As director of the Center for Language Education and professor of Japanese linguistics, Yuki Johnson demonstrates a strong love for language and the art of language teaching. In an interview with The Newslettershe explained her work as a director and described her career and successes at Hopkins.
The Newsletter: What does your role as director of the Center for Language Education entail?
Yuki Johnson: The Center for Language Education offers eight foreign languages that are often labeled as less commonly taught languages: Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, Hindi, Russian, American Sign Language (ASL), and Sanskrit.
I oversee all programs, which means I supervise the faculty members who teach these languages. These are all language specialists. They are not teaching assistants (TAs); rather, they are full-time, professional language teachers. Because we are not a department, we do not have a graduate component and therefore no TAs. This distinguishes us from (the department of) Modern Language and Literature, which includes subjects such as philosophy and history, and all kinds of matters that fall under that. We only focus on language.
NL: What was the most successful or your favorite project or cause you were a part of?
YJ: Originally, our offices were spread across several buildings without any central location for the Center. Usually departments have a place in Mergenthaler Hall or Gilman Hall, but we did not have a central office. We even used to have a language lab on the fifth floor of Krieger Hall. It was a big room, but no one used it for almost six years.
We realized that the lab was no longer necessary, also because everyone has their own computer and can access all resources without hindering themselves. Our solution was to turn the language lab into individual offices so that everyone had an office in the center. We have become completely united. Everyone knows each other, people talk to each other; we have meetings, parties and generally have the opportunity to get to know each other better.
NL: How did you end up in this directing role?
YJ: I started teaching Japanese when I was 18 years old. At the time I was training to become a newsreader at a TV station. One day a government official came to tell us that there are many Vietnamese refugees, but they do not speak Japanese. Essentially, they needed someone who could teach the language. I decided to be a courageous volunteer and raised my hand, which started my path as a part-time volunteer in education.
It was so hard. My main subject at the time – besides this job – was physics. But I was so intrigued and tempted to teach my own language. I found it even more challenging than physics itself. Then I decided to become a linguist so that I could continue teaching language – specifically the two fields of linguistics and pedagogy together.
I came to the US to get my degree and soon a PhD. When I completed my studies, there was a (director) position available at the University of Michigan (Michigan). Since then I’ve gone to several places to fix language programs: places like Michigan, Harvard University, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and finally Hopkins. Here we have continued to organize and reform the language program since I came here in 2009.
NL: You teach Japanese language and grammar. Tell us about your work as a professor.
YJ: I’m a linguist, so I teach grammar, linguistics, and higher-level reading and language courses. I also teach Japanese to first-year students, even if it is only a grammar section.
It’s interesting to teach first-year students, especially since not many professors teach first-year students. Most teach higher level courses and let the TAs teach freshmen. I enjoy seeing the difference between the freshman classes every year. This year my students come from all over the world; they are all international students and only two people are native English speakers.
NL: What obstacles has the language program faced?
YJ: It is difficult to continue to attract students because they can now use artificial intelligence (AI). And there are also many people who watch anime, for example, and are already familiar with the culture and language. But if they come here to get formal instructions from us, that could be a problem. The number of enrollments has fallen drastically: for example, the number of Chinese students went from 200 to 100 students. I used to have at least 50 to 60 Japanese students in the early years, but now I have 28.
We had to let go of a number of programs; For example, we had to let Swahili and Persian go because of the registration problem. But this year we have added Sanskrit, which has three students. Even though it is small, it is a much more manageable size. We used to have 100 students in the first year of Arabic, but now we have 10 students. Managing that size is healthy and keeps students more connected.
The biggest challenge I faced was the enrollment problem, but another problem was finding good language teachers. It is not easy because theoretical linguistics, like Chomskyan linguistics, is quite exhausted and variable and does not produce many linguists who focus on grammar. This is especially true in my field: Japanese linguistics.
NL: What advice do you have for Hopkins students who want to get started learning a new language or picking up a language? What benefits does learning a new language have for young people?
YJ: Students should know that the academic level is quite high when it comes to language learning at Hopkins. The most important thing I have to tell them is: don’t miss a single class. If you skip classes, you will fall behind and it will take a long time to catch up. So that’s my advice: don’t miss any classes and just stay on top of things.
If you find that a language does not help you, it does not mean that you cannot master the language. You may not be compatible with that particular language. For example, I am not compatible with Arabic at all. I can’t learn Arabic even though I’m a linguist. I can’t pronounce a single word. It’s not that I’m stupid; sometimes it is not compatible. If you discover that incompatibility, drop it immediately before you get hurt.
After taking the course, I would say that you should at least continue to communicate in the language using technology. Use AI to develop your writing skills. You can write something and then ask ChatGPT to correct your writing. Keep working on it with every modality available.
It is very good for you to learn a language because it also puts you in direct contact with the culture. Right now you’re talking to a Japanese person who grew up in Japan – nothing is more authentic than that.
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