Project on the Elaboration of Educational Materials for Foreign Children

Purpose

According to an investigation done by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2005, of all of the 69,824 foreign students enrolled in public schools, there were 20,692 students in need of instructions on the Japanese language, making up more than 30% of the total. In reality, however, far more children are believed to be in need of such instructions.
If students can not understand Japanese, then they would not be able to understand what is taught in class, either. Such students have a high tendency of refusing to go to school or even to be enrolled in school, and for this reason, they often can not enter senior high school. As a result, many of them end up committing crimes after failing to find a decent job. At the Center, we are working on the elaboration of educational materials to assist such children in learning.

Characteristics

Educational Materials for Various Languages and Cultures

We aim to develop materials with which the children can learn about the Japanese language, customs and culture at the same time while learning the subject. While taking advantage of the University’s unique characteristic of having many specialists in languages, cultures and societies of various areas of the world, we also intend to make the materials desirable for a wide range of children by introducing information on foreign languages, cultures and such.

Downloadable Educational Materials Available for Free Use

In the field, dedicated teachers and volunteer workers teach their students by creating original educational materials while putting various creative efforts into them. However, each of these precious materials created with hard work is utilized only by its creator, without being shared extensively. At the Center, we have uploaded the educational materials which we developed so that anyone can use them at their own discretion, free of charge.

Developable Educational Materials

By taking advantage of their digital nature, we will try to constantly improve, correct and expand the educational materials. We look forward to your opinions and requests.