Kitakyushu JALT Presentation Schedule
Our Upcoming Presentation Schedule is as follows. Check the current meeting information for more recent information, or contact one of the committee members. (NOTE: for reports of events already past go here.)
Saturday, 14 June 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Melinda Kawahara
TPR-S Storybook Fun
Come and experience the newest teaching method that's sweeping North America by storm: TPR-S.
What is it? Why does it work? How do you do it? For those teachers searching for something new and unique, this is for you!! Following the natural teaching approach, TPR-S focuses on teaching sentence structures through story telling. This workshop will use colourful, eye appealing storybooks for young learners as an example. In this hands-on workshop you'll experience first hand how your students feel when learning another language and also be given a chance to practice what you've learned. Fun, creative and imaginative for students, this teaching approach will have yours students anticipating their next English class.
Melinda Kawahara has been teaching English as a foreign language for the last 19 years to students of all ages. For the past five years she has been promoting using storybooks and story telling in the EFL/ESL classroom using the TPR-S method. She is the author of the Lindy Lizard storybook series, which incorporates the TPR-S methodology into the story. She has successfully passed three extensive TPR-S training courses in the United States and is currently the director of Lindy Lizard's English House where all classes are based on this method. She travels around Japan promoting this teaching method as a qualified teacher trainer.
Saturday, 10 May 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Stefanie Tacata
Gender Equality: Teaching Beyond Grammar
The inextricable link between language and culture is indisputable. English as Second Language educators must understand that their responsibilities to their students are multi-faceted. They are not only teaching a language, but redefining their students' cultural paradigm. Their job reaches far beyond grammar and vocabulary; manifesting into something much less tangible. Gender equality is a nuance of this manifestation, and therefore a significant component of teaching English. This presentation will provide a brief analysis of the international movement for gender equality, review current activities within the ESL and JALT communities that focus on gender equality, and provide examples of activities that might be useful within the classroom to promote gender equality awareness. The presentation will be based on both scholarly articles and articles found within the JALT archives. Moreover, both female and male students from Baiko Gakuin University in Shimonoseki, will serve as a research group via surveys and interviews. Although the control group is composed of university students, the presentation should speak to all educators, no matter what age or level they teach. As the world progresses into a more gender equalized sociopolitical era, so should our ideas of language and the way we teach it.
Stefanie Tacata is a full time lecturer at Baiko Gakuin University in Shimonoseki and a former lecturer of History at California State University, Fresno. She received her BA in history and MA in history with honors through California State University. Her academic concentration includes the history of gender, feminism, and sexuality in modern Latin America. She has presented her research on twentieth century Cuban feminism at multiple conferences including the Graduate Symposium on Women and Gender at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and the Women as Global Leaders conference in the U.A.E. She is also published in two journals through California State University, Fresno. Stefanie plans to continue her research on feminism and gender studies, and enter a PhD program for international/cross-cultural education.
Saturday, 12 April 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Yosuke Yanase
A three-dimensional understanding of communicative language ability
Despite the unquestioned acceptance of the term, "communicative language teaching" would be disoriented without a good understanding of the concept of communicative language ability. A relatively well-clarified theory of the concept has been offered by Bachman and Palmer (1996). It is not without problems, however, in that (1) the concept of its central competence "strategic competence" is not exactly clarified; (2) the role of the body is neglected; (3) the theory of communication is not explicitly considered. In this presentation, which is an extensively enlarged version of the JACET 2007 symposium presentation (http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/2007/09/three-dimensional-understanding-of_264.html), I will present a "three dimensional understanding of communicative language ability," in which CLA is represented as a vector whose direction and magnitude is determined by the three dimensions: mindreading ability (the X axis), physical ability (the Y axis) and linguistic ability (the Z axis). The concept of the mindreading ability is theoretically supported by the Theory of Mind and Relevance Theory.
Yosuke Yanase is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and TEFL at Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University. His academic interest includes philosophical analyses of English language education, theories of communicative second language ability, and qualitative analyses of English language classes. He is influenced by philosophers like Wittgenstein, Davidson, Arendt and recently Luhmann. He expresses his views on TEFL and general affairs in his English blog (http://yosukeyanase.blogspot.com/) and Japanese one (http://yanaseyosuke.blogspot.com/). He is a great fan of creative music of various genres from classical to experimental and beyond (http://yosukeyanase-music.cocolog-nifty.com/).
Saturday, 8 March 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Koichi Kawamura
New Ideas to Change Junior High Lessons
Since in most public junior high schools no more than three lessons of English are given per week, it has been really difficult for junior high teachers to teach a new language: English. Being one of those teachers, Kawamura had a hard time treating students who easily forget what they learnt but struggled to create a lot of ideas to make them concentrate on limited number of lessons. In this presentation he will share some of his ideas to change an uninteresting classroom into a lively stadium of fun, interest and motivation: super bullet input, self-evaluation, English salon, chain letter etc. Participants will be asked to take active part in his workshop pretending to be mid-teens.
Koichi Kawamura, a graduate of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, has been teaching at various junior high schools in Saitama over twenty years, during which he has tried great efforts to motivate his students to study English, especially those who already gave up the hope of becoming good at it. He has also been leader of a private group of English teachers in Saitama area called "Kyokason-juku" where he shares his teaching ideas and tips with young teachers who want to brush up their skills. In 2004 Kawamura's ideas were introduced in Japan Laim's DVD program Masters in English Teaching. This will be his first appearance in Kitakyushu although he has been giving dozens of workshops for English teachers all over Japan.
Saturday, 9 February 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
David Latz and James Burdis
Dichotomies and Issues in Japanese Elementary School English Education - A Tale of Two Teachers
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is implementing a comprehensive push for English lessons in elementary schools. As of 2004, MEXT claimed over The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is implementing a comprehensive push for English lessons in elementary schools. As of 2004, MEXT claimed over 90 per cent of elementary schools had conducted some form of English education. MEXT also aims for native speaker Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) to be present in the majority of English language classes in elementary schools.
David Latz and James Burdis will give a snapshot of elementary school English education, and encourage discussion on some of the issues arising from MEXT policy. They will present a timeline of MEXT's policy reforms for English education in elementary schools, and give accounts of their respective experiences in public and private elementary schools, and how English has been introduced in these contexts.
They will then open the floor to discussion of some of the dichotomies and issues associated with English in elementary schools, such as native vs. non-native teachers, team taught vs. solo lessons, and dispatch teachers vs. teachers as faculty.
It is the presenters' hope that the audience gain an understanding of the scale of MEXT policy, and an insight into some of the issues that will affect teachers and students, the effects of which could arguably be of lasting consequence in their educational lives.
David Latz is a Brisbane-born Australian who has been teaching in Japan since 1999. He has taught in a range of workplaces, from conversation schools to the university level. He is currently employed at both Kyushu Kyouritsu and Shimonoseki City universities. His present professional interests include the teaching of pragmatics-based conversation strategies and the use of the Immediate Method in university English classes.
James Burdis is a British educator who has been teaching English in Japan since 1999. He holds an Honors BA in Linguistics, and a Certificate in Elementary School Teaching of English and Maths. He is currently Senior English Teacher at MGSG Elementary School in Kitakyushu.
Saturday, 12 January 2008, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Marcos Benevides
Themed Tasks for the Communicative Classroom
Benevides will demonstrate a 'strong' task-based approach to communicative teaching. This will be based on his co-authored title, Widgets (2008 Longman), but will also be relevant to teachers seeking to develop their own task-based materials. Focusing on classroom practice, and featuring relevant video examples, the presenter will encourage teachers to view fluency-building, motivation and classroom management from a new perspective.
This presentation is aimed at teachers of young adults in classes of 12-40 students (ie: senior high school and college/university). However, junior high school and conversation school teachers may also find it informative.
Marcos Benevides is an assistant professor at Kansai Gaidai University. He has eight years of EFL teaching experience in Japan: three at public junior and senior high schools, and five at colleges and universities. He has presented at dozens of conferences and BoE-sponsored teacher-training programs around the country. He is co-author of Widgets, a new task-based oral communication title from Pearson Longman ELT.
Note that there will be no admission charge for non-members to this presentation - admission is free for all.
Saturday, 8 December 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Various
A wine, juice and cheese evening
Join us for a relaxing social evening to celebrate the end of yet another successful year in Kitakyushu JALT. Refreshments and nibbles will be provided while we reminisce on 2007, hear reports on the national conference, and plan for the year ahead. Bring a bottle of something you'd like to share with the other attendees. This will be an enjoyable chance to meet fellow members and the chapter officers—old and new! All are welcome, the meeting is free to non-members so you can introduce a non-member friend at no charge.
Additionally, in the first part of the meeting, Professor Hiroshi Otani will bring a team of three Kitakyushu National College of Technology students who will present their research on some possible ways of reducing CO2 emissions around the globe. They have been practicing their presentation as part of preparations for a national English presentation contest among national colleges of technology. Advice and suggestions for improving their presentation will be welcomed.
Saturday, 10 November 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Margaret Orleans and Malcolm Swanson
Two Christmas Activities
Experience two classroom-tested activities that you are guaranteed to enjoy. Besides being fun, they provide practice in forming and asking questions, being creative, reporting, reading for comprehension, listening, guessing, and responding quickly. Spot the Lie (small groups) and Classroom Feud (whole class with possible small-group preparation) work well with junior high through adult students. Though we will be playing the games with a Christmas theme, they can be used at any point throughout the year. Please take a moment to answer the Xmas Quiz; we'll use the results from the quiz in the activity "Christmas Feud".
Sunday, 14 October 2007, 10:00 AM &ndash 3:00 PM
David McMurray
Poems for Mother Earth
Haiku Workshop Theme: Autumn Trees
1:00~3:00 Traditional Japanese music concert by local artists followed by a lecture: Poems for Mother Earth and awards ceremony for the Kitakyushu International Haiku Contest
Keynote speaker: David McMurray, columnist for the International Herald Tribune Asahi Shimbun, and currently at the International University of Kagoshima.
Kitakyushu JALT in cooperation with Seinan Jo Gakuin University, Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation (FIEF) will present this 2007 Kitakyushu International Week Event. The first part of the program is an International Haiku Workshop where participants will learn how to write their own English haiku. The second part of the program will consist of traditional Japanese music concert followed by a lecture by Professor McMurray and ending with the awards ceremony for the 2007 Kitakyushu International Haiku contest. Contact the organizers for more information at haiku@seinan-jo.com
Note: Lecture will be in English with simultaneous translation provided in Japanese.
This meeting will take place at the International Conference Room, Kitakyushu International Association, Yahata. Admittance is free for all.
Sunday, 23 September 2007, 1:00 PM &ndash 5:00 PM
Various
Something for Everyone: Regional Mini-Conference on Language Education for Children, Jr/Sr. High School, College/University, and Adults
The Kitakyushu JALT Chapter and the JALT Teaching Children SIG invite you to attend our September regional mini-conference. The main speaker will be Dr. Tetsuhito Shizuka of Kansai University who will speak at 1:30 p.m. From 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m, there will be three concurrent 40-minute sessions which will be streamed according to University & Adult, Junior/Senior High, and Children. See the programme page for full details.
Saturday, 14 July 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Grant Trew
The New TOEIC Tests: Understanding the challenges, preparing for success
The recent changes to the TOEIC have significant implications for both students and educators running test preparation courses. The first half of this workshop will walk participants through the new test format of the TOEIC (Listening and Reading) test, clarifying the main changes, and highlighting the implications for test takers and teachers. It will also present some approaches to overcoming the problems Japanese learners are likely to face.
The second part of the presentation will give an overview of tasks included on the new TOEIC: Speaking and Writing tests. The presenter will focus on the challenges these are likely to present, and the skills students will need to score well on these components.
Saturday, 9 June 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Cindy Daugherty
Focus on Content: Materials and Techniques for Teaching Beginning Academic Writing
This presentation starts with the contention that ESL textbooks for academic writing do not offer adequate instruction on paragraph development; rather they focus more on paragraph types. As a result, for many students, English academic writing is a style that emphasizes form over substance. While no one would argue that form is unimportant, it is of little value unless it is used to communicate original content. To unite the two, students need to combine knowledge of form with engaging material to write about. The material must be easy enough to understand, but also complex enough to allow for choices, both about the topic of the paragraph and the information that can be contained within it. The use of movies and graded readers as material for practicing the academic writing skills of summarizing and supporting a topic sentence with explanation and examples will be discussed in this presentation.
Cindy Daugherty teaches at Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, where she serves as the faculty sponsor for the E.S.S. club.
Saturday, 12 May 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Judith Johnson
Incorporating Thinking Skills and ESD in the FL Classroom
Linking foreign language learning and thinking skills to the world outside of school is a practical and holistic approach to education. This approach can help students better understand the world in which they live and the importance of foreign language learning, culture, and communication in that world. It can help them face the future with hope and confidence, knowing that they can play a role in addressing the complex and interdependent problems that threaten our future. In this session, we will discuss language education within the broader context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), focusing on the use of thinking skills in the classroom for the purpose of furthering sustainable development. Generic thinking and learning processes such as decision making, problem solving, evaluating, and comparing that are used across all content areas and all areas of life will be applied to language learning and ESD. Bring your favorite textbook with you!
Saturday, 14 April 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Takashi Inomori
Writing Class: A great fun part of senior high school
When Oral Communication was introduced to Japanese senior high schools in the 90s, a great number of seminars and workshops took place to give ideas on how and what to teach in the new subject. On the other hand, when the subject of Writing replaced English 2C, not many high school teachers realized that they were supposed to teach a new subject. Even now, in 2007, the basic practice of translating Japanese sentences into English seems to occupy most writing lessons, just as it did in the 2C days.
In this workshop, Inomori will offer some ideas and strategies to make writing classes fun, and show how to help teenagers grow, not only as writers, but also as good learning partners. Each participant will be asked to write on a topic, let it be read by others, and have fun.
Saturday, 10 March 2007, 7:00 PM &ndash 9:00 PM
Various
My Share: First Day Icebreakers
This My Share session focuses on preparing for our first classes with our students. What activities do you do with your students when you first meet them? Bring along your ideas and share them with others. This is an ideal way to get motivated and prepared for the upcoming year! Attendees interested in presenting an idea, please contact Dennis Woolbright at woolbright [at] seinan-jo.ac.jp.
Saturday, 10 February 2007, 6:30 PM &ndash 8:30 PM
Hudson Murrell
Dialogue and Vocabulary Journals
Murrell will give a talk about journals in the classroom. Many people use vocabulary journals, and the advantages of different methods will be discussed. More important is the use of peer or dialogue journals. They are easy to create, the students love them, and they support learning inside and outside of the classroom.
Hudson Murrell is teaching at Shimonoseki University and Baiko Gakuin University in Shimonoseki. Research projects include dialogue journals, vocabulary acquisition, and teaching idioms. He is in his fourth year in Shimonoseki, and is married with his first child due in April.
Sunday, 14 January 2007, 1:00 PM &ndash 3:00 PM
All Welcome!
Kitakyushu JALT Hot Spring Social Event
The 3rd annual Kitakyushu Hot Spring Social Event will be held at the Kawachi Ajisai-no-yu Hot Spring Center located in the mountains of Yahata, near Kawachi Reservoir. We will be starting the meal portion of the event at 1:00 pm. The baths can be enjoyed both before and after the meal. The cost for this event is 3,500 yen and includes admission to the center and its baths, a delicious lunch, some beverages, and (of course) great company.
To reserve a spot at this year's event, or for more information, please contact: Dennis Woolbright, woolbright at seinan-jo.ac.jp
All welcome! Bring a friend!
Place: Kawachi Ajisai-no-yu Hot Spring Center (buses depart regularly from in front of Yahata Station)
Cost: members 3500 yen; "One-day members" 3500 yen
Website and access information (Japanese only): http://www.ajisaino-yu.jp/
Saturday, 13 January 2007, 6:30 PM &ndash 8:30 PM
Bruno Vannieu
Cultural Codes and the Immediate Method
1. How to break the barrier of silence in class
We all know that Japanese culture is not conducive to free, spontaneous expression in conversation classes. While it is helpful to know that general cultural factors are at play, this doesn't help teachers when it comes to actually conducting a class. Action must be based on more precise descriptions of cultural processes and simple, easily executable guidelines. The presenter will share the results of his research in this area:
- how to break the barrier of silence
- how to integrate pragmatic competence in our students' learning, helping them to sound natural in English (in effect, to respect the cultural codes that govern oral expression in English).
2. The Immediate Method at the university level
The Immediate Method is a simple and powerful conversation teaching method that was created in Japan in response to a challenging situation: (1) large classes; (2) low levels, (3) cultural classroom behavior style of Japanese learners. Its sole objective is to have the students learn to speak in a two-way, real-time communication: in short, to take part in conversations. Born in the context of French university conversation classes, it has been successfully applied to the context of English conversation teaching at the university level.
The presenter will explain the fundamentals of the method, show a class video, and introduce Conversations in Class, a new textbook based on the Immediate Method.
The presentation will be interactive, with as much time as possible devoted to questions and answers, and debate.