CALJS to Host Seminar for Japanese Teachers

The California Association of Japanese Language Schools (CAJLS) conducts an annual workshop and seminar to improve and develop teaching skills for teachers of member schools. This year, the seminar will be held on Saturday, Feb. 16, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Southeast Japanese School located in Norwalk.

The theme of the seminar is “Effective Strategies for Multi-level, Multi-age Classroom.” The keynote speakers are Dr. Hiroko Kataoka, Dr. Masako Douglas and Dr. Kiyomi Chinen of California State University Long Beach.

Dr. Kataoka is a professor emeritus at CSULB. Her research interests and specialties include: curriculum and materials development; issues in teacher training and professional development; heritage learners of Japanese; and immersion programs and their assessment. She has been actively involved in professional development activities regionally and nationally. She has presented at hundreds of workshops in professional development of foreign language teachers.

Kataoka’s numerous publications include textbooks for teaching of Japanese for all levels. She has served on many regional and national committees and boards such as the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers (NCJLT), Association of Teachers of Japanese (ATJ), AP Japanese Task Force, and Japanese National Standards Task Force.

Dr. Douglas is a professor and coordinator of the Japanese Program in Asian and Asian American Studies at CSULB. Her expertise is in the field of Japanese Heritage Language (JHL). She serves as the president of the Japanese as Heritage Language Special Interest Group (JHL-SIG) and a board member of the National Association of Native Speakers/Heritage Speakers and Bilingual Education. She has published a JHL textbook, presented numerous workshops for teacher training, and is an advisor to JHL Saturday schools in Southern California. She has also presented and published curriculum design and content-based language learning for teaching Japanese as a foreign language.

Dr. Chinen is the associate professor of Asian and Asian American Studies at CSULB. She serves on the Japanese as Heritage Language Special Interest Group (JHL-SIG) as the editor for the e-journal. Her research is in heritage Japanese language learners and their identity.

The seminar is open to any interested individual. The cost is $10 for members, $20 for non-members. A bento can be ordered for $10. Deadline for requests is Jan. 31.

Interested individuals may download applications at www.cajls.org/registration2019.pdf and submit to CAJLS at Southeast Japanese School, 14615 Gridley Rd., Norwalk, CA 90650. For additional information, email info@cajls.org.