KU ASEAN Center donates computer-assisted language learning package to the Japan Foundation, Bangkok (12 May 2016)

On 12 May, the Japan Foundation, Bangkok held a reception for the first group of participants in the fourth Thai-bound NIHONGO Partners Program, run by the Japan Foundation Asia Center. The event included a ceremony in which Director Mamoru Shibayama of the Kyoto University ASEAN Center presented Mr Kazuhiro Fukuda, Director-General of the Foundation, with 60 copies of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) package for the 60 Program participants.

The donated package, called Multilingual Multimedia CALL Materials: Introduction to Japanese Traditional Culture, was developed by Professor Masatake Dantsuji's laboratory at the Department of Educational Support, KU Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS), as an aid for introducing Japanese and Kyoto cultures in English, Chinese, and Thai.

The NIHONGO Partners Program sends participants from Japan to ASEAN countries as "partners" for local teachers and learners of Nihongo (Japanese language), assisting classes and introducing local students to Japanese culture. The 60 participants in the present program have been assigned to secondary education institutions in 32 Thai provinces. In addition to assisting with Japanese-language education, they will study the local language and culture to foster further exchange between their home and host countries.

According to the Japan Foundation, Japanese is the fifth most popular foreign language among Thai high school students with about 90,000 learners, suggesting the need for further language-education support from Japan.

Related links

• The Japan Foundation, Bangkok
  http://www.jfbkk.or.th/index.php
• NIHONGO Partners
  http://jfac.jp/en/partners
• Applied Linguistics Laboratory (Dantsuji Lab), Department of Educational Support, Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS), Kyoto University
  http://www.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/accms_en/en/activity/research/labo/al.html