Shinshu Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Shinshu Chapter)

Shinshu Chapter Events in 2007

Events archive by year:
2008 [10]; 2007; 2006 [9]; 2005 [11]; 2004 [10]; 2003 [7]; 2002 [8]; 2001 [6];

Sunday, January 21st, 2007

The New TOEIC test: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges AND STEP BULATS: A Practical Test Suite That Makes Real Business Sense

Speaker: Grant Trew of Oxford University Press and Hirai-sensei (STEP BULATS)
Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., January 21st, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Luna International, MK bldg 2F, 1-9-16 Motomachi, Matsumoto
Description: IMPORTANT: This is a free workshop; however, all those planning to attend are requested to pre-register with Dan Brearley at

danbrearley@gmail.com

This will be a two-part worshop about the TOEIC and STEP BULATS:

1) This workshop focuses on helping instructors to better understand the changes to the recently revised TOEIC test. The presenter will walk participants through the changes, allowing them to see first hand the new challenges learners will face, and then look at and try some activities that can be used to develop student ability both in the long and short term. A brief overview of the format and implications of the new TOEIC: Speaking and Writing tests will also be included.

2) This session familiarizes you with STEP BULATS, a language assessment service produced by Cambridge ESOL Examinations and distributed in Japan through STEP Inc., which evaluates the four skills of English in practical business contexts. The presentation will cover the aims of the tests, how the tests are configured, and how relevant they are to a great many corporations that conduct business in international settings. Also offered will be some tips for future test takers.

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

Using Stories with Younger Learners; Iroironna Hanashi

Speaker: Trevor Ralph and Kazue Taniguchi
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM (Sun., February 25th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Nan-nan Hiroba, Meeting Room 1, near Minami Matsumoto Station
Description: Kids love stories! Stories are imaginative, colorful, interesting, and provide teachers a chance to engage and interact with their classes on many levels. This seminar is aimed at children�fs teachers who are thinking of including more stories into their classroom. The presenters will discuss the benefits of storytelling in the EFL classroom, give different examples of stories and story-based activities, and discuss ways of implementing these at various stages of a lesson. There will also be time for attendees to practice the methods discussed in this seminar, which will be given in both English and Japanese.

Trevor Ralph runs Ez Communications, an English school in Kiri, Matsumoto. Ez Comm�fs focus for its younger learners is through storybooks and songs.

Kazue Taniguchi is a staff member at Ez Communications who is actively involved in promoting storytelling as a means for social development in children.

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Tea & Cake with Teachers

Speaker: TBA
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Sun., March 18th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): Participants pay for own refreshments
Fee (One-Day members): Participants pay for own refreshments
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Five Horn (first floor of Parco; 0263-38-2140)
Description: Are you busy at school? Do you have time to talk to your co-workers about the challenges and satisfactions of teaching? This event is designed for Japanese teachers of English and ALT's to have free conversation together without any time pressure. You can also meet many other kinds of teachers as well � native speakers who teach at university, Japanese juku teachers and so on.

So, take your time, relax, and enjoy some nice tea or coffee and cake with fellow professionals.

IMPORTANT: Please RSVP at mmaruga@aol.com (0266-27-3894) by Thursday, Mar. 15.

Sunday, April 15th, 2007

Raising English Ability Through Making Speeches

Speaker: Dennis Woolbright
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM (Sun., April 15th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Matsumoto M-Wing, Room 4-2, across from PARCO
Description: This workshop will explain the process of helping students research, prepare and deliver speeches in English no matter what level of English ability they have at the beginning of the course. For students with low English ability it is necessary to give a lot of structure. Making a speech is like making a cake. If you have all the ingredients you need, and you mix them properly and bake it long enough you can make a good cake. The important thing is not to expect too much at first and to give simple instructions and work with the student step by step. This workshop is for both students and teachers. We will actually build a speech in the workshop.

L. Dennis Woolbright is a professor of English at Seinan Jo Gakuin University where he teaches Oral English, speech and debate. He also serves as an advisor for Seinan Jo Gakuin Senior High School's SELHi (Super English High School) program. He has a master's degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Denver. He has been teaching in Japan for 24 years. For the last four years he has served as a lecturer for the Monbukagakusho�fs intensive summer English program for high school and junior high school English teachers in Fukuoka and Yamaguchi. Before coming to Kyushu, he studied Japanese at Waseda University�fs Language Institute and then was a lecturer at Waseda Honjo Senior High School. He enjoys coaching students for speech contests and serves as judge for various local University speech contests. In a former life he was the Television Tokyo All Japan Foreign Singing champion.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2007

18th Annual Suwako Charity Walk

Speaker: Tomoki Murakami, Liu Tiegang
Time: 8:10 AM - 1:30 PM (Thu., May 3rd, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Suwa
Venue: Meet at the Katakura Fureai Nagisa (the outside auditorium next to Lake Suwa)
Description: Please join us for an educational walk halfway around Lake Suwa! After meeting at 8:10 at the "Katakura Fureai Nagisa", we will walk appr. 8 km to the "Kamaguchi Suimon" while learning about life in the lake from Shinshu University graduate students. After lunch (please bring your own), you can enjoy a forum at the Shimohama Kumin Center in Okaya which features a talk by Tomoki Murakami entitled "Great Work by Little Creatures in the Pond", a quiz game and an Erhu perfomance by Liu Tiegang. You will be able to get back to the starting point by a free ride on the Swan Boat which leaves after the forum. Donations (optional, of course!) will be collected for the "Suwa Environmental Town-planning Seminar". Bring a lunch and something to write with.

Sunday, June 17th, 2007

Discussion and Debate Made Easy

Speaker: Charles LeBeau
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM (Sun., June 17th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Okaya
Venue: Irufu Plaza (ILF), Okaya, 3rd Floor, Room 1(Dai-ichi Kenshushitsu). Turn right outside Okaya Station and walk 3 min. through the shopping area.
Description: More and more high schools and universities are including discussion and debate as part of their curriculum. But many students and teachers are unfamiliar with the techniques of discussion and the basics of debate. This practical workshop will focus on the basics of debate: how to build a case, how to present a case, and how to attack a case. In addition, we will look at 7 principles of discussion. Finally, this workshop will suggest ways for combining discussion and debate activities. Many simple examples and activities will be used from the textbooks Discussion Process and Principles and Discover Debate.

Charles LeBeau was once an aspiring jazz musician a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Since landing in Japan in 1982, he has taught in both the university and corporate worlds. Currently, he teaches at three universities and is on the faculty of the Toshiba International Training Center. His first book, Speaking of Speech, (Macmillan) is widely used throughout Japan. He is a co-founder of Language Solutions Inc, a small, independent publisher specializing in texts for Japan and Asia. The Language Solutions texts, Discover Debate, Getting Ready for Speech, and Discussion Process and Principles are widely used in Japan with separate, localized versions published in Korea, China, and Taiwan. He is an award-winning presenter and will be a Featured Speaker at JALT 2007. Charles is currently working on a revised version of Speaking of Speech intended to reach a wider, global audience.

Friday, July 20th, 2007

The Gap between English Education and English Acquisition

Speaker: Dr. Miki Bong
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Fri., July 20th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Shinshu University, Matsumoto Campus, Large Conference Room (at the very back of the 2nd Floor, the South Building of the "Zengaku Kyoiku Kikou")
Description: This presentation will be held in Japanese; however, the powerpoint slides will have English subtitles.

Even though Japanese people supposedly study English from junior high through high school, how many of them can answer the question �gCan you speak English?�h with �gYes, I can.�h? What makes it so hard for Japanese to have confidence in their English? Is it only a matter of pronunciation? Or grammar? Or perhaps it is something else. The answer, based on research data, will be simply explained. Let�fs go home as Japanese who �ghave confidence in their English"!

Miki Hyun Kyung Bong is Associate Professor of English at Shinshu University. She holds a BA and MA from Nagoya National University in English Linguistics and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in English and Applied Linguistics. Her doctoral study was on the second language acquisition of English by Japanese speaking learners. Her research interests are in the field of first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition, in particular roles of causal factors for divergence such as variabilities of the input caused by learning environments and L1 lexicons.

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

Encouraging Young Learners, and their Teachers, to Communicate in English

Speaker: Sue Fraser Osada (Seisen Jogakuin University)
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM (Sun., September 23rd, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Nagano
Venue: Monzen Plaza, Basement Hall, Chuo-dori, about 10 mins from Nagano Station
Description: This workshop provides practical advice and examples for using English with young learners, and has particular relevance for those involved with foreign language teaching at the elementary school level.

A specific aim is to help teachers to develop confidence for giving instructions and demonstrating the target language in class, through the use of classroom management language and activities that give both students and teachers communicative practice in English. Activity-types applicable to many topics will firstly be experienced by participants as low-level learners, and then will be discussed and expanded as teachers.

Elementary school teachers, both EFL-specialist and non-specialist, and teacher-trainers, in addition to anyone involved with young learners of English are encouraged to attend this workshop.

Sue Fraser Osada teaches Drama, Literature and Pronunciation at Seisen Jogakuin College and general English at Shinshu University, and is currently researching into the communicative competence of Japanese high school students of English for her doctorate degree.

She was previously a teacher trainer and materials writer at the University of Edinburgh, UK, where she wrote and directed a "Teaching Young Learners" course for primary EFL teachers. She also has experience of teaching French at elementary school level in England.

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

The Status of the English Have/Be Auxiliaries in Japanese-Speaking Learners

Speaker: Dr. Miki H. K. Bong
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (Sun., October 28th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen for one-day members; free for Shinshu University teachers
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Shinshu University, Matsumoto Campus, Chukaigishitsu (on the 2nd floor, the South Building of the "Zengaku Kyoiku Kikou")
Description: This presentation reports a study investigating the status of the English have/be auxiliaries in Japanese-speaking learners (JSLs). It is generally assumed that Japanese is categorised as a HAVE-LESS language, namely a BE language (Ikegami 1985), owing to the fact that there is no HAVE, but the BE (iru) auxiliary that does the jobs of the HAVE auxiliary in HAVE-languages. Because Japanese and English differ in the existence of HAVE auxiliary in the lexicon, the second language acquisition (SLA) of English by JSLs has been considerably investigated (Bong 2004, 2005, 2006a). This presentation discusses the status of the have/be auxiliaries in the lexical and syntactic representation of JSLs, by examining the experimental data obtained from218 JSLs and 26 English native speakers (ENSs). The data suggest that JSLs have different lexical and syntactic representations from ENSs. Based on the data analysis, I will introduce a way of effective teaching the English have/be auxiliaries to JSLs.

Miki Hyun Kyung Bong is Associate Professor of English at Shinshu University. She holds BA and MA from Nagoya National University in English Linguistics and M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in English and Applied Linguistics. Her doctoral study was on the second language acquisition of English by Japanese speaking learners. Her research interests are in the field of first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition, in particular roles of causal factors for divergence such as variabilities of the input caused by learning environments and L1 lexicons.

Monday, November 26th, 2007

Project-based Learning in ESL

Speaker: Arifa Rahman
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Mon., November 26th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen; free for Shinshu University teachers
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Shinshu University, Matsumoto Campus, Chukaigishitsu (on the 2nd floor, the South Building of the "Zengaku Kyoiku Kikou")
Description: Please take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear a "Four Corners" speaker from Bangladesh, co-sponsored by Dr. Miki Bong of Shinshu University.

Encouraging learners to undertake projects in the English classroom on a

variety of topics while using a range of resources provides opportunities

for experiential learning. It puts the cognitive and the affective aspects

of the learning process into gear. There is learner engagement, interaction

and collaboration, and more importantly, self-directed action. This leads to

the development of enquiry and the facilitation of autonomous learning,

engaging the learner at a higher level of cognitive development.

Arifa Rahman is Professor of English Language & Teacher Education at Dhaka

University, Bangladesh. With experience in course design, materials

development, teaching, administration and research, she has several

publications to her credit. Her interests are teacher development, materials

writing and classroom-based research. Arifa has a PhD from the Institute of

Education, University of London and is currently serving a second term as

President of Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA).

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

International Families Group / JALT Christmas Party

Speaker: Santa Claus
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., December 16th, 2007)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): Free for all
Prefecture: Nagano
City: Matsumoto-shi
Venue: Yasuharuchiku Kominkan, Japanese style room on the first floor (Phone: 0263-39-0701; next to the koban on the corner to the south of Shinshu University Hospital, good-sized parking lot)
Description: Join our children-friendly event for food, fun (including a raffle), Christmas presents for the children and - Santa Claus! Please bring something to share, such as food or drink.

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