A language assistant (LA) program was introduced into a university-level Japanese program. The LAs in this program consisted of Japanese study abroad students, that is English as a second language students, coming to study from Japanese universities for either one semester or one academic year, as well as American learners returning from a one-year academic study abroad program in Japan. In the southeastern region of the United States, the Japanese language is not yet considered a major foreign language, thus few opportunities exist for American learners to connect with native speakers of Japanese. The LA program endeavors to ease this limitation. It has been extremely beneficial for our American learners to have opportunities to communicate regularly with Japanese study abroad students in the classrooms. Furthermore, it was found tremendously valuable for Japanese study abroad students and greatly helpful for the instructors as well. This paper describes the procedures and examines the effectiveness of introducing an LA program into Japanese language classes. To analyze the program, questionnaires were distributed to LAs (N=20); five department instructors wrote comments concerning the program; and five Japanese language learners submitted reflection papers. Analyses of the qualitative data indicate that the LA program has many advantages for everyone participating.

中文翻译：

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集成语言助手的创新：协作学习

语言辅助（LA）程序已引入大学水平的日语程序中。该计划的LA包括日本留学学生，即英语作为第二语言的学生，从日本大学学习一个学期或一个学年，以及从国外学习一年后返回的美国学习者日本的节目。在美国东南部地区，日语尚未被认为是主要的外语，因此，美国学习者与日语为母语的人交流的机会很少。洛杉矶计划致力于减轻这一限制。对于我们的美国学习者来说，有机会与教室中的日本留学生定期交流非常有益。此外，它被发现对日本留学的学生非常有价值，对指导老师也有很大的帮助。本文介绍了这些程序，并研究了将LA程序引入日语课程的有效性。为了分析该计划，将调查表分发给洛杉矶（N = 20）；五名部门讲师对此计划发表了评论；五位日语学习者提交了反思论文。对定性数据的分析表明，洛杉矶计划对每个参加者都有很多优势。五名部门讲师对此计划发表了评论；五位日语学习者提交了反思论文。对定性数据的分析表明，洛杉矶计划对每个参加者都有很多优势。五名部门讲师对此计划发表了评论；五位日语学习者提交了反思论文。对定性数据的分析表明，洛杉矶计划对每个参加者都有很多优势。