Giving instruction based on the syllabus of International Studies is an effective way to teach Japanese to foreign students majoring in liberal arts; especially to promote their motivations to study vocabulary and academic skills. In this way they can study the relations between their own countries and Japan of various issues and problems. Based on this idea, we have edited a new Japanese textbook consisting of 9 chapters. Within these chapters are 23 units, which cover a diversity of topics, including Intercultural Communication, International Politics and International Law, Ethnicity and Nationalism, World Economy, Information Technology and Society, Ecology and Life, Japanology, Family and Lifestyle, and other subjects of contemporary concern. Each unit consists of reading materials, notes, and various kinds of tasks and a vocabulary list. We also provide instruction in the retrieval, drafting, and presentation of reports, using newspaper articles and TV programs with the textbook.
