The 56th conference of Japanese Education Institute for Native Chinese Speakers（中國語話者のための日本語教育研究會(huì), JEINCS）was held in Guangzhou on Sept 20-22. Co-hosted by the School of Foreign Languages (FLS) of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), the conference attracted more than 100 teachers and students from more than 60 universities at home and abroad, including Fudan University, Hunan University, Kyoto University, and Waseda University.

Themed “Advanced Foreign Language Learning from the Perspective of Learning Experience - Is there really a ‘graduation’ moment in language learning? ”, the conference includes three lectures, a discussion, a special programme and 46 oral presentations.

Three renowned experts in the field of Japanese education, from China and Japan, gave lectures on Japanese teaching in higher education of China and Chinese teaching in secondary education of Japan.

Chen Duoyou, professor of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and president of the Chinese Japanese Language Teaching Research Association, gave a lecture entitled “Innovative Exploration of the Japanese Language Curriculum System in Colleges and Universities”, introducing the latest developments of Japanese teaching in China’s higher education.

Chen Duoyou, professor of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and president of the Chinese Japanese Language Teaching Research Association, gives a lecture at the conference.

Professor Shin Ishikawa of Kobe University gave a lecture entitled “Content and Linguistic Features of Japanese Reading Texts in the College Entrance Examination - Exploring the vocabulary level of Japanese teaching in China’s Secondary Education”, analyzing the lexical distribution and features of Japanese reading texts in the College Entrance examination in China in the past 10 years.

Professor Shin Ishikawa of Kobe University gives a lecture at the conference.

Professor Naoki Nakamata of Osaka University gave a lecture entitled “Topic-based Japanese Education”, discuss the importance of “topic” in Japanese learning and introduce the content and application of his latest research achievement “Japanese Topic-specific Spoken Corpus (J-TOCC)”.

Professor Naoki Nakamata of Osaka University gives a lecture at the conference.

Besides, contributors from both China and Japan to the prestigious Japanese journal “Japanese Language Education” shared their experience at the conference to help more young teachers and graduate students understand how to successfully publish high-quality academic papers in Japanese, and help them improve their research and essay writing .

Chinese Japanese learners account for one-third of the total number of global Japanese learners, making them the largest Japanese-learning cohort. The Japanese Education Institute for Native Chinese Speakers was founded in 2006 and has devoted to the study on the acquisition of Japanese by Chinese learners, which has been a hot topic in the field of Japanese language education over the years.

Participants pose for a group photo.