The Japan Association for Language Teaching

Kobe Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Kobe Chapter)

Kobe Chapter Events in 2003

Events archive by year:
2008 [7]; 2007 [6]; 2006 [10]; 2005 [7]; 2004 [6]; 2003; 2002 [9]; 2001 [8];

Sunday, February 2nd, 2003

Kobe JALT Book Fair

Speaker: various speakers
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM (Sun., February 2nd, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Kobe YMCA (between JR Sannomiya and JR Shin-Kobe)
Description:

  • Free advice: Get top-quality advice about the texts that are best for your classes.
  • Workshops and Presentations: Presentations all day starting from 10:00. See how the newest texts were designed to be used, and get practical ideas to take into your classes.
  • Educational Materials Exhibition: At the materials exhibit, ELT consultants from the top publishing companies will be there to listen to you and help you find texts to suit your needs.
  • Copies of Books: See a book that looks promising? Request a free inspection copy. Take it to work, show it around. Make the right choice for your students while saving money.
These are the presentations during the fair. (Note that they're not listed here in order; please contact Kobe JALT for a schedule.)
  • Accuracy vs Fluency - The American Headway Approach:
    Julian Warden (Oxford University Press)
    The presenter will discuss how to balance accuracy and fluency activities in the curriculum. Attendees will be able to customize activities according to their students' needs.
  • Games and Ideas for Teaching Children:
    Julian Warden (Oxford University Press)
    Attendees will learn how to use flashcards to teach vocabulary and grammar, learn how to teach short conversations.
  • Cross-Cultural Awareness:
    Neil MacGregor (Macmillan Language House)
    The presenter will explore cultural values and attitudes. You will be allowed to sample the lifestyles of ten real people from around the world.
  • Satisfying the Desire to ccommunicate in English:
    Neil MacGregor (Macmillan Language House)
    The presenter will develop learners' existing knowledge of English, guiding to fluency through carefully controlled activities.
  • A World of Resources for Teachers of Children:
    Katherine Mackay (Longman)
    In this workshop, the current teaching approaches will be explored through discovery of language, multi-sensory involvement and multi-learning styles.
  • Addressing Relevance and Motivation:
    Paul Rosengrave (Longman)
    In this presentation, two techniques to encourage motivation will be explored: to ensure learners talk about what interests them and to taech language for specific real-world functions.
  • Bringing Dialogues to Life - A Practical Workshop:
    Ivan Sorrentino (Cambridge University Press)
    This practical workshop looks at different activities to exploit dialogues to the full.
  • Plains, Locomotives and Karz-Vocabulary Pitfalls:
    Ivan Sorrentino (Cambridge University Press)
    This presentation gives particular attention to classic pitfalls for the Japanese student.
  • Global Stories-Building Confidence with Narratives:
    John Small(Kumamoto Gakuen University)
    This presentation will cover interconnceted activities that give students structured language practice. Dictogloss, shadow talk and summarizing will be discussed.

Sunday, April 27th, 2003

Is Comprehensible Input Sufficient for the Development of Foreign Language Skills?

Speaker: Beniko Mason, Shitennoji International Buddhist University
Time: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (Sun., April 27th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Shigaku Kaikan (five-minute walk from the East Exit of JR Motomachi Station)
Description: Beniko Mason will report the results of studies that have investigated the efficacy and efficiency of extensive reading and listening on the development of reading comprehension, reading speed, writing, grammar, and vocabulary. She will also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings of these studies.

Sunday, May 25th, 2003

Two presentations: (1) The Psychology of Difficult Students, (2) How e-Learning will Change the World

Speaker: Curtis Kelly, Heian Women's University
Time: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (Sun., May 25th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Shigaku Kaikan (five-minute walk from the East Exit of JR Motomachi Station)
Description: The first topic tonight is "The Psychology of Difficult Students." Every college teacher must face students who are bored, indifferent, and even hostile. While there are no simple solutions for dealing with such students, four theories in psychology related to motivation, moral development, and learning provide fascinating insights. The presenter will also explain how our pedagogy is based on the industrial model, and how radical humanistic techniques can dismantle the "wall of fear."
The second topic tonight is "Trends in Education and How e-Learning will Change the World." The presenter will discuss four trends that are changing the role of education in society. The first is centralization, which will probably cause half of Japan's to disappear in the next fifty years. The second is the adult education boom, which might save them. The third is a shift in pedagogical focus from content to process, and the fourth is the increasing availability of e-Learning, which in the end, might render the other three trends of little meaning.

Sunday, June 22nd, 2003

Recent Developments in Monkasho's English Education Policy -- Where Are We Headed?

Speaker: Kensaku Yoshida, Sophia University
Time: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (Sun., June 22nd, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Shigaku Kaikan (five-minute walk from the East Exit of JR Motomachi Station)
Description: As a member of two of the most recent Monkasho projects to revise English education in Japan -- the Super English Language High School Assessment and Advisory Committee and one of the research groups created for the "Strategic Plan to Educate Japanese Who Can Use English," -- Kensaku Yoshida will present his views on the Monkasho intiatives. Yoshida will also provide his views on the factors which must be considered in bringing about positive changes in English education in Japan.

Saturday, September 27th, 2003

The Joy of Teaching English in a Child's World

Speaker: Chuck Vilina, co-author of Magic Time 1 & 2
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., September 27th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe/078-241-7204)
Description: The world of children is one of vivid imagination, pure creativity, and boundless energy. As teachers of English, we have an open invitation to enter that world with the gift of a new language. With practical tools such as thematic lessons, patterned chants and playful songs, as well as activities that encourage cooperation, we can offer our students a joyful and memorable experience every time they enter our classrooms.

Friday, November 28th, 2003

New Directions in the Teaching of English

Speaker: Jack C Richards, Regional Language Center, Singapore/ Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM (Fri., November 28th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe/078-241-7204)
Description: This presentation by Jack C. Richards (part of the 2003 JALT Conference's Four Corners tour) examines changes that have taken place in language teaching practice over the last 30 years, and focuses on the following questions: (1) What are some of the key questions we have been concerned about in language teaching? (2) What did and do we believe and understand about these issues? To explore these questions, professional journals in language teaching for the years were reviewed and issues that were most frequently written about during the periods were examined.

Saturday, December 6th, 2003

Potpourri Meeting: Teaching Syllogism in Writing Class

Speaker: Yukio Hirayanagi
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., December 6th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Hyogo
City: Kobe
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe/078-241-7204)
Description: Yukio Hirayanagi will discuss what to teach in writing class. We are not fully aware of the fact that syllogism is not properly applied in our daily life. Logical development requires syllogism. In writing class, teachers can teach syllogism to students, indicating that monitoring in writing is important to confirm that syllogism is being properly applied. Thus, students can avoid creating an inference gap between a message sender's reference and a receiver's inference. Students have to check the credibility of a warrant in order to confirm whether or not a syllogism is being properly applied. In order to check the credibility, they have to shift their communication strategy from "Listener Talk" to "Speaker Talk."

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The Japan Association for Language Teaching
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