From the President

Welcome to Term 4 and the JLTAV Spring Newsletter. I hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday break. I know a number of schools go to Japan during the September holidays, and I hope these tours have been successful and most enjoyable.

On Saturday 3 August Professor Nobuaki Minematsu from the Graduate School of Engineering, UTokyo and Project OJAD, presented a professional learning workshop on the OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary).

Our two major student events for Term 3 were the ‘Year 12 Morning’ in July and the ‘Junior Speech Competition’ in August. Reports for these events are included in this newsletter.

On Thursday 22 August we ran our inaugural Model UN Conference in Japanese at the Treasury Theatre in East Melbourne. The topic was achieving gender equality: empowering women and girls. This was a wonderful opportunity for senior students to use their Japanese in an authentic context. Many thanks to the students who participated on the day and to their teachers who helped prepare their students for the event. A number of teachers contributed to writing resources in Japanese in preparation for this event and we extend our grateful thanks to them for their support. Many thanks also to Ms Catherine Hirst, Senior Project Officer in the Languages Unit at the Department of Education and Training, Dr Sally Northfield, Education Program Coordinator for the United Nations of Australia (Victorian Division), and Mr Satoshi Sanada from John Monash Science School who was our amazing Secretary General and facilitator for the day.

On Sunday 8 September the Japanese Language Speech Contest Victoria (JLSCV) was held at the University of Melbourne. Congratulations to Hiroshi Honda, the President of the JLSCV Inc. and JLTAV life member, for his fine organisation of this contest.

In Term 3 we offered a calligraphy competition and congratulate all the students who submitted an entry. Results for this competition will be announced in Term 4.

Please encourage your students to submit an entry for our student competitions: sticker design and hiragana mnemonic. We hope to create some amazing resources to share with JLTAV members.

The 2020 JLTAV Annual Conference is scheduled for Friday 17 and Saturday 18 April in the Melbourne CBD (Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre). We invite expressions of interest from teachers in Victoria and further afield to present a workshop at next year’s conference. We know our Japanese teaching colleagues are doing amazing things in their classrooms and we encourage them to present, especially teachers who have never presented at our conference before. We ask interested teachers to complete the form (here) by Friday 18 October. All submissions will be assessed by a panel and all applicants will by notified regarding the success of their submission early Term 4. We aim to release the conference program and registrations in Term 4. We look forward to another exciting conference in 2020.

In 2016 the JLTAV launched the JLTAV Certificate of Merit. We encourage members to read the information about this certificate on the JLTAV website (available here) and to nominate their colleagues for their outstanding contribution to Japanese language teaching in Victoria.

I wish everyone a successful Term 4 and all the best with report writing and assessment as the year draws to an end. I wish all the students studying Year 12 Japanese great success in their end of year exams.

Nathan Lane

President, JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

Welcome to Term 3 and the JLTAV Winter Newsletter. Term 2 is always a busy time of the year with report writing. I hope this has been successful for everyone and you have enjoyed a well-deserved holiday break.

Our first student event for Term 3 is the ‘Year 12 Morning’. This year we are again running the event in two locations: Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University Clayton (Sunday 21 July) and Loreto College Ballarat (Sunday 28 July). We are pleased to be able to support our colleagues in regional areas by offering the seminar in Ballarat. We wish all Year 12 students success as preparations for their end-of-year exams intensify in Term 3.

On Thursday 22 August our inaugural Model UN Conference in Japanese will be held at the Treasury Theatre in East Melbourne. Many thanks to Catherine Hirst from the Department of Education and Dr Sally Northfield from the UNAA Victoria for their support in organising this event.

Later in Term 3, on Sunday 25 August, we will be holding the Junior Speech Contest at Presentation College Windsor. Details of this competition have been included in this newsletter and on the JLTAV website. We extend our best wishes to all participants in this competition and congratulate them all for their participation.

Our highly successful calligraphy competition will again be held during Term 3. Details of this competition will be launched shortly. We have extended the due date for entries for the Hiragana Mnemonic competition until Friday 20 December. Our aim is to create a useful resource for members.

Thank you to our members who completed the recent professional learning survey. We have analysed the results and the areas teachers identified for professional learning include: engaging games and activities, ICT/digital tools, new VCE Study Design and primary/secondary curriculum planning. As an association we are committed to providing professional learning to our members. Your feedback is valuable in setting the direction for the events we organise in the future and we will take on board your feedback.

On Saturday 3 August, Professor Nobuaki Minematsu will run a professional learning day for teachers focussing on the Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD). This event will be held at Presentation College Windsor and registration details have been included in this newsletter.

In early Term 4, from Friday 11 October to Sunday 13 October, we will again hold our hugely successful Language Maintenance Immersion Weekend at a new venue, the Mantra in Lorne. This is the perfect opportunity to practise and develop your Japanese skills with native speaker mentors. The weekend is open to all language level abilities and details of this professional learning activity can be found in this newsletter. Sincere thanks to our 2019 native speaker mentors: Yuichi Deguchi, Takanori Hayakawa and Junko Nichols.

In 2016 the JLTAV launched the JLTAV Certificate of Merit. We encourage members to read the information about this certificate on the JLTAV website (available here) and to nominate their colleagues for their outstanding contribution to Japanese language teaching in Victoria.

The JLTAV Committee continue to work hard to organise events throughout the year and I thank them for all their hard work, generosity and commitment to the Association. Contact details of the 2019 committee have been included in this newsletter.

I wish everyone a successful Term 3 and thank you for your support of the JLTAV Inc. Keep warm and healthy over these winter months!

Nathan Lane

President, JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

Welcome to Term 2 and the JLTAV Autumn Newsletter. I hope everyone had a great Term 1.

At the end of the Term 1 we held our Annual Conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Wharf. This year’s conference was the largest in the history of the Association. A report from the two days has been included in this newsletter. The Annual General Meeting was held at the conclusion of Friday’s workshop program and I extend a very warm welcome to the new committee for 2019. The report on the Association’s activities for 2018 has been included in this newsletter. Details of the 2019 JLTAV committee can be found on the JLTAV website.

Thank you to those students and schools who supported the competition to design the front cover of this year’s conference book. We received a large number of entries thereby making it difficult to select a winner. The winner was Sophie Bloomer from Kilbreda College. We congratulate all students on the creativity in their entries for this competition.

In this newsletter you will find details of the Year 12 Morning in July at the Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University Clayton (Sunday 21 July) and at Loreto College Ballarat (Sunday 28 July). We are pleased to be able to support our colleagues in regional areas by again offering the seminar in Ballarat. The venue at Loreto College holds 144 seats and as soon as this venue becomes full, students and teachers will need to attend the session at the Robert Blackwood Hall in Monash University Clayton. Teachers will be informed of this and we encourage teachers to register early to avoid disappointment. The same content will be presented in both locations. Details on how to register are included in this newsletter.

In 2019 the JLTAV is combining with The United Nations Association of Australia (Victoria Division) to simulate a session of the UN General Assembly in Japanese. This Model UN Conference will be held on Thursday 22 August. This is an exciting opportunity for senior students to use their Japanese in an authentic context. Students will be provided with support materials in Japanese to use on the day. We hope lots of schools will participate in this new initiative. Further details and registration information can be found here.

The 2019 Junior Speech Competition will be held on Sunday 25 August at Presentation College Windsor. Details of the competition are available on the JLTAV website.

Due to decreasing registrations we have decided not to run the ‘Why Learn Japanese?’ Student Forum this year. We are using this year to investigate a new format for the event with the aim to relaunch the event in 2020. If you have any suggestions for a new format please email me at nrlane@pcw.vic.edu.au.

The JLTAV is committed to supporting our colleagues in rural areas through our regional support scheme. Details of this are available on the JLTAV website under the ‘support’ tab.

I wish everyone a great Term 2.

Nathan Lane

President, JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

Welcome to Term 1 and the JLTAV Summer Newsletter. I hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday break and are refreshed and energised to start the new school year.

Another year begins and we are pleased to continue to offer teachers and students a range of events and activities throughout 2019. Details of these events are included in this newsletter.

Please encourage your students to submit entries for our three student competitions: poster, JLTAV idol and Hiragana mnemonic. Details of these competitions are included in this newsletter. We thank you for your support of these competitions.

The United Nations Association of Australia (Victoria Division) runs full-day model United Nations Conferences which simulate a session of the UN General Assembly. Acting as UN Member State delegates, participating students step into the shoes of country ambassadors and draw on negotiation and diplomacy skills to ensure the views of their country are heard. Students interact with other delegates during the caucus sessions, present their country’s position to the General Assembly and move amendments to a Draft UN Resolution. The Model UN Conference is an opportunity for students to learn about international relations, the UN system and global issues, in an engaging, dynamic environment, while developing collaboration, negotiation and public speaking skills.

Since 2014, the Department of Education and Training- Language Unit (DET-LU) has sponsored UNAA Victoria to conduct language-specific conferences which are conducted entirely in the target language as a language immersion event. They provide an authentic and highly simulating context for VCE students to practice the language they are learning in a real world context. In 2019 a conference will be run in the Japanese language.

The date for this conference is Thursday 22 August. A session introducing the model conference will be run at the conference. This is an exciting opportunity for our senior students to use their language skills in an authentic context. Further information will be released shortly. We hope lots of schools will participate in this new initiative.

Our first professional learning offering for 2019 will be for primary teachers on Thursday 24 January at Gardenvale Primary School. Many thanks to our amazing presenters Jan Chalmer and Kathleen Duquemin. We are offering this professional learning in January to provide primary school teachers with resources to use at the start of the new school year.

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s JLTAV Annual Conference on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 March at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Wharf. Our annual conference keeps going from strength to strength and we have again been able to put together an exciting program with a record number of breakout sessions, 73 in total. Many thanks to our colleagues who will be presenting this year. Our conference is becoming a national event as we are seeing more presenters and delegates from interstate. Further details on the conference program are available in this newsletter. Our Annual General Meeting will again be held at this year’s conference on Friday 29 April from 4.30 to 5.30pm. We encourage members to nominate themselves to join the JLTAV committee for 2019. One gains a lot of satisfaction from being involved in the Association and ensuring Japanese Language Education continues to flourish in Victoria.

In 2017 we launched the JLTAV Award, however, we are yet to award this to one of our member teachers. Details of the nomination process for this award are outlined in this newsletter. We extend our thanks to the MLTAV for allowing us to adapt and use their wording.

Sincere thanks to the Department of Education and Training (DET) for their great support and for providing a yearly grant to enable us to organise student events and professional learning for teachers. We look forward to the ongoing support from the DET in 2019.

In 2019 we see the implementation of the new Study Design for VCE Japanese Second Language. We will be offering sessions on the new Study Design at the conference. We wish all our VCE students great success in their Japanese studies in 2019.

On behalf of the committee I thank you all for your support of the JLTAV. I wish everyone all the best for the start of the 2019 school year.

Nathan Lane

President

JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)