April 30, 2007

A senior Lyon College history major has been accepted into a Japanese consulate program that employs foreign, degree-holding individuals as conversational English teachers to Japanese schoolchildren.

Tristen Dean will travel to Japan this summer to take part in the Japan Exchange and Teaching program (JET), where participants serve in local authorities as well as public and private junior and senior high schools.

Mieko U. Peek, instructor of Japanese language and literature at Lyon, said the first group of participants will arrive in Japan in late July to have a three-day orientation in Tokyo. Dean will leave in August.

There are three types of positions offered by the JET program, including Assistant Language Teacher, Coordinator for International Relations, and Sports Exchange Advisor.

Dean will be an Assistant Language Teacher. These participants are placed mainly in local boards of education or public junior and senior high schools.

Coordinator for International Relations participants are engaged in internationalization activities, and are placed in offices of local authorities or related organizations.

Sports Exchange Advisor participants promote international exchange activities through certain designated sports. They are generally placed in sporting facilities or boards of education from which they assist in sports training.

Dean said he’s eager to land on Japanese soil.

"I’m looking forward to this culturally rewarding experience, particularly the chance to examine many aspects of my native tongue that as a native speaker I often overlook and discount," he said. "I’m also really looking forward to learning more about the Japanese language, its culture, and especially having the chance to advance my interest in kendo and Iaido at a Japanese dojo."

"I’d like to thank Peek-sensei for all her hard work and devotion to the educational advancement of her students," he said. "I owe my success to her."

Though Dean is Peek’s first Lyon student to take part in JET, three of her students during her tenure at Louisiana State University in Shreveport did participant in the program.

"Since I started teaching at Lyon in 2002, there were always one or two students who were interested in the JET every year, but they did not meet the deadline, which is the first week of December." Peek said. "Hopefully more students from Lyon College will finish application forms by the middle of November so that I can review all of them. The JET Program is a great opportunity for our students to expand their horizon."

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program is designed to promote mutual understanding between Japan and other nations. The program aims to enhance foreign language education in Japan, and to promote international exchange at the local level by fostering ties between Japanese youth and foreign youth.

The program started in 1987, and 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of the program. As of 2006, there are 5,508, participants in the program from 44 countries.

Participants are invited to Japan as representatives of their countries and are expected to be responsible in all of their activities, especially those concerning the promotion of mutual understanding between nations. It is desirable that participants are adaptable and have a positive interest in Japan.

In 2005, Lyon College, one of only four colleges or universities in the state to offer Japanese studies, implemented an exchange agreement with Akita International University in Japan.

Currently, Japanese students Eri Kasai, Tomoko Iwasaki, Ran Tsurumaki, Miho Yonaga, Kazuya Watanabe and Kyota Ishikida are participating in the student exchange agreement between Lyon and AIU.

Last year, Dean hit another milestone when he passed Level Four of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, administered by the Japan Foundation and the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services. Each test is made up of three sections: Writing-vocabulary, listening and reading-grammar.

To learn more about the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, go to: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/JETProgram/homepage.html. For more information on Japanese studies at Lyon College, contact Mieko Peek at (870) 793-1790, or e-mail her at: mpeek@lyon.edu.