Sendai Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Sendai Chapter)

Sendai Chapter Events in 2004

Events archive by year:
2008 [10]; 2007 [11]; 2006 [12]; 2005 [11]; 2004; 2003 [8]; 2002 [9]; 2001 [8];

Sunday, January 25th, 2004

"Conceptual Metaphors" and Figurative Language in the EFL Classroom

Speaker: Fraser Gould
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., January 25th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free (also free for TALE members; TALE is Tohoku Association of Language Educators)
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (for non-JALT and non-TALE members)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: AER 28F El Solar Kenkyushitsu 2
Description: Native English speakers use an average of 4 metaphoric expressions per minute of "natural" conversation, yet figurative language is generally overlooked by EFL textbooks. For example, English speakers usually rely on the concept of Up or Down in figurative speech. This concept is related to the agricultural aspects of early English history. For example, I am feeling depressed refers to being pressed down on the land. This presentation will look at what George Lakoff and Mark Johnson call "conceptual metaphors", and how they can be used in the EFL classroom to help our students understand figurative language.

Saturday, February 7th, 2004

The "Reading is FUNdamental" Tour

Speaker: various speakers
Time: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (Sat., February 7th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free (sponsored by OUP)
Fee (One-Day members): free (sponsored by OUP)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: Miyagi Kenmin Kaikan, 3-3-7 Kokubun-cho, Aoba-ku, Sendai
Description: The program will feature a range of presentations on reading for teachers of all age groups and abilities. Sponsored by Oxford University Press; see the Oxford Kids Club event annoucement for details and links to the other cities in this tour.

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

Is CALL losing steam?

Speaker: Peter Connell
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., March 28th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free (also free for TALE members; TALE is Tohoku Association of Language Educators)
Fee (One-Day members): Non-members-1000 Yen; student non-members-FREE for their first attendance, then 500 yen thereafter
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: AER kenshu-shitsu 2, AER Bldg, Sendai
Description: At the JALT 2003 conference in Shizuoka, Peter Ruthven-Stuart discussed attitudes towards CALL within the language teaching profession. (CALL stands for Computer-assisted language learning). Ruthven-Stuart's survey clearly demonstrated that CALL is underused in language classes. However, apart from mentioning the inadequate training factor, there is no analysis of why teachers are not doing more to integrate computer-based features into their programs.
It would be nice to have a discussion about the cause of this resistance to CALL. In this presentation, Peter Connell welcomes the knowledge and experience of the participants in uncovering whether they have had success in motivating students through CALL. We will look at CALL's (positive and negative) influence on goals such as the following:

improving student assessment results,
stimulating communicative ability,
reinforcing the teacher-student relationship,
facilitating an independent means of learning.

Other goals that teachers would like to pursue through CALL can be elicited during the meeting. By the end of the meeting, we will hopefully have a better understanding of why CALL has not achieved its potential over the years and, subsequently, how this teaching aid can be more readily accepted in language learning.
About the presenter: Peter Connell is a newly-appointed English instructor at Tohoku University. His teaching interests revolve around CALL these days but he doesn't claim to be an expert.

Sunday, April 25th, 2004

Schema Theory

Speaker: Ian Pemberton
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., April 25th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free (also free for TALE members; TALE is Tohoku Association of Language Educators)
Fee (One-Day members): Non-members-1000 Yen; student non-members-FREE for their first attendance, then 500 yen thereafter
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: Asahigaoka Shimin Center, Meeting room 3 (easily accessible from Asahigaoka subway station)
Description: This presentation will be divided into two parts. The first half will be used to explain schema theory (see below) and the second half will demonstrate how this theory can be applied practically to authentic news materials to enhance comprehension and language acquisition. No prior knowledge of the subject is necessary.
Schema theory is a theory of the mental representation of information stored in memory, which attempts to account for the way information is comprehended and how new information is learned. It raises important questions about the way languages are conventionally taught and learned and about the content of many professionally produced language textbooks. The theory suggests that language should be taught holistically and without being separated from its context.
Ian Pemberton has taught English in Japan for 13 years. He is currently employed in teaching current affairs English to intermediate and advanced level students in a preparatory program for interpreters at Inter School, Sendai. The program exploits authentic materials from satellite TV and Internet radiobroadcasts such as CNN, BBC World, VOA and PBS.

Sunday, May 30th, 2004

Two Non-Profit Organization Projects in Japan

Speaker: Nancy Finley & Amihan April Mella-Alcazar
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., May 30th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free (also free for TALE members; TALE is Tohoku Association of Language Educators)
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: TBA
Description: Topic 1: Ms. Finley will discuss recent research on non-profit activity and design collaboration she has developed. She will talk about an upcoming event and workshop in Sendai, "The Culture of Body, Architecture and City."
Topic 2: Ms. Mella-Alcazar recently organised an Education Community Tour with a group of Japanese visitors to an indigenous community called Mangyan. She will discuss the outcome of this visit. Ms. Mella-Alcazar will also share an upcoming event in Sendai: the Torch Run for the Winter Special Olympics, which will be in Nagano in February 2005.

Sunday, July 4th, 2004

TPR ? It isn't that simple. English only? Is it that simple?

Speaker: Chris Cuadra (Shokei University) & John Wiltshier (Sendai University)
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., July 4th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students, but free their first time)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: Sendai AER Building (just north of Sendai Station) 28F, Dai 2 kensyuusitu
Description: We are probably all familiar with Total Physical Response activities but perhaps we are not so familiar with Asher's original theory and work on TPR as a methodology. And we are almost certainly even less familiar with what it feels like to actually be taught using TPR methodology.
This meeting will have two parts. First, Chris Cuadra will teach everyone using a language no-one is familiar with. For about 20 minutes we will experience firsthand how it feels for our students when we use only English in classes.
In the second part of the meeting, John Wiltshier will very quickly review the original TPR theory.
Finally the meeting will move onto a discusion of the limitations of TPR, the difference between 'input' and comprehensible 'input' and the desirability of 'English only' classes.

Sunday, August 29th, 2004

Discussion: Issues in Language Teaching

Speaker: Charles Adamson
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., August 29th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: AER building, Kensyuu-shitsu
Description: We will discuss current issues and trends including mixed ability classes, large classes, changing ability levels and other topics. It might be useful for you to think about this questions:
My classes would be better (or easier to teach) if ________.
What goes in the blank? Perhaps other teachers can share ways you can make it happen.

Sunday, September 26th, 2004

The Non-Native English Speaking Teacher in the Oral Class

Speaker: Ataua Aoki, Hitoshi Eiguchi, Michiko Masui, Toyoko Schimidt
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., September 26th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (students free the first time, and 500 yen thereafter)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: TBA
Description: Some people assume that oral language classes such as English conversation should be taught by NESTs (Native English Speaking Teachers). However, Non-NESTs have strengths that are sometimes overlooked.

Non-NESTs often better understand the various difficulties that challenge the learners;
Japanese Non-NESTs have come from the same cultural and educational background as their students;
Non-NESTs are examples of successful language learners, thus serve as effective role models.

In this presentation/discussion, four Non-NEST teachers of English will discuss topics related to these issues, including student and school expectations, the use of L1 and L2, and other relevant topics.

Sunday, October 31st, 2004

Double Session: (1) Holidays and Festivals Around the World. (2) Let's Get Physical: Warm-Up Activities Involving Language and Movement

Speaker: Steve Hakkarainen, Marc Helgesen
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., October 31st, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (students free the first time, and 500 yen thereafter)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: TBA
Description:

Holidays and Festivals Around the World
This is a good time to use holidays and festivals not only as a tool to teach English but also to develop student's understanding of various cultures. It is a hands-on, fun project where students can share learned information in an organized way. This short presentation will give you the materials needed to carry out a one-month unit plan consisting of four 90-minute lessons.
Let's Get Physical: Warm-Up Activities Involving Language and Movement
Why use warm-up activities that use both physical movement and language? Lots of reasons. They get everyone involved, make use of multiple sensory modalities, provide a break for classroom routine� and they are fun (and learners do more when they are engaged with the activity). This activity-based session will introduce a series of warm-up activities that involve language and movement. These are activities the presenter uses with university students.

Sunday, November 28th, 2004

Double session: (1) Reading. (2) Dyslexia: What it means in YOUR language classroom

Speaker: Ken Schmidt, Tom Warren-Price
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., November 28th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (students free the first time, and 500 yen thereafter)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: AER Building, 28th floor, kensyuusitu 2
Description:
1. Reading
  As they work through a text, fluent readers juggle an impressive range of tasks at varying levels of awareness. We'll take a look at several of these processes and discuss implications for becoming fluent readers in a second language.
2. Dyslexia: What it means in YOUR language classroom
  Around 5 percent of Japanese students have 'undiscovered' dyslexia. As they get older they can beome demoralized and far less likely to want to follow classroom-based courses. This presentation will address the basic implications of the umbrella term 'dyslexia' besides simply jumbling letters and discuss some of the 'secrets' used by dyslexics to simply get them through the lesson. Also, it will touch on what professions become involved when teaching dyslexic students.
Sunday, December 19th, 2004

Reports from the JALT Conference

Speaker: several speakers
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., December 19th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (students free the first time, and 500 yen thereafter)
Prefecture: Miyagi
City: Sendai
Venue: AER Building, 28th floor, kensyuusitu 2 map
Description: Attendees of this year's JALT 2004 anual conference held in November in Nara will report on sessions they attended. If you attended or would like to hear about the conference, please come and join this discussion.

Please note: The originally scheduled session for this meeting, 'Second Language Acquisition' with Neal Snape, was cancelled. Neal, who is currently studying Second Language Acquisition (SLA) in the UK, is unable to make it back to Japan this year.

Bonenkai: If you'd like to join our bonenkai, you'll need to email Tony Crooks and tell him if that you're interested in coming. Please include your name in the email!
- Bonenkai Time: 5:30 onwards
- Location: Vino Il Salotto (Wonderful Italian Food) (Chuo-dori/Clis Road, about half way between Daiei and Fujisaki, 1st basement, Parmcity 131 Building. South side of street. very near Tomoeya Stationery, Mos Burger, Pronto. Address: 3-1-16 Parmcity 131 Building. Tel 022-223-8216. Most people will go as a group from the meeting.
- Details: 3500 yen, includes 8 dishes and a 2-hour all you can drink nomi-hodai

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