Dr. Andrej Bekeš
Professor of Japanese Studies
Faculty of Arts
University
of Ljubljana
I am a linguist, specializing in text pragmatics, and am a
professor of Japanese studies at the University of Ljubljana.
I have been with the Japanese Studies Program since its beginning
in 1995, first as the founding chairman of the Department of
Asian and African Studies and then as the head of the Japanese
Studies Program.
Our program has seven permanent staff members, a visiting
professor, and 150 undergraduate students, and we engage in
vigorous exchange and cooperation with several leading Japanese
Universities. I am proud to note that our exchange with Japan
includes a highly fruitful relationship with Tokyo Tech, coordinated
ably on the Japanese side by Professor Kikuko Nishina. The
two universities' relationship dates from 2006 and has included
a formal cooperation agreement between Tokyo Tech's International
Student Center and the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of
Arts since 2007.
Professor Nishina presently is the thesis advisor for two
graduate students from the University of Ljubljana who are
doing research on Japanese language teaching. We are cooperating
on the development of a computer-assisted language learning
system for Japanese language reading. That cooperation includes
studying potential ways of incorporating distant collocations
in the system. Professor Nishina visited the University of
Ljubljana in 2008 and met with people engaged in language teaching
there.
The University of Ljubljana is Slovenia's largest university,
with 26 faculties and 58,000 students. In 2009, it will adopt
a curriculum compatible with the Bologna Declaration guidelines
for harmonizing higher-education systems in Europe. The new
framework emphasizes interdisciplinarity and flexibility. That,
along with the general increase in exchange between Slovenia
and Japan, bodes well for even-closer ties between our two
universities. I look forward to taking part in strengthening
those ties. |
