Study of Japanese language

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32430, 17 October 1970, Page 12

Study of Japanese language

(By

KEN COATES)

With the Japanese language being taught at a number of secondary schools and stage I and II courses being offered at Canterbury University next year, Christchurch looks like becoming a major centre for the study of a language of growing importance to New Zealand.

Next year, for the first time, Japanese will be included as a university bursaries examination subject. The key to the development of study of the language -is its establishment at the university. In Christchurch to supervise the setting up of a new department of Asian languages is an American Asian language expert, Professor D. S. Willis. He is on leave from one of the top universities in the United States for the study of Japanese, the University of Colorado where he heads the Centre for East Asian Studies. A former Navy man who says he learned Japanese the hard way during the Second World War, the professor explains that the Canterbury approach will be first to build a firm foundation in Japanese through the spoken language. Then will come an everincreasing effort in writing, and in the varied literature which it represents. “Every possible attention will be paid to the problems faced by Westerners confronting the East,” he says. Professor Willis points out it is important in Japanese to draw a distinction between the spoken and written language. As far as spoken Japanese is concerned, he says, progress in teaching and materials used means that “although perhaps progress is not quite as fast as in French and German, we can come very close to it.” Barriers lowered The differential has been lessened dramatically since the end of the Second World War. And it was courses such as the United States Navy s 13-month intensive instruction period that laid the foundations for the study research and scholarship in Japanese in the last 20 years Professor Willis can'list a number of men who went into the academic field after toe. war. Their work helped to oreak down the barriers against learning Asian languages and culture. He inc!“fes Donald Keene, author ot books on Japanese literarrei, Edward Seidensticker, Professor of JapanMchiSn. the UniVerSity ° f Valuable work has also been done by the School of ?- Asian Studies at London University, and now Australia is becoming an important centre for study. On be ° a One »talists will be held m Australia. ro7~ eS ? Or Willis ’ s approach Japanese is that clause the structure is so different from a Western «e B T B st,>H nd ■ Wri^ten Ja P an ' ese a study in itself it i<» like system he wifi be inhfcited in learning/’ he save “Wa !™L a yeai Wlth no Japanese i7’^ g p at but eva shtog ' r?ti? oman alphabet” 8 way ’ he maintains the IS > a much better chance being “ aUthentiC Ja Pan- ,. There will be heavy rehanre on the language lahoratory in which the stuI t ’ K am ° n ff other things spok® resrv> to &s RpS nSe Wth aU£henhav^U^ 0 ? 1 indents who have studied Japanese for two years and who meet the sse-bs* « wiu be P®! 5 ™anyone who has not studied the language at a« or.with some kXg to begin at stage L Students at stage I will be divided into two classes. The professor’s concept here is refreshing. He says: the more students the merrier. It does of course mean hard work, but I do not beneve that universities should be exclusive or elitist.” If businessmen want to come and take the stage I course, then that’s fine by him.

Students will have the benefit of a great deal of experimentation and research in textbooks. Professor Willis said that texts had been changed five times in six years at Colorado in an effort to find the best. Textbooks He has recommended textbooks «£y John Young and Kirniko Nakajima, published by the East-West Centre Press, Honolulu, with an accompanying language laboratory taped programme. As to the number of students who will take Japanese at the university next year, this is hard to estimate precisely, but 75 stage I students are hoped for, and round 15 at stage II level. The Education Department has had the first itinerant teacher in Japanese in New Zealand for three years. He is Mr Max Friedberg, who says the increase in interest has been terrific. Fifty students at seven secondary schools are at present being taught in this way. He has also conducted classes for teachers, and at

present 22 are involved. Another itinerant teacher of Japanese will take up a post in South Auckland. Mr Friedberg is also largely the initiative behind the formation at a Japanese language club in Christchurch. This is not a social club, but has the object of stimulating interest in the language. Membership is over 30 and a requirement is one year’s study. Spoken foundation Mr Friedberg is critical of the university bursaries examination requirement which he says places too much emphasis on written Japanese. The student would have to work twice as hard and become as it were an automaton in translation, with a likelihood of forgetting the ability in the spoken language. “It is getting away from a sane approach to the teaching of language,” he maintains. The requirement stipulates knowledge of 246 kanji (characters).

And here Mr Friedberg and Professor Willis apparently see eye to eye—initially at least, they say, the emphasis should be on gaining a sound foundation in Japanese through the spoken language. One inconsistency in approach is that while the bursaries examination prescription involves knowledge of 246 characters, the stage 1 Massey University course demands only 50 which a student is able to read and write, and another 50 he is able to recognise. However, although the bursaries examination requirement is unlikely to be changed this year, it could well come up for review before 1971. Japanese is still not a subject for school certificate nor university entrance. But education authorities point out that introduction of a new language is not a simple matter. A basic requirement, naturally, is teachers, and this is where the Canterbury University course should fulfil a major need. While tjiere might be some opposition from those involved in the study of other languages, it seems logical that the sooner Japanese is included as a school certificate and university entrance examination subject, the sooner New Zealand will begin the study of this language and the culture involved in earnest Professor Willis says a significant impact is being made on the United States by Japanese culture. And the reasons for closer New Zealand ties with Japan and the greater understanding that goes with this are obvious.