The Japanese major will provide students with the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge necessary to understanding various aspects of the Japanese language and culture, as well as Japan’s role in local and global communities.

The Japanese program has been contributing to NKU’s missions of “student centered education,” “innovative teaching,” “inclusiveness.” and “academic excellence.”

In our Japanese courses, we employ innovative teaching methods, such as Project Based Learning, in order to promote students’ creativity and critical thinking.  Instead of simply teaching grammar and conversation skills, we assign them projects that have included making a promotional video of NKU in Japanese or creating teaching demonstrations on Japanese grammar. We encourage students to take the initiative in their projects in order to provide them more opportunities to express themselves in the target language.

Regarding the agenda of diversity and inclusiveness, our program attracts both American students and foreign exchange students from countries such as China, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. Those students who sometimes feel marginalized on campus make friends in Japanese classes. They also participate in Asia-related student clubs such as the Asian Club and the Animé Club that are supported by the Japanese faculty. Thus, the Japanese program not only increases students’ awareness of Japanese culture on campus, it also provides a place for minority students to meet new friends who share their common interests.

We place a great value on academic excellence.  We recently developed seven new courses that will enrich the Japanese minor curriculum and also be part of the proposed Japanese major. Students will have variety of courses to choose from ranging from Introduction to Japanese Translation to Japanese Cinema.  The Japanese instructors also supervise the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test Preparation Club, which prepares students to take the JLPT exam. The JLPT is an internationally-recognized test of language proficiency in Japanese that is administered by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology.

In addition to our student clubs, we also promote extra curricular activities that have included a Japanese speech contest and an exchange meeting with the children of the K-12 Japanese language school that is housed at our university.

The  Japanese program has been contributing to the postsecondary education strategic agendas of Kentucky state, which are “to increase degree and credentials by 2030”  “to meet critical needs” and “to provide students opportunities, success, and the impact [of college education]”

The Japanese program makes efforts to increase the number of students who enter a postsecondary degree.  We welcome high school students to take advantage of the dual-credit system, and every semester, there are several high school students who take Japanese classes at NKU and use the credit toward their college degree. Japanese instructors initiated a meeting with those students to understand their needs and concerns. We strive to create a comfortable learning environment for the high school students and encourage them to continue their studies at NKU.

The Japanese instructors also regularly advise students on what courses they should take, how to apply for study abroad programs, how to apply for scholarships, and what kinds of jobs are available for students minoring in Japanese. The goal of these courses and advising is to prepare students for careers in a variety of fields that include teaching, translation/interpreting, IT, and finance.

We are also trying to further improve career readiness and employability of the students both in the Japanese program and in the department as a whole.  In AY 2015-2016, the World Languages and Literatures Department created WLL 396: Internship in World Languages and Literatures and in AY 2017-2018 JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation. We are also currently in the process of developing a “Language for Professions” micro-credential in all of our language programs, including Japanese.

The Japanese program contributes to the local community by offering cultural events during the annual celebration of “International Education Week” at NKU.  In collaboration with the Japanese Language School, we provide cultural activities for NKU students and local community members, such as a taiko performance, and origami and Japanese calligraphy workshops 

1. Knowledge Base: Linguistic, cultural, and literary competence

Student Learning Outcome 1: Students learn distinctive cultural features of nations where the target language is spoken.

The elements of Japanese culture including Japanese traditions, everyday practices, and business ethics are introduced both in language classes (JPN 101, JPN 102, JPN 201, JPN 202 & JPN 304: Composition and Conversation) and in upper-level content courses such as JPN 311 (Japanese Cultural History), JPN 325: Japanese Myth and Folklore, JPN 330: Studies in Japanese Language Cinema, and JPN 480: Studies in Japanese Culture in which students study Japanese history, traditions and popular culture. 

Student Learning Outcome 2: Students learn significant events/periods in the history of nations where the target language is spoken, including sociopolitical information. 

Japanese history, politics, and society are addressed in JPN 311: Japanese Cultural History, JPN 320: Survey of Japanese literature, JPN 330: Survey of Japanese Language Cinema and JPN 480: Studies in Japanese Culture, courses in which literature, cinema, culture, and scholarly articles are discussed within an historical context.  Students also learn Japanese history and geography in elective courses that include HIS 338: History of Japan, GEO 410: Geography of Asia, PSC 388: Politics of Asia.   

Student Learning Outcome 3: Students learn major authors/works/literary traditions in the target language.

Japanese major authors and their works from different time periods are presented in JPN 320: Survey of Japanese Literature, JPN 322: Japanese Drama, JPN 323: Japanese Prose Fiction and JPN 481: Studies in Japanese Literature.

Student Learning Outcome 4: Students learn linguistic structures of the target language.

Basic linguistic structures are taught in 1^st and 2^nd year Japanese courses (JPN 101, JPN 102, JPN 201, & JPN 202). More complex linguistic structures are covered in JPN 304: Japanese Composition and Conversation, JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation, JPN 401: Japanese Phonetics and Pronunciation and JPN 402: Advanced Japanese Grammar and Syntax.

b) Skills base. (Aural, oral, and written command of the target language)

Student Learning Outcomes 5 and 6: Understand oral usage of the target language in a variety of contexts (personal, business, academic, etc.) & Students will engage in and sustain conversation on personal and general topics.

First and second year Japanese courses (101 through 202) prepare students to have conversations in Japanese in personal and informal settings. Upper-level language and content courses, including JPN 304: Japanese Composition and Conversation, JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation, JPN 340: Business Japanese, JPN 401: Japanese Phonetics and Pronunciation and JPN 402: Advanced Japanese Grammar and Syntax teach students the distinctive features of the Japanese language, such as gender specific expressions and honorific and humble expressions, and train students to utilize those expressions in a variety of contexts including personal, business, and academic.

Student Learning Outcome 7: Students will produce written documents (letters, dictations, essays) in the target language using appropriate grammatical constructions and idioms.

The lower level language courses teach students the basic Japanese writing system including the hiragana alphabets, the katakana alphabet, and kanji (Chinese characters), and how to write Japanese sentences in personal and informal contexts.  The upper level language courses including JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation, JPN 340: Business Japanese, JPN 401: Japanese Phonetics and Pronunciation, and JPN 402: Advanced Japanese Grammar and Syntax teach students the distinctive features of Japanese language such as gender specific expressions, honorific and humble expressions, and train students to utilize those expressions in their writing.

Student Learning Outcome 8: Students will read and accurately interpret authentic printed materials in the target language (e.g. newspapers, magazines, essays, books)

After acquiring basic Japanese skills in JPN 101 and JPN 102, students start reading more authentic materials beginning in JPN 201. In upper-level literature courses, students will read poetry, fiction, drama and academic articles in Japanese. In upper-level culture topic courses, such as JPN 325: Japanese Myth and Folklore and JPN 340: Business Japanese students will read a range of authentic printed materials in the target language—from Japanese myths to business communications. In JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation students read, write and translate various materials including business letters and newspaper articles. In JPN 402 students are also assigned translation activities that require them to read and interpret a variety of authentic printed materials in Japanese.

Student Learning Outcome 9: Students will use information from primary and secondary sources appropriately in essays or documents and cite sources properly using MLA reference form.

In upper-level culture and literature courses (all of which have been referenced above), students are assigned to read primary and secondary sources in Japanese and cite sources using the MLA (Modern Language Association) reference form.

Our program will focus on language skill development by offering 33 hours of required coursework in the target language. Students read fiction and scholarly articles in Japanese in literature courses such as JPN 323: Japanese Prose Fiction and JPN 481: Studies in Japanese Literature.  Our program also offers “professions-oriented” courses that develop skills that are applicable to careers.  Those courses include JPN 307: Introduction to Japanese Translation, JPN 340: Business Japanese, WLL 294: Language for the Professions. WLL 294 is a variable topics course that provides linguistic and cultural competence to prepare students to work within a cross-cultural environment here or abroad. Course content varies according to target language (French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) and may include topics about health, legal, culinary arts, fashion, engineering, tourism and trade professions.

In addition to the Japan-related books and journals, the NKU library has a wide range of academic databases including WorldCat: the world’s largest library catalog, Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, MLA International Bibliography, and Project MUSE.  Interlibrary loan enables faculty and students to borrow books and journals from university libraries in the US and, in some instances, other countries. The library also has funds available for the purchase of new materials, and we are currently in the process of submitting requests for books to support the Japanese major program curriculum.

We have an adequate number of classrooms that use for language classes.  All classrooms at NKU are “smart classrooms” that come equipped with a computer, document camera, projector and screen. We are also able to reserve larger spaces (classrooms and auditoriums) for extra-curricular activities such as speech contests and calligraphy workshops. 

The Japanese major will be open to students with good standing at NKU. Students must obtain a grade of C- or higher in order to move onto the next course(s) in the program. Students must earn C- or higher in courses that are required for the Japanese major. 

Core courses (18 hours)

• JPN 201 -- Intermediate Japanese I
• JPN 202 -- Intermediate Japanese II 
• JPN 304 -- Japanese Composition and Conversation
• JPN 401- -Japanese Phonetics and Pronunciation OR JPN 402 -- Advanced Japanese Grammar and Syntax
• JPN 480 -- Studies in Japanese Culture
• JPN 481 -- Studies in Japanese Literature
• WLL 400 -- World Languages Program Assessment (0 credits)

Culture study (6 hours, select any two not taken above)

• JPN 307 -- Introduction to Japanese Translation
• JPN 311 -- Japanese Cultural History
• JPN 325 -- Japanese Myth and Folklore
• JPN 330 -- Studies in Japanese Language Cinema
• JPN 340 -- Business Japanese
• JPN 401 -- Japanese Phonetics and Pronunciation
• JPN 402 -- Advanced Japanese Grammar and Syntax
• JPN 480 -- Studies in Japanese Culture
• JPN 520 -- Readings in Japanese (culture topic)

Literary study (6 hours, select any two not taken above)

• JPN 320 -- Survey of Japanese Literature
• JPN 322 -- Japanese Drama
• JPN 323 -- Japanese Prose Fiction
• JPN 481 -- Studies in Japanese Literature
• JPN 520 -- Readings in Japanese (literary topic)

Interdisciplinary course (3 hours, select one)

• ANT 275 -- Language and Culture
• ANT 385 -- Peoples of East and Southeast Asia
• ARTH 304 -- Survey of Asian Art
• ARTH 359 -- Arts and Crafts of Japan
• CIN 201 -- Survey of World Cinema
• GEO 410 -- Geography of Asia
• GEO 540 -- Cultural Geography of Asia
• HIS 338 -- History of Japan
• JPN 350 -- Methods of Teaching Japanese
• POP 345 -- Japanese Popular Culture
• PHI 312 -- Eastern Philosophy
• PSC 388 -- Politics of Asia
• REL 350 -- World Religions and Ethics

Elective in Japanese (3 hours)

Select any courses above JPN 202 not taken above or WLL 396 or WLL 294 (Japanese topic).

Northern Kentucky University Department of World Languages and Literatures will honor all courses related to Japanese language, culture and literature courses that are equivalent with NKU’s Baccalaureate major and minor coursework in both existing and proposed programs.  Substitutions will be considered on a case by case basis using course descriptions, syllabi, and transcripts to make each determination. Credit hours will be matched as required at Northern Kentucky University.  For example JPN 101 of University of Kentucky is equivalent to NKU’s JPN 101.  Murray State University’s JPN 306 Introduction to Japanese Literature might be equivalent to NKU’s JPN 320: Survey of Japanese Literature.  Any deficiencies at the time they first enroll at NKU must be fulfilled according to NKU regulations. While the Department of World Languages and Literatures at NKU does not currently have any specific transfer agreements, the department does honor all existing NKU agreements, Kentucky General Education Transfer agreements, and Baccalaureate program transfer frameworks.

NKU currently only offers a Japanese minor, but the number of the Japanese minors has consistently grown in the last 10 years. In fall 2009, when the program was still housed in Political Science as an interdisciplinary minor, there were 12 students enrolled. In fall 2013, the first semester the minor was offered by the World Languages and Literatures Department, it had an enrollment of 22 students. The enrollments have steadily gone up over the past ten years, and currently, in spring 2019, there are 69 enrolled students in the Japanese minor (81 total—some of these students are studying abroad in Japan this semester and are not counted as currently enrolled students). Compared to 62 Spanish minors (the largest program in the department), this is a high number.  NKU’s Japanese program is large compared to that of nearby universities as well.  NKU and University of Cincinnati had similar student enrollments in Japanese courses in the fall 2018 even though the size of UC is three times larger than that of NKU (UC students: 43,691 [total], 100 enrolled in Japanese; NKU students: 15, 738 [total], 145 enrolled in Japanese). Murray State University, the only other regional comprehensive university in Kentucky with a Japanese major, had 83 students enrolled in Japanese courses in fall 2018—only slightly more than half of NKU’s enrollments in Japanese courses.

According to the survey done by the Japan Foundation in 2012, there are 4,270 teachers teaching the Japanese language to 155,939 students at 1,449 different institutions, an increase of 10.4% in the number of students since the 2009 survey.  The popularity of Japanese language study in the world is consistent in the past 20 years, which is evident in the Japan Times article “More People Studying Japanese.”  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/07/13/editorials/more-people-studying-japanese/#.W_MejZM3nxQ

The article states that “Around the world, the number of institutions outside of Japan teaching Japanese rose by 7.5 percent and the number of Japanese teachers abroad increased by 28 percent.”

Additionally, Japanese is a growth area in the World Languages and Literatures Department and based on informal surveys and conversations we have had with students in the Japanese minor, we have determined that there is high interest among students to have a major program in Japanese at NKU. Currently, the NKU Japanese program is only offering courses focused on language and cultural topics. The creation of a Japanese major will allow us to expand the curriculum in Japanese to include courses in Japanese literature, film and translation.

The Japanese minor is extremely popular with students majoring in programs in the College of Informatics (Computer Science, Electronic Media Broadcasting and Media Informatics specifically), as well as with students in the International Studies, Studio Arts, World Cultures and Theatre majors that are housed in the College of Arts & Sciences. From these examples, it can be seen that Japanese has a broad appeal for students in a range of disciplines. 

In addition to specifically targeting students in disciplines that already feed our Japanese minor program, we will also promote the major program to current and potential students through the Major/Minor Fair, Black & Gold Days, Welcome Wednesdays, and other recruiting events. 

The Department of World Languages and Literatures will recruit students to the Japanese major through publicity materials and recruitment activities. In addition to recruitment activities at Welcome Wednesdays (recruitment events for current high school students and their families) and Northern Exposure (orientations for incoming NKU students) that we conduct regularly throughout the year, we will reach out high school guidance counselors to provide them the opportunity to learn about our Japanese program, and coordinate activities for their students to experience our Japanese program through visits to the schools or to NKU’s campus. We will also contact Japanese companies in the area, such as Toyota Boshoku, and other Japanese-owned companies to discuss internship and employment opportunities for NKU students, as well as opportunities for their American employees to study Japanese in our program.  Regarding the selection process, students can declare their major in Japanese online in MyNKU with the assistance of one of the Japanese instructors, the department chair or advisors in their current major program. 

The General Education requirement and the lower-level language courses usually attract students to higher-level Japanese courses.  When the students like their classes/instructors, they declare Japanese as their minor and thus lower level language courses function as the primary feeders for the program.  The recruitment initiatives mentioned in the answer for the previous question can also be considered as the feeders into the major program.

1. Students who are currently taking Japanese courses at NKU have told instructors that they came to NKU because they wanted to study Japanese and they had heard that NKU has a strong Japanese program. This suggests that having a Japanese major could contribute to the increase of student enrollments at NKU overall.
2. When a course on Japanese literature (in English translation) and film was offered for the Honors program in Fall 2016, the class easily filled in a few weeks. This indicates that there is an interest among NKU students for Japan-related courses. 
3. When asked if they would major in Japanese if there were a Japanese major at NKU, 78% of students currently enrolled in Japanese answered “yes” in an informal survey we conducted in AY 2017-2018.

Common fields of interest for students of Japanese are International Studies, Computer Science, Electronic Media Broadcasting, Media Informatics, Interpreting/Translation, and Fine Arts (Studio Art and Theatre, specifically. But in general, having linguistic proficiency in another language and knowledge of other cultures is beneficial to any other career path and provides a competitive edge over other job candidates.

Language majors, Japanese and otherwise, can work in Government, Social Service, Education, Scientific Fields, Business, Communications, Tourism and others. The Japanese minor is extremely popular with students majoring in programs in the College of Informatics (Computer Science, Electronic Media Broadcasting and Media Informatics specifically), as well as with students in the International Studies, Studio Arts, World Cultures and Theatre majors that are housed in the College of Arts & Sciences. From these examples, it can be seen that Japanese has a broad appeal for students in a range of disciplines.

Our Japanese minors have gone on to teach English in Japan through the JET (Japanese English Teachers) Program. (Average salary: $30K-40K plus health insurance).  We have had one of our Japanese minors obtain a job working for the City of Osaka in Japan, another was employed by Rakuten Co. in Tokyo (average salary: $60K to $65K), and another by Altica Central in Japan (average salary $30K-40K). There are also many Japanese manufacturing companies located in the Northern Kentucky and the broader tri-state region that offer various positions for English-Japanese bilinguals.  For example: CSI Group in Lexington (IT specialist with Japanese skills 70K-80K); Toyota Boshoku in Erlanger (Purchasing Executive Assistant with Japanese skills $50K -60K); TOP Group in Berea (Japanese translator $45K). On the national level, Honda Kaihatsu America, Inc.—the interpreting company affiliated with Honda— provides interpreter positions for their offices and plants across the country.  Numerous other jobs in the US that require Japanese skills can be found at job search websites such as indeed.com and LinkedIn. Finally, our graduates have gone on to pursue graduate degrees at the University of Cincinnati, the University of Chicago, and Capella University.

N/A

1) Skills base (Aural, oral, and written command of the target language) for the language courses

2) Knowledge Base: Linguistic, cultural, and literary competence for the content courses

please see “Attachment 3_Japanese program curriculum map” for full details

These components will be evaluated regularly at the course-level through exams, essays, presentations and other projects, and in the semester before graduation through the Senior Portfolio Assessment that is completed in the context of the WLL 400: World Languages Portfolio Assessment course. In the WLL 400 course, students will take the ACTFL (American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages) aligned Avant STAMP test to assess their proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking and also submit two essays from upper-level cultural and literary topics courses to assess their knowledge base in Japanese.

In the case of course-level assessments, data will be collected throughout the semester as the courses are going on, and in the semester before graduation in the case of the program-level STAMP exam/Portfolio assessment course.

Students take the Avant STAMP test in the Office of Testing Services on campus.  This will measure their linguistic proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The two essays they submit (as described above) will be uploaded to the WLL 400 course site in Canvas. These two essays (one from an upper-level cultural topic course and one from an upper-level literary topic course) will assess both linguistic skills and content-knowledge gained during the major.

The Intermediate High level of proficiency on the ACTFL scale.

We will use these assessment results to evaluate which elements of the program contribute to student learning and will modify and improve our programs if needed. For instance, if the STAMP test and/or course essays indicate that our students’ writing skills are rather weak in general, we will put greater emphasis on writing instruction and practice into our courses.

Course evaluations completed by the students

DFW rates

Peer observations

Performance on course-level assessments and the Avant STAMP test

Attend conferences, workshops and webinars on language teaching

Peer observations of other instructors AND having other instructors and/or department chair visit classes.

Improve knowledge of language teaching by reading related books and articles.

As we do with the existing majors and minors in French, German and Spanish, we will send our graduation survey to Japanese majors (as well as minors) to fill out, encourage them to sign up for business and employment-oriented services such as LinkedIn, and follow their career paths through the survey that the World Languages and Literatures Department regularly sends out to alumni.