Fukuoka Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Fukuoka Chapter)

Fukuoka Chapter Events in 2003

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

Saturday, April 12th, 2003

Phonology and Language Teaching

Speaker: Kenneth G. Schaefer, Temple University Japan
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM (Sat., April 12th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: This presentation will be in two parts. Part one will focus on historical sound changes and how this gave rise to some of the well-known varieties of English. Part two will focus on suprasegmentals and intonation in American English. Schaefer will discuss the use of suprasegmentals to:

define discourse structures,
provide information focus,
express emotion,
define thought groups, and
mark grammatical distinctions.

Dr. Schaefer is the Director for the Temple University Graduate Program in TESOL.

Saturday, May 24th, 2003

Using Song Lyrics in the Language Classroom

Speaker: Ronan Brown, Seinan Gakuin University
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., May 24th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: The use of song lyrics in EFL classes can stimulate very positive associations to language study. The focus of this presentation will be on how to use songs and song lyrics to enliven lessons and enhance communication in the classroom. The presenter will demonstrate song activities that can be adapted for level and used in a wide range of teaching situations.

Saturday, June 14th, 2003

Teaching Children: Theory and Practice

Speaker: Curtis Kelly, Heian Women's University
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sat., June 14th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University, 3-42-1 Osa, Minami-ku, Fukuoka-shi 811-1313 (Phone: 092-581-1492, Fax: 092-575-4456) [map]
Description: This event is co-sponsored by CSELT (Center for the Study of English Language Teaching) at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University.
Curtis Kelly will discuss four topics on teaching English to children.

MEXT policies & problems regarding the elementary English instruction
The presenter will start by discussing the situation in Asia, the situation in Japan, the MEXT policy, and problems in implementing it. He will also discuss his research, funded by the Ministry of Education, to assess elementary school teacher training needs, and develop a prototype teacher training Web site.
General theories and methods for teaching English to children
The presenter will discuss the key theories on how children learn languages and methods for teaching it. The theories will include the Critical Age Hypothesis, Multisensory Input, Deep Processing, Noticing, and Ahn's Model of Bilingual Acquisition. Methods will include traditional methods, indirect methods, songs, guessing, etc.
Developing a model (theory) on how Japanese kids learn English
The presenter will describe development research methodologies and then have the participants use it. Based on the theories above, and their own experiences, the participants will generate a list of criteria for teaching English to kids.
Designing an activity or lesson based on the model
Participants will design lessons that conform to these criteria.

About the presenter: Curtis Kelly, a resident of Japan and author of ten books, is a professor of English at Heian Women�s University. In addition to teaching writing, his specialties are adult education and Web-based training. He has just completed a study on the training needs of Japanese elementary school English teachers, and he is currently developing on-line training for them with a Ministry of Education Grant.

Saturday, July 12th, 2003

Promoting Fluency in the EFL Classroom

Speaker: James Dean Brown, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., July 12th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: In this presentation, James Dean Brown first defines fluency and accuracy, and then suggests expanding our view of fluency to include a wider array of language tools, choices, and strategies. He shows how we can foster fluency by providing opportunities, activities, assessments, and explanations. Brown argues that fluency is a matter of degrees.

Saturday, September 13th, 2003

Teaching English as a Humanities Subject

Speaker: Mike Guest, Miyazaki Medical College
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., September 13th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: It is generally believed that there are two purposes for teaching English in Japan. The first, of course, is to prepare students for tests, most often high school and university entrance exams. Both the poverty and the necessity of this type of approach has been widely discussed and criticized. The second is teaching practical English, with an eye towards preparing learners for interactions with non-Japanese, the much-vaunted 'internationalization' approach. This has been widely viewed as a more progressive or productive form approach to teaching English in Japan. In fact though, it seems that many teachers and learners are becoming disillusioned with this second approach too. Students know that in most cases their opportunities to talk with foreigners will be few and far between so why waste the effort in the classroom? Teachers feel the strain too- what motivation can there be in teaching something supposedly practical that most learners are rarely going to use? To answer this dilemma Mike Guest advocates teaching English as a standard 'Humanities' subject, neither for test-taking nor for vocational preparation but rather as education in and of itself in the classical sense, much as other academic high-school and, often, university subjects are (supposed to be) taught. This means, teaching in order to help the learner grow, to stimulate the learner's mind, to provide the foundations for a well-educated citizenry. Mr. Guest will show how certain features of communication (such as pragmatics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistic analysis) lend themselves to this approach and will demonstrate how they can be applied to individual lessons. He will also introduce some guiding principles in adopting this method. The goal is to show teachers that they can have successful and stimulating classes without focusing on vocational/practical English nor by taking the test-preparation approach.

Saturday, October 18th, 2003

The ABCs of Bilingualism & Sadako's School

Speaker: Adam Beck, General Director of Hiroshima Starship
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., October 18th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: This is a two-part presentation.

The ABCs of Bilingualism:
What would be realistic goals for families in Japan who are raising their children to be bilingual? What sort of language environment should a family create to effectively support a child�s bilingual development? What kinds of difficulties might be encountered in the process of supporting a child�s bilingual development? The ABCs of Bilingualism is a monograph edited by Adam Beck and Kazuko Sako. It offers information on a range of basic questions related to bilingualism, with an emphasis on the practical aspects of raising bilingual children in Japan. This part of the presentation will feature an interactive discussion based on the questions contained in this monograph.
Sadako's School:
What more can English teachers do to serve the world? Is it possible to not only teach our students about global issues, but to actively make an impact - even a modest impact - on these issues as well? Sadako's School is a program of special short-term English classes for adults and international friendship activities for children. 100% of the money and materials raised through these classes and activities is donated to support underprivileged children in Japan and around the world. This part of the presentation will offer information on this benefit program, as well as its parent organization, Hiroshima Starship. (For details on Hiroshima Starship and Sadako's School, please see www.hiroshimastarship.org.)

About the speaker: Adam Beck is the General Director of Hiroshima Starship, a nonprofit organization that supports children. He has a background in both education and the arts, and has worked in Japan, in the Czech Republic, and in the United States as an English teacher, a Drama teacher, an actor, a director, and a playwright. In Japan, he has been a teacher at Hiroshima University, Hiroshima Jogakuin University, Onomichi University, and Hiroshima International School.

Saturday, November 8th, 2003

Word Games in the ESL/EFL Classroom

Speaker: Robert Mark, Kyushu University
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., November 8th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: In this presentation, Robert Mark discusses the validity of using word games in the language classroom and gives several reasons for doing so. He argues that in pursuing communicative competence, there is a need for creative and spontaneous use of language. Word games play a significant role in achieving this objective. He focuses on adapting versions of past American television quiz shows, and demonstrates how they can be applied to the different language levels and teaching lessons of ESL classes. Audience participation in games will be requested! About the speaker: Robert Mark is an associate professor of English at Kyushu University. Before that he taught for 10 years at Shinshu University in Nagano prefecture. He has taught English in Thailand and in the USA. He has published a textbook in Thailand of authentic reading materials and numerous journal articles in Japan.

Saturday, December 6th, 2003

Two Presentations on Vocabulary

Speaker: J. Lake and Paul Westrick
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., December 6th, 2003)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map
Description: The Fukuoka JALT event for December will be two separate presentations.
Title: Implicit and Explicit Vocabulary Learning
Description: This presentation will look at learning vocabulary incidentally through implicit processes and directly through focused explicit instruction. Strategies for utilizing both methods will be presented.
Presenter: J. Lake, M. Ed. in TESOL (Temple University), is a lecturer at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University Junior College and a part-time lecturer at Kyushu University.
***
Title: Vocabulary Lists, Tests , and Links
Description: In this presentation, Paul Westrick will discuss how word lists can be used and misused, and various methods of testing vocabulary. He then will provide a list of publications and internet links related to vocabulary.
Presenter: Paul Westrick, M. Ed. in TESOL (Temple University), is a lecturer at Kyushu University.

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