Osaka Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Osaka Chapter)

Osaka Chapter Events in 2004

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

Saturday, January 10th, 2004

"I'm sorry, I can't remember" - Adapting Memorization Activities to Require Thinking

Speaker: John Fanselow
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., January 10th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. http://www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Each time a person in a language class responds to a question with "I'm sorry, I can't remember" the person is implying that language learning consists mainly of memorizing. The long lists of vocabulary items learners try to commit to memory also imply that memorizing is the key mental activity required in language learning. Questions in textbooks and on tests that ask for facts also send the message that learning and memorizing are equivalent. In fact, though we need to memorize some things, much of all of learning, including language learning, requires thinking: processing sounds we hear and symbols we see. Processing requires us to analyze messages we see and hear and compare them with our previous knowledge. In the workshop, techniques will be introduced to show how activities in textbooks that require only memorization can be changed to require thinking as well.
As you introduce some of the activities introduced, it is hoped that learners will say, "Let me try - please wait a second" after you ask them a question rather than "I'm sorry, I forgot." The words "Let me try" suggest that learners are aware of the fact that language learning requires thinking. And the words "please wait a second" show that the learners know that since thinking requires use of previous knowledge, time is required.
Please bring to the workshop a textbook you use in your English classes so that the activities introduced in the workshop can be applied specifically to your own daily classes.

Sunday, February 15th, 2004

Mini-Conference on English Language Teaching

Speaker: Mary Jeannot, James Hunter, Gerald Williams, Jun Arimoto, Jonathan Aliponga, Rie Sugiura, Ken Tamai
Time: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM (Sun., February 15th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): Pre-registration: 1,500 yen. On-site: 3,000 yen.
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe. t: 078-241-7204)
Description: 9:30 Registration
10:00-10:50 Mary Jeannot & James Hunter (Gonzaga Univ.) The Communication Approach, Seminar 1
11:00-11:50 Gerald Williams (Kansai University of International Studies) Preparing Students for Making Presentations
Jun Arimoto, Teaching Pronunciation
11:50-13:00 Lunch
13:00-13:50 Jonathan Aliponga (Hakuho Women's College) "Changing Winds"
Rie Sugiura (Hyogo Univ. of Education) TBA
14:00-14:50 Mary Jeannot & James Hunter (Gonzaga Univ.)
The Communication Approach, seminar 2
15:10-16:30 Ken Tamai (Kobe City Univ. of Foreign Studies)

Saturday, March 13th, 2004

DramaWorks Revisited

Speaker: Theo Steckler of Dramaworks
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., March 13th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Theo Steckler, president and founder of DramaWorks, producer of PopStars, and co-author of Star Taxi and Wonder Kids, will present a workshop for language teachers at the elementary school, junior high, high school and university levels. He'll demonstrate DramaWorks' unique method of providing first rate communicative language training using performance art as a basis for instruction in speech, gesture, eye contact, action, pronunciation, and fluency, leading to an overall performance that is polished, confident, and charming.
Participants will stage and perform three scenes in English: "The Look" from Star Taxi, and "New Kid" & "Ghost House" from Wonder Kids. Authentic language and characters will be introduced in fun-filled stories replete with songs, rap, and street dance.
Steckler has devoted over thirty years to the arts and the education and training of young actors. For the Los Angeles school system he created a special program for high school students working professionally in television, film, and theater. In Denver, Colorado, in addition to directing his own interior design business, he created the speech and theater curriculum for an international school based on the Waldorf system, an extremely high quality education for children through art. Steckler has also directed several community opera productions with international artists featuring children.
In addition to directing DramaWorks and doing occasional interior design work, Steckler currently teaches at Kyoto University of Art and Design, Tezukayama University, and Osaka Gakuin University.

Saturday, July 10th, 2004

Language Awareness

Speaker: Deryn P. Verity, Ph.D., Professor, Osaka Jogakuin College
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., July 10th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1000 yen (500 yen for students)
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Students carry dictionaries with them all the time now, but teachers need more resources for giving students a handle on vocabulary study. Using an etymological perspective, the presenter will offer some techniques for using metaphor, language history and dictionary information to support vocabulary study.

Thursday, September 23rd, 2004

Teaching Children Conference

Speaker: Tom Merner, Curtis Kelly, Yukie Kawaguchi, Chris Hunt, Linda Wittig, Yuko Uno, Anthony Torbert, Reiko Tada, Kanae Noda, and Don Block
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Thu., September 23rd, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): 500 yen, or free if pre-registered
Fee (One-Day members): 2500 yen (2000 yen if pre-registered) / 1500 yen (1200 yen if preregistered) for full-time students.
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Co-sponsored by the JALT Osaka Chapter and JALT's Teaching Children Special Interest Group. Registration starts at 9:30. Please note that this conference is on a Thursday that is a Japanese national holiday. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. For complete information and to preregister please visit www.tcsigjalt.org/events/osaka.

Sunday, October 17th, 2004

A Day Celebrating Learner Development: Work in Progress

Speaker: Andy Barfield, Mike Nix, Stacy Vye, Yoko Wakui, Eiko Iwata, Marlen Harrison, Kathi Kitao, Ellen Head, Denise Haugh, Amy Fenning, Matthew Apple, Larry Metzger, and more!
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Sun., October 17th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): 200 yen, or 100 for student members
Fee (One-Day members): 2000 yen, or 1200 yen for full-time students
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Co-sponsored by Osaka Chapter and the Learner Development SIG, the morning session will feature a panel discussion with speakers who recently attended the conference on "Autonomy: Maintaining Control" in Hong Kong and Huangzhou, China. The afternoon will offer a chance to preview a variety of presentations before the LD forum at JALT's national conference in November. Whether you have been conducting an action research project, are thinking about starting one, or just want to know more about some interesting things that others have been doing in their classrooms, bring your experiences, ideas, and questions for a day of sharing and learning.

Saturday, November 13th, 2004

Support for Narrow Listening Libraries, followed by Annual Chapter Business Meeting and Officers' Election

Speaker: Brian Caspino, Himeji Dokkyo University
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:45 PM (Sat., November 13th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): 1,000 yen
Fee (One-Day members): 3,000 yen
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, on the fifth floor of Umeda's Dai-2 Building. Tel: 06-6345-5000. www.manabi.city.osaka.jp
Description: Learners may feel overwhelmed when encountering uncontrolled casual conversation for the first time. Narrow Listening, the repeated listening of native speakers answering a question familiar and interesting to both speaker and listener, can be a powerful listening resource for the second language learner from beginning to highly-advanced stages of language acquisition. Attendees will be provided with an introduction to the rationale and ideas behind Narrow Listening. Caspino also presents a recent study of student reaction to Narrow Listening and some ideas for designing a Narrow Listening library.

This is followed by the Annual Osaka JALT Chapter officers election and business meeting/dinner party. Come learn about listening and then help chart our Chapter's course for the coming year.

Sunday, December 12th, 2004

Osaka Chapter Bonenkai

Speaker: It's a party!
Time: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM (Sun., December 12th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): No cover charge. Dinner courses range from 1300 to 300 yen. Drinks are 300 to 600 yen.
Fee (One-Day members): No cover charge. Dinner courses range from 1300 to 300 yen. Drinks are 300 to 600 yen.
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: "Oven Oven" Ristorante Italiano is located just around the corner from the Outback Grill by exit 10 of Nishi-Umeda station. It's very close to JR Osaka station as well.
Description: We'll meet for dinner and drinks at Oven Oven, a cozy little Italian place in the heart of Umeda. Meet our new chapter officers and share what you learned at the conference in Nara while sampling some of the great cuisine that Osaka is famous for!

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