Fukuoka Chapter

(Read the archived description for the Fukuoka Chapter)

Fukuoka Chapter Events in 2004

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

Saturday, March 6th, 2004

Two Presentations

Speaker: Fred Anderson
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Sat., March 6th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): 1,000 yen
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: Fukuoka YMCA, 3F Sanwa Bldg 1-10-24, Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City
Description: The Fukuoka JALT event for March will be two presentations by Fred Anderson. Please note the change of venue to the Fukuoka YMCA.

Assisted performance as a paradigm for language teaching
This presentation examines ways in which language teachers can fruitfully intervene in the learning process in order to help students reach higher levels of performance. This practical presentation includes classroom activities and discussion, but with a theoretical basis.
Teaching writing as communication
The presenter will thus demonstrate various ways, including specific activities, in which writing can be taught within a communicative paradigm. Discussion and exchange will be encouraged.

Saturday, April 17th, 2004

Teaching and Labour Laws: How Safe is Your Position?

Speaker: Chris Flynn, Kyushu Institute of Information Sciences
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., April 17th, 2004)
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: You have finally snared that teaching job you always wanted. OK, what kind of teacher are you? Tenure, Full-time, Part-time, Sennin, Gaikokujin Kyoshi, Gaikokugo Kyoshi, Hijokin Koshi, Sub-Contract Teacher, Gyomu-Itaku, Arubaito. Chances are you are employed in one of these categories, but do you know what they mean? You could be employed in a position equal to your fellow Nihonjin teacher, and then again, you could be sacked tomorrow with no redress.
The presentation will outline the types of contracts commonly offered to foreign teachers in Japan, and explains what rights are associated with each. Based on past negotiations between foreign employees and their employers in Fukuoka, the presentation will attempt to show patterns in treatment of foreign teachers in Japan.

Friday, May 28th, 2004

Using Graded Readers in the Classroom: An Integrated Skills Approach

Speaker: Merinda Wilson, Oxford University Press
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Fri., May 28th, 2004)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free (sponsored by OUP)
Prefecture: Fukuoka
City: Fukuoka
Venue: ACROS Fukuoka, Conference Room #604 (6F), Tenjin 1-1-1, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi, TEL 092-725-9100 map
Description: The aim of this presentation is to explore some of the ways that graded readers can be used in the classroom to generate activities that focus on a variety of language skills associated with extended text. In particular, I'd like to examine some of the features in the Dominoes graded readers, and show how they can be used to provide lively and motivating classroom activities involving listening, pronunciation and writing tasks. Merinda Wilson has been an editor with Oxford University Press for three years, and has been involved in developing the new Dominoes graded reading series. Before joining OUP, Merinda worked as an EFL tutor and has experience of teaching both in the UK and in Japan. In Japan she taught at a variety of institutions, including Kushikino Girls' High School in Kagoshima Prefecture, the British Council in Tokyo, and Kobe Women's University.

Saturday, July 10th, 2004

Two Presentations on Placement Tests and Skills Grouping

Speaker: Rory Britto, MAESL UH, Instructor, Kurume University & J. Lake, M.Ed. in TESOL, Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Junior College
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., July 10th, 2004)
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:

Rory Britto: Placement Tests and Skills Grouping: Their purpose, design, and application.
J. Lake: Placement Tests and Skills Grouping: Looking at their purpose, design, and application through three perspectives.

These two separate presentations will look at placement testing theoretically. The speakers will then take a critical look at placement exams and skills grouping to show how empirical evidence from local institutions relates to the theories. These presentations will be of interest to those involved in testing and curriculum development, and issues of educational and language learning principles.

Saturday, September 18th, 2004

Elementary School English & Introducing a New Textbook Series

Speaker: Tom Merner
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (Sat., September 18th, 2004)
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: This presentation looks at new trends in elementary school English in Japan. In addition, the presenter will introduce a new textbook currently being developed for elementary school English lessons. The innovative series is based on a content-based curriculum.
About the speaker: Tom Merner owns a small English conversation school in Yokohama. He is a lecturer at Japan College of Foreign Languages and Reitaku University, and an English instructor of Showa Women's University attached elementary school. Merner is also NHK "SuperEigorian" Program Production Adviser, a co-author, and a teacher trainer and adviser for several education boards. Merner has published several books on EFL and elementary school English activities, including The Practical Handbook for Elementary School English Activities.

Saturday, October 30th, 2004

Three Easy Pieces - Cross Cultural Activities for the College Classroom

Speaker: Tim Allan, Kwassui Women's College, Nagasaki
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., October 30th, 2004)
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: We will discuss and demonstrate three cross-cultural tasks intended for lower-level to intermediate-level high school and college students, although they could be adapted for various other ages, levels, and settings. The first includes an exercise connected to peace studies in Nagasaki. In the second, we will try a simulated gathering of anthropologists from different cultures. In the third, an exercise rooted in a semi-fictional Asian nation will pursue the possibilities of simulation and role play, through negotiations among companies, governments and NGOs.

Saturday, November 13th, 2004

Teachers Exploring Research: Top 10 Tips for Doing Classroom Research

Speaker: Corony Edwards, The University of Birmingham (UK)
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., November 13th, 2004)
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: Corony Edwards presents her findings from her own small research project, in which she asked teachers to fill in a questionnaire on the topic of teachers and research. She will summarize what teachers consider counts as research, what they get out of doing classroom research, and what the disadvantages are; what knowledge, skills, facilities and other factors they think someone should have to carry out research successfully, and what advice they have for other teachers embarking on research for the first time. The participating teachers were remarkably consistent in their comments, with the result that a list of 'top ten tips for doing classroom research' emerges from the data. It is hoped that other teachers will gain some insight from what the participants said into what it is like to do classroom research, and to be encouraged to try similar work for themselves. Corony Edwards is one of four full-time members of staff running the Open Distance Learning Master of Arts in Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language (MA TEFL/TESL) at the Centre for English Language Studies (CELS), part of the University of Birmingham's Department of English.

Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

Beyond "political correctness" in language assessment: A view from an outsider

Speaker: H. Douglas Brown, San Francisco State University
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Tue., November 16th, 2004)
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: Please note that this meeting is on a Tuesday. For many decades, English language tests and assessments have conformed to such long-standing principles as practicality, reliability, and construct validity, all of which are sound, "politically correct" foundations. However, such testing practices often lack the authenticity, the washback, and content validity present in more performance-based, biased-for-best, formative, and collaborative evaluation of language abilities. The presenter will offer some practical examples of transforming traditional tests into what may perhaps be politically incorrect, but nevertheless authentic assessments. Audience participation will be solicited!

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