SJSU Annual Program Assessment FormAcademic Year 2013-2014

Department: World Languages and Literatures

Program: Japanese

College: Humanities and the ArtsWebsite:http://www.sjsu.edu/ugs/faculty/programrecords/Humanities/Foreign/index.html

Contact Person and Email: Seiichiro.Inaba@sjsu.edu

Date of Report: May 19, 2014

Part A

1. List of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

1Ability to express oneself orally and in writing in three modes of communication (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational)

2Ability to appreciate aspects of Japanese culture, including the relationships among practices, perspectives, and cultural products

3Ability to develop and use business manners and customs for developing communication skills useful in conducting business in Japanese

4 Ability to recognize and understand not only traditional arts but also contemporary Japanese culture and society

5Ability to understand and rationalize phonological, morphological, and syntactic structures of contemporary Japanese

6Ability to understand and discuss Japanese modern literature from 1868 through the present

7Ability to understand and appreciate modern and post-modern Japanese drama and Lyrics

2. Map of PLOs to University Learning Goals (ULGs)

Multilingual by the nature of its programs, multicultural by the make-up of its faculty, and international by the projection of its offerings, the Department of World Languages and Literatures seeks to develop in students the ability to communicate effectively with people who speak languages other than English and whose world views and cultural values may differ substantially from their own. Today, the study of foreign languages help students to internationalize their professional profiles by affording them a strong competitive advantage in pursuing opportunities in today's global economy and culture. In addition, students who undertake the advanced study of foreign languages can contribute to the prosperity and security of the country.

After development of the four basic language skills (listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing) our programs seek to create an understanding and appreciation of the great works of classical and modern world literature in their original language, as well as in translation. The exposure to new and original patterns of language and thought as well as to the distinct cultural values reflected in many of these works will necessarily broaden our students' understanding of the world which exists beyond the confines of their own linguistic and cultural environment. It should also lead them, through comparative analysis, to a better understanding of the structure of their own language and the cultural and thought patterns it reflects and engenders. With such an understanding of themselves and of other peoples, gained through the study of foreign languages, literature and cultures, students will be ready to enter today's global community as teachers, civil servants, business professionals, translators and interpreters and in the myriad of other careers where the ability to communicate is the sine qua non of success.

3. Alignment – Matrix of PLOs to Courses

PLOs Courses#1 JPN101B (Advanced Composition)#2 JPN102 (Japanese Culture)#3 JPN107 (Business Japanese)#4 JPN101A (Advanced Reading)#5 JPN110 (Japanese Linguistics)#6 JPN160 (Special Topics in Japanese Studies)

JPN120A (Modern Literatures)#7 JPN140A (Japanese Drama & Lyrics)

4. Planning – Assessment Schedule

SLOs 2013Spring

Fall2014Spring Fall

2015Spring

Fall2016Spring

Fall

#1(JPN101B) X X X X#2(JPN102) X X X X#3 (JPN107) X#4 (JPN101A) X X X X#5 (JPN110) X X X#6 (JPN160/120A) X X X#7(JPN140A) X X

5. Student Experience

Department: http://www.sjsu.edu/wll/

Japanese Program: http://www.sjsu.edu/wll/programs/undergraduate/japaneseba/

Faculty Websites:Dr. Inaba: http://www.sjsu.edu/people/seiichiro.inaba/Dr. Yanai: http://www.sjsu.edu/people/yasue.yanai/Dr. Shimazu: http://www.sjsu.edu/people/y.shimazu/

Study Abroad Japanese Program:http://www.sjsu.edu/studyabroad/programs/summer_programs/list_of_faculty-led_programs/japan_2014/

Part B

6. Graduation Rates for Total, Non URM and URM students (per program and degree)

7. Headcounts of program majors and new students (per program and degree)

8. SFR and average section size (per program)

9. Percentage of tenured/tenure-track instructional faculty (per department)

All Faculty FTEF by Tenure StatusDepartment of World Languages & Literatures

FTEF 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Avg Fall 2010

Spring 2011

Avg Fall 2011

Spring 2012

Avg Fall 2012

Spring 2013

Avg Fall 2013

Spring 2014

Avg

  Tenured 8.0 9.0 8.5 8.0 9.0 8.5 9.0 9.0 9.0 8.5 6.5 7.5 10.0 7.7 8.9

Probationary 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 0.9 1.0

Temp Lecturer

7.3 7.1 7.2 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.5 7.4 7.9 6.6 6.0 6.3 5.1 5.1 5.1

Total 18.3 19.1 18.7 19.0 20.0 19.5 20.5 19.4 19.9 17.2 14.5 15.8 16.2 13.8 15.0

Part C

10. Closing the Loop/Recommended Actions

SLO1:[JPN101B in Fall 2013]

Judging from the results of the assessment, it is apparent that the success of the class was mainly attributed to the instructor’s hardworking attitude. Because of a high-enrollment class, however, it may well be very important to resume the tutoring program or to offer 2 sections of the course in the future.

SLO2:[JPN102 in Spring 2012]

The students were more motivated by the Collaborative online international course (COIL) with Kagoshima University in Japan, although some students showed some worries to this new pedagogy using new online technology at the beginning, but this was successful trail course for the first time. I received many encouragements from my students to continue this type of experiential culture course. The presentations students gave in each group at the end of the course were wonderful and they gained certain confidence on their intercultural communication in Japanese language.

SLO4:[JPN101A in Fall 2012]

In Fall 2012, a new textbook (“Tobira” Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning Through Content and Multimedia) was adopted for JPN101A (Advanced Reading) and eight major lessons (geography, sports, food, religion, pop culture, traditional performing arts, education system, and convenience stores) were covered out of 14 lessons in the textbook. Also, the kanji exercise book accompanied with the textbook was used.

The students seemed to enjoy the various topics covered in the class. In addition, there were manifold learning materials available on the web. The students had good opportunities to improve their four language skills through the materials. On the other hand, there was a concern that the students were given too many assignments including kanji practices to fully digest all of the materials.

SLO5:[JPN110 in Fall 2008]

The students, who were able to fully achieve the SLO to a commendable level, were all linguistic majors. We have realized that this is the only linguistic class offered in the Japanese program and Japanese major students need to read extra linguistic books besides the textbook in order to better understand the contents. Even though recommended books were listed in the syllabus, it was assumed that

most of the Japanese majors did not read them. To encourage them to read extra books, summaries of extra materials should be mandatory in the following year.

SLO7:[JPN140A in Fall 2012]

We took up Japanese song lyrics from Showa era to Heisei era in the first half semester, and Japanese TV drama in the latter half. By having students’ presentation of their favorite Japanese lyrics to class, I think students’ motivation in writing the paper was synergically enhanced. Every student attended the presentation with high interest in their classmates’ presentation, having active question & answers afterward. Also, students were able to spend 5 days to do their homework each time and I had two days to check the problems they had in their homework, so that the feedback became more efficient and effective. The average of the same final test of drama has been improved from 67.6% to 73.9%. Out of 12 students enrolled, 11 have completed all of the course requirements: 9 Commendable, 2 adequate and 0 unsatisfactory.

11. Assessment Data

SLO1:[JPN101B in Spring 2014]There were 9 majors out of 27 enrolled students in JPN101B (Advanced Composition) taught by Keach Inaba. SLO 1 was assessed by a series of compositions, homework assignments, oral presentations, and writing exams. All of the 9 major students assessed satisfactorily met the SLO with a grade of ‘B’ or better.

SLO2:[JPN102 in Spring 2013]This SLO was assessed by homework, journals, a final exam, a paper and 2 presentations in JPN102 taught by Yasue Yanai. Out of 20 students enrolled, 19 have completed all of the course requirements: 17 Commendable, 2 adequate and 0 unsatisfactory. 89.5% of the students reached the commendable level.

SLO4:[JPN101A in Fall 2013]There were 12 majors out of 32 enrolled students in the class taught by Keach Inaba. SLO 2 was assessed by a series of kanji quizzes, homework assignments, two oral & written exams, one oral presentation, and the final written exam. Out of 12 major students assessed, 10 students satisfactorily met the SLO with a grade of ‘B’ or better, one received a ‘B-’ and one failed with ‘WU’.

SLO5:[JPN110 in Fall 2013]This SLO was assessed by multiple-choice questions about phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax of contemporary Japanese covered in JPN 110 taught by

Keach Inaba. In addition, the SLO was assessed by an oral presentation on one of the reading assignments from a newly adopted textbook. Out of the 14 majors in the class, 6 achieved the SLO with a grade of “A”, 8 with “B”, and three with “C”.

SLO7:[JPN140A in Spring 2014]This SLO was assessed by 12 quizzes, 2 final exams, 12 homework on Japanese drama and one paper on Japanese lyrics in JPN140A taught by Yasue Yanai. Out of 20 students enrolled, 19 have completed all of the course requirements: 15 Commendable, 4 adequate and 0 unsatisfactory.

12. Analysis

SLO1:[JPN101B in Spring 2014]The class was a high-enrollment course as an advanced composition class. The instructor had an extra burden of correcting 2-page compositions assigned every week. Despite the high-enrollment, however, the program could not afford to hire a student assistant due to lack of funds. Fortunately, one native speaker of Japanese assisted the correction of the compositions in this semester. Yet, it may well be very important to resume the tutoring program or to offer 2 sections of the course in the future.

SLO2:[JPN102 in Spring 2013]Based on the students’ comments on the class and results of tests and presentations, I slowed down the pace of reading materials and presentations, so that students can understand and absorb what the authors and their classmates say. Also, the number of students per group has been reduced from 4 to 3 or 2, with small size of class of 20 students, taking the nature of online course into my consideration.

Last time, I had 30 students, which was more than I can manage in the international collaborative online course. Having smaller size of class and group made it possible to have better communication between faculty and students and to offer meticulous guidance to the students. However, there are students who are not suitable for this practical online course with international peers. They are those who are exceptionally shy and extremely perfectionists. I realized the importance of prior warning and more careful explanation about the nature and the goals of COIL course to our students.

SLO4:[JPN101A in Fall 2013]Most of the students enjoyed the various topics covered and had good opportunities to improve their four language skills through the materials of the textbook. On the other hand, there was a concern that the students were given too many assignments including kanji practices to fully digest all of the materials. Moreover, some students

stated that the focus of the class should be more given to the development of speaking skills.

SLO5:[JPN110 in Fall 2013]The adopted new main textbook was published by the instructor in July 2013. It is written in Japanese and includes English glosses in the footnotes. In addition, “furigana” (phonetic guide or ruby text) is written alongside all of the “Kanji” to indicate the pronunciation. The most benefit of using the textbook was that the students successfully made their oral presentations on challenging linguistic issues in Japanese. In the past years, presentations on linguistic issues in Japanese were hardly possible when a textbook written in English was used.

SLO7:[JPN140A in Spring 2014]Based on the students’ comments and results of tests, quizzes, paper and homework, I reduced the amount of lyrics we read and did more meticulous analysis, doing Japanese lyrics on Mondays and Japanese drama on Wednesdays.

This semester, I had three students who stopped coming to the class after Spring break. One of them did not showed up at all, although we arranged our meeting. Two of them appeared at the very end of the semester again, and they explained that they could not come due to their financial difficulty and disease. They asked me to take the final exam, and they were able to avoid failing from this course because of their good standing of their homework and quizzes before Spring break. However, due to this type of students, the result dropped this semester. I encountered more students such as those who stop coming in the middle of semester this semester. What is common among them is that they are maverick and notify neither teacher nor classmates on their absences and situations. I feel that such lone students as those who cannot build personal relationship with others are increasing in our Japanese program. By introducing more group work and pair work inside the class and contacting such students more frequently from me, I would like to reinforce the bond between students and myself.

13. Proposed changes and goals (if any)

SLO4:[JPN101A in Fall 2014]For the class of JPN101A in Fall 2014, the program has decided to adopt a new textbook, “To Intermediate Japanese published by Bonjinsha” to focus more on the development of speaking skills instead of kanji reading skills. This textbook comes with two CDs. Most of all, it is expected to have a better articulation to the class from the first and second year courses.