese university is described. Students are freshmen and sophomores. The thematic approach accommodates the interests of the large number of teachers in the program and encourages teacher development of instructional materials while achieving some consistency…

A university teacher of English as a second language in Japan describes his rationale, methods, and materials for teaching language through literature. Literature was chosen for its intellectual sophistication and ability to motivate adult learners. The use of recorded readings and/or video or filmed versions of texts is recommended as a means of…