Longing for the Shining Island

University of Kelaniya
MUNAKATA Minami

Sri Lanka is a small island country located in South Asia. Currently, I am working remotely from Japan and have not yet been able to travel to Sri Lanka. However, if you search the internet for Sri Lankan scenery, then you will be overwhelmed by its rich and beautiful nature. It is said that the meaning of "Sri Lanka" is "Shining Island," and I truly understand that.

On this beautiful island, Sri Lanka, there are approximately 8,000 people who are studying the Japanese language (Survey on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2018), and approximately 80% of them belong to secondary educational institutions. It seems that there are many cases of people becoming familiar with Japan via the products of Japanese companies or via Japanese dramas, and then they begin learning the Japanese language.

Classes at the University of Kelaniya

The University of Kelaniya, to which I am dispatched, is widely recognized as the central institution in Sri Lanka for Japanese-language education. In 2014, a Japanese-language major was established in addition to a general Japanese-language course. Students in the Japanese-language major learn more specialized content, such as linguistics and phonetics, and, when it is time for them to graduate, they must submit a Japanese-language dissertation in a field related to Japanese-language education, which requires students majoring in the Japanese language to have an extremely high level of proficiency.

In FY2020, all classes were moved to online classes, which forced major changes for both the teachers and students. Now many students are in inconvenient learning environments, such as only being able to access classes from their smartphones or having an unstable wireless signal. However, despite that, many of the students actively participate in the classes.

It was a fresh and strange sensation for me to be interacting with students only through my computer's screen, but, even so, it has been fun to discover that one student is good at cooking, that another student always notices interesting things, and the class period has passed by in a flash.

On the final day of class in 2020, there was a small surprise. When the class was about to end, the second-year students in the Japanese-language major turned on their cameras all at once and showed me a handwritten message. I had no idea when they arranged to show the messages together, but I was so surprised and happy to see them. Even amidst the very difficult circumstances in various countries, I am so very grateful to be able to connect with Japanese-language students remotely in this way.

Teachers' Association

The Japanese Language Teachers' Association of Sri Lanka holds regular monthly meetings, and at each meeting, there are presentations for Japanese-language teachers. From the end of 2020, their activities moved online. At first, there were many people who were confused or anxious about holding the regular meeting online, but, once they tried it, they realized the convenience of the online meetings, such as eliminating the risk of having to go out and making it easier for teachers from all over the country to participate.

Additionally, a Japanese-language study session using Zoom was started for the members of the teachers' association who are interested in the session, and three times a month we share the latest news from Japan and little bits of knowledge about the Japanese language.

Of course, there are some inconveniences, such as poor wireless signals, but the teachers' association is currently placing the highest priority on the safety of its current members and is continuing to explore what can be done remotely.

Future Outlook

In FY2020, the rapid spread of online activities has brought about major changes in Japanese-language education in Sri Lanka, and those changes are something that everyone, including myself, experienced for the first time. It's a very difficult and painful situation for many people, but I do believe that exploring what can be done in this environment will lead to further possibilities for Japanese-language education. So, I will put down my pen and long for the as-yet unseen "shining island" and its future.

The picture of remote surprise from the students
Remote surprise from the students

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