General Meeting

On March 30, we’ll experiment with a new “Roundtable” format to supplement our traditional MyShare. You have four options to present: 

• "MyShare" about lesson ideas you have used, 
• "Sounding Board" where you seek feedback about an idea you’re thinking of trying out (and want to see what your fellow teachers think)
• "Teaching Hack(s)" with non-lesson advice (tips on grading quickly, learning names etc.) or 
• "Favorite TED Talk," in which you show the video (and possibly explain why you like it and/or prepare a question or two to begin a group discussion).

 Once you decide what you want to share, sign up to present in March. 

We are having an AGM and New Year Soiree. 

AGM

All members are welcome to attend the AGM and give their opinions about the Chapter.  We will hear the plans of the new officers.  It's a great way to learn more about the Chapter and how to make it better...together!

Time and Location: 3-5pm, Notre Dame Seishin University, Trinity Hall, 5th floor room 53

SIGN-UP

We need to give a list for the AGM to Notre Dame Seishin University.  So, if you want to attend the AGM, please sign up by Friday, January 24th.

FORM: https://forms.gle/V21MDrknDYgBi1Qm6

If there is a special request, we can arrange a limited hybrid participation at the AGM.

New Year Soiree

Why not come along and meet the officers and other members. We will have a very informal and relaxed get-together at Kamp. Come along share a coffee or drink and chat with us!  We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Time and Location: 5:30-7pm, Kamp Backpackers Hostel and Cafe, Hokancho

Any queries, please write on the sign-up form. 

Accessibility in Language Learning

The ALL sig will be having their very first online meet up on Monday Feb 26th, 8-9PM.  We invite members and others to come and discuss,  ask questions,  and learn from each other about issues related to accessibility in language learning.  Our members and officers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share to help teachers make their class as welcome to all types of learners.  The Zoom link will be sent to you the day before the meeting.   Hope to see you all there.

It's that time of year again for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) to report and reflect on the past year as a Chapter and discuss plans for the coming one, including chapter officer positions. Nominations for all officer positions are open to Osaka Chapter members up to and during the meeting. Officer terms are for one year, starting January 1st. If a position is contested, we'll hold an online election after the AGM.

To get a better sense of our team of officers, here is our current roster.

Officers' duties are roughly as follows:

• The Chapter President coordinates and oversees the running of the chapter, recruits and liaises with and assists other officers as necessary, represents the Chapter at JALT’s 3 annual national Executive Board meetings and in ongoing online JALT-wide discussions, and submits an annual report to the Executive Board.
• The Treasurer manages the chapter’s money and maintains and submits monthly and annual financial reports.
• The Program Chair(s) oversees the organizing of our events, in collaboration with other officers and volunteers.
• The Membership Chair focuses on our regular members by signing up and welcoming new members, sends reminders to those whose membership dues are coming or have come due, and maintains our membership records.
• The Publicity Chair(s) primarily focuses on spreading the word about what we’re doing to non-JALT members via our email list, Facebook group, and any other way that is deemed appropriate.
• Officers at Large have no specific duties but pitch in as needed in a variety of ways as their time permits.

RSVP HERE to get the Zoom link, to ask questions or give feedback, and/or to let us know whether you'd like to nominate yourself or another Osaka JALT member to serve as an officer or in some other way in the coming year. 

This is a good chance to learn more about Osaka JALT, share ideas, and meet several of our officers and other members. We do hope to see you online at the meeting, but if you're not able to attend, you can still nominate yourself or another Osaka JALT member for an officer position, or give us feedback on the RSVP link with any questions, concerns, or suggestions you might have. 

Dear Members of CEFR LP SIG, 

you are kindly invited to the Annual General Meeting of CEFR LP SIG for 2024 to be held online on December 13, 2024 from 3 pm to 4 pm. Interested colleagues who are not actual members of JALT and/or of JALT CEFR LP SIG are welcome to attend. Yet, voting will take place online before the meeting. If something needed to be voted on during the AGM, only regular members of JALT CEFR LP SIG will be eligible to vote. 

Agenda for the AGM: Report of CEFR LP activities in 2024, Officer reports, Voting Results, Discussion items.

After the AGM a CEFR related thematic open News and Talk time will take place from 4 pm to 5 pm on plans and events related to the CEFR in Japan and internationally. It is a time and a space to ask, exchange ideas on various CEFR and/or JALT related conferences, working groups in 2025.

News on CEFR and LP discussion and development

PanSIG 2025 Call for papers

JALT 2025 Call for papers

CEFR-J Symposium in Kyoto, 

API Meetings and Conference

CEFR Journal - Research and Practice

Planning a Research project, a Kaken project

and other topics coming up. 

If you plan a presentation, a paper, a research in the near future related the CEFR and/or LP feel to reach out.

Interested? Please sign up.  

Title- Diverse Opportunities to be Excellent: Highlights from JALT2024 Presenters- Jason Peppard, Jerry Miller, AND a few YU Student Volunteers!

Abstract- In this meeting, Jason will discuss the new ideas, materials, and directions taken from JALT2024’s “Moving JALT into the Future: Opportunity, Diversity, and Excellence” conference held in Shizuoka. Jerry will provide insight into his role as one of the coordinators of the conference. In addition, some Yamagata University students will share their experiences volunteering at the conference. It is hoped that this forum will inspire and encourage both teachers and students of English. Active audience participation is encouraged!

As the end of the school year draws closer, we, as teachers, begin to consider the best ways to assess our students. At our November event, various speakers will be talking on classroom assessment. The current lineup is:

• Troy Zangara: How to Assess Without Killing the Joy of Language Learning
• Hudson Murrell: Evaluating Students—Semester, Speaking Tests & Presentations
• Ryane Sergent: Stop Grading Your Students
• Malcolm Swanson: Using GradeScanner for Quick Assessment and Analysis

We will also be holding our Annual General Meeting (5:30-6:00pm) where officer reports will be presented, and the future status of the chapter decided.

Annual General Meeting: This is a reminder that the chapter AGM will be held online this month.

The details are as follows:

Date: Sunday, October 20th, 2024
Time: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Location: Zoom*

*The AGM is for Nara Chapter members in good standing. 
 

All Zoom Meeting Details: The details have been provided via the NaraJALT monthly newsletter. If you are a member of the Nara chapter of JALT and have not received the newsletter, please send an email to narajalt@gmail.com to request the Zoom link.

 Any chapter members in good standing who wish to attend the AGM.

The meeting agenda includes the following four items:
(1) Chapter officer ratification
(2) Chapter constitution ratification
(3) Officer reports for 2024
(4) Chapter prospective for 2025

Chapter Officer Nominations for 2025

The nomination period for chapter officer positions has closed, with the following nominations for 2025.

Leigh McDowell—Chapter President
Motoko Teraoka—Membership Chair
Richard Sharrard—Publicity Chair
Masayuki Takano—Chapter Treasurer
Andy Sowter—Program Chair

Michael Lin—Member-at-large
Etsuko Nishi—Member-at-large
Robert Maran—Member-at-large
John Carle—Member-at-large

These officer positions will be ratified by vote during the AGM.

Although the AGM is the chapter’s official business meeting, it is also a great opportunity to get to know more about your chapter, so please mark the date and join us in the meeting.

All Nara JALT chapter members are cordially invited to the chapter AGM, which will be held online in October.

Date: Sunday, October 20th, 2024
Time: 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Location: The AGM will be held online using Zoom*

*The Zoom link will be sent to all chapter members in the October newsletter.

If you are a Nara chapter member and did not receive the newsletter, please email us for a link.

The meeting agenda includes the following four items:

(1) Chapter officer ratification

(2) Chapter constitution ratification

(3) Officer reports for 2024

(4) Chapter prospective for 2025

The nomination period for chapter officer positions has closed, with the following nominations for 2025.

Leigh McDowell—Chapter President
Motoko Teraoka—Membership Chair
Richard Sharrard—Publicity Chair
Masayuki Takano—Chapter Treasurer
Andy Sowter—Program Chair
Etsuko Nishi—Member-at-large

Michael Lin—Member-at-large
Robert Maran—Member-at-large
John Carle—Member-at-large

These nominations will be ratified during the AGM.

Although the AGM is the chapter’s official business meeting, it is also a great opportunity to get to know more about your chapter, so please mark the date and join us in the meeting.

Online Workshop Abstract: A blended-learning syllabus was designed to maximize student engagement and promote language fluency. The approach combines the benefits of autonomous online resources using Moodle with interactive, face-to-face classroom activities. The novel aspect of this approach in this presentation is the explicit separation of educational roles to be played by the online and offline modes of delivery. In this syllabus, the online mode provides interactive self-study materials that are automated, providing instant feedback for learners. For example, this includes vocabulary quizzes and games, H5P Interactive video activities, online forums where students can interact with peers and a wide array of multimedia contents to cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. Students are not required to complete all the online activities, but are free to choose several options to complete from the full complement. This automated and autonomous component forms the basis for grading. The automated process reduces the workload for instructors while ensuring objective and consistent grading. This approach allows educators to focus on delivering high-quality instruction in class and fostering a positive learning environment. In the classroom setting, the emphasis shifts towards spoken communication and fluency. Group and pair work activities are designed to capitalize on the availability of the students’ classmates’ for live, face-to-face interaction. These tasks encourage active participation, provide opportunities for practice, and help build confidence in speaking English, in a low-stakes learning environment. By separately integrating the best of both worlds – the interactive, self-paced benefits of online resources and the immersive, engaging nature of in-person communication – this blended-learning syllabus gives English language learners agency over their learning journey, encouraging autonomy, as well as providing extensive practice at actual language use to help learners expand their skills and achieve fluency.

This presentation will be in two parts. In the first part, I will describe the separation of educational roles and differing uses of the various modes of delivery available in the blend. This will include discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of each mode. Following this, in the second part, I will showcase a real-life example of this being implemented in a course at the Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology.