What is JLTANE?
It is a professional association for Japanese language teachers and others in the New England region who are interested in presenting, exchanging, and promoting the ideas and skills involved in the teaching of the Japanese language.

A workshop is to be held annually at an institution within the New England region.

About the Workshop Chair
A workshop chair will be designated for each workshop,at least a year in advance.  The Chair must belong to the institution which hosts the workshop that year.  He/She will bear the responsibility for organizing the workshop, with assistance from the advisory committee.

The Chair's Responsibilities Include:

  1. deciding the date and site of the workshop;
  2. publicizing the workshop and soliciting presentations in an effective way;
  3. obtaining necessary funding;
  4. providing a printed workshop schedule to participants;
  5. confirming presenters, in a timely fashion, of their presentations;
  6. providing necessary space and equipment for presentations;
  7. making arrangements for lodging, parking, and meal services for participants, as long as this is possible;
  8. providing certificates of attendance for those participants who desire;
  9. confirming a new chair for the following year and transferring the pertinent information to him/her;
  10. keeping the workshop records, such as the mailing list of the participants, the grant proposals, and the expenditures, and submitting them to the secretary of the advisory committee after the workshop;
What is the Advisory Committee?
The advisory committee consists of nine representatives from colleges and universities and four from grades K to 12, including at all times the one who has hosted the workshop and the one who is going to host one the following year.  Only one representative from each academic institution may serve in the committee at a time.

The President, selected by the members of the committee, coordinates the activities of the committee in assisting the Chair in various areas. He/She also keeps the records of JLTANE workshops, providing a thread of continuity for the workshop.

The Chair may ask the President for the committee members' assistance at any stage of organizing and operating the workshop.

The term of appointment for the members including the President is three years, and one third of the members are renewed each year. They are appointed either on a volunteer or nomination basis. The appointments may be repeated.

Advisory Committee Members 2007-2008
Office
Name
 School
Term Ending
 President  Tamae Prindle  Colby College  -2009
 2007 Host   Wesley Jacobsen  Harvard University  -2008
 2008 Host  Hisae Kobayashi  Connecticut College  -2009
 2009 Host Wako Tawa Amherst College  -2010
 NECTJ Rep.  Tsuda Kazuo  UN International School  -2009
 NECTJ Rep.  Tomoko Graham  Noble and Greenough School  -2009
 Member  Kagawa Kiyomi  Tufts University  -2009
 Member  Nagaya Yoshimi  MIT  -2009
 Member  Naoto Kobayashi  Hall-Dale School System   -2009
 Member  Kazuko Ozawa  Wellesley College  -2009
 Member  Keiko Ofuji  Bates College  -2008
 Member  Masatoshi Shimano  St. Paul's School  -2008

Click here to see the committee members from earlier years.

Workshop Host Institutions and Keynote Speakers:
 1st      1986 Harvard University
 2nd     1987 Five College
 3rd     1988 Wesleyan University
 4th     1989 Connecticut College
           1990 skipped
 5th     1991 Colby College
 6th     1992 Middlebury College
 7th     1993 Trinity College
 8th     1994 MIT
 9th     1995 Brown University
10th    1996 Harvard University
11th     1997 Amherst College
12th     1998 Wesleyan University - Kuno Susumu
13th      1999 Connecticut College - Furuyama Hiroko
14th      2000 Bates College - Watanbe Suwako
15th      2001 Dartmouth College - Makino Seiichi
16th      2002 Tufts University - Noda Mari
17th      2003 MIT - Wesley Jacobsen
18th      2004 Wellesley College - Hase Mitsuko
19th      2005 Brown University
20th     2006 Wesleyan - Yasu-hiko Tohsaku and Kin Chee
21st     2007 Havard University
22nd     2008 Connecticut College
23rd     2009 Amherst College

Historical Background:

1986

The first  Japanese teachers' pedagogical workshop in New England was designed and hosted by the late Professor Tazuko Ajiro Monane (1939-1991) at Harvard University.  Professor Monane's goal was to create a regional horizontal support group for the hard-working teachers of Japanese.  At Professor Monane's clarion call, different colleges and universities started taking turns in hosting the annual workshops.

1992

Professor Rieko Wagoner (Trinity College) convened its first business meeting to establish an advisory committee which was later membered by nine representatives from different schools.  Professor Wagoner served as its first secretary.  For the lack of an alternative ideas, the workshop were then called "The New England Region Japanese Language Teachers' Pedagogical Workshop."

1997

Tamae Prindle (Colby College) was named the second secretary.  During her tenure, the organization was named the "Japanese Language Teachers' Association in New England (JLTA-New England)," and the title "Secretary" was changed to "President."  At this point, its first home page was created.

1999

The 13th workshop at Connecticut College hosted by Professor Timothy Vance made its attendants aware of a need for a regional vertical network ("articulation") which would serve as a link between post secondary and K-12 teachers of Japanese.  Also during this meeting, the Advisory Committee was expanded to nine representatives from colleges and universities and to four teachers from grades K to 12.

2006

For the first time in it's history, JLTA-New England sponsored its annual conference jointly with NECTJ (Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese) at Wesleyan University in June.

2007

During the 21st conference at Harvard University, the Advisory Committee changed the acronym of the association from “JLTA-New England” to “JLTANE.”  It also reduced the number of its members to six:  President, Chair of the previous year’s conference, Chair of the current year’s conference, and Chair of the next year’s conference, two representatives of NECTJ (Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese).  The downsizing to six members will take place in three stages, completing them in 2010.