JALT West Tokyo Chapter
Officers
President: Peter Ross
Facilities Chair: currently vacant - candidates welcome!
Mailing List Officer: Andy Boon
Membership Chair: Yoko Mochizuki 
Publicity Chair: Malcolm Sim
Program Chair: Andy Boon
Treasurer: Alan Stoke
Contact:
<westtokyojalt-owner@yahoogroups.com>
<wtokyo@jalt.org>
Upcoming Events
1
Third TESOL Action Research Mini-Conference
Professional Development for EFL Teachers: More Astonishing Research
Aston University, in collaboration with JALT West Tokyo and Tokyo Chapters, Abax, and Toyo Gakuen University invites you to an evening of presentations exploring task-based learning and communication.
Date
Friday 24 April 2009
Time
5:45 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Speakers
Andrea Little, Terry Fieldsend, Sarah Haas, Andy Boon, Alastair Graham-Marr
Fee
Free to all
Venue
Toyo Gakuen University, Hongo Campus (Tokyo), Building 1, Room 1302.
Access
To open an access map, click here.
Contact
To pre-register and guarantee a seat, email Andy Boon at <andrew.boon@tyg.jp>
17:45-18:00
Doors open
18:00-18:45
Form-focused tasks using semantically enhanced input
Andrea Little - Aston University
Terry Fieldsend - Aston University
Andrea Little and Terry Fieldsend will describe a small research project using realia (a miniature apartment) to target prepositions. Using Samuda's (2001) design framework, the research investigates whether tasks which illuminate areas of meaning (semantically enhanced tasks) might be effective in leading learners to notice a “gap” in their language, seek language input on a highlighted form, and then apply that form with a greater degree of accuracy and control as a result of their increased appreciation of that particular meaning-form relationship.
18:45-19:00
Break
19:00-19:45
The value of non-evaluation in the research and writing process
Sarah Haas - Aston University
Andy Boon - Toyo Gakuen University
It is well-established that giving/receiving feedback is an important part of the research/writing process. However, feedback is often synonymous with evaluation. This is not surprising, given that the established discourse of higher education is evaluative—ideas are moved forward by criticism and debate. However, in certain stages of research, evaluative feedback may not always be the most preferable. While not denying the importance of constructive criticism, Sarah Haas and Andy Boon will discuss how non-evaluative interaction may facilitate understanding for the individual teacher/researcher.
19:45-20:00
Break
20:00-20:45
Communication strategies: Why training is helpful
Alastair Graham-Marr - Tokai University; Abax
We often observe that, all other factors being equal, some people communicate better than others. Communication strategies are often the difference. Learning to use communication strategies is a matter not so much of education but of training. We all use and understand such strategies to varying degrees in our first language. The key is having enough experience to transfer these skills over to our second language. Alastair Graham-Marr will look at some of the L1 cultural interference issues with respect to the acquisition of strategies and suggest an explanation for differing research results between Asian and European studies.
20:45-21:00
Closing remarks
2
Professional Development Symposium
Input and Output: Toward Integration
We present a two-part workshop, a dozen presentations, and poster sessions, in cooperation with JALT Yokohama and Tokyo Chapters, Pragmatics SIG and Tokai University.
Date
Sat 25 April
Time
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Keynote Speaker
There will be a two-part workshop led by John Fanselow.
Fee
JALT members and Tokai University faculty: free
One-day members (i.e. non-members): 1,000 yen
Venue
Tokai University, Shonan Campus near Tokai-Daigakumae Station
(Odakyu Line), or a 30-minute bus ride from Hiratsuka Station
(JR Tokaido Line).
Access
To open an access map, click here.
Contact
<westtokyojalt-owner@yahoogroups.com>
Headlining Workshop: From a Distance
John Fanselow - Akita International University
In From a Distance, often sung by Bette Midler, the world appears beautiful, full of harmony and hope. At first glance, many of our textbooks, handouts, and quizzes appear well structured, comprehensible, and in line with some popular theories of learning. On closer examination, though, we can discover how our first glance shows only part of the picture just as a closer examination of the world reveals a bit less beauty, harmony and hope than the lyrics in From a Distance suggest.
But the words from a distance, ironically, provide us all with a perspective to analyze our materials and what we do with them in ways that strip away our emotional attachment to materials and practices we have grown attached to. All too often we are so close to what we do that we cannot detach ourselves and analyze materials and practices.
During the workshops, I will remind you of ways you analyze other aspects of your lives with detachment—from a distance—and how to apply this day-to-day analysis of what we do outside of our classrooms to what we do inside of our classrooms.
John Fanselow's main interests are observation and the analysis of interactions, both inside and outside of classrooms. Beyond Rashomon and Let's See, two of his seminal articles in the TESOL Quarterly, have been reprinted in many anthologies. He has served as second vice president and president of TESOL International, and president of New York TESOL. In 1987, he started the off-campus TESOL M.A. Program in Tokyo for Teachers College, Columbia University. Presently, he is a visiting professor at Akita International University.
Featured Session: How to teach listening and reading effectively in the classroom
Satoshi Tanaka - Tokai University
Featured Session: Language output: language input: A few universals
Alastair Graham-Marr - Tokai University; Abax
Featured Session: Increasing academic output with a writers' group for academic writers: Procedures and benefits
Sarah Haas - Aston University
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Recent and Past Events
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