Japan Higher Education Outlook (JHEO)

Why Study Abroad? (Interesting article at Korea Herald)

2009-10-24T14:35:00.004+09:00

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/10/19/200910190031.asp

Excerpt follows, see links to KH for full article:

---------
Why study abroad?

Last week's "World University Rankings" appear under the headline "Asia advances." So why do East Asian students go abroad to study, when they face so many difficulties?

In the rankings of the "Times Higher" newspaper, Seoul National University is now 47th, and in terms of life sciences it is up 16 places to 24th. South Korea now has 2 universities in the top 100, and 4 in the top 200. China also has two in the top 100, and 6 in the top 200. But this statistic is not adjusted for the size of country. In relation to population, South Korea does better than China.

Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore have also done well. The University of Tokyo has moved up 15 places to 13th and Kyoto up 17 places to 20th. In the past, the top positions have been dominated by the United States, with the United Kingdom next. Like South Korea, the United Kingdom does remarkably well considering its relative size.

The Times Higher concludes this year that "the rise of Asia is in direct contrast to the U.S.'s fortunes." Cambridge University pushed Yale from second to third place. The "Observatory on Borderless Higher Education" talks of a "new global regionalism" which is challenging the status of the United States and the United Kingdom.

But league tables like this are limited.

100 Free Courses for Unemployed to Improve and Update Skills

2009-10-09T14:18:00.002+09:00

Might also be useful for those who feel they aren't getting their money's worth from their current courses as well.

http://onlineschool.net/2009/10/05/100-free-cutting-edge-college-courses-for-the-unemployed/

Universities in Japan worry about epidemics derailing entrance exams

2009-10-09T14:08:00.003+09:00

Entrance exams and admissions applications are a big source of revenues, at least in terms of covering the costs of recruitment. So it's a big deal if an epidemic might keep applicants away from testing centers nationwide during January-March next year. The H1N1 virus is making university administrators nervous about having to run make-up tests just to make sure they get their quotas of first year students.

See the Daily Yomiuri article online for more information:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090916TDY03003.htm

excerpt:

>> Universities mull antiflu measures / Fears of mass infection during examination season prompt makeup exam proposal

The Yomiuri Shimbun

University officials are giving careful thought to measures aimed at preventing transmission of the new strain of influenza at venues used for entrance exams early next year.

With an eye on a possible pandemic, some universities are considering the unusual step of introducing makeup exams for examinees infected with the new flu, even though such tests are only used by the National Center for University Entrance Exams.

Each year, more than 3 million people sit university entrance exams in the nation.

The universities are concerned that infected examinees might develop a fever during exams, and that a large number of examinees might miss tests due to symptoms caused by the new flu. << end of excerpt

NYT reports on the competition to get international students in Asia

2009-10-09T14:05:00.002+09:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/19/world/asia/19iht-study.html

excerpt (see links above for entire article online):

>> More Asian Universities Cast a Net for Foreign Students

By LIZ GOOCH
Published: September 18, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR
Attending a university overseas has long been an aspiration for many Chinese.

“My father said ‘Why do you want to stay in China? Open your mind, look at the world,”’ said Bao Qianqian, 25.

The predictable choice might have been Australia or Britain, where her two sisters and thousands of her countrymen have studied. But Ms. Bao decided to embark on a journey that would keep her closer to her home in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo, improve her English while still giving her the chance to converse with Chinese speakers, and enjoy substantially lower costs.

She chose Malaysia, where she is currently a third-year business student at HELP University College, a private institution in Kuala Lumpur. <<

end of excerpt

Conference focuses on Japan-Vietnam HE tie-ups and cooperation

2009-10-09T13:57:00.003+09:00

The vast majority of international students in higher education in Japan come from China, but other nationalities from Asia are also a major presence, including students from Vietnam. Higher education in Japan has become a major player globally, but it mainly serves students from elsewhere in Asia. This will put Japan's HE sector in fierce competition with, for example, Malaysia, which has more abundant space for 'green-site' campuses as well as more widespread social use of English. Students from North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand are coming to Japan, but mostly to learn Japanese language and culture, not really to pursue an education. This is sort of a mirror image of what anglophone countries still typically provide for Japanese students (English language training mostly). Students from developing countries in Asia, however, often come to Japan to get training and degrees taken in Japanese.

See article below:

http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Education/2009/9/74339/

Vietnam, Japan strengthen cooperation in university education

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan has appreciated Japan’s assistance to Vietnam to develop education.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan opens the first conference of Vietnamese and Japanese university heads in Hanoi on September 17 (Photo: Nhan Dan)

He was speaking at the first conference of Vietnamese and Japanese university heads held by his ministry in Hanoi on September 17 under the theme “boosting university cooperation between Vietnam and Japan.”

The two-day conference is being attended by 53 university directors from Japan.

Japan has helped Vietnam build 256 elementary schools in 17 flood-prone provinces and four mountainous southern provinces and grants scholarships to Vietnamese students every year.

The conference provides an opportunity for the two countries’ universities to review cooperation in education and scientific research as well as to compare notes, he said.

In recent years, Japan has been one of biggest donors of official development assistance to the Vietnamese education system.

It has, for instance, funded a US$65 million project to enhance training in information and communication technology and a $23 mil project to upgrade infrastructure at Can Tho University.

More than 100 Vietnamese universities have tied up with Japanese universities, including Hue University, the Hanoi University of Technology, the Hanoi University of Education, and the HCMC University of Education.

Waseda University opens bio-science research institute in Singapore

2009-10-09T13:46:00.005+09:00

This story is a bit unusual in that (1) it's a private university (an elite one for sure) opening a scientific research institute (usually the former national universities get the funding for such activities) AND (2) the centre will be in Singapore and not in Japan.

Online article one:

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=12596.php

excerpt:

>> Waseda University's Biosciences Reserach Institute in Singapore covers nanobiotechnology
(Nanowerk News) Waseda University today opened the Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore (WABIOS) in Biopolis. WABIOS will focus its research in the areas of bioimaging, bioengineering, biophysics and nano-biotechnology. It will also further develop the neuroscience-focused research findings derived from the Waseda-Olympus Bioscience Research Institute ? a joint initiative between Waseda University and Olympus Corporation in Biopolis from 2004 ? 2009. WABIOS has committed S$2 million for its research activities here and will start with a few researchers from both Japan and Singapore. The establishment of WABIOS is particularly significant in that it marks the first time that Waseda University is setting up research operations overseas independently. <<

Online article two:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/14/content_12049112.htm

excerpt:

>> Japan's Waseda University opens bioscience institute in Singapore
www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-14 12:19:02

SINGAPORE, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Waseda University opened the Waseda Bioscience Research Institute in Singapore (WAIBOS) on Monday.

The WABIOS marks the first time that Waseda University is setting up research operations overseas independently.

WABIOS will focus its research in the areas of bio-imaging, bioengineering, biophysics and nano-biotechnology. It will also further develop the neuroscience, focused research findings derived from the Waseda-Olympus Bioscience Research Institute, a joint initiative between Waseda University and Olympus Corporation from 2004 to 2009, according to a statement by Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

WABIOS has committed 2 million Singapore dollars (1.4 million U.S. dollars) for its research activities here and will start with a few researchers from both Japan and Singapore.

President of Waseda University Katsuhiko Shirai and Chairman of A*STAR Lim Chuan Poh also signed on Monday a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) here at the opening of WABIOS.

The agreement aims to facilitate research collaborations between scientists from the two organizations through joint symposia and workshops as well as enable graduate students from Waseda University to spend up to 2 years at A*STAR research institutes during the course of their PhD studies under A*STAR's Research Attachment Program. <<

University-run museums are a hidden treasure in Japan

2009-10-09T13:39:00.001+09:00

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090919f4.html

excerpt:
>> Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009

University museums drawing crowds with research dazzle
Kyodo News

University-run museums are gaining attention not only for their free admission but also for in-depth exhibitions that reflect their latest achievements in research.

A guidebook published this month on some 100 university-run museums in the Tokyo area may prompt more people to seek intellectual stimulation at the exhibitions.

Tokyo Daigaku Hakubutsukan Guide (Tokyo University Museum Guide), written by freelance journalist Satoru Otsubo, 41, delves into various campus exhibition corners recently opened to the public, including exhibitions on art and architecture and showings of industrial machines that are set in motion before people's eyes. <<

Do Japanese EFL students need 'katakana eigo to learn and to read English?

2009-09-12T15:15:00.002+09:00

Do Japanese EFL students need 'katakana eigo to learn and to read English?

Introduction

'Katakana' is one of two syllabaries used in modern written Japanese; it is largely used to represent non-Chinese loan words, such as the numerous English loan words in Japanese called 'gairaigo'. It is also used in some contexts to stand for native onomatopoeia and other mimetic language, to show emphasis in a written text, to transcribe the readings of Chinese characters in legal documents, to provide a quickly input language for telegraphy, and to represent the popular names of animals and plants in native taxonomy, among other uses. However, katakana also finds widespread use in EFL in Japan in classrooms and materials as 'katakana eigo', which is a syllabic transliteration of English into a form that is more easily decodable for learners.

For the sake of this article's discussion, teacher attitudes toward katakana eigo can be summarized as the following three:

1. Katakana eigo is bad, and we should ban it.
2. Katakana eigo is not particularly useful, but it is part of the cross-lingual (L2 to L1)
reality, still let us not encourage it.
3. Katakana eigo is a useful crutch; helping students as a cognitive bridge to literacy in
EFL, so let us adapt it appropriately.

In this article I will explain why learners feel that katakana eigo is necessary in order to deal with the complexity and inconsistency of written English, and I will explain how teachers can plan and use content, materials and activities that will alleviate the need for such L1 crutches.

Katakana eigo: Is it natural?

It is natural for beginners to make substitutions and simplifications with the FL's sound system and sound tactics. Nonnative/JSL/JFL speakers of Japanese (many of them English teachers in Japan) are no different on this point. It is also a matter of course that students might take a very familiar, consistent, phonologically transparent, syllabic script like katakana and use it to transcribe a language written in one that is not so easy to decode for pronunciation (like the complex, alphabetic writing conventions of English). It does seem possible, though, that a persistent reliance on katakana eigo during beginning levels of instruction reinforces the idea that English does not have its own sound system and sound tactics. The impression that beginners might get is that the sounds and sound tactics of English are easily fitted into those of Japanese; they are not, not if intelligibility is to survive.

In standard phonological accounts, spoken Japanese has far fewer sound segments than English, and simpler tactics are used for putting these sounds together into syllables and words. A typical Japanese syllable is V or CV type; few consonant sounds can close a syllable, and there are not many consonant clusters. A writing system such as katakana that is based on an analysis of the syllable types of spoken Japanese, therefore, proves an ill fit for spoken English. What is at issue is the mental, phonological representations of the FL in the minds of the learners which enable them to learn and use it.

Here are two examples of how katakana eigo renders English into a Japanese form. Take the word banana. In Japanese, this word would be written as three syllabic characters,, which we can romanize as ba-na-na. In this case the written Japanese corresponds perfectly with the English (though note, the Japanese form of this word would be given fairly even stress across all three syllables, while the English word typically receives the strongest stress on the second syllable with fairly neutral vowels in the first and final syllables). But look what happens with a second example, McDonald's. In Japanese, this would be written as, which as romanized is ma-ku-do-na-ru-do. Now, both the words banana and McDonald's are well established loan words in modern spoken Japanese, and, as such, the nativized pronunciations of these for spoken Japanese are perfectly legitimate. But it is easy to see from these two examples what might happen to English words in an EFL setting if students used katakana to make target vocabulary more easily 'decodable'. If a word has a similar syllable structure to Japanese (V or CV), then the effects are not so profound. In the case of a word like McDonald's the English word with three syllables becomes a six-syllable word with all open syllables and extra, intruded vowel sounds.

Is it possible that once such word forms are learned for EFL, that they make a lot of vocabulary of English largely incomprehensible? First, students, having learned the Japanized version of a word, may not recognize it while listening (or even reading, if they find the katakana for more easily memorized than English spelling). Second, if students produce such forms, are most English speakers outside of an EFL classroom in Japan going to understand them?

Next, let us turn to possible solutions that we might consider for teaching methods and materials. If katakana eigo is banned in class, this decision is a school's departmental or teacher's choice. However, we must also remain aware of two separate parts of linguistic reality in Japan, where English is both an important source of loan words and a much-studied FL. First, students are still going to make sound substitutions from Japanese and their own developing interlanguage when speaking and reading English out loud.

It is a natural linguistic phenomenon for beginners to struggle with the phonology of English when they start to learn the language. Construction and internalization of a FL's phonology goes along step-by-step with development in things like vocabulary and grammar (though sometimes the steps are backwards and not always forward). Second, English loan words become visible and usable in Japanese because they have been transcribed into katakana eigo form. Teachers working in an EFL environment have to recognize and affirm that there are quite legitimate processes going on when their students' L1 acquires a loan word from English. Moreover, it is expected for someone to use the L1's pronunciation of English loan words when speaking the L1 (including native English speakers when they speak Japanese).

Is Phonics a Possible Solution?

Phonics often refers to a set of methods for teaching beginning literacy to native English speakers, bilinguals and ESL learners in countries where English is the dominant language. In such methods teachers typically emphasize the rule-like nature of spelling-to-sound correspondences through direct instruction and practice. To many critics, the problems with phonics include the following: (a) too much emphasis on explicit rules and teacher-centered instruction of them, (b) a simplistic view of the nature of written English's complex and irregular spelling conventions, and (c) behaviorist drill and practice separated from real language use and meaning.

Given such problems, it might seem difficult to reconcile phonics methods with constructivist, student-centered, communicative EFL instruction. However, let us consider a different view of what phonics might be since it will help us to integrate phonics into our both our philosophies as well as our real world teaching. Goodman (1993) writes:

Phonics is always both personal and social, because we must build relationships between our own personal speech . . .the speech of our community and the social conventions of writing. It is always contextual because the values of both sound and letter patterns change in the phonological, grammatical and meaning contexts they occur in. And it's never more than part of the process of reading and writing. For all these reasons, phonics is learned best in the course of learning to read and write, not as a prerequisite. In fact, our phonics is determined by our speaking, listening, reading and writing experiences.(p. 51)

If we can agree with Goodman here, then we can see that phonics is not a set of simple rules for letter-to-sound correspondences "reversed engineered" from written English that teachers can then present and drill in to students. Rather, phonics is a complex system of relationships that the learner as reader and writer builds up and internalizes mentally; much like the other parts of a learner's FL language system, it could be said to exist only when language is being used in some way to make meaning.

A Few Notes on the Spelling of English

One of the reasons why doubts about phonics as something teachable arise has to do with the nature of English orthography and the ways it might be processed and read in real written text. The first fact that confronts us is inescapable: a simple alphabet relates one symbol with one categorical sound (sound segment, phoneme or phone). But the version of the Roman alphabet used to write English has only 26 letters, far short of the number necessary to represent spoken English's list of 44 to 48 sounds in simple one-sound-to-one-symbol conventions. This means that, while English is written alphabetically, these conventions are not limited to simple one-letter-to-one-sound correspondences. The second fact only makes matters seem worse: not only are the conventions complex, but there is a great deal of irregularity and inconsistency (more so than written French even, another literary language known to deviate from simple phonetic principles).

One reason for the complexity is that, at least in part, the spelling patterns do capture phonological aspects of the spoken language, but since there is a shortage of roman letters for English sounds, the conventions are by necessity complex. However, how do we account for the inconsistencies and irregularities? Historic and linguistic reasons can be given: at one time the writing conventions for writing Anglo-Saxon and British Danish were fairly phonemic, but these traditions died out and so are not really continuous with written English as we know it today. Then Norman French, after 1066, brought with it French spelling conventions and massive amounts of Latinate vocabulary.

Next, the subsequent age of mass literacy and printing accompanied the true emergence of modern English as a world language. During this period, English's strange mix of spelling conventions -- after infusions of even more Latinate vocabulary from writers such as Milton and exotic spelling conventions from Dutch printers and typesetters -- became frozen in place more or less. Written English curiously upholds both phonemic/phonological and etymological principles (the latter being a striking parallel with modern French). Most words have not lost their sound shapes in their written forms, but often spellings are stable across word roots, even though internal vowels change. For example, compare the stable spellings and unstable pronunciations of the related lexical roots of these words: phone, phonic, phonological, telephony, etc.

The tendency is for the complex processes of lexical derivation and grammatical morphology in English to produce many changes in pronunciation of syllable-internal vowel sounds while the spelling conventions refer more often consistently to word roots. It is this mix of conventions that leads some to theorize that English could be read at a word level in mature, fluent reading processes.

Ways to Cope in the Classroom

It may well be the case that written English as it is actually read, written and spelled forces the literate language user to juggle phonological and word-level principles. However, there is also the possibility that beginning literacy--especially in a SL or FL, where so much vocabulary is encountered for the first time in print, not speech--has to be more dependent on phonological processes in reading. The good news is that the spelling conventions for the English consonants sounds, while complex, are fairly consistent. The true source of difficulty is more centered on how the vowels of English are written.

Here are three activities that teachers can run with beginning to lower intermediate level learners of all ages to practice and reinforce phonics, pronunciation and phonological skills related to beginning EFL learning and literacy.

Activity One: Pronunciation and Phonics Crambo (an adaptation of a traditional spelling game)

1. Preparation: Go through student word lists (e.g., the lexical part of the syllabus of a course book) and select words that fit major and minor spelling patterns. Also, choose key sight words (which are also a major part of a beginner's vocabulary). Think of other rhyming words that students may not know, but that fit the patterns that the course vocabulary illustrate.

2. Preteaching: Explain/show what an English rhyme is, as Japanese students may have difficulty with the concept. Young learners especially may be quite open to language play, but their linguistic sense of it will be geared to the characteristics of Japanese, not English. Rhyme is one of these characteristics on which English and Japanese (but also Romance languages like Spanish and Italian) differ greatly. Show them how words can rhyme and have the same spelling pattern: e.g., time, lime, dime, etc. Also show them how words can rhyme but have totally different spellings: e.g., time, rhyme, climb. You can also show them how common sight words complicate matters still further: two, you, who.

3. Divide the class into teams. I have used this activity a lot for classes that could be divided into two teams, but more teams than that are possible. Two players from each team can come to the board. One will write for their team, while the other can relay information from the rest of the team members. This activity can be run having students rely solely on memory, or they can be encouraged to use textbooks, glossaries and dictionaries for the words they will need. Begin play by announcing a key word and writing it top, center on the board. Repeat the word several times. The first team to write a correct rhyme wins a point. Continue play with different team members rotating for each round. Emphasize that this is a team effort, so the members who are at their seats should give assistance to the two at the board.

4. Variations: Practice words that have the same vowel sound but do not rhyme. Or words that begin or end with the same target sound, such as problem sounds like /r/ or /l/ (in this case you will want only to say the key word several times and not write anything on the board).

Activity Two: Spelling Concentration (an EFL adaptation of Concentration)

1. Construct a set of word cards from large pieces of cardboard (I have used A4 and B4 sizes). On one side of each card print a key word. The words on the cards should be organized so that there are matching pairs of rhyming words or words that share the same internal vowel sounds (e.g., same soundsame spelling, same sounddifferent spelling, selected sight words). For example, in one set of cards I matched in non-rhymes, five pairs of short vowels (bad-cat, bed-pet, sit-tip, not-top, cut-cup), five pairs of 'long' vowels (ate-day, feet-heat, kite-sight, note-boat, room-tune), and three pairs with other vowels (out-town, loop-soon, boy-oil) for a total of 26 cards. After you have written all the key words on the cards, shuffle the deck thoroughly, then number the cards at random on their reverse sides, from 1 to 26. Tape or magnetically fix the word cards to the blackboard with the numbered sides showing.

2. This game works best if played between two teams, but team sizes should be kept down to groups that are small enough for all to participate. If you team teach, you might want to split up a large class and run two different games. There is not a lot of preteaching required for this game if the previous activity has already been done (teaching what words rhyme, how they might share an internal vowel, how they might begin or end with the same sound, etc.). You might want to run a demonstration round to show how the Concentration game will go.

3. One of the two teams must begin play; this can be decided at random since going first does not increase the odds of winning. The side that starts picks any two cards by calling out their numbers (this also gives beginners a chance to say the numerals in English out loud in real communication). The teacher (or appointed M.C.) turns the cards over so that they display their key words. The teacher says the words out loud several times so that the whole class can hear. If the two words on the cards match according to the teaching point of the game (e.g., rhymes, internal vowel sounds, initial sounds, final sounds, etc.), the two cards are taken down and given to the side that chose them. If cards are won, play continues with the same side getting the chance to call out two more numbers. The turn changes if two cards are turned over but the words do not match. Keep playing until all the cards have been matched and given to a side.

4. Hint on making this game work: point out to the teams that they need to split up memorization duties among their members; however, do not let them keep any written notes.

Activity Three: Phonics Snap (an EFL adaptation of the card game, Snap!)

1. Prepare a list of words from student vocabulary. Select these words on the basis of the spelling patterns they illustrate (for example, the most basic patterns of the five short vowels and the five long vowels). Think of words that both rhyme and illustrate the same spelling patterns and add them to the list (they may be from previously studied vocabulary, or they can be new words that should be decodable if phonics skills are used). Using the words you have collected, construct a set of 72 cards, one word on each card. The object of this game depends on randomly matching rhyming words, so be sure to include a large number of only a few rhymes (for example, a deck that is limited to the major patterns for the five long vowels). In short, this game does not work if there aren't enough examples of each rhyme. Because of the complexity of English spelling, it is possible to construct games to emphasize many different points. Some possibilities might include: rhymes with the same spelling, rhymes with different spellings, or rhymes with various spellings along with an occasional sight word, which should always come from known vocabulary (for example, eye might be matched with pie, my and buy).

2. This game is best played in pairs. Decks for an entire class could be used while the teacher checks how students are doing. Also, the teacher could play this game with a student who needs extra practice with English spelling and pronunciation. Team teaching would allow for this game to be used with a larger class. The two teachers could demonstrate it better, and they could cover more of the classroom when helping students learn to play it.

3. Have students form pairs. Distribute one deck of cards to each pair. After shuffling and dealing the cards (face down), one player begins play by placing their top card face up on the desk and pronouncing the word (e.g. light). The other player then lays a card on top of the previous one and pronounces it (e.g. late). Play continues in turn until a rhyming card has been laid on top of the previous one (e.g., seen then bean). At that instant, the first player to recognize the rhyme and say 'Snap!' wins all the cards that have been laid. Players should not cheat by looking at their cards before they lay them, a point that should be stressed when the game is demonstrated and monitored. Players keep doing this until one player has won all the cards.

4. Other principles could be practiced with this game; for example, the same internal vowel sound in nonrhyming words ('feet' and 'bean').

Conclusion

It is understandable that students would want to resort to using katakana transcriptions of English to make the language they are studying clearer for decoding into pronunciations. Also, it is perfectly legitimate when this process is used to bring English loan words into Japanese. However, katakana eigo is of limited use for beginning literacy in real written English, and may well hinder language development, since it distorts perceptions of English pronunciation. Phonics can be used to lessen the need for things like katakana eigo, but it must be remembered that phonics is not simply some neat set of rules that teachers give to students. Rather, just as with the acquisition of any generative, patterned, rule-like aspect to a language, students must be given the opportunities to build up skills and abilities that they can actually apply to understanding and making meaning in the FL. Activities such as the three outlined in this article should help teachers to do just that.

References
Goodman, Kenneth S. (1993). Phonics phacts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Breaking down the 'theory vs. practice' distinction

2009-09-12T15:02:00.002+09:00

Breaking down the 'theory vs. practice' distinction

What separates 'academic theory' from 'effective practice' in language teaching is this: the academic tries to make things explicit in the form of 'air tight' arguments conforming to the requirements of genres accepted for publication.

This means that the academic presents 'theory' in rather formulaic discourse away from the classroom. Academic discourse is often sold as 'objective science or 'substantiated knowledge', but often it only presents the outward appearance of objectivity (indeed, most science is actually dogmatic arguments supported by selective evidence). Academic prose, even in the form of the 'research report' often presents overgeneralized theories which are uncritically accepted as 'objective' only because the formal trappings of academic genres have been met faithfully. Little or no research results from current second language acquisition research, for example, actually generalizes to real language teaching and learning worldwide. However, the theories or meta-theories put into service of turning such evidence and results into truth assertions are built on the assumption that they are generalizable. Hence generalizability is actually a begged question.

On the other hand, teachers' 'theories of practice' arise while performing in classrooms where students are effectively learning. Effective teachers must build up their body of guiding theory from their past experiences both teaching and learning a language--as well as from their formal professional training and career development activities. It also takes patience, creativity and commitment. It is a set of bootstrap learning processes whereby the more one knows the more one is able to learn and improve. Teachers' theories (although often never made explicit in the form of 'airtight arguments' in academic genres) often apply in real schools and classrooms in ways far too inter-related and complex to be decontextualized and presented in academic discourse. It is a shame of academic discourse that often the concepts, processes and actions that are the most difficult to describe and explain are the very ones ignored by academics (because of their need to put things into airtight arguments that satisfy fellow academics, such as editors and article reviewers).

Teachers should still present their knowledge in formal outlets like articles and conference presentations, but, when they do so, we must realize we get only 'snapshots' and partial static insights from what it is they actually do when they teach in real learning situations. Perhaps the best people to make sense of this incomplete information and integrate it into existing mental schema for language teaching and learning, though, are practicing teachers.

I'm not arguing those who theorize and write can't or don't teach. What I am saying, though, is that once we engage in the 'academic discourse' language game, we have to realize the limitations--and hopefully push the conventions (especially if we become editors). And a note of warning: playing the research and discourse games of the academic can actually seriously detract from our teaching!

Government in Japan Spends Less than Other OECD Countries on Higher Ed

2009-09-09T18:35:00.005+09:00

As of 2006, Japan ranked next-to-last overall among the OECD's 28 member countries in terms of public spending on education as a percentage of GDP. It was LAST for public spending on higher education (although this could be muddled somewhat, since money is channeled in various ways to universities and colleges and not just through the enormous Ministry of Education).

At most, public expenditures on higher education amount annually to only .5-1%, with most subsidy going to the former national universities and medical and teacher training colleges (numbering less than 100 institutions nationwide).

This lack of government support makes a university degree, especially at the more numerous private institutuions, a major expense for families' finances.

Excerpts of the Kyodo article below highlight the HE aspects:

http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20090909D09JF373.htm

START OF EXCERPTS
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Japan 2nd Lowest In OECD In Education Spending

TOKYO (Kyodo)--Japan had the second-smallest expenditure on education in 2006 among the 28 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the ratio of such state spending to gross domestic product, the OECD announced Tuesday.
....
Breaking down the ratio of spending by level of schools, Japan ranked third from bottom for elementary, junior high and high schools at 2.6 percent, while ranking bottom for higher education including universities at 0.5 percent, about half the average of other members.
....

The results indicate that Japanese households have to compensate for the lack of state expenditure on education. Notably, the ratio of Japan's private spending on preschool education was 56.6 percent, the highest among the members, and 67.8 percent for higher education which was the second highest.

....
The DPJ pledged to make high school education effectively free of charge and transitionally make preschool and higher education free in a bid to lighten financial burdens on households.
END OF EXCERPTS

Waseda University at Center of Efforts to Produce Super Green Processor Chip

2009-09-09T17:52:00.007+09:00

If you think of computing and Japanese universities, University of Tokyo comes to mind as being the strongest--in some ways surpassing anything the US has (e.g., TRON OS embedded computing, GRAPE supercomputers, etc.).

However, some large Japanese electronics manufacturers have got behind a government-backed initiative to create an alternative CPU to Wintel. Suprisingly, this initiative is centered on Waseda University, an elite private institution.

Ironically, the end result, if it were to catch on with electronics manufacturers in Japan and the rest of Asia might actually compete more with the TRON project's embedded computing technology at cross-town rival, Todai (embedded TRON OS runs most Japanese electronics).

First below are excerpts and links to two articles giving details on the project and the chip. Last is an excerpt and link to an article that explains how the chip may face problems with manufacturers in others parts of Asia, such as Taiwan and China, a problem for Japan because Taiwan has eclipsed them in portable computing. At stake is the future of mobile and ubiquitous computing and IT, much of which is set to converge on 'info-appliances', which will replace conventional computers in our lives but will also require leaner energy use at the same time.

1. http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2249049/japan-spending-42m-develop

START OF EXCERPT
Japan spending $42m to develop solar-powered ‘super CPU’

Leading domestic companies to jointly work on chip aimed at challenging Intel’s dominance
Yvonne Chan in Hong Kong, BusinessGreen, 08 Sep 2009

A consortium of Japanese companies is developing a CPU for electronics that will use 70 per cent less energy than conventional chips and run on solar energy.

Electronic and IT giants Fujitsu, Toshiba, Panasonic, NEC and Hitachi, along with imaging specialist Canon, are among the firms that have agreed to work on the so-called ‘super CPU’. Their participation in the project will help ensure that standards for the chip, if realised, will be adopted in a broad range of consumer electronics.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is backing the initiative. It will provide $32m to $42m (￡19.4m to ￡25.4m) in initial funding, according to Forbes magazine, which cited a Nikkei Business News report published last week.
END OF EXCERPT

2. http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/03/japan-chip-alliance-markets-technology-intel.html?partner=yahootix

START EXCERPT
Japan Fashions Super Chip
Vivian Wai-yin Kwok, 09.03.09, 07:00 AM EDT
To beat their common rival-Intel, Japanese chip producers are sitting down together to design a super CPU.

HONG KONG -- A new super central processing unit (CPU), jointly developed by Japan's big chip makers and funded by the Tokyo government, is coming up to challenge Intel.

Intel's ( INTC - news - people ) engineers might be imagining months of overtime just from hearing the list of allies behind the unprecedented Japanese coalition, which is aimed at inventing an easier and universal software programming across various devices.

The big names in the campaign include Fujitsu, Toshiba ( TOSBF.PK - news - people ), Panasonic, Renesas Technology, NEC ( NIPNY - news - people ), Hitachi ( HIT - news - people ) and Canon ( CAJ - news - people ), which all agreed to pool their resources together to create a new, standardized, power-saving central processing units (CPU) which could be used within the entire industry for a wide range of consumer electronics by the end of fiscal 2012, the evening edition of Nikkei Business News reported Thursday.

The super CPU project, supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, with an initial capital of 3-4 billion yen, will enable the allied Japanese manufacturers to challenge the dominant market share of Intel in the U.S.

Hironori Kasahara, professor of computer science at Waseda University, is the major designer of the Japan's super CPU. In the early development stages, each firm will produce its own CPU that is compatable with the innovative energy-saving software invented by Kasahara.
END OF EXCERPT

3. http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090908PD210.html

START OF EXCERPT
Motherboard makers pessimistic about new CPU force from Japan
Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai, DIGITIMES [Tuesday 8 September 2009]

Taiwan-based motherboard makers hold a pessimistic attitude toward recent news that several Japan-based semiconductor players plan to form alliance to develop a new CPU architecture and cut off their heavy dependence on x86 CPUs, due to uncertainties in terms of the total costs of R&D manpower and funding.
END OF EXCERPT

More background on the 'academic harassment' issue

2009-09-09T13:21:00.003+09:00

For more background on the issue of academic harassment, the Ogoshi case is illuminating. In this case the individual who was wronged brought a suit against the institution.

I found this article from Science reproduced in full at the Sciencemag.org site. The one thing the case shows is that even if you win a court case against a company or school in Japan, it is often hard to get any enforcement of the settlement. The article is excerpted below.

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2001_02_02/noDOI.11663611960984166514

excerpt (see link for full text):

BEGINNING OF EXCERPT
The Job Market
Academic Harassment

By Dennis Normile

February 02, 2001

This article appears in the February 2, 2001 issue of Science magazine.

TOKYO-- For most people, winning a court case is the end of the battle. But for Kumiko Ogoshi it was just another round in her fight against discrimination and harassment in Japanese universities, a problem that many women faculty members say has marginalized them at institutions throughout the country. And victory seems far away.

Last fall, Ogoshi, a research associate at Nara Medical University, made Japanese legal history when a district court found her supervising professor guilty of harassing her in an attempt to get her to quit (Science, 27 October 2000, p. 687). The court ordered Nara Prefecture, which runs the school, to pay $5000 in compensation. But the verdict didn't have the impact that she had hoped. "There was no reflection [by university authorities] upon the significance of the court ruling," she says. "They filed their appeal the next day, and they seem to think they can just go on as they always have."
END OF EXCERPT

Academic Harassment Issue Yields Bizarre Case

2009-09-06T12:09:00.006+09:00

Universities and four-year colleges in Japan have long been male-dominated. When higher education here began hiring more women into career track positions, it seems cases of workplace sexual harassment were inevitable. When they started recruiting more female undergraduates, professor-on-student harassment cases were also a result. With the expansion of graduate schools (to include more female professors and students), sexual harassment remains a buzzword and a reality.

However, recently talk has also shifted to harassment without an overt sexual component (if you believe that possible). The concept is a term referred to as 'academic harassment'. It is actually a higher education version of 'power harassment', otherwise more commonly known as 'workplace bullying'. And Japan is a country known for dominant groups and cliques in just about any social situation or organization dumping on minority groups, losing cliques, and individualists, although I doubt that this is unique to Japan. Still it is often thought to be rampant in higher education here, where competition for funding and staffing can be fierce and faculty are often comprised of people who are far more interested in research and accomplishments that bring acclaim, such as supervising others' research, than they are in the usually anonymous drudgery of teaching undergraduates.

This month the Times HE reports on a rather strange-appearing case in Hokkaido, the northern most part of Japan which has a lot of higher education institutions because of the abundant open land and green field sites for campus development.

This would appear to be a complex story. The university alleges the fired professors are guilty of academic harassment of students. However, is the professors' exploitation of students for research purposes that different from what other professors are doing? If so, is it a justified or wrongful dismissal? And if the professors are not guilty, is the university itself engaging in its own forms of academic harassment and abuse of power? It seems quite possible.

Read more about the case at THES online; link and excerpt below:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407967&c=1

>>Language of power is focus in legal action over sackings

3 September 2009

By Melanie Newman

Professors who taught dying tongue say university 'fabricated' claims. Melanie Newman reports

Three academics who were sacked by a Japanese university on charges of "academic harassment" have claimed that they were ousted for attempting to teach an indigenous language.

The professors of educational linguistics, who have asked not to be named, are bringing legal action against Hokkaido University of Education after being fired by the institution in February.<<

RIKEN UNVEILS NEW SUPERCOMPUTER

2009-08-13T15:54:00.004+09:00

It doesn't challenge the petaflop barrier, and perhaps some will be surprised that Japan's most powerful supercomputer only ranks at 34th in the world.

Full article here:

http://www.genomeweb.com/blog/rikens-new-cluster-clusters

Excerpt of article below:

>>RIKEN's New Cluster of Clusters
August 12, 2009

By Matthew Dublin

Japan's RIKEN Institute has rolled out a new supercomputer called the RIKEN Cluster of Clusters (RICC) thanks in large part to Fujitsu, which deployed the new machine. The RICC is capable of 97.94 teraflops performance -- making it the country's most powerful to date and 34th worldwide, according to the Top500 list. (And no, we're not forgetting about RIKEN's MDGRAPE-3, the first computer to break the petaflop barrier back in 2006, but unfortunately it is not included in the Top500 due to its specialized architecture which cannot run the requisite benchmarking software.) The High-Performance Molecular Simulation Team uses MDGRAPE-3 for intensive large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, including simulations of RNA Polymerase II and protein-protein interactions.<<

Some new links for English-language info. on Japan HE

2009-07-31T15:52:00.001+09:00

These are some links to Ministry of Education web pages which contain information and statistics on higher education here. At least the statistics look to be updated frequently.

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/koutou/index.htm

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/statist/index10.htm

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/statist/index11.htm

Enrollment at 46% of private colleges falls below quota

2009-07-31T15:36:00.004+09:00

About half of Japan's private four-year institutions of higher education have failed to get their government-set quotas of new enrollments. Although this sort of shortfall has become an annual event, coverage of this issue has been extensive in the Japanese language media. However, English language articles are few. The shortfalls are exacerbated by the large number of two-year colleges that have started running four-year courses of study since many of these institutions went ahead with expansion even though the population of seniors has fallen since the early 1990s. Moreover, these institutions and programs do not have well-established track records for finding jobs for their graduates, so their popularity among seniors is questionable, especially in today's high unemployment economy. Here is a link to and an excerpt from a Kyodo News article that appeared at Japan Today:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/enrollment-at-46-of-private-colleges-falls-below-quota

>>Enrollment at 46% of private colleges falls below quota

Friday 31st July, 03:28 AM JST

TOKYO

Enrollment at 265 private four-year colleges, or 46.5% of the total nationwide, fell below quota at the start of the current academic year in April, due to tough conditions amid the declining birthrate, a survey by a school support organization showed Thursday....<<

Japanese students rush for English-language education

2009-07-31T15:26:00.005+09:00

Japan has long suffered from a 'brain drain' of educated and creative people leaving Japan for a less constrained lifestyle and career. But is Japan's higher education set for a brain drain of its best potential students? Are the best students going to go overseas to study at higher education? Cultural and lingustic differences are still going to be major obstacles for most Japanese students, even from the best high schools here. Moreover, after the economic and financial debacles in the US for the past decade, US-style schools of business, management, accounting and international law might not seem as appealing as they did when the US bubbles appeared unstoppable.

http://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2009/7/Pages/04072009/07052009_3899a8262ac24bf184dab687cab1da6a.aspx

Japanese students rush for English-language education
Japan lags behind India and China in sending students to US colleges. (AFP)

excerpt:

>>AFP on Sunday, July 05, 2009

While many families across Asia who could afford it have long sent their children abroad for an English-language education, Japan now lags behind India, China and South Korea in sending students to US universities, according to the US Institute of International Education.

But the tide is turning, said Fujii, with a new wave of students worried that a Japanese-only education will leave them ill-prepared in an increasingly globalised world.

"The recent trend is different from the past in that top students are hoping to leave Japan," he said.<<

100 Free Cutting-Edge Courses that Didn’t Exist When You Were in School

2009-07-31T15:22:00.002+09:00

The spring-summer term is coming to an end here in Japan, so the JPN HEO Blog hopes to re-start its efforts at original content, including a comprehensive re-write of the 'Ten Reasons Why English Fails in Japan' series into one coherent article, with positive suggestions for overcoming the failures. Meanwhile, here is an online article that those interested in HE worldwide might want to read. We will also post some more items to catch up on the past three months.

100 Free Cutting-Edge Courses that Didn’t Exist When You Were in School

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/07/30/100-free-cutting-edge-courses-that-didnt-exist-when-you-were-in-school/

Whether you’ve been out of school for 10 years or 20, chances are it's pretty different today than when you were in school. Advances in technology, new information about the world around us, and changes in society have added many new classes to college offerings. You can help keep yourself up-to-date on what is going on in the world by taking cutting-edge and free courses online that touch upon the latest developments in technology, science, the Internet and much more.

Why is 'research' in ELT/TEFL/TESOL/AL/SLA so irrelevant?

2009-06-13T11:21:00.005+09:00

Glossary of terms for those who are not familiar with this field:

AL=Applied Linguistics (most usually the application of some version of linguistics to second or foreign language teaching and learning)
ELT=English Language Teaching
FL=Foreign Language
FLT=Foreign Language Teaching
LL=Language Learning
SLA=Second Language Acquisition
TEFL=Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TESOL=Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Why is 'research' in ELT/TEFL/TESOL/AL/SLA so irrelevant?
by Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan

While most of the research in support of and about ELT is produced in academia, most actual language teaching and language learning are done outside academia. Even when FLs get taught at universities, the people who often end up with the teaching duties are not in the sort of university posts that are meant for research.

However, I believe the single biggest issue is the institutional approach to science and knowledge which falls under the overwhelming intellectual influences of the past half century. In short, research that is supposed to be in support of ELT is largely irrelevant, invalid and not applicable to teaching and learning because of two academic traditions: structuralism and behaviourism.

Structuralism comprises the linguistic framework for much of ELT, and yet structuralism is an historic relic of linguistics. The linguistic 'units' and 'models' and 'key concepts' of ELT are largely based on structuralist ones (and rather simplistic notions of the structuralist concepts at that). This tends to have a stultifying effect on research because it is considered bad form to question or otherwise problematize the inadequacies of ELT's simplistic versions of structuralist concepts.

The other stultifying inheritance is behaviourism (and little surprise then that most structuralists operated under behaviourist assumptions). Most research in academic SLA (an emergent field from AL that has mostly nothing to do with linguistics now, ironically enough), for example, is based on basically behaviourist preconcpetions about how to elicit 'language learning behaviour' (e.g., mastery of a 'form') from a study's subjects. The interpretation of the results (such as they are) become even more muddled because the researchers typically are not clear about whether they are looking for a psychological/psycho-linguistic OR a sociological insight about the particular population they are using as subjects (often without specifying just what population it was that they were supposed to have sampled in doing their research).

Other deficiencies abound and glare out at the teacher attempting to use SLA research to inform teaching: Very small subject groups, lack of clarity over linguistic concepts that are supposed to underly the research, inappropriate use of statistics, un-normed populations, etc. And yet an often-read, automatic defense of such research is that it, unlike qualitative research, is GENERALIZABLE. Which is simply to beg the question, because such apologists never specify to which population they want to generalize the findings. I would add, however, that I know of absolutely no finding from SLA research that is generalizable to my students, let alone one that generalizes to all of the human race now learning a FL. Moreover, it all gets even more muddled if you go back to the objection over psychological/pscyho-linguistic/cognitive goals vs. sociological ones (in which case, for example, complex differences across cultures, age groups, gender, social class and economic background, etc. become very important).

Most 'research' is done by individuals, groups and networks of people in academic posts. About the only time classroom teachers engage in such activity is when they go back to do a master's or doctoral degree under such academics.

Finally, perhaps the larger issues are the following:

(1) Within a socially delimited field such as 'ELT', what constitutes knowledge and who has the right to claim it as such?

(2) Are experimental and statistical procedures (mostly derived from the field of education's understanding of positivism, empiricism and probability) written up in academic journal studies the most appropriate for developing ELT/FLT and LL in most institutional settings worldwide?

Follow Up: Japan and Egypt to start joint university of science and technology

2009-05-20T19:14:00.003+09:00

In follow up to the blog post about the new Japan-Egypt joint university of science and technology (see: http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/05/japan-and-egypt-to-start-joint.html), I found the following interesting article from 2008 at a site that reports on science exchange and aid for the developing world. I speculate that the current economic crisis that is DRASTICALLY affecting Japan political economy will only further cripple government finances for overseas aid and educational spending, making the successful start up of new science and technology universities in Okinawa, Malaysia and now Egypt seem EXTREMELY doubtful.

The entire article covers how Japan has tried to step cooperation with both Africa and the Arab world by focusing on Egypt. An excerpt follows the link that goes to the full article.

http://www.scidev.net/en/news/egypt-japan-make-2008-year-of-science-cooperatio.html

>>The two countries will also set up a Japanese science and technology university in Alexandria. The Egypt–Japan University will foster technological and scientific innovation in the African and Arab region by offering undergraduate and postgraduate science and technology degrees, including information and communications technologies, new materials courses and renewable energy technology.<<

QS Asian University Rankings 2009

2009-05-19T17:14:00.002+09:00

The methodology is different from the THES/QS global rankings--such that Tokyo University is displaced from the top spot by two universities in Hong Kong. That makes it seem more than a little bit quirky.

http://www.topuniversities.com/university_rankings/asianuniversityrankings/

http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/asianuniversityrankings/asian_university_rankings_top_200_universities/

http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/asianuniversityrankings/indicators00/qscom_asian_university_rankings_vs_the_qs_world_university_rankings/

Excerpt of the top ten; see all 200 institutions ranked at the links above.

1 University of HONG KONG Hong Kong
2 The CHINESE University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
3 University of TOKYO Japan
4 HONG KONG University of Science and Tech... Hong Kong
5 KYOTO University Japan
6 OSAKA University Japan
7 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Scie... Korea, South
8 SEOUL National University Korea, South
9 TOKYO Institute of Technology Japan
10= National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore
10= PEKING University China

Swine flu continues to spread, 4000 schools closed in Japan

2009-05-19T16:55:00.001+09:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090519/wl_asia_afp/healthflujapanschools

Japan closes 4,000 schools over swine flu fears
AFP

H1N1 Spreads Rapidly Play Video ABC News – H1N1 Spreads Rapidly

Mon May 18, 11:02 pm ET

KOBE, Japan (AFP) – Japan closed more than 4,000 schools and kindergartens, double the previous day's number, to slow the spread of swine flu which has infected 163 people in the country, officials said.

Many people in the affected urban areas were wearing face masks after the western cities of Kobe and Osaka became the first in Japan to suffer domestic outbreaks of the (A)H1N1 virus which spread rapidly through two schools.

A total of 4,043 schools and kindergartens were closed in and around both cities at the request of government authorities, up from some 2,000 on Monday, an education ministry official said.

------------------------------

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090519/wl_asia_afp/healthflujapan_20090519043214

Japan reports 173 swine flu cases, closes schools
AFP

Tue May 19, 12:31 am ET

KOBE, Japan (AFP) – Japan reported 173 swine flu infections and closed more than 4,000 schools, colleges and kindergartens for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, officials said.

Experts warned that infections had probably already spread to other regions including the capital Tokyo, which with almost 36 million people is the world's most populous urban area and the heart of the Japanese economy.

Domestic Cases of H1N1 Flu Hit Schools in Japan

2009-05-18T21:07:00.006+09:00

It appears to have started to spread in the Kansai region (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) of W. Honshu. Authorities seem to be ready to take drastic measures with school closures. Some universities have posted notices saying that if even one case is confirmed, they will close temporarily.

See these Japan Times articles:

1.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090518a1.html

excerpt:
>>Monday, May 18, 2009

Domestic H1N1 flu cases increase to 42
Large outbreak hits schools in Osaka, Hyogo

By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer

The number of domestic swine flu cases hit 42 on Sunday after 34 high school and college students as well as their family members and teachers in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures were confirmed to have been infected.

The confirmations followed the discovery Saturday of Japan's first eight domestic infections of the new H1N1 flu in Hyogo. A World Health Organization expert said community-level transmission may have begun in Japan, which could lead the WHO to raise its new flu pandemic alert to the highest level of 6 from the current 5.<< href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090517a3.html">http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090517a3.html

excerpt:
>>Kobe and Hyogo Prefecture officials announced nine steps they were taking to contain the spread of the virus and calm public fears. These included closing 75 public and private kindergartens, elementary, junior high and high schools, and universities in the city's Higashi-Nada, Nada, and Chuo wards, as well those in nearby Ashiya, until Friday. International schools in the designated wards, including the Canadian Academy, were also closed.<<

Studying at Japanese universities

2009-05-05T20:57:00.004+09:00

See this part of the JT online to find out more.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/info/study_in_japan.html

Studying at universities in Japan offers you the chance to broaden your horizons and deepen your understanding of a foreign culture while boosting your Japanese language ability. Enroll today!

For a much longer list of universities and their contact information, see:

http://www.directoryofeducation.net/colleges_universities/byCountry/Japan/

Okinawa Technological Graduate University Shooting for 2012 Start

2009-05-05T20:47:00.003+09:00

A proposed 2012 start might mean that this too is a project that is floundering. It seems the Japanese government wants the new institution to bring in a lot of world class researchers with their own money. But if they had their own money, it seems doubtful that most world class researchers would want to move to a rural part of Okinawa Honto, even if it has great natural beauty. Also, the idea of getting businesses to establish themselves in the area before the university is actually up and running sounds dubious at best. Certainly Boston (see the article) is not the model to try and emulate. A better and more realistic model might be how the immediate areas around Japan's other 'universities of science and technology' were developed. The bad news is that those places still feel like the 'sticks' and what got built was done through generous government subsidies. It seems the government has lost that generosity. This project looks to be headed for a disaster, as does the proposed joint Malaysia-Japan university, as yet to be built at some location outside Kuala Lumpur.

As for the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, it's still not too late to re-consider. How about an All Asian College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism instead?

http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=8870

New graduate school feeling its way toward 2012 opening

Date Posted: 2008-08-15
A steering committee preparing for Okinawa Technological Graduate University’s opening in four years has its hands full, sorting through dozens of issues that include everything from funding to recruiting a world class staff and faculty.

The school is developing its operational framework, and just held a conference in Tokyo to get ideas on how best to merge the concepts of a private university with the necessity of drawing government funding. Some problems are anticipated, university leaders concede, but say the Okinawa Technical Graduate University will be the very best in Japan.

“We’re inviting the top people and excellent professors (to join our faculty and staff),” the steering committee says, “so we need to give them enough of a budget, and need to create rules that are very flexible and give them freedom for study.” The committee is working with the central government and with Okinawa Prefecture to obtain a satisfactory level of funding, and is developing corporate and university rules.

“We don’t give support for nothing,” the government is already cautioning the steering committee. “We are not going to support the university forever, and if the university becomes popular and draws students from all over the world, we need to make this university a private system, education leaders in Tokyo say. They are advising the new school to “study other business schools’ systems, and look to private companies who can invest money or donate money, or the school itself should make the students pay enough to cover the costs for having high grade professors.”

The central government has pledged it is “just helping at the beginning, until the school is on track for economical recovery. After that, the school will have to go by itself.” Education officials say the new school must plant seeds now, because “we need to see results after five years operations, and then look to the future. If nothing comes out, that’s the end of the money.”

The university is supposed to open in 2012. The steering committee is now wrestling with finding 30 professors with outstanding qualifications, and then getting the town surrounding the school set up to handle them. University officials say they new town must attract business-related industries and employees, modeling the community after successful American cities such as Boston.