Website Creation: A Japanese Learning Project

Abstract

At the end of the first semester of 1998 I had a special meeting with Japanese level 6 students to explain to them details about the modified course which was to be offered in the second semester. Japanese 6 is the most advanced level course offered by the University of Melbourne— going from level 1 for beginners to level 6 for advanced learners. There were 12 students (consisting of Japanese-, Chinese-, Korean- and Maltese-background students, as well as native-born Australians) enrolled in the second semester. The course was going to be split into two segments: one with traditional reading sessions (two hours a week) and the other (two hours a week) with the Web projects. I told students how the project segment differed from the other half of the course, emphasizing the fact that they would control their own learning process and the workload involved outside the class. Students working in groups were going to create Web pages on their own chosen topics. I asked whether they were interested in taking such a course. I felt that this enquiry was necessary, because any syllabus/assessment changes made in existing courses had to be clearly articulated in advance to students, both orally and in writing, before they committed themselves in the second semester. To my surprise they all seemed to be very enthusiastic about the prospect of the new course. I asked them to start thinking during the break about what topic they were going to work on and with whom they wanted to work.