The Japan Association for Language Teaching

Nagasaki Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Nagasaki Chapter)

Nagasaki Chapter Events in 2008

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

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

Looking at Changes in the Center Shiken - Now vs. Then/Studies on Japanese EFL learners' demotivation.

Speaker: Michael Guest, Miyazaki University and Keita Kikuchi, Waseda University.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., January 26th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our first meeting of 2008, we are pleased to host two different but complementary presentations. Michael Guest of Miyazaki University will outline some important but often disregarded facts, features and practical circumstances regarding the Center Shiken in terms of its 1981 and 2006 versions. It will be argued that the current form of the test - in accordance with MEXT's stated intentions - could actually have a beneficial washback effect, one that could be used to foster the development of basic communicative competence. Discussion will focus upon how teaching for success on the Center Shiken might actually dovetail with progressive and/or holistic teaching methodologies. In the other session, Keita Kikuchi of Waseda University will draw on various studies concerned with Japanese English learners' demotivation patterns. Participants are expected to freely share their point of view based on their own experiences in classrooms so that we can understand this complicated issue together after the presentation of qualitative and quantitative research findings. All welcome!

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008

TPR-S, Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling

Speaker: Melinda Kawahara, Lindy Lizard's English House, Kagoshima.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., February 23rd, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our second meeting of 2008, 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. Our presenter, Melinda Kawahara, has been teaching in Japan for almost 20 years. As well as having her own school in Kagoshima, she is the author of the Lindy Lizard storybook series, which incorporates the TPR-S methodology into the story.

All welcome!

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Expendable Entertaining Educators: Roles of Non-Japanese Teachers of English

Speaker: Thomas Amundrud, Ritsumeikan University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., March 29th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our third meeting of 2008, our guest presenter poses several challenging questions. What are the roles that non-Japanese teachers of English feel they are called to play, both in and outside the classroom? How might these affect how these teachers are treated both in the classroom and in their institutions, as well as in their lives as expatriates in Japan? The presenter will share his research on these topics. Through workshop activities and discussion, the audience will be encouraged to share their own experiences to develop, complement and question these research findings.

For more information about us, please see our websites, or join our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3 All welcome!

Saturday, May 17th, 2008

Can we teach humour in EFL classes?

Speaker: Richard Hodson, University of Nagasaki, Siebold.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., May 17th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our fourth meeting of 2008, our presenter explains that "if you have ever tried to tell a joke in a foreign language, or to introduce a funny story in class, you will probably recognize the significant linguistic and cultural challenge that humour represents for learners and teachers." In this workshop, he will introduce a variety of materials that exploit the huge potential of English humour as a source of authentic language input and output, at levels from the sentence, to the narrative and beyond. Participants will be asked to be creative - and, above all, to have a laugh!

P.S. On another subject: if you are interested in presenting at the JALT2008 Conference in Tokyo, the proposal submission deadline is April 25 - good luck!

All welcome! For more information and details, please see our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or look for our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

Outdoor Language Learning/Dealing with student plagiarism

Speaker: Terry Fellner, Saga University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., June 21st, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our fifth meeting, our June guest offers two presentations. First, he describes and provides sample activities for a new methodology termed Outdoor Language Learning (OLL). In the other half of the meeting, he discusses how to deal with student plagiarism using a processed-based portfolio approach to academic writing. The presentation then offers an alternative definition that neatly defines plagiarism for the modern Web 2.0 world.

Full abstracts and other information available at our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group site, and shorter descriptions available at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or you can simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3

All welcome!

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

The 2007 MEXT Program: Outsourcing In-Service Training; The 2007 MEXT Program: Participant Insights.

Speaker: Melodie Cook, University of Nagasaki, Siebold; Yumiko Kose, Nagasaki Prefectural Uku High School.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., July 26th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our sixth meeting of the year, Cook will present initial findings from her research on Japanese junior and senior high school teachers of English who are sent to Canada by the Ministry of Education to receive language and pedagogical training. The presentation will focus on what kind of training participants receive and what they say they initially glean from their stay in Canada. Kose will speak about her experiences in Canada focusing on her studies at two universities in Canada; she will talk about her experiences in language training and in pedagogical training, respectively.

More information is at our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or look for our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3

All welcome!

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Stimulating Conversation: Thinking Critically about Current Issues

Speaker: Greg Goodmacher, Oita Prefectural College of Arts and Culture
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., September 27th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our seventh meeting of the year, we welcome back materials writer/teacher Greg Goodmacher. He explains that current issues lend themselves to activities that promote critical and creative thinking in English conversation classes. The presenter will demonstrate activities in a new textbook ("Stimulating Conversation...") that guides students towards developing their own opinions, creating unique solutions to social problems, and expressing themselves in English. This presentation is made possible with the assistance of Intercom Press.

Updated information is at our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or look for our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3

All welcome!

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Planned and Unplanned Speech Acts Using Yackpack/Practical Uses of Songs in the EFL Classroom

Speaker: Andrew Meyerhoff, Saga University
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., October 18th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 4F (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.)
Description: For our eighth meeting of the year, Meyerhoff will analyze the progress of first year non-English majors' speech over a five week period using Yackpack. In this context, he looks at speech differences between apparent planned and unplanned speech acts. Next, he will provide a short presentation and workshop on how to use songs effectively in the language classroom. He promises that he might even "throw some original (musical) material into the presentation."

More information is at our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or look for our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3

All welcome!

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

Interactive B-Learning: The next generation of ELT

Speaker: Borys Diakonow, Pearson Longman Japan
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., November 15th, 2008)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagasaki
City: Nagasaki
Venue: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 5F, Free Space (this is the large white building next to Dejima Wharf and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; take #5 streetcar to Shiminbyoinmae stop, or take #1 streetcar to Dejima stop.
Description: While published ELT materials will continue to dominate the language classroom, technology has undisputedly made significant inroads into collaborating with language education, resulting in "b-learning", or blended learning. This presentation will first bring you up to speed on what b-learning options have evolved over the past several years, and which are available in Japan, and then will focus on how to use b-learning to increase English practice outside of class, facilitate classroom management, provide continuous assessment, encourage autonomous learning, and support the integration of both language and technology skills. Please join us for our ninth meeting of the year.

More information is at our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagasaki.html or look for our Nagasaki JALT and Friends Facebook Group, or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3 All welcome!

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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