1. "Indian tourists in Lucerne" Since the Tourist Board of Central Switzerland had problems accommodating Indian tourists, Intercultural Communication Training was used in this actual case study.
2. "Managing Multicultural Teams" is a research project between the Swiss government, two universities and four major companies. According to research, multicultural teams are either less effective or more effective than homogeneous teams. This research project can demonstrate how highly effective teams have overcome their (cultural) problems.

Profile of the Presenter:
Samuel K. van den Bergh is Professor at Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland, where he has been the director of the Centre for Cross-cultural Competence since May 2000. His main focus is training in postgraduate studies such as international management, tourism and management, communication as well as training management of internationally operating companies. He specializes in cross-cultural awareness, international team and trust building as well as assessing and testing. His main field of research is "Multicultural Teams".

Afternoon Program(1): 1:30-4:30

Topic:
Korean Immersion in Japan--Kindergarten Years

Presenter:
Dr. Emiko Yukawa
Associate Professor of Kyoto Notre Dame University

Language:
Japanese

Description of the Presentation:
Koreans are the largest minority in Japan, and the Korean language has the longest and largest heritage language program with 142 schools organized by Chongryun (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan).

This study investigated Korean language instruction in the immersion setting of today's Korean schools. Although Chongryun schools are often discussed in terms of political and social points of view, they were rarely investigated in terms of pedagogy and language acquisition. Due to the lack of political relationship between Japan and North Korea, and due to the Chongryun affiliation with North Korea, bilingual education in Chongryun schools has always been a politically sensitive issue, and a difficult research site to obtain entry into for non-Chongryun members. This study reports on research conducted at several kindergartens which sheds light on teacher and student language ability and use at home and in school, and beliefs about Korean language pedagogy and language use.

Profile of the Presenter:
Emiko Yukawa graduated from Kyoto Prefectural University, has an MA in ESL from the University of Hawaii and a Ph.D in Applied Linguistics from Stockholm University. She is Associate Professor of Kyoto Notre Dame University, and her research interests include second language acquisition, language attrition, bilingual education, and teaching English at the elementary school level.

Afternoon Program(2): 1:30-4:30

Topic:
Educational Options for Multicultural Children in Japan

Presenter:
Prof.Amanda Gillis-Furutaka
Lecturer, Kyoto Sangyo University

Language:
Enlgish

Description of the Presentation:
In Japan raising children with a multicultural background presents challenges for parents, not the least of which concerns education. In this talk the educational options currently available will be discussed. These educational choices include home schooling, alternative schools, international schools, hybrid Japanese/international schools, schools overseas, and Japanese public schools. The pros and cons of choosing one route or another, or switching from one system to another will be discussed.

Profile of the Presenter:
Amanda Furutaka-Gillis was born and educated in the UK. She has a B.A from Exeter University, a Post Graduate Teaching Diploma in TESL from Leeds University and an M.A. in TEFL from Birmingham University. She is currently a tutor for the Birmingham M.A. TEFL Distance programme. Furutaka-Gillis is a full-time lecturer in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Kyoto Sangyo University and is the editor of "Bilingual Japan," the bimonthly newsletter of the Bilingualism Special Interest group of Japan Association of Language Teaching (JALT). Her research interests are bilingual development and education.