The Japan Association for Language Teaching

Chiba Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Chiba Chapter)

Chiba Chapter Events in 2002

Events archive by year:
2008 [5]; 2007 [6]; 2006 [5]; 2005 [5]; 2004 [5]; 2003 [6]; 2002; 2001 [4];

Sunday, February 24th, 2002

DramaWorks

Speaker: Theo Steckler, author of Star Taxi and Marc Sheffner, Tezukayama University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., February 24th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Chiba
Venue: Chiba Community Center (near Chiba Shiyakushomae on the JR monorail), 5th floor, room 52
Description:

    "Theater is a school where you learn while being entertained."
           -- Moliere
Teachers of spoken English face a difficult task: how to provide enough "comprehensible input" and practice, and also teach pronunciation, intonation, usage, grammar and paralinguistic features, while maintaining student interest? In most textbooks, comprehensible input is provided by dialogues. These are often pretty limiting, to say the least, and it is difficult for students to make an emotional connection with the content or the characters. Instead, upbeat, imaginative stories told in scenes of dialogue will be offered. The language is authentic yet simple and the scripts are short and fun with elements of suprise. The presenters will demonstrate how to use these scenarios to teach spoken English to teenagers and adults. Participants, acting as students, will learn how to use this method. Students love it, and it works!

Sunday, April 21st, 2002

The Role of the Japanese Language in Communicative English Language Teaching (ELT)

Speaker: Mike Critchley, Josai Iinternational University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., April 21st, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Chiba
Venue: hiba Community Center (near Chiba Shiyakushomae on the JR monorail), 5th floor, room 52
Description: The "English Only" position states that only English should be used in the foreign language classroom. However, in classrooms of language teachers who do not hold a strict "English Only" policy, students and/or teachers would use varying degrees of L1 (the first language of the students). Research into the issue of English Only vs. L1 Presence in the classroom is revealing a clear role for the L1 in communicative ELT. The presenter will offer a framework to help define this role as it relates to Japanese learners. Participants will be asked to share examples from their own teaching contexts in Japan, and will leave with concrete suggestions and sample materials.

Sunday, June 23rd, 2002

Child Development Tips for Teachers of Young Learners of English

Speaker: Aleda Krause, author of SuperKids and SuperTots
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., June 23rd, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Chiba
Venue: Roudousha Fukushi Center, room 306 (near Chiba Shiyakushomae on the JR monorail)
Description: This demonstration will examine small children's stages of mental, physical and emotional development, and introduce activities that both fit their developmental level and match the concepts they are learning. Young learners are different from others -- they're still learning so much about their own language and the world around them that they approach everything they do as a learning experience. We need to fill our classes with experiences that involve and challenge their growing minds and bodies. The presentation will also touch on reasons for doing these activities, so participants can choose those that fit their own goals.

Sunday, September 29th, 2002

The Struggle of Bilingual Families for Choice of Language and Identity

Speaker: Tomoko Ascough
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., September 29th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Chiba
Venue: Chiba Chuo Community Center (near JR Shiyakushomae momorail station)
Description: This study investigated

  1. what language environment bilingual families have, and
  2. what factors influence their language environment decision.
This study employed qualitative inquiry to obtain a holistic view of bilingual families' language policy. Five bilingual families, with Japanese mothers and English-speaking fathers, participated in the study. Three-year observations of the families, life history interviews of the parents, and reflexive journals were employed to triangulate the data collection method. The data obtained from this study implies the following:
  1. the mother's identities as English learners were reflected in their home language policy;
  2. The power relations of wives and husbands play a significant role for home language policy decision.

Saturday, November 16th, 2002

Teaching Vocabulary for Academic Purposes

Speaker: William Grabe, Northern Arizona University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM (Sat., November 16th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Togane
Venue: Josai International University, Togane-shi, Chiba-ken. Room G2-308
Description: In this workshop-style interactive presentation, William Grabe focuses on EAP (English For Academic Purposes) for reading development. The first part of this talk outlines theoretical ideas about vocabulary acquisition; the second part examines the implications for instruction; the third part explores real applications for instruction by working through how to exploit a specific text.
About the speaker:William Grabe is Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Northern Arizona University. He is also the author of The Theory and Practice of Writing (with R.B. Kaplan, 1996) and the soon-to-be-published volume in the Longman series of Applied Linguistics in Action entitled Reading (with Fredricka Stoller), and a leading researcher in issues of L2 reading, writing, and literacy. He is currently the president of the American Association of Applied Linguistics and was, until recently, the chief editor of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

Sunday, December 15th, 2002

My Share: Sharing Your Activities (followed by holiday party)

Speaker: various speakers
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM (Sun., December 15th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 500 yen
Prefecture: Chiba
City: Chiba
Venue: Chiba Chuo Community Center (near JR Shiyakushomae momorail station)
Description: Bring your best class activity, game, or warm-up and share it with us. We will also hold our Winter Holiday Party right there, so bring your signature party dish as well!

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The Japan Association for Language Teaching
Urban Edge Bldg 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016, Japan
Tel: 0352885443