Omiya Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Omiya Chapter)

Omiya Chapter Events in 2006

Events archive by year:
2008 [9]; 2007 [10]; 2006; 2005 [10]; 2004 [9]; 2003 [5]; 2002 [11]; 2001 [11];

Sunday, January 15th, 2006

Podcasting: A new way to reach students.

Speaker: Robert Diem, Seigakuin University
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., January 15th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: As a result of the information age, several new distance learning technologies now exist that enable TESOL educators to reach students outside of the traditional classroom environment. Some of the more popular ones include email, weblogs, streaming media, on-line quizzes, chatrooms, and so on. Now a new technology dubbed podcasting could become yet another very powerful and effective way to bring content to learners of English. The term podcast is a portmanteau of the words �gIpod�h and �gbroadcast.�h Podcasting allows a person to subscribe for free to on-line audio programs via special receiving software. Whenever new shows become available, they are then automatically downloaded first to the person�fs computer and then synched to a MP3 device. While podcasting is still very young and changing rapidly, it promises to be a valuable resource for educators and students.

Sunday, February 19th, 2006

Changes and challenges in EFL education in Japan

Speaker: Shinichi Izumi, Sophia University
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., February 19th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Omiya Shimin Kaikan ( Omiya station East exit 15 min walk, see map)
Description: Whether and how to teach grammar has long been a contentious issue for foreign language educators. On the one hand, the traditional approach treats grammar as the main focus of teaching and spends a great deal of time explaining and/or drilling the 'grammar points of the day.' On the other hand, a more recent approach, born partly in reaction to the dissatisfaction with the former approach to help students to improve their communicative proficiency, emphasizes not on the forms per se but on the meaning that language forms convey. The communicative approach has produced far better results with respect to improving students' language ability, but it too failed to deliver the promised results, that is, to help students to become both fluent and accurate in the foreign language. It is in this historical context that a third approach has emerged which aims to strike a balance between emphasizing accurate language use and promoting meaningful communication. This talk summarizes the background and rationale of this third approach and points out some directions for EFL teaching in Japan.

Dr. Shinichi Izumi is an Assistant Professor at Sophia University in the Department of the English Language and Area Studies, Faculty of Foreign Languages.

Sunday, March 12th, 2006

Music in the EFL Classroom

Speaker: Steven Morgan, Daito Bunka University, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the British Embassy Choir Tokyo and Director of Music at St. Alban's Anglican Church, Tokyo.
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., March 12th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: The use of music as a tool in second language education has a long history in the folk pedagogy of the profession, and most teachers include listening to and/or singing songs in the grab bag of lighter classroom activities they use now and then to break the monotony of serious learning tasks. As a result of the role that music has usually been asked to play in the classroom, it is not surprising then that precious little research has been done into the potential it holds for actually teaching fundamental language concepts and developing basic language competencies. This presentation will take a look at what music and language have in common, the extent to which the perception, processing and production of language and music are related on a cognitive level as well as the implications all this has for the development of second language pedagogy. The main focus will be on music and teaching ESL with children, but the ideas and materials presented will be of interest to those who teach second languages to students of all ages.

Sunday, April 16th, 2006

Two Presentations: 1. Unions and Labour Disputes; 2. A co-operative model for promoting change at university.

Speaker: 1. Masao Sasaki (Tokyo-Area University Part-time Teachers Union); 2. Nick Wood (University Teachers Union)
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., April 16th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: Unions and labour disputes

This is a two-part presentation on labor unions by Masao Sasaki, Vice-Chairman of the Tokyo-Area University Part-time Teachers Union . Part 1 will provide a step-by-step explanation on using a union to solve labor disputes. It will cover problems that employees face in the work place, how to find a union and explain your position, how to request negotiations, and negotiation strategies. There will also be information on appealing to a labor commission and how to fund a lawsuit. Part 2 will discuss how to improve union structure. The presentation will cover the need for a strong centralized headquarters and offices that effectively manage finance, collective bargaining, and promotion. The need for an international division and intelligence network will also be discussed.

A co-operative model for promoting change at university

This workshop by Nick Wood aims to explore ways for promoting constructive engagement with university authorities in order to improve working conditions and create supportive teaching environments for both full-time and part-time instructors. The experiences and concerns of participants will be basis for discussing and formulating practical ideas and suggestions. Nick Wood teaches part-time at Reitaku University and is General Secretary of the University Teachers Union.

Sunday, May 14th, 2006

My Share

Speaker: The talented members and guests of JALT Omiya
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., May 14th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free if presenting
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: Members of JALT Omiya and guests are invited to share an idea, an activity, a technique, game, that they have used in the classroom.

Please bring about 25 copies of whatever you are presenting to give to other members. Go home with lots of new ideas that work!

Free for non-members who are presenting!

Sunday, June 11th, 2006

Student Projects in the EFL Classroom - Why and How.

Speaker: Chuck Sandy
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., June 11th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000Y
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: Classroom projects are an effective way to consolidate and extend learning, increase motivation, enhance classroom dynamics, and promote learner-autonomy. Also, because projects by definition result in some sort of tangible end product, project work provides clearly definable learning outcomes and real take-away value. Yet despite these many benefits, some teachers tend to shy away from doing project work because they feel projects may be difficult to set up and manage. This hardly needs to be the case!

In this workshop, the presenter first discusses the benefits of project work before demonstrating several easy-to-manage single and multi-class projects that require little if any set up and that can be easily adapted to work with learners of almost any age or ability. In addition, the presenter will offer a number of techniques for having students share or present completed projects to classmates, as well as suggestions for encouraging both self and peer evaluation of project work.

Bio

Chuck Sandy is coauthor of Passages and Connect as well as various components of the Interchange series. He's currently working on a new textbook series with Curtis Kelly and teaching project-based classes at Chubu University.

Sunday, July 9th, 2006

Using Cooperative Learning Techniques in English Lessons

Speaker: Kumiko Fushino, Temple University Japan, Co-translator of Jacobs, Power, Loh's 'The Teacher's Sourcebook for Cooperative Learning' (2002),
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., July 9th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000Y
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: In this workshop, I will demonstrate several cooperative learning techniques for English classrooms. As communicative language teaching has gained momentum, English teachers have started using group work in their classes. However getting students interacting with each other in English can be a problem. In theory group work increases opportunities of student-student communication; however this does not always happen. Cooperative learning principles provide teachers with many useful ideas to promote effective student-student interaction, and books on CL offer countless techniques which teachers can easily adapt to their classrooms. However, techniques for the EFL situation are seldom introduced in those books. Therefore, in this workshop, I will introduce the basic CL principles explained in Jacobs, Power, Loh's 'The Teacher's Sourcebook for Cooperative Learning' (2002), which I co-translated into Japanese, while demonstrating CL activities. I will introduce each CL principle and demonstrate techniques, which have been effective in our English lessons. Workshop participants will join in these CL activities to actually experience them so they can better apply CL techniques in their own English classes. Finally, some cautions about CL group work in English classes will be discussed.

Biodata:

Kumiko Fushino is a doctoral student at Temple University Japan, school of education. She has finished the course work in the doctoral program, and is currently working on her EdD dissertaion. Her particular research interests are cooperative learning in L2, and students' perceptions of and behaviors in CL group work. Along with her studies at TUJ, she also teaches English at Rikkyo University and from April will also be teaching at Saitama Prefectural University.

Sunday, September 10th, 2006

Omiya Teaching Pre-Teens: Problems and Possibilities

Speaker: Aleda Krause, Seigakuin University, author SuperKids and SuperTots.
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., September 10th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: How do you feel about teaching pre-teens? Even the most confident teachers can feel challenged. They are no longer small children and not yet young adults, but seem to swing back and forth between the two. Do you experience difficulties generating energy, managing classes with mixed levels, or bringing out shy students? Aleda will share some secrets for success with upper elementary, junior high, and senior high students in this activity-based presentation.

Sunday, October 8th, 2006

JALT Conference preview

Speaker: Eric Skier, Masa Tsuneyasu, Kyoko Miyazato,
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., October 8th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: This event will give you a preview of some of the presentations that will be given at the JALT2006 Conference (the 32nd JALT International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning, in the city of Kitakyushu).

What motivates older learners?

It can safely be argued that understanding the motivation of students to learn English may be the first step in planning curriculum, writing syllabi, deciding on which materials to use, and so on. For many English educators in Japan, this has often meant teaching for tests: entrance exams, TOEIC, TOEFL, and a myriad of others. However, what happens when your students have no interest in studying for exams? In fact, what happens when your students may be motivated to learn English for very unconventional reasons? The author will present a paper on the motivations of elderly learners at a culture center in Japan and how learning of those motivations affected the approach to teaching, the role of the teacher, and the decision on which materials to use. Participants, who currently are or may very well be teaching similar students that make up the fastest growing segment of Japanese society in the near future, will also have an opportunity to share their stories, observations, and classroom-proven practices.

Teaching Writing Masa Tsuneyasu

Even when advanced Japanese students have a good command of English grammar, they still have difficulty applying their ability in writing contexts. The majority of Japanese students have problems in organizing papers.

This writer, first, summarizes the major differences between the written rhetoric of the two languages: Japanese and English. Then elaborates on the inclinations of how Japanese students write English papers based on the findings of a writing experiment. Finally, the author discusses some effective ways to teach writing papers in English for Japanese students.

ROLE AND POWER SHARING BETWEEN JTEs and AETs

Kyoko Miyazato

This study investigates team-teaching (TT) relationships between JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English) and AETs (Assistant English Teachers) focusing on power-sharing between native-speaking (NS) and non-native-speaking (NNS) EFL teachers in Japanese high schools.

Sunday, December 10th, 2006

My Share / Bounenkai

Speaker: The talented members and guests of JALT Omiya
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., December 10th, 2006)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000Y or free if presenting
Prefecture: Saitama
City: Omiya
Venue: Sakuragi Kominkan 5F (near Omiya Station, west exit,see map).
Description: My Share is a time where the members themselves take centre stage to present ideas, techniques, games and activities that have worked in their teaching situation.

My Share is a great way to learn from others teaching successes.

Please bring about 25 copies of a handout of your presentation.

My Share will be followed by a bounenkai (end of year party) at a local izakaya.

Come and see tried and tested activities and techniques at Omiya MyShare!

Prepositions

Masa Tsuneyasu

A speaking activity

Meaning-focused classroom task for listening

Joe Falout

A drawing activity.

Junior High School Debates (Yes, They are Possible)

Leander Hughes

Choosing topics that work and getting an argument line.

James and the Giant Peach

Joshua Halsband

Identifying Tone and Discussing Symbolism

Wittgenstein and language teaching

Ruth Kambartel

Using a language philosopher in a language class activity

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