JALT West Tokyo Chapter
2008: Past Events
5
Micro-Conference #8:
Teaching English to Young Learners: Paving the Way
Presented in cooperation with the Teaching Children SIG
Date
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
Time
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Speakers
Aleda Krause, Mayuka Habbick, Hitomi Sakamoto, & Chantal Hemmi
Fee
JALT members and TKU faculty: free
One-day members (i.e. non-members): 2,000 yen
Venue
Tokyo Keizai University, Dai-ni Kenkyuu Center, Lobby
Access from Kokubunji station
To open an access map, click here or here. (On these maps, "GS" = "gas station".)
To open a campus map, click here.
Contact
<westtokyojalt-owner@yahoogroups.com>, or 070-5572-2882 on the day
JALT(全国語学教育学会)西東京支部と児童語学教育研究部会で開催する
第8回マイクロ・カンファレンスのお知らせです。このイベントでは複数の発表者が、
一つのテーマを紹介します。今回の探究テーマは、子供の英語教育です。
The West Tokyo Chapter and the Teaching Children Special Interest Group of JALT (Japan Association for Language Teaching) announce the eighth in a series of micro-conferences, each featuring several presenters exploring a particular topic for a whole day. The theme of our December micro-conference is teaching children, with presentations on global issues, young learners’ goals, the role of the teacher, the role of games, and guiding young learners from listening to speaking.
10:00-10:15
Doors open
10:15-11:00
Global education in EFL classes at elementary schools in Japan
Hitomi Sakamoto - Toyo Gakuen University
The presenter will discuss how to incorporate global education into EFL classes at Japanese elementary school. She will argue that thematic learning can help stimulate students’ critical thinking. An EFL class for children should, of course, be fun. But if it has meaningful content, too, it can be much more interesting and enjoyable, and motivate children to keep studying. Participants will be asked to pretend to be young learners and take part in a demonstration lesson dealing with a global issue.
11:15-12:00
Young learners’ goals and teacher identity
Chantal Hemmi - British Council
The presenter will report some of the results of an ongoing research project conducted at Morimura Gakuen Elementary School on EFL students’ and teachers’ perceptions of native speaker teachers and young learners’ goals. She will also discuss the results of interviews with two instructors on how they construe their identity as teachers. We will consider four important questions: (1) What are young learners’ goals for learning English? (2) How do they perceive native speaker teachers? (3) With the introduction of EFL teaching at elementary level, how do we perceive our roles as teachers? (4) How can our social and cultural identities and professional roles be manifested positively in the curriculum at the elementary level?
12:00-13:00
Lunch
13:00-14:30
Activities for EFL classes are tools, not targets!
Mayuka Habbick - JJ Fellowship
Songs, games, crafts and other enjoyable activities are often on the agenda in EFL classes for young learners because they help motivate children to attend class. However, having too much fun with games can distract us from the true objective, learning English. In this hands-on workshop, the presenter will guide participants in thinking about the theory and practice of classroom activities, while emphasizing how children learn. This will be a good opportunity for teachers with a few years of teaching experience to reflect on the value of what they have been doing, with a view to rethinking their approach, and freshening up their classes.
14:45-16:15
From listening to speaking
Aleda Krause - Seigakuin University
Listening is the most important skill for children studying EFL in Japan. Active, participatory listening tasks to introduce and practice language are absolutely necessary, right from the first lesson. Many speaking activities follow naturally from listening activities. The presenter, author of SuperKids and SuperTots, will explain and demonstrate five steps from listening to speaking. Come prepared with clean ears and lots of energy, so you can go home with many ideas to help your students along the path from listening to speaking.
16:30-17:00
Feedback from participants
An opportunity for you, the audience, to have your say on the ideas, themes, and issues raised today.
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Astonishing Research -
TESOL Action Research Mini-Conference 2008
Date
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Time
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Speakers
Mike McDonald, Andy Boon, and Fiona Copland
Fee
Free for all
Venue
Toyo Gakuen University, Hongo Campus, Tokyo. To open a map, click here.
Professional development for EFL teachers: Aston University in collaboration with the JALT West Tokyo Chapter, Toyo Gakuen University, and Oxford University Press invites you to an evening of presentations exploring the topics of research, writing, corpus, ethnography and linguistics.
17:45-18:00
Doors open
18:00-18:45
Combining general and genre-specific approaches to L2 writing instruction
Mike McDonald - Hosei University
Many English for Specific Purposes (ESP) writing courses follow a genre-specific approach to writing instruction. For example, students learn to write business letters or research reports by studying examples of the genre, identifying common features in the language and rhetorical steps, and then attempting to use them in their own writing. Mike McDonald will show how such a procedure can be combined with a more general approach focusing on discourse patterns common to many different genres, such as Situation–Problem–Response–Evaluation. This two-layered approach to writing instruction may help students to transfer their knowledge of a particular genre to a wider range of writing tasks.
19:00-19:45
The illusion of synonyms: Investigating the similarities and differences between bias and prejudice
Andy Boon - Toyo Gakuen University
This presentation questions the synonymic relationship between bias and prejudice as it appears in a coursebook task. Firstly, the two terms are compared using their entries in the New Oxford English Dictionary. The analysis reveals that the dictionary cannot fully account for the two terms and only offers limited assistance in guiding a user to an understanding of their differentiation. The second part of the investigation examines bias and prejudice as they occur in a 50 million word corpus of modern English (Collins Cobuild Wordbanks Online) to discover points of overlap and departure between the two terms. The analysis shows that bias and prejudice share an illusory synonymic relationship which begins to fade once the terms become situated in separate contextual and co-textual environments. The final part of the presentation discusses a number of implications for vocabulary teaching arising from the investigation.
20:00-20:45
Legitimate talk
Dr. Fiona Copland - Aston University
Feedback in pre-service teacher training contexts is, for the most part, hidden from view. 'Trainee' teachers receive critical comment and advice from experienced 'trainers' in an event that is rarely researched and under-discussed. Drawing on data from two pre-service teacher training courses for English language teaching to adults, this paper conjoins linguistics and ethnography to uncover the discourse practices of trainers and trainees as they discuss learning and teaching. The research shows that, for much of the time, participants reproduce traditional transmission discourses. However, other exchanges also take place that challenge the legitimacy of transmission talk and reveal feedback to be a place where the emotional and social are fundamentally present. The paper argues that talk in feedback is a sophisticated, multi-faceted enterprise in which competing ideologies and identities jostle for position and where participants who can play by the 'rules of the game' (Roberts and Sarangi, 2001) negotiate the event successfully.
3
JALT Third Annual Joint Tokyo Conference:
Exploring and Evolving Classroom Environments
Date
Sunday, October 5th, 2008
Time
9:45 am - 5:30 pm
Speakers
Rob Waring, Neil Cowie, Keiko Sakui, Kevin Ryan, Alastair Graham-Marr,
Tomio Uchida, & Alan Bossaer
Fee
JALT members
Pre-registered: 1,500 yen; others: 2,000 yen
One-day members
Pre-registered: 2,500 yen; others: 3,000 yen
Pre-registration
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. To pre-register, email
Andy Boon, Conference Chair, at andrew.boon@tyg.jp
Venue
Toyo Gakuen University, Hongo Campus. To open a map, click here.
9:45-10:15
Onsite Registration
10:15-11:00
Some ideas for blending technology into the ELT Classroom
Kevin Ryan - Showa Women's University
Where exactly does technology meet with the traditional classroom interface to make the most of a blended learning program? What kind of considerations are important in choosing, adapting and using technology as part of a skills program? How will the recent innovations of Web 2.0 affect use of IT in language learning? Do teachers and students (want to) understand and harness technology for the classroom? We look at some typical language learning software to show examples of ways technology can fit and fill instead of fight and frustrate.
Kevin Ryan has taught in Barcelona, Chicago, Nanjing and Tokyo. He began teaching in language labs in the early 90s, and has since moved most of his materials and approaches online, but still values the personal interface, especially here in Japan. Past President of the CALL SIG (twice) and editor of the CALL newsletter, Kevin is now taking care of JALT's money until November. See kevinryan.com for more details.
11:15-12:00
Exploring how to use a corpus in oral communication courses
Tomio Uchida - Meisei University
Making the best use of relatively challenging but interesting ELT course books, how can we effectively teach oral communication courses? Utilizing applied corpus linguistics, I will present some innovative ideas we can apply to listening/conversation lessons and demonstrate the use of corpus-driven learning/teaching materials. Through illustrating the pedagogical applicability of corpus linguistics methodology in preparing and teaching oral communication courses, I wish to clarify some practical benefits of corpus linguistics.
Tomio Uchida has been teaching at high schools and universities for over 20 years, and is currently a lecturer at Meisei University in Tokyo. His current research interest is in applied corpus linguistics and he has recently been working on learner corpora and corpus-based dictionary projects.
12:00-13:15
Lunch
13:15-14:00
Beyond motivation: Exploring group dynamics, investment and resistance in Japanese EFL students
Keiko Sakui - Kobe Shoin Women's University
Neil Cowie - Okayama University
Research on individual differences in student motivation often assumes that students are either motivated or not motivated; but this can cover up complex and evolving reasons for student behaviour. The two presenters critically examine student classroom behaviour from alternative perspectives to motivation including group dynamics, investment and resistance. Key patterns of student behaviour, the influence of social and cultural factors in explaining them, and implications for teaching and teacher development are outlined.
Keiko Sakui is Associate Professor at Kobe Shoin Women's University, Japan. Her research interests include learner and teacher beliefs about language learning. She is particularly interested in student resistance, learner motivation and classroom management from language teachers' perspectives.
Neil Cowie teaches English in the Foreign Language Education Centre at Okayama University, Japan. He is especially interested in emotional aspects of studying and teaching foreign languages, and classroom applications of socio-cultural theories of language learning.
14:15-15:00
Building an interesting Extensive Reading library
Rob Waring - Notre Dame Seishin University
This presentation will focus on ways to build variety into your extensive reading library by introducing both fiction and non-fiction materials as well as native materials suitable for your students. Ideas for student generated and student graded materials will also be presented. We will then discuss ways to present the library in such a way that would attract students to reading extensively.
Rob Waring is an acknowledged expert in Extensive Reading and second language vocabulary acquisition. He is Associate Professor at Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan and is a board member of the Extensive Reading Foundation.
15:15-16:00
The benefits of output: an evolving understanding
Alastair Graham-Marr - Tokai University
Does student output enhance language learning? Although most teachers would answer affirmatively, research results in support of output have not been unanimous. This talk will go over current and past teaching practices and look at how the related research in the field of Second Language Acquisition has evolved. This talk will examine how output not only aids fluency but also helps develop language accuracy.
Alastair Graham-Marr is a Junior Associate Professor at Tokai University. He holds a Masters in Applied Linguistics from Macquarie University and has presented extensively through Japan and abroad. His current research interests are communication strategies and output.
16.15-17.00
Do my students really know what I've just taught?
Alan Bossaer - Sapporo University
Comprehension checking, by definition, is confirming a student's understanding or knowledge of a language item without asking, "Do you understand?" Instead, the teacher employs a variety of techniques, which induce students to produce evidence of this understanding. This presentation deals with the skill of comprehension checking as it relates to the teaching and learning of vocabulary. The presenter will provide teachers with a variety of useful comprehension checking devices they can use in the classroom.
Associate Professor at Sapporo University, Alan Bossaer serves as the English Department's e-learning program director as well as material development coordinator. He spends much of his time designing course books and e-learning materials.
17.00-17.30
Coffee with the Presenters
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. To pre-register, email
Andy Boon, Conference Chair, at andrew.boon@tyg.jp
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JALT West Tokyo Chapter is pleased to present Micro-Conference #7:
Teacher Development: Perceptions and Reflections
Date -
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Time -
10:00am - 5:45pm
Speakers -
Dr. John Fanselow, Dean Charles, Clair Taylor, & Andy Boon
Fee -
JALT members and TKU faculty: free
One-day members (i.e. non-members): 2,000 yen
Venue -
Tokyo Keizai University, Daiichi Kenkyuu Center, Room 1310
Access from Kokubunji Station -
To open an access map, click here or here. (On these maps, "GS" = "gas station".)
To open a campus map, click here.
Contact -
<westtokyojalt-owner@yahoogroups.com>,
or 070-5572-2882 on the day
The West Tokyo Chapter and Tokyo Chapter announce the seventh in a series of micro-conferences, each featuring several presenters exploring a particular topic for a whole day. The theme of this conference is teacher development through neuro-linguistic processing, action research, reflective practice and transcript analysis.
JALT(全国語学教育学会)西東京支部と東京支部が共同で開催する
第7回マイクロ・コンファレンスのお知らせです。今回も複数の発表者が、
一つのトピックを探求します。4月のテーマは、脳の言語機能を解明する
神経言語学的処理のＮＬＰなどを通じた教師の成長を紹介します。
10:00-10:15
Doors open
10:15-12:15
NLP and Teacher Perception
Dean Charles - British Council
Neuro-linguistic programming is an attitude of mind that can be used to maximise and consistently apply best practice, as human beings in general and as teachers in particular. In this workshop we will look at the teaching experience through the stages of lesson planning/preparation, being in the learning environment and post-lesson reflection. Applying NLP, we will examine how to develop the teaching skills that we have in these areas and attain the teaching skills that we don't yet have. The workshop will be practical and will supply participants with an NLP 'starter kit' for further research into their own teaching practice.
12:15-13:15
Lunch
13:15-14:00
Your Baseline Teaching State
Clair Taylor - Toyo Gakuen University
In humanistic approaches to teaching ‘state’ is central. Your 'state' includes the way you are thinking, feeling, holding your body and breathing at any time. This state can affect your students and their participation and output in your classes. In this presentation, I will summarize the results of an action research project showing how teacher state change led to improved conversational flow in an English Lounge setting. I will invite participants to explore their own baseline teaching state and experiment with a state change activity.
14:15-15:00
On Becoming Reflective
Andy Boon - Toyo Gakuen University
In the act of teaching, we have little time to reflect on the successes, failures or puzzles that occur within our classes, and valuable opportunities for gaining insights into our pedagogic practice can be lost. There is a need, therefore, for practical ways to help us think back, to explore these experiences more deeply, and to discover what is actually happening in our classrooms. This presentation discusses the process of becoming reflective and examines a number of strategies that can be used by teachers to facilitate critical reflection on their teaching and discover new possibilities there.
15:15-17:15
Take 1, Take 2, Take 3
Dr. John Fanselow - Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, Teachers College, U.S.A.
Authors of articles about classroom interaction tend to present only one interpretation of the transcripts they analyze. However, when I asked a range of ESOL/EFL teachers to interpret 3 transcripts from articles on classroom interaction, no one interpreted them in the same way the authors did. We should not be surprised that we all see data differently. When different people experience dialog in plays and movies, they tend to interpret the interactions in a range of ways. Why should it be any different for the conversations in our classrooms? In this workshop, I will present the 3 transcripts, as well as a 3-stage process for moving beyond one-dimensional interpretations. I will also invite participants to apply the process to a dialog between a teacher and a supervisor so that each person can better understand the 3-stage process, and to show how analyzing transcripts of teacher/supervisor interaction can facilitate professional development.
1
The Third Kanto Junior and Senior High School Teacher Seminar 2008
Date: Sunday, 27 January 2008
Sponsored by: West Tokyo JALT, Tokyo JALT, Cambridge University Press, University of Cambridge ESOL Foundation, and the British Council.
Featured Speakers: Yumiko Akeba, Ivan Sorrentino, Nick Kendall, Roger Pattimore, Carolyn Pieroway, Jake Arnold, Richard Walker, Thomas Hardy and Stewart Dorward.
Time: 9:45 a.m. - 5:20 p.m.
Venue: British Council, Tokyo
Cost: Free
Contact: 03-3295-5875 or japanelt@cambridge.org
Abstract: The sponsors welcome you to the British Council for a full day of presentations on themes relevant to all involved in teaching at the high school level. This is a great opportunity to see prominent authors, find out about global exams, contact teacher organizations, and network with other professionals in the same line of work.
