Okayama Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Okayama Chapter)

Okayama Chapter Events in 2002

Events archive by year:
2008 [11]; 2007 [13]; 2006 [8]; 2005 [12]; 2004 [9]; 2003 [9]; 2002; 2001 [8];

Saturday, January 19th, 2002

Getting Published in JALT

Speaker: Scott Gardner
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., January 19th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen (cost includes both events this evening)
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Ai Plaza 4th floor
Description: Scott Gardner, who works on the editorial staff of The Language Teacher (JALT's monthly publication), discusses the publication process for The Language Teacher and the JALT Journal, using examples from previous submissions.
Note: This presentation is followed by a second presentation (topic: Action Research).

Looking at Action Research

Speaker: Chris Creighton
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., January 19th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen (cost includes both events this evening)
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Ai Plaza 4th floor
Description: Do your students sound like Dick and Jane? Are you looking for something that'll have them rolling in the aisles that doesn't involve you, the teacher? This presentation focuses on how one teacher encouraged natural-sounding conversation.
Note: This presentation comes after a first presentation (topic: Getting Publishished in JALT)

Saturday, February 2nd, 2002

Appropriate Texbooks

Speaker: Paul Hullah
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sat., February 2nd, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen (cost includes both events this evening)
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku Bldg. 2F. Details: phone Gavin on 086-222-2043
Description: This paper reports and discusses results of an extensive survey of Japanese university students asked, via a 16-item questionnaire, to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of a selection of EFL coursebooks. Findings are of clear significance to ELT teachers involved in choosing classroom materials.
Note: This presentation is followed by a second presentation(topic: Student Beliefs about Language Learning).

Student Beliefs About Language Learning

Speaker: Peter Burden
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., February 2nd, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen (cost includes both events this evening)
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku Bldg. 2F. Details: phone Gavin on 086-222-2043
Description: This presentation reports on a questionnaire survey given to 1,057 university students about beliefs on the difficulty and the nature of language learning, as well as expectations. Despite many years of English instruction, learners often saw themselves as beginners, and the implications of the study were that lack of confidence leads to sense of failure in English.
Note: This presentation comes after a first presentation (topic: Appropriate Textbooks).

Friday, March 1st, 2002

Curry Evening

Speaker: Everyone can speak between mouthfuls
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Fri., March 1st, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): 2,500 yen for food and accompanying beverages
Fee (One-Day members): 2,500 yen for food and accompanying beverages
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: contact us
Description: Belated Shin-nenkai to be held at a local curry hot-spot. While scoffing authentic Indian grub, have a good time airing your news and views about all things JALT related.

Saturday, April 20th, 2002

Motivation in the Language Classroom

Speaker: Keiko Sakui
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (Sat., April 20th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku Bldg. 2F
Description: This presentation reports research findings of teachers' perception of motivation through teacher interviews and classroom observations. The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate a complex picture of motivation while employing many opportunities for us to discuss the related issues to raise our awareness of this important construct.

Saturday, May 11th, 2002

Peace Love and Pragmatics

Speaker: Michael Guest
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., May 11th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Ai Plaza 4F
Description: Everybody would like their teaching to contribute to better human relations and mutual understanding. But how can we achieve this end without sounding preachy or abandoning our main role as teachers, that is, teaching language. Mike Guest believes that by increasing the emphasis upon including and noting pragmatic exchanges in lessons learners can come to see common human values at work and develop greater skills for reading between the lines of a conversation. In this presentation, Mr. Guest will provide several authentic samples for participants to discuss as well as an opportuntiy for them to create their own 'pragmatic' dialogues.

Saturday, June 15th, 2002

Two Presentations:
1. Narrative Studies to Enhance Teacher Development,
2. Self-study, Logs and Learning to Learn English

Speaker: Ian Nakamura, Ellen Head and Eiko Okumura
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., June 15th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku A. 2F
Description: Narrative studies to enhance teacher development, Ian Nakamura: One of the central questions in continuous professional development is: What kind of research matters to teachers? The presenter will report on what he has learned in the process of constructing a narrative of a learner based on data collected from a series of interviews and journal entries.
Self-study, logs and learning to Learn English, Ellen Head and Eiko Okumura: What do students do in their own time? To become proficient in English, students need to spend many hours using English outside class time. We encouraged students to keep logs of their private voluntary study, including enjoyable activities such as listening to music with English lyrics and watching movies. In this session we will share our findings about our students and invite discussion about how to encourage learner autonomy through self-study.

Saturday, July 13th, 2002

Storytelling in Teaching English

Speaker: Charles Kowalski
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (Sat., July 13th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku A. 2F
Description: This workshop begins by exploring various reasons for using storytelling in the English language classroom, then moves on to exercises to develop participants' natural skill as storytellers (by focusing on voice, gesture, imagination, etc.), and concludes by exploring techniques for using stories as a component of a language class at all levels, even with complete beginners.

Saturday, August 3rd, 2002

My Share (Language teachers share their teaching ideas)

Speaker: Several teachers
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., August 3rd, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Sankaku A. 2F
Description: In this meeting you can come along and hear a variety of teaching ideas for the language classroom from other participants. If you have any ideas on any aspect of teaching, you can demonstrate or describe them in a short presentation (from 2 minutes to half an hour). Video, OHP, tape recorders etc are available If you have an idea to present please contact Gavin to get involved so he can make a plansfor publicity purposes: gavin@po.harenet.ne.jp.

Saturday, October 19th, 2002

Peer-designed, administered, and evaluated tests

Speaker: Joseph Falout, Nihon University, College of Science & Technology
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., October 19th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen, students 500 yen
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: TBA
Description: The first part of this presentation will be conducted in a workshop format, where participants will determine the authenticity, value, and validity of student-generated, peer-based assessment. A rationale for such practice will be established against its consequences. Workshop participants will then design a peer-based test assignment, with the resulting constructs providing a context for the case study to follow. The presenter's own experience will then be shown where, with a unanimous vote, a conversation class of second year college students went ahead with such a scheme for their mid-term examination.

Saturday, December 7th, 2002

Addressing Relevance and Motivation of Children (followed by bonenkai party)

Speaker: Paul Rosengrave and Katherine MacKay
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., December 7th, 2002)
Fee (JALT members): free for workshops (bonenkai party is 2500 yen including one free drink)
Fee (One-Day members): free for workshops (bonenkai party is 2500 yen including one free drink)
Prefecture: Okayama
City: Okayama
Venue: Meeting location is Sankaku A. Building. The bonenkai location is "Bintan Bali", an Indonesian restuarant
Description: The first part of this evening overviews high-interest, relevant activities, designed for a false � high beginner class, illustrated by materials drawn from new Longman materials. The second part of this evening addresses motivation. As English teachers of children, we all experience the fun of teaching young and very young learners but we also know the challenges of creating and keeping motivation and interest. In this workshop we will explore the currentteaching approaches of teaching children through discovery of language, multi-sensory involvement and multi-learning styles. We will uncover how we can inspire and transport our children into a magical realm of storybooks and games, transforming words and dialogues into songs,rhymes, chants, helping our young learners master the art of speaking and remembering English.
Afterwards, all are invited to the annual bonenkai (end of year party) at Bintan Bali, an Indonesian restuarant.

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