Fumiko Narumi-Munro (FHEA)

Lecturer in Japanese

Biography

Background

Fumiko Narumi-Munro teaches Japanese language to undergraduate students (Years 1 to 4) as well as being the course organiser for most of Japanese language courses and Year Abroad coordinator for Japanese Honours students. She also became the coordinator for the e-Learning project HANABI in 2009.

Since March 2020, she is one of the project members of J-YAP IUSP along with 6 other UK universities' Japanese Year Abroad coordinators to offer a support programme to the students whose year abroad in Japan were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She has been regularly nominated for the EUSA Teaching Award, and she won the EUSA Innovative Teaching Award in the academic year 2011-2012,  the EUSA Best Course Award for Japanese 2A, jointly with Japanese 2B, in the year 2012-13, and the Best Implementer of Student Feedback Award in the year 2018-19.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Responsibilities

Head of Japanese Language in Asian Studies

Year Abroad Coordinator in Japanese Studies (2007-present)

Mentor of Edinburgh Teaching Award (2019-present)

Member of Senatus Academicus, The University of Edinburgh (2018-2020)

Japanese Studies Peer Support Staff contact (2013-2020)

 

Affiliations

Committee member of the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language  (BATJ) (Seminar/Workshop Coordinator: 2020-2021; Vice Chair: 2021-2022; Chair: 2022-present)

Undergraduate teaching

Japanese Language Beginner (Course Organiser: 2018- 2022)

Japanese Language Post Beginner (Course Organiser)

Japanese Language Pre-Intermediate (Course Organiser)

Japanese Language Lower Intermediate (Course Organiser)

Japanese Language Mid-Intermediate (from 2019) (Course Organiser) 

Japanese Language Upper Intermediate (Course Organiser: 2019-2022)

Japanese Language 3 (Course Organiser)

Japanese 4 Oral (Course Organiser)

Practical Japanese 2 (Course Organiser)

Foundation Japanese Language 1 (Course Organiser: up to 2022)

Foundation Japanese Language 2 (Course Organiser: up to 2022)

Research summary

Her research interests include teaching Japanese as a foreign language, modern/contemporary art, in particular Pop art, popular culture, e-Learning and game-based learning.

Research activity

  • "Short Play Activity in Beginner-level Japanese Language course" (paper presentation in Japanese, online),  JF/BATJ Seminar on 'Using Drama as a Method of Education', online (March 2020)
  • Research in a Nutshell (a 1-minute video presentation on UoE's website): https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Fumiko+Narumi+Munro-Asian+Studies-Research+In+A+Nutshell-School+of+Literatures%2C+Languages+and+Cultures-12+07+2012/1_59vpycfn
  • Fumiko Narumi-Munro, Wilma Alexander, Akiko Hemmi, Helen Parker, Yoko Yamauchi (née Takahashi), Paper presentation (in Japanese): 'INTERACTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING VIA NINTENDO DSi' at the 5th International Conference on Computer Assisted Systems For Teaching & Learning Japanese (CASTEL-J), Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, 20-22 August 2012.http://2012castelj.kshinagawa.com/proceedings/Koutou/21/21_2_4_narumi.pdf
  • Fumiko Narumi-Munro, Wilma Alexander, Akiko Hemmi, Helen Parker, Yoko Yamauchi (née Takahashi), Paper presentation: HANABI project at ICT for Language Learning Conference, 4th edition (20-21 October 2011).http://www.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL2011/conferenceproceedings.php
  • Paper demonstration: HANABI project: games consoles and beyond at the 14th BATJ Annual Conference (9-10 September 2011) Oxford, UK
  • Online Japanese Language tutoring with Nintendo DSi console: Report on HANABI project and demonstration. Invited talk at Gakushuin University in Tokyo (11 July 2011)
  • E-Learning@ed2011 (April 2011): poster session
  • Innovating e-Learning 2010 online conference (Nov. 2010): Have-a-Go session
  • 13th BATJ Annual Conference (Sept. 2010): poster session

Publication

Narumi-Munro, F. and Pooley, M. (2020), 'Nurturing interaction between pre- and post-year abroad students', The Language Scholar, Issue 7 (2020), The University of Leeds, pp.141-155. https://languagescholar.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/09/Language-Scholar-7-YA.pdf

Hemmi, A., Narumi-Munro, F., Alexander, W., Parker, H. and Yamauchi, Y. (2014), 'Co-evolution of mobile language learning'. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45: 356-366. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12041

Project activity

J-YAP Inter-University Support Programme (March 2020-present): https://japaneseyearabroad.wixsite.com/jyap-iusp 

In 2016, a conference for Japan Year Abroad Programme (J-YAP) Coordinators was organised by the Japan Foundation. Following this conference, the J-YAP Network was created for university Year Abroad Coordinators to continue to share information and support each other to promote Japan Year Abroad. 

In March 2020 four of the J-YAP members got together to set up a support system to provide continued learning opportunities to the Year Abroad students who were forced to leave Japan due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers from 7 universities across the UK have volunteered to offer lectures/classes, lead group discussion groups and share teaching materials for these students. 

This initiative has developed into an undertaking commissioned by the Embassy of Japan in the UK (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) via the British Association for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language (BATJ). It has been expended to involve the BATJ members who wish to contribute to teaching and any student on a BA Japanese (single and joint) programme at a UK university whose Study Abroad has been cancelled can participate in the J-YAP IUSP. Y-YAP IUSP has also been awarded the Sakura Network grant by the Japan Foundation for a BATJ Project in July 2020. 

The programme will run for 10 weeks from Monday 5 October 2020. We very much hope that this programme will offer students the opportunity to interact with students and teachers from other UK universities and students from/in Japan. 

Current project grants

Co-recipient with Akihiko Shimizu of a Japanese Language Local Project Support Programme Grant (2020-21) and Japan Foundation Sakura Network (2021-22) for a project titled: 'Online Japanese Language Summer School for Prospective Students of Japanese Studies in Scotland' (2020-present)

Past project grants

"Handheld-device enhanced learning with Nintendo's Applications Beyond Institution and country", JISC Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant (2009-2011)

Co-recipient with Sakie Chiba-Mooney, Akihiko Shimizu, Atsuko Moriyama, and Helen Parker of a Principal's Teaching Award Scheme (PTAS) Grant for a project titled: 'J-YAP Inter-University Support Project' (2020-2021)

Conference details

  • "The Effects of the Summer Course for the UK University Offer Holders". The 24th BATJ Annual Conference. Cardiff University. September 2022. A paper presentation with Akihiko Shimizu.

  • "Japan Year Abroad Inter-University Support Programme - Beyond University Boundaries". The 25th Japanese Language Education Symposium in Europe. Leiden University. August 2022. Panel session given by members of the Inter-University Support Programme (IUSP) (Akiko Furukawa, Fumiko Narumi-Munro, Toshihiko Kitagawa, Kumi Casey).

  • "Development of a Virtual Year Abroad in Response to Global Pandemic: Inter-university collaborative teaching and learning in the UK​". The Year Abroad Conference. Keele University and Regent’s University London. September 2021. Collaborative talk given by members of the Inter-University Support Programme (IUSP) (A. Furukawa, E. Darrah, K. Casey, , M. Inagawa, T. Kitagawa, R. Koso-Kirk, F. Narumi-Munro, and M. Takewa).
  • "Legal Points of Consideration for Online Teaching: A Guide for Teachers of Japanese Language A UK case study"-. BATJ Presentation and Forum. September 2021. Collaborative talk given by members of the Inter-University Support Programme (IUSP) (A. Furukawa, K. Casey, E. Darrah, M. Inagawa, T. Kitagawa, R. Koso-Kirk, F. Narumi-Munro, and M. Takewa).

  • "Japanese Language Noh Project: transforming learning in Japanese Studies around the theme of noh", a paper presentation in the panel presentation "Passion in Stillness: the implications of specialized workshops for new engagements with nohgaku" (Helen Parker, Ashley Thorpe, Fumiko Narumi-Munro), The 16th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS), 24-28 August 2021. 

  • "Short Play Activity in Beginner-level Japanese Language course" (paper presentation in Japanese, online),  JF/BATJ Seminar on 'Using Drama as a Method of Education', online (March 2020)
  • Research in a Nutshell (a 1-minute video presentation on UoE's website): https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/Fumiko+Narumi+Munro-Asian+Studies-Research+In+A+Nutshell-School+of+Literatures%2C+Languages+and+Cultures-12+07+2012/1_59vpycfn
  • With Wilma Alexander, Akiko Hemmi, Helen Parker, Yoko Yamauchi (née Takahashi), Paper presentation (in Japanese): "INTERACTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING VIA NINTENDO DSi" (paper presentation in Japanese), the 5th International Conference on Computer Assisted Systems For Teaching & Learning Japanese (CASTEL-J), Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Nagoya, Japan (20-22 August 2012) http://2012castelj.kshinagawa.com/proceedings/Koutou/21/21_2_4_narumi.pdf
  • "HANABI project: games consoles and beyond" (paper presentation), the 14th BATJ Annual Conference, Oxford (9-10 September 2011) 
  • With Wilma Alexander, Akiko Hemmi, Helen Parker, Yoko Yamauchi (née Takahashi), "HANABI Project" (paper presentation), ICT for Language Learning Conference, 4th edition, Florence (20-21 October 2011).http://www.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL2011/conferenceproceedings.php
  • "HAnd-held-device enhanced learning with Nintendo's Applications Beyond Institution and country" (poster session), E-Learning@ed2011, University of Edinburgh (April 2011)
  • "Have-a-Go with Nintendo DSi", Innovating e-Learning 2010 online conference (November 2010)
  • "Distance Learning with Nintendo's Hand-held Games Consoles (HANABI project)" (poster presentation), the 13th BATJ Annual Conference, University of Reading (September 2010)

Invited speaker

  • June 2020: Introduction to Japanese Language- mystery of missing characters in Kana chart, Invited talk for Wine and Cheese Lecture series at Residence Life, The University of Edinburgh (online)
  • February 2020: Noh Project- A Holistic Approach to Learning Japanese Language and Culture, Invited talk for Wine and Cheese Lecture series at Residence Life, The University of Edinburgh
  • March 2013: Playing Languages, Invited talk for Wine and Cheese Lecture series at Residence Life, The University of Edinburgh
  • February 2013: Building and Using Online Communities to enhance Teaching & Learning, Invited talk for EUSA’s Inspiring Teaching event
  • July 2011: Online Japanese Language tutoring with Nintendo DSi console: Report on HANABI project and demonstration. Invited talk at Gakushuin University in Tokyo
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