In this study, we defined the skills for “Japanese public speaking” as necessary communication skills in public situations for non-native speakers of Japanese who engage in professional work in Japan. We then investigated what kind of characteristics and development patterns Japanese business shikiji (ceremonial greeting) speeches have as one genre in Japanese public speaking. After conducting an analysis of the components (moves and steps) in 20 Japanese shikiji speeches given by Japanese native speakers, we found a tendency for limited components such as “opening greeting,” “self-introduction,” “toast” and “closing announcement” to be developed in the same pattern in the introduction and closing sections. In the main body, after components such as “presenting facts,” “reporting” and “presenting the speaker's theory,” other components such as “hope,” “anticipation” and “aspiration” frequently appeared in a pattern transitioning to the closing section. Also, because the components, “consideration for others” and “reference” were observed throughout their entire speeches, we surmised that speakers tried to create a sense of unity with their audiences by using formulaic expressions including keigo as they recognize the various social standpoints of the audience. By investigating these kinds of genre specific components, formulaic expressions and development patterns, we believe that we can develop more specific teaching methods and materials to enhance Japanese public speaking skills.

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A 6-week summer intensive Japanese Program, KIT-IJST, had offered a class in which learners of Japanese were paired with Japanese students and conducted hands-on production tasks to learn basic Japanese for science and technology. However, due to the shift from the quarter system to semesters, the pair project had to be canceled. Thus, the authors developed a new project featuring problem-based-learning (PBL), in which participants find a “problem” through interviews with Japanese students and solve it. Through PBL, the participants were able to interact with Japanese students using the expressions introduced in this class and grow acquainted with what life in Japan is like as well as the difficulties people are facing.

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The State Examination for Certified Care Workers has been conducted based on new curriculum since the academic year 2011. Care worker trainees under the current Economic Partnership Agreements(EPA) may choose examination questions with hiragana assistance for kanji readings from 2012. However, kanji learning for the new curriculum examination is still as important as in the previous curriculum. This paper examines the frequency and trends of the kanji that appear in the prioritized list of nursing-care technical terms which had been selected in a previous study. In addition, it also analyzes both character-based coverage and term-based coverage of the kanji used in the technical terms. The results show that 1)more than 80% of the kanji used in the technical term list are categorized in former JLPT level 2 or higher and 2)by studying kanji that are most frequently used in the list, one cannot improve his/her term-based coverage as efficiently as he/she can improve character-based coverage of the kanji.

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This paper examines the activities of JSL learners at their internships, and discusses an essential Japanese language programme for businesspersons. The authors interviewed the participants (interns), who were businesspersons and were elementary to lower-intermediate JSL learners, on their activities and use of the Japanese language during the internships. Their activities are categorised as follows: ‘business meetings’, ‘research’, ‘technical support and providing information’, ‘correspondence’, ‘networking’, ‘fieldtrips’, and ‘factory/shop trainings’. The analysis reveals that: the participants were often assigned apprentice type tasks i.e. attending ‘business meetings’ regardless of their understanding of the contents, or ‘research’ tasks which allowed the participants to work on their own. ‘Research’ and ‘technical support and providing information’ tasks are meaningful as the participants could expand their knowledge and grow and contribute to the internship companies. E-mail is the initial medium of ‘correspondence’ and is utilised as reliable means for communication. Moreover, it is observed that ‘networking’, even chatting with colleagues, serves to provide a learning opportunity for both interns and Japanese employees. Although conversations are often emphasised at the elementary-level Japanese programme, several elements are found to be essential for pre-internship training: business-related reading activities, web search practice and teaching strategies for utilising online resources.

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We prepared a contemporary history terminology list for Chinese students in Japan. This serves two purposes: first, to support the students in understanding their major studies; second, to help them connect the terms with what they've studied.91 important terms appearing in more than half the world history textbooks in high school were extracted. How these 91 terms are used in history textbooks in China is also in explored.These 91 terms were divided into three groups:(1) Not appearing in textbooks in China: 26 words.(2) Concept exists in China, but not the terms: 11.(3) Appearing as terms in textbooks in China: 54. Group (1) - the terms and the information need to be learned, group (2) - it is necessary to introduce these terms and relate them to the information that the students already know. Group (3) - 3 terms have more information in textbooks in Japan and 8 have different content. We will perform classroom activities highlighting these differences.

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