Thank you all for being here this evening to mark the launch of this very exciting Japanese language resource, Art Speaks Japanese. I feel it is auspicious that this launch coincides with the historical event that took place in Canberra this morning. I would also like to thank the organizers for having me to speak on this occasion.

As the first order of business, I would like to congratulate the Art Gallery of NSW and the Japan Foundation for taking an initiative to create this innovation. I have been involved in creation of language learning resources myself, and I know first hand that it is not an easy process. I especially would like to commend the collaborative approach they took in pooling expertise from the two different sectors. As evident from the product, one plus one is much larger than two.

Sally Shimada will speak on the great features of Art Speaks Japanese. It is absolutely beautiful to begin with and it has a great potential to be used in many ways by diverse groups of learners.

Let me now speak a little bit more on the theoretical backbone of Art Speaks Japanese, that is, Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning or ILTL. Many of the teachers here are already familiar with the concept, but please bear with me.

For those of you who are not teachers, I wonder what your expectations are when you think about learning a foreign language. ILTL sees that the goals of foreign language learning are something beyond mere accumulation of words and phrases. ILTL envisages that through the learning of a foreign language, learners will develop intellectual capacity, communicative competence, and intercultural understanding. In order to achieve these goals, ILTL sets five principles of Active construction, Making connections, Social Interaction, Reflection, and Responsibility. In other words, learners are expected to think about and think in the language together with their peers, their teachers and others in the community.

From my point of view, the strength of ILTL lies in the direction that set forth, that is that ILTL made the language learning a community affair. Of course the starting point of learning with Art Speaks Japanese would be in the Japanese language classroom. Within the classroom, the teacher and students can engage in activities, which encourage discovery, interaction and construction. However, learning will not stop there. Students will share what they learned with their parents, with classmates, and with teachers of other subjects. Parents might decide to bring their children to the Art Gallery to see the original art. There the children can show off some Japanese words they learned in class to their parents. A classmate might remember seeing a similar painting at her grandma’s house. The grandma can be invited to bring the painting to class and speak about it. A history teacher might become interested and decide to relate Art Speaks Japanese to a history lesson. There, students of Japanese can introduce their knowledge to their history classmates. The direction set by ILTL will expand the potential of Art Speaks Japanese to many corners of the community.

Art Speaks Japanese was originally created as a secondary school learning resource. I believe it can also be used in the tertiary sector and beyond. The language used in the background information section is sophisticated enough to be used in upper level tertiary classes. It can also serve as a starting point for small research projects, for instance, in art history.

What I hope is that Art Speaks Japanese becomes a pivot for the community inclusive of diverse groups. I suggest that a website should be created for the community of users and benefactors of Art Speaks Japanese to share their experiences.
Teachers can share ideas of how to use it in class, and their unique worksheets. Students can share their essays and drawings, and art experts can provide commentaries and references. Tertiary students can also participate in sharing research projects, or acting as commentators to secondary student’s projects. The accumulation of these experiences will keep Art Speaks Japanese alive and refreshed for many years to come.

Thank you and congratulations again.