Applicant :
Ken'ichi Ujie
Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450
Request : $2,500.00
Title : Expanding Copyright-free Audio-Visual Resource Center
Project Dates: June - August, 2000
Location : 10 weeks in Tokyo, Japan
Names of those involved in the project:
Ken'ichi Ujie
Hiroshi Ichikawa, Tokyo Shoseki Co. Ltd.
Kunio Hirokane, Warner Brothers Japan Inc.
Project Schedule for the first three years:
First Year (1998-already funded by The Glenn Grant):
Phase I: Filming videos for teaching certain grammatical patterns in
Lexington and Japan.
Phase II: Taking still pictures for teaching Japanese society and culture
in Japan.
Phase III: Sorting out all the materials by categories.
Second Year (1999-already funded by ACS, Middlebury College's Project 2001 and Washington and Lee University's Glenn Grant):
Phase I:Filming videos for teaching certain grammatical patterns in
Lexington and Japan.
Phase II: Taking still pictures for teaching Japanese society and culture
in Japan.
Phase III: Making audio-visual resource center for those who want to use them.
Third Year (2000) as well as Fourth (2001) and Fifth Year (2002):
Phase I:Filming videos for teaching certain grammatical patterns and taking
still pictures for teaching Japanese society and culture in Japan.
Phase II: Editing/digitizing/compressing videos and still pictures in Lexington.
Phase IV: Burning all the images to CD-ROMs.
Project Description:
Audio-visual teaching materials that are on the market are rather expensive, and very few of them are of high quality. Most institutions that offer a Japanese language program have a tight budget, and cannot purchase many audio-visual teaching materials. Consequently, many institutions have made full use of the Japan Foundation's Japanese Language Teaching Material Donation Program, which donates all sorts of teaching materials. Until a few years ago, each institution was able to receive materials worth $2,500.00, but because of the bad Japanese economy, the amount each institution can receive has drastically decreased and is now less than $1,000.00 For example, Washington and Lee University received materials worth $2,000.00 - $2,500.00 until 1993, but in 1997 the amount was only $340.00.
It is vital to create copyright-free teaching materials not only for Washington and Lee University, but also for all the institutions that offer a Japanese language program in the United States. I will be able to create these materials based on the seventeen videos I have produced with Tokyo Shoseki Co. Ltd., since all the ideas that are in the videos are mine.
Audio-visual teaching materials, especially videos and still pictures, play an extremely important role in the classroom. What I am planning to create is a copyright free audio-visual resource center, which consists of videos and still pictures for teachers of Japanese in the United States. All the visual images, both videos and still pictures, are in the form of CD-ROMs. Also, I have placed all of the 350 still pictures on my home page(http://www.wlu.edu/~kujie/slide.html). Some teachers find those pictures extremely useful. Those who want to use these images can contact me. I will make CD-ROM copies upon request. They will be obtained at actual costs (approximately $10.00 for CDs and postage).
What I have accomplished for this Resource Center during the past two years:
I have produced 7 handmade videotapes and taken approximately 430 still pictures.
Videotapes:
How ACS teachers who teach Japanese can benefit from this audio-visual resource center:
Videos and still pictures can be used at all levels of the learning process, whether it is a beginning level or the most advanced level. Videos are generally in one of two categories: One for teaching basic grammar, and the other for teaching students about the daily lives of Japanese people. Still pictures can be used when teaching typical Japanese society and life styles, such as what Japanese houses look like, what kinds of foods Japanese people eat, what big cities and rural areas look like, etc. Teachers can not only integrate these visual images to actual classroom teaching immediately, but they can also develop computer programs, using these images and authoring tools such as AuthorWare or XMediaEngine.
Also, I am in the process of negotiation with Tokyo Shoseki Co. Ltd., concerning their donation of videos that we have produced together. We have seventeen videos in total for teaching Japanese grammar and culture. Each video is 15 - 20 minutes long. If Tokyo Shoseki gives me permission to include 5 minutes of each tape in the Resource Center, ACS teachers will be able to make full use of these videos when teaching Japanese grammar and culture.
How evaluation can be made:
The best way to evaluate the Resource Center is to ask each and every user to give us feedback on the materials they use. I will write an evaluation sheet and attach it to the CD-ROMs when I mail them.
Other possible funding sources:
Because the estimated costs are beyond the $2,500 limit, I am going to submit this same proposal to Glenn Grant (Washington and Lee's summer research fund), and Middlebury College's Project 2001.
How $2,500.00 will be spent:
All of $2,500.00 will be used for staying in the Tokyo area for two months and producing visual images.
Estimated costs for 3rd year project:
Films (50) and developing
$800.00
Amateur actors $5 X 80 hrs(in US) $400.00
$10 X 120 hrs(in Japan) $1,200.00
Airplane ticket to Japan $1,500.00
Japan Rail Pass $600.00
Computer rental $1,000 X 2 months $2,000.00
House-sitting $2,000 X 2 months $4,000.00
Food $100 wk X 10 wks $1,000.00
Total $11,500.00