Kitakyushu Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Kitakyushu Chapter)

Kitakyushu Chapter Events in 2007

Events archive by year:
2008 [10]; 2007; 2006 [9]; 2005 [13]; 2004 [15]; 2003 [13]; 2002 [13]; 2001 [9];

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

Cultural codes and the Immediate Method

Speaker: Bruno Vannieu
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., January 13th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: 1. How to break the barrier of silence in class

We all know that Japanese culture is not conducive to free, spontaneous expression in conversation classes. While it is helpful to know that general cultural factors are at play, this doesn't help teachers when it comes to actually conducting a class. Action must be based on more precise descriptions of cultural processes and simple, easily executable guidelines. The presenter will share the results of his research in this area:

--how to break the barrier of silence

--how to integrate pragmatic competence in our students' learning, helping them to sound natural in English (in effect, to respect the cultural codes that govern oral expression in English).

2. The Immediate Method at the university level

The Immediate Method is a simple and powerful conversation teaching method that was created in Japan in response to a challenging situation: (1) large classes; (2) low levels, (3) cultural classroom behavior style of Japanese learners. Its sole objective is to have the students learn to speak in a two-way, real-time communication: in short, to take part in conversations. Born in the context of French university conversation classes, it has been successfully applied to the context of English conversation teaching at the university level.

The presenter will explain the fundamentals of the method, show a class video, and introduce Conversations in Class, a new textbook based on the Immediate Method.

The presentation will be interactive, with as much time as possible devoted to questions and answers, and debate.

Sunday, January 14th, 2007

Kitakyushu JALT Hot Spring Social Event

Speaker: All welcome!!
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (Sun., January 14th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): 3,500 yen
Fee (One-Day members): 3,500 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kawachi Hot Spring (Ajisai no Yuu), Yahata
Description: The 3rd annual Kitakyushu Hot Spring Social Event will be held at the Kawachi Ajisai-no-yu Hot Spring Center located in the mountains of Yahata, near Kawachi Reservoir. We will be starting the meal portion of the event at 1:00 pm. The baths can be enjoyed both before and after the meal. The cost for this event is 3,500 yen and includes admission to the center and its baths, a delicious lunch, some beverages, and (of course) great company.

To reserve a spot at this year's event, or for more information, please contact: Dennis Woolbright, woolbright at seinan-jo.ac.jp

--All welcome! Bring a friend!

--Place: Kawachi Ajisai-no-yu Hot Spring Center (buses depart regularly from in front of Yahata Station)

--Cost: members 3500 yen; "One-day members" 3500 yen

--Website and access information (Japanese only): http://www.ajisaino-yu.jp/

Saturday, February 10th, 2007

Dialogue and Vocabulary Journals

Speaker: Hudson Murrell
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., February 10th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: Murrell will give a talk about journals in the classroom. Many people use vocabulary journals, and the advantages of different methods will be discussed. More important is the use of peer or dialogue journals. They are easy to create, the students love them, and they support learning inside and outside of the classroom.

Saturday, March 10th, 2007

My Share: First Day Icebreakers

Speaker: All welcome!
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., March 10th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: This My Share session focuses on preparing for our first classes with our students. What activities do you do with your students when you first meet them? Bring along your ideas and share them with others. This is an ideal way to get motivated and prepared for the upcoming year!

Saturday, April 14th, 2007

Writing Class: A great fun part of senior high school

Speaker: Takashi Inomori
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., April 14th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: When Oral Communication was introduced to Japanese senior high schools in the 90s, a great number of seminars and workshops took place to give ideas on how and what to teach in the new subject. On the other hand, when the subject of Writing replaced English 2C, not many high school teachers realized that they were supposed to teach a new subject. Even now, in 2007, the basic practice of translating Japanese sentences into English seems to occupy most writing lessons, just as it did in the 2C days.

Inomori Takashi and his colleagues at Meiji Gakuen High School in Kitakyushu have been able to encourage their students to express their thoughts in writing classes, as can be seen on the Meiji website.

In this workshop, Inomori will offer some ideas and strategies to make writing classes fun, and show how to help teenagers grow, not only as writers, but also as good learning partners. Each participant will be asked to write on a topic, let it be read by others, and have fun.

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Incorporating Thinking Skills and ESD in the FL Classroom

Speaker: Judith Johnson
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., May 12th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: Linking foreign language learning and thinking skills to the world outside of school is a practical and holistic approach to education. This approach can help students better understand the world in which they live and the importance of foreign language learning, culture and communication in that world. It can help them face the future with hope and confidence, knowing that they can play a role in addressing the complex and interdependent problems that threaten our future. In this session, we will discuss language education within the broader context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), focusing on the use of thinking skills in the classroom for the purpose of furthering sustainable development. Generic thinking and learning processes such as decision making, problem solving, evaluating and comparing that are used across all content areas and all areas of life will be applied to language learning and ESD. Bring your favorite textbook with you!

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Focus on Content: Materials and Techniques for Teaching Beginning Academic Writing

Speaker: Cindy Daugherty
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., June 9th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: This presentation starts with the contention that ESL textbooks for academic writing do not offer adequate instruction on paragraph development; rather they focus more on paragraph types. As a result, for many students, English academic writing is a style that emphasizes form over substance. While no one would argue that form is unimportant, it is of little value unless it is used to communicate original content. To unite the two, students need to combine knowledge of form with engaging material to write about. The material must be easy enough to understand, but also complex enough to allow for choices, both about the topic of the paragraph and the information that can be contained within it. The use of movies and graded readers as material for practicing the academic writing skills of summarizing and supporting a topic sentence with explanation and examples will be discussed in this presentation.

Cindy Daugherty teaches at Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, where she serves as the faculty sponsor for the E.S.S. Club.

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

The New TOEIC Tests: Understanding the challenges, preparing for success

Speaker: Grant Trew
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., July 14th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: The recent changes to the TOEIC have significant implications for both students and educators running test preparation courses. The first half of this workshop will walk participants through the new test format of the TOEIC (Listening and Reading) test, clarifying the main changes, and highlighting the implications for test takers and teachers. It will also present some approaches to overcoming the problems Japanese learners are likely to face.

The second part of the presentation will give an overview of tasks included on the new TOEIC: Speaking and Writing tests. The presenter will focus on the challenges these are likely to present, and the skills students will need to score well on these components.

Saturday, August 11th, 2007

KQJALT Summer Event

Speaker: TBA
Time: 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., August 11th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): 3,300 yen
Fee (One-Day members): 3,300 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Mojiko Hotel Beer Garden
Description: Join our annual summer social event at the fabulous Mojiko Hotel Beer Garden. Relax, eat and drink while enjoying the company of other local JALT people. Bring a friend! See you there!

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

Something for Everyone -- Regional Mini-Conference on Language Education for Children, Jr/Sr. High School, College/University, and Adults

Speaker: Various Speakers (TBA)
Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., September 23rd, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: Kitakyushu JALT Chapter and the JALT Teaching Children SIG invite you to attend our September mini-conference. The main speaker will be Dr. Tetsuhito Shizuka of Kansai University who will speak at 1:00 p.m. From 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m, there will be three concurrent 40-minute sessions which will be streamed according to University & Adult, Junior/Senior High, and Children. More information on the conference will soon be available on our website at , or email Dennis Woolbright with specific queries.

If you are interested in giving a 40 minute presentation, please send your name, contact details, and a brief abstract to Dennis Woolbright (woolbright@seinan-jo.ac.jp).

Sunday, October 14th, 2007

Poems for Mother Earth

Speaker: David McMurray
Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM (Sun., October 14th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: International Conference Room, Kitakyushu International Association, Yahata
Description: 10:00~12:00 International Haiku Workshop Theme: "Autumn Trees"

1:00~3:00 Traditional Japanese music concert by local artists followed by a lecture: Poems for Mother Earth & Awards Ceremony for the Kitakyushu International Haiku Contest

Keynote speaker: David McMurray, columnist for the International Herald Tribune Asahi Shimbun and currently at the International University of Kagoshima.

Kitakyushu JALT in cooperation with Seinan Jo Gakuin University, Fukuoka International Exchange Foundation (FIEF) will present this 2007 Kitakyushu International Week Event. The first part of the program is an International Haiku Workshop where participants will learn how to write their own English haiku. The second part of the program will consist of traditional Japanese music concert followed by a lecture by Professor McMurray and ending with the awards ceremony for the 2007 Kitakyushu International Haiku contest.

Please note the location

International Village Center, 2nd Floor, International Conference Room

1-1 Hirano 1-Chome, Yahatahigashi-ku, Kitakyushu City

Tel: (093) 662-0055

URL: www.kitaq-koryu.jp/

Contact the organizers for more information at haiku@seinan-jo.com.

Note: Lecture will be in English with simultaneous translation provided in Japanese

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

Two Christmas Activities

Speaker: Margaret Orleans and Malcolm Swanson
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., November 10th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: Experience two classroom-tested activities that you are guaranteed to enjoy. Besides fun, they provide practice in forming and asking questions, being creative, reporting, reading for comprehension, listening, guessing, and responding quickly. Spot the Lie (small groups) and Classroom Feud (whole class with possible small-group preparation) work well with junior high through adult students. Though we will be playing the games with a Christmas theme, they can be used at any point throughout the year. In preparation for Classroom Feud, we ask you to fill out an online survey by mid-November (URL to be announced).

Saturday, December 8th, 2007

A Wine, Juice, and Cheese Evening

Speaker: Kitakyushu National College of Technology students
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., December 8th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Kitakyushu
Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)
Description: Join us for a relaxing social evening to celebrate the end of yet another successful year in Kitakyushu JALT. Nibbles will be provided, so please bring along a bottle of something you'd enjoy drinking! We'll reminisce on 2007, hear reports from the JALT2007 conference, and plan for the year ahead. A nice chance to meet the chapter officers--old and new! All members are welcome. Introduce a non-member friend at no charge.

Also, Professor Hiroshi Otani will bring a team of three Kitakyushu National College of Technology students who will present their research on some possible ways of reducing CO2 emissions around the globe. They have been practicing their presentation as part of preparations for a national English presentation contest among national colleges of technology. Advice and suggestions for improving their presentation will be welcomed.

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