Akita Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Akita Chapter)

Akita Chapter Events in 2002

Events archive by year:
2008 [5]; 2007 [6]; 2006 [8]; 2005 [8]; 2004 [9]; 2003 [10]; 2002; 2001 [7];

Wednesday, February 13th, 2002

Personal experiences in an International College: Thoughts on the successful elements at Miyazaki International College

Speaker: Al Evans
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Wed., February 13th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Miyazaki International College is a four year liberal arts college in Kyuushu. In this presentation, Evans discusses the background of Miyazaki International College and describes what makes it different from the average college in Japan. Evans then discusses some of the things he believes work very well in the program.

Saturday, April 27th, 2002

Utilizing the Four Skills in Textbook Design

Speaker: Todd Jay Leonard
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., April 27th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Todd Jay Leonard will speak on the importance of including the four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in all English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. He will illustrate how to do this by introducing four textbooks that he has authored with Macmillan Languagehouse (which are based on the "four skills" concept). All those in attendance will receive complimentary copies of the textbooks Mr. Leonard will use in his presentation.

Saturday, May 25th, 2002

Social Aspects of Communication and Their Relationship to Teaching English as a Second Language

Speaker: R. Jeffrey Ringer, Ph.D.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., May 25th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen (500 yen for a student)
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Most people think of communication as the transfer of information from one person to another. But communication is also a social process in that it is through language and talk that humans relate to each other. Insults and put-downs not only convey the speaker's thoughts to another person but they also attempt to situate the speaker as being better in some way than the other. In this presentation, Ringer briefly describes the social dynamics of communication and why he believes teachers of English as a second language need to recognize them.

Saturday, June 22nd, 2002

Effective Language Learning Strategies and Techniques

Speaker: Dave Ragan
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., June 22nd, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen (500 yen for a student)
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: The presenter believes that every language learner needs a portable recorder to collect and review her target language. Come to this workshop to find out why and how.
We will learn about the STARS vocabulary study system, the review cycle, and flashing all using the old fashion vocabulary cards. The presenter will introduce very basic mind mapping and some other useful techniques and skills. Prticipants are requested to bring a portable recorder such as a cassette recorder or MD recorder or one of the newer IC chip recorders. These relatively cheap devices can greatly enhance your language learning if used correctly.
About the speaker: Jarrett Dave Ragan Jr. is an Assistant Professor of ESL at MSUA. He has been interested in how people learn since 1975 when he first successfully learned Spanish. This interest led him to teaching English in 1978 and to brain compatible learning and teaching in 1993.

Saturday, July 13th, 2002

Teaching Culture

Speaker: Discussion facilitated by Helen Korengold
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., July 13th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen (500 yen for a student)
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Brembeck states, "Learning a language without learning the culture is a good way to make a fluent fool of oneself." How do English teachers in Japan approach this topic in classroom? Discussion facilitator Helen Korengold will keep the discussion going by injecting questions when the talking dies down, pausing for audience questions, keeping discussion on track, and preventing people from monopolizing the discussion.

Saturday, September 28th, 2002

The Corpus Linguistics Approach to Language Teaching: Trends, Directions, and Challenges

Speaker: Naoko Taguchi
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., September 28th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen (500 yen for a student)
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Recently there has been a growing interest in the use of language corpora and computer analysis tools for second language education. This presentation discusses recent developments in the field of corpus linguistics, particularly its applications to TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language). Some applications include:

descriptions of English grammar in actual context,
ESL materials development,
potential changes toward more authentic testing, and
descriptions of academic discourse in U.S. university settings.

This presentation provides an overview of these applications with examples.

Saturday, October 19th, 2002

DramaWorks presents PopStars and Star Taxi

Speaker: Kristie Collins of the DramaWorks Team
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., October 19th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: The DramaWorks team, authors of textbooks Star Taxi (2000) and PopStars (2002), demonstrate the use of drama techniques in EFL classrooms. This method has been used successfully in secondary and higher education, and would appeal to teachers in these areas. Both textbooks are stories told in 20 scenes of dialogue. They are easy and fun to use, and do not require any drama experience, props or special acting ability. They are complete courses, and include warm-ups, language activities and teacher's notes. They may also be used as supplements. This will be a workshop-style, participatory presentation.

Sunday, November 17th, 2002

Methods of Using Content-Based Instruction

Speaker: Kirby Record
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., November 17th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Akita
City: Akita
Venue: GH-300, MSU-A (Minnesota State University Akita)
Description: Dr. Kirby Record's presentation demonstrates methods of using content-based instruction with low-intermediate to advanced students. He will use segments from one or more films and show how these materials can be used effectively even with students with minimal proficiency in English for instruction in listening, speaking, writing and reading. He will then demonstrate how to teach American poems to intermediate-level to advanced students and how this instruction is also useful for improving the comprehension of English reading and writing. This also increases the students' sensitivity to the sounds and nuances of the English language and trains them both in logical and imaginative thinking strategies.

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