LIFE IN JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR II: A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY FOR JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS ____________ A Project Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Teaching International Languages ____________ by © Kotoe Ito 2010 Summer 2010 LIFE IN JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR II: A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY FOR JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS A Project by Kotoe Ito Summer 2010 APPROVED BY THE DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AND VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH: _________________________________ Katie Milo, Ed.D. APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: _________________________________ _________________________________ Hilda Hernández, Ph.D. Hilda Hernández, Ph.D., Chair Graduate Coordinator _________________________________ Kimihiko Nomura, Ed.D. PUBLICATION RIGHTS No portion of this project may be reprinted or reproduced in any manner unacceptable to the usual copyright restrictions without the written permission of the author. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my graduate coordinator/advisor, Dr. Hilda Hernández for all the support in Teaching International Languages Program. She was also a professor of some of my graduate core courses, and I learned many things from her. With her advice, I was able to make project more useful to other Japanese teachers. I also thank Dr. Kimihiko Nomura for providing to me the appropriate courses to learn more about Japanese language and teaching and guiding me to succeed in the project. In the process of collecting resources for this project, I had a hard time reaching them since most of them were located in Japan. I can’t thank my sister enough, Sayaka Ito, for finding the books and sending them to me with such short notice. Special thanks go to my friends, David Matthew Harwood and Barbara Golden, for their continuous encouragement to complete this graduate program and especially this master’s project. Without their support, I could not have finished this project. Thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Publication Rights ...................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... iv Abstract....................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER I. Introduction.............................................................................................. 1 Background................................................................................... 1 Statement of Problem ................................................................... 2 Needs Statement ........................................................................... 4 Statement of Purpose.................................................................... 5 Goals and Objectives.................................................................... 5 Scope of the Project...................................................................... 6 Significance of the Project............................................................ 7 Limitations.................................................................................... 8 Definition of Terms ...................................................................... 8 II. Literature Review..................................................................................... 12 Teaching a Social and Cultural History of WWII in Language Classrooms.......................................................... 12 Benefits of Teaching a Social and Cultural History of WWII in Language Classrooms .......................................... 12 Issues in Teaching a Social and Cultural History of WWII................................................................................... 16 Conclusion.................................................................................... 21 III. Methodology............................................................................................. 24 Introduction .................................................................................. 24 Process.......................................................................................... 24 Project Content ............................................................................. 26 v CHAPTER PAGE Design of the Project .................................................................... 33 Evaluation Plan............................................................................. 34 Conclusion.................................................................................... 37 IV. Conclusion................................................................................................ 38 Summary....................................................................................... 38 Future Direction............................................................................ 39 References .................................................................................................................. 42 Appendices A. Cultural Products for Teaching about WWII ........................................... 46 B. World Language Content Standards for California Public Schools: K-12 ........................................................................................... 109 C. Graphic Organizers................................................................................... 126 D. Grading Rubrics for Speaking and Reading............................................. 128 E. Survey....................................................................................................... 133 vi ABSTRACT LIFE IN JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR II: A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY FOR JAPANESE LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS by © Kotoe Ito 2010 Master of Arts in Teaching International Languages California State University, Chico Summer 2010 This project focuses on incorporating a social and cultural history of World War II into the Japanese language classroom. The failure to make connections to tragic historical events in language classrooms may be rooted in difficulties in presentation, lowered motivations of learners and the lack of unbiased materials. This project high- lights the advantages of overcoming these obstacles while maintaining the foreign lan- guage standards. Leading students to make connections between the past and future can open minds to the peace movement. For students, learning about the target culture through historical events and comparing the products, practices, and perspectives of the target culture with their own are essential to cultural learning in foreign language class- rooms. vii This project will reduce the teachers’ preparation time and encourage Japa- nese language teachers to present the perspectives of Japanese people on WWII, giving learners the opportunity to learn more about the target language, culture, and people. A review of the literature related to the issues of incorporating a social and cultural history of WWII in foreign language instruction shows that lack of resources and teachers’ negative attitudes about incorporating a social and cultural history of WWII are some of the obstacles. The benefits of incorporating a social and cultural history of WWII events into foreign language classrooms include making connections to other disciplines, al- lowing students to make comparisons with their own culture, and learning about the re- lationship of the products, practices, and perspectives in the target culture. The appendices offer Japanese language teachers cultural products for teach- ing the social and cultural history of WWII. These include eight different categories of cultural products: literature, broadcast media, newspaper, advertisement, songs and mu- sic, film, and arts and crafts. Each product suggests targeted proficiency and appropriate age groups. The project’s efficient outline reduces the time required to find resources, identify the national and state standards, and address five dimensions of culture. For each cultural product, sample activities are matched with the standards, providing op- portunities for students to learn more about the perspectives of the target culture and community. Rubrics for the assessment of learners’ speaking and writing skills, and in- formation on graphic organizers for use in suggested activities are also included. viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the foundation of this project by providing background information, and by identifying the problems in teaching culture in Japanese language classrooms. Once the need for the project has been established, the focus moves to the articulation of the specific purposes, goals, and objectives of this project. The scope, significance, limitations, and key terms are presented and discussed. Background I have been a Japanese language teacher for almost nine years. Once a social studies teacher asked me what kind of approach Japanese teachers take in teaching about World War II in Japanese language classrooms. I could not provide a good response because most of us do not teach about World War II, and I had never thought about teaching it until she asked me the question. I have taught at the middle school, high school and university levels, and yet I never have found a Japanese language textbook that includes the history of World War II, nor have I seen any instructor teaching about World War II in a Japanese language classroom. After