In addition to the existing “Practical Research Partnership Program”, we are also launching “Promotion of Research on Multilingual and Multicultural Societies of the World” in 2008.Consequently, research activities of the Center will consist of two major components.Through simultaneous and organized collaboration of the two components, we intend to continue our research on the situation of multilingualization and multiculturalization in Japan while viewing it within a worldwide perspective.

Promotion of Research on Multilingual and Multicultural Societies of the World

One characteristic of the University is that it is blessed with many specialized researchers with diverse areas of expertise including languages, cultures and societies of various areas of the world.This is a joint research program which takes advantage of this characteristic to compare and investigate cultures, societies and politics of various areas of the world from a standpoint of multilingualization and multiculturalization.

The Practical Research Partnership Program

Based on the following agendas, the Center is preparing to launch the “Practical Research Partnership Program”.The basic framework of the Program is as follows.

1. Form the “Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program (tentative title)” by assembling front-line researchers and practitioners of various fields.
2. Select research focuses (research themes) through holding discussions at the Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program.
3. Form research groups with the members of the Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program as their coordinator. Each of these groups will perform their own research activities.
4. The Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program will summarize the research activities of the research groups, carrying forward the discussions to construct the basis for researches on multilingualization and multiculturalization in Japan.
5. Every year, the National Forum on Practical Research Partnership will be held. The forum will provide each research group with an opportunity to report their research activities while providing other researchers and practitioners from all over Japan with a chance to present their research activities and field work.

	Form a core group (the “Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program”) by assembling front-line researchers and practitioners of various fields and hold a preparatory meeting.(September 2006)
	Select research focuses (research themes) through holding discussions at the Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program.
	Form research groups based around the members of the Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program, each of them performing their own research activities.Independently, each of the research groups will hold the “Practical Research Forum” approximately once a year.
	The Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program will summarize the research activities of the research groups by holding research meetings approximately three times a year, carrying forward the discussions to construct the basis for researches on multilingualization and multiculturalization in Japan.
	Once every year, the “National Forum on Practical Research Partnership” will be held. At the forum, the discussions held within the Committee on the Practical Research Partnership Program will be announced. In addition, research activities performed by each research group as well as research activities and field work of researchers and practitioners from all over Japan will be reported. The forum will present its participants with an opportunity to share and discuss problems with each other.

Other Research Activities

Other than the aforementioned activities, the following research activities are planned to be implemented at the Center.

1. Small Research Project: Research projects that match the basic research agendas of the Center will be conducted.
2. Center Fellow System: The Center commissions novice researchers as well as practitioners with no affiliated organizations who perform researches that match the research agendas of the Center as “Center Fellows”, supporting their research activities.
3. Publication of the Research Results: Publication of research bulletins, booklets, etc.