Kumamoto Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Kumamoto Chapter)

Kumamoto Chapter Events in 2001

Events archive by year:
2004 [1]; 2003 [6]; 2002 [5]; 2001;

Saturday, March 17th, 2001

Stories from the Heart

Speaker: Curtis Kelly, Heian Women's University
Time: 6:00 PM - 6:50 PM (Sat., March 17th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free (Sponsored by Cambridge University Press)
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto Shimin Kaikan (Room 7 on the second floor)
Description: Stories are magic. If you have ever told them in the classroom, then you know their power. They are more comprehensible than any other format, and they touch the learner's heart. As one college student wrote: "The story makes me grow up every time." Let us explore the power of stories together: why they appeal to us and how you can use them to humanize your class. In addition to some general theories, the presenter will give you some heart-warming stories to try out yourself. About the presenter: Curtis Kelly, a 20-year resident of Japan, is the author Cambridge's new composition textbook, Writing from Within. He has also written Significant Scribbles, Basics in Writing, The Snoop Detective Conversation Book, and other textbooks. He is a professor of English at Heian Women's University and is currently finishing a doctorate on web-based training and adult education.

Teaching Writing

Speaker: Curtis Kelly, Heian Women's University
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., March 17th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free (Sponsored by Cambridge University Press)
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto Shimin Kaikan (Room 7 on the second floor)
Description: If you teach composition, then you probably have many questions about it. Why do students have such a hard-time organizing and what should you do about it? Is correcting all those papers really worth it? What is the "process" of writing and why is pre-writing more important than revision? How can I make my classes, even though they are so large, easier to teach and more interesting? The presenter will answer these questions by providing some little-known theories and methods for teaching writing explaining writing as a process of "self discovery." About the presenter: Curtis Kelly, a 20-year resident of Japan, is the author Cambridge's new composition textbook, Writing from Within. He has also written Significant Scribbles, Basics in Writing, The Snoop Detective Conversation Book, and other textbooks. He is a professor of English at Heian Women's University and is currently finishing a doctorate on web-based training and adult education.

Saturday, April 21st, 2001

Voices From the Classroom

Speaker: Professor Takaki Nobuyuki of Kumamoto University and the PIGATE Action Research Group
Time: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM (Sat., April 21st, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto Shimin Kaikan (Room 7 on the second floor)
Description: This meeting is in three parts.

The highlight of the first hour of this teacher education extravaganza will be a talk entitled, "Inverting ESP," by Joseph Tomei, of Kumamoto Gakuen University. This presentation will provide an overview of some poster presentations done by Tomei's students on the theme of creating a barrier-free environment at their university. Also in this hour, local teachers of children will give short presentations on practical teaching ideas for the classroom.
In the second hour, Professor Takaki, our featured speaker for the day, will discuss the goals and purposes of the PIGATE Action Research group and explain what the educators of this longstanding organization have accomplished in terms of state-of-the art research and professional development. Prof. Takaki will speak in English and Japanese.
The final hour of the program will be devoted to participants in the PIGATE Research Group reporting, mainly in Japanese, on how they, as practitioners in local junior high schools, have implemented the unique PIGATE syllabus.

The meeting will be followed by a social event at a local 'izakaya.'

Saturday, June 16th, 2001

Introducing Public Elementary School English and the Monbusho Handbook

Speaker: Tom Merner, Japan College of Foreign Languages
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., June 16th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto Shimin Kaikan, room 3-4
Description: Amid much confusion, concern, and worry, English instruction is about to officially become one of the options for the new "Period for Integrated Studies" in the Japanese public schools. The Ministry of Education has recently published a Handbook for Elementary School English Teaching Activities, in hope of clarifying its position and also to provide support to elementary school teachers with little or no background in teaching English. The presenter, a member of the authoring committee of this handbook, will introduce the contents of the handbook. He will also share some views of what has already taken place, and in which direction public elementary school English seems to be heading. He will also introduce results of a survey he conducted to investigate the current situation in schools which have already implemented English.

Sunday, September 9th, 2001

Super Kids: Super Speakers

Speaker: Greg Cossu and Katherine MacKay
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sun., September 9th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Sangyo Bunka Kaikan (Conference Room 5)
Description: "Super Kids" author Greg Cossu and Longman teacher-trainer Katherine MacKay will be sharing a number of practical ideas for teaching children.

Tuesday, November 20th, 2001

Teaching Speaking: renewing our perspectives through discourse

Speaker: Anne Burns, Macquarie University in Australia
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Tue., November 20th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto City International Center (Kumamoto Kokusai Kooryuu Kaikan), 5th Floor, Large Conference Room A (Ou Hiroma 'A')
Description: (This presentation is followed by a second presentation.)
Anne Burns, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia and one of the Four Corners' Speakers for JALT 2001, will conduct a workshop which considers some of the implications of a discourse perspective for teaching. Discussions will include tools of discourse analysis that can be used by teachers samples of natural data for anlaysis and suggested tasks that can be adapted for language teaching.
This event is part of the Four Corners Tours 2001, which are opportunities for JALT National Conference speakers to visit local JALT chapters throughout the country.

Measuring School Achievement as Part of the Development of the Educational System of the Philippines in the 21st Century

Speaker: Raul C. Laborte, Emilio Ramos National High School, Davao City, the Philippines
Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM (Tue., November 20th, 2001)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Kumamoto
City: Kumamoto
Venue: Kumamoto City International Center (Kumamoto Kokusai Kooryuu Kaikan), 5th Floor, Large Conference Room A (Ou Hiroma 'A')
Description: (This presentation is preceeded by another presentation.)
Laborte will share his experiences teaching English at a high school in the Philippines. His students range from twelve to sixteen. The motivation to learn English is to improve one's chances of gaining employment. Raul C. Laborte is the Asian Scholar for the Four Corners Tour 2001. The Four Corners Tours are opportunities for JALT Conference speakers to visit local JALT chapters throughout the country. Sponsorship assistance for the Asian Scholar Tour is provided by Tuttle Publishing, LIOJ and the Foreign Buyers' Club .

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