The views of university-level Japanese instructors on incoming students for university-level Japanese classes

Prior to this study, research on articulation in Japanese Language in America was scarce. Thus, this study was designed to identify how college-level Japanese instructors view their students who have previous learning experience in Japanese.Sixteen questionnaires (Japanese Articulation Survey)developed by the principal investigator were sent to instructors who are teaching Japanese at The University of Tennessee and its peer institutions. Nine responses were received, and the results were tabulated and analyzed by the principal investigator.A condensed summary of the findings are as follows:1. None of the respondents had experience in teachingJapanese in pre-college level.2. Less than one third of the college students benefited from studying Japanese in high school by exceeding the first year of Japanese at the college level.3. There was diversity in evaluation of these students in their weakness and strength by the college-level instructors 4. There was little consistency in college-level instructors' views of which skills are most important for these students to possess when entering college.