Greetings from Vice Convener
on Japanese Language Education and Japanese studies
The Society of Japanese Language Education Hong Kong first commenced the International Symposium on Japanese Language Education and Japanese Studies in 1994. Since then the Symposium is being held every two years.
In the past twenty-four years, thousands of scholars, educators and researchers from Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, East Asia, South East Asia, USA, Canada, Europe, Australia etc., have participated in the eleven International Symposiums on Japanese Language Education and Japanese Studies. Thanks to the continuous and unfailing support of various educational and research institutes in Hong Kong, the Symposium has become a widely recognized and high-impact international event in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, apart from the two official languages, Chinese and English, foreign languages such as Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Korean etc., are being taught at elementary, secondary and higher levels. One may say that Hong Kong epitomizes a veritable microcosm of a multilingual and multicultural society. Globally, in the current of unprecedented rapid inter-cultural exchanges among various countries and areas, foreign language education is also gaining momentum and flourishing.
The 12th International Symposium on Japanese Language Education and Japanese Studies is scheduled to be held in December 2018 at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The theme is "Changing Nature of Japanese Language Teaching and Learning in a Multilingual World" (多言語世界における日本語教育の変遷).
We look forward to inspiring presentations and reports from scholars, educators and researchers that will offer insights into the changes, innovations and novel possibilities of Japanese language education and Japanese studies. We also hope that the participants' active discussions and exchanges will contribute to the further promotion and development of Japanese language education and Japanese studies internationally.
Last but not the least, we are immensely grateful to Professor David C.S. Li, Head of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and his team in their dedicated support to the preparation of the Symposium. We also would like to thank all the Universities and Higher Education Institutes and various organizations for their tremendous support.
Maggie O. Y. Leung
