JALT Event

Join us at Kinki University's Language Institute July 5th from 11:00 - 16:00!
ER is a growing phenomenon and an excellent way of reaching your students at the same time as building their fluency and vocabulary. If you are new to ER or a seasoned pro, there will be something for you to learn!
We have lots of graded readers from different publishers for raffle prizes!
• Rob Waring, one of the giants of Extensive Reading (ER), is the Plenary Speaker
• a full day of presentations and poster sessions to help you develop a successful ER program from the classroom to the curriculum level
• a chance to see the latest offerings from a wide range of publishers, who can offer you information and helpful suggestions on how to develop your graded reader library.
For further information and pre-registration please check our website:http://sites.google.com/site/jalt2009erconference/Home
Those who pre-register before July 3rd will get a free conference bag and an additional chance to win free graded readers in the post-plenary raffle!
Co-sponsored by the ER SIG, the Osaka Chapter and the Kyoto Chapter

Linda Ohama, a Japanese-Canadian filmmaker and visual artist, will show and discuss her international award-winning film, Obaachan’s Garden, the story of a remarkable journey of strength, love and determination of one woman`s life of over 100 years. This is a moving film about the life of Asayo Imamoto Murakami, born in Onomichi, Hiroshima-ken, who was sent to Canada in 1923. She was the last picture bride living in Canada when she passed away just short of her 105th birthday. Her first home and flower garden in Canada are now a national historic site and museum. Ohama, the granddaughter of the film’s heroine, will share some behind-the-scenes experiences of the making of this film and also speak of her work on her next film. Ohama will also speak about her artwork and the community work she has been involved in both in Canada and Japan. Doors open at 1:30, presentation starts at 2:00. Japanese subtitles.
Linda Ohama, a third-generation Japanese-Canadian, is an accomplished filmmaker, visual artist, educator, and an active citizen, strongly committed to preserving cultural heritage and promoting educational and cultural exchange. Her artwork and films have received numerous international awards. She is currently in Japan working on her next project.
This event is co-sponsored by Osaka JALT, Kyoto JALT, SIETAR Kansai and Osaka Gakuin University.

The JALT Omiya Chapter is proud to be one of the organizations taking part in this year's Nakasendo Conference . Representing JALT Omiya this year are Jun Harada and Bradley Semans.
-Jun Harada's presentation entitled 'Let's Delve into the Minds of 'Bad' Students: Alternative TESOL will take place from 2:10~3:00 in Room B.
-Bradley Semans materials swap is titled 'Dave Pilkey in the Classroom (or 'Who the heck is Dave Pilkey?') will take place from 3:10~4:00 in the Gathering Room.
NAKASENDO is an ever-expanding, multi-organizational English conference based on mutual support and collaboration. Inaugurated in 2008, it is both an annual event as well as a year-round cooperative online exchange. Our specific aims include:
1) helping teachers gain awareness of what is happening at all levels of English education, not just their own
2) supporting young teachers’ organizations that have proven dynamic and innovative in our field
3) improving relations and exchange opportunities between Japanese and foreign teachers of English
This year’s annual event, Nakasendo 2009, will be held on June 28th at Tokyo Kasei University. Our theme, “Paths to Learning” offers an engaging day of professional development through collaboration. In addition to our line-up of presenters from participating organizations and our ”Learning Paths”　materials swap, we are delighted to host Dr. Kensaku Yoshida, a formidable voice in our unique EFL context, as our keynote speaker this year.
概要
飛躍的に成長している大会「中仙道」は、相互支援と共同研究を基盤に様々な英語の学会で構成・運営されており、2008年に発足して以来、年次大会を開催、オンライン上で情報交換を常時行っております。「中仙道」のユニークな目的としては、以下の通りです。１）日本の英語教育界において、自分たちが属するレベル以外でも何が新たに研究されているかをよりよく知る、２）英語教育の分野で設立された新しい学会で、ダイナミックで革新的な要素のあるものを支援する、３）日本人及び英語母語話者の英語教員のより良い関係を構築することです。今年の年次大会「中仙道２００９」のテーマは”Paths to Learning”であり、様々なグループが互いに学びあうことで、より良い英語教員として成長するための有意義な一日となると考えております。本大会においては、所属学会の代表者による発表と”Learning Paths”の教材に関する情報交換が行われるのに加えて、基調講演の講師として吉田研作先生をお招きしております。

For our sixth meeting of the year, the presenters will demonstrate many activities and materials that they have used in culture content, environmental issues content, and other global issues based-content classes. In addition, attendees will create and adapt their own materials and activities during this practical workshop. There will also be a discussion about balance of content and language, testing, authentic materials and more. Please note the 1 PM meeting time!
P.S. About cost for "one day members", we have a 2 for 1 offer: bring a first timer to a meeting, and each of you pays Y500.)
* 次回：2009年7月25日（土）13:00-15:00
* 場所：出島交流会館4Ｆ
* 発表者：グレゴリー　グッドマーカー 「大分県立芸術文化短期大学」／
カジウラ　アサコ 「 立命館アジア太平洋大学」
* 演題：「言語習得とコンテント学習の統合」
* 参加費：会員・学生—無料　非会員— Y1000.
「非会員が初めての人を連れてきた場合はそれぞれ500円でOK」
** Post-Meeting Plans **
We are planning to go to Ioujima's nearby onsen after the meeting. We hope to take the 1530 ferry from the Ohato Terminal (a few minutes walk from our meeting site) and the combined ferry/onsen ticket costs Y980. No prior reservation is needed, but each person pays! If you choose to eat, the best location is the Uraraka restaurant, and cost./choice is up to you. The last ferry leaves the island at 2157.
However...if you choose to stay the night, please book your own accommodation. You can book a room for 6 people for ¥ 6,980/person minimum. For two people the cheapest is ¥17,600 per room. These options are for staying at Uminomieru Hotel
If you would like to book your own accommodation, contact them at 095 898 2202, or contact Ohato Terminal at 095 821 3301.
Last but not least, please note that car parking might be difficult downtown, since the summer Minato Matsuri is on Saturday night, 7/25, and Sunday night, 7/26. The fireworks begin at about 2050 each evening. The bigger fireworks are on Sunday night, incidentally.
P.S. Hope to see you there! Nagasaki JALT has no meeting in August. The next meeting planned is tentatively set for Saturday, September 26, 2 PM - more information to come later on this, thank you!

Our fifth meeting of the year is a workshop in two parts. Emilie Masson will focus on pronunciation difficulties for Japanese learners of French. She will look at what sounds are difficult for learners and why. She will also take a look at how these difficulties vary between free speech and reading aloud. Finally, she will look at some ways teachers can remedy these difficulties with activities they can use!  Next, Monica Roberts will guide us through effective lesson planning related to FFL/L and vocabulary. This involves one of four main parts of a language course: 1) Meaning Focused Input (MFI), Meaning Focused Output (MFO), Form Focused Learning (FFL), and Fluency. Each activity involves selection of a goal from LIST.  L = language, I = ideas, S = skills, and T = text.  Finally, specific lesson outcomes need identifying. 
* 次回：2009年6月20日（土）14:00-16:00
* 場所：出島交流会館4Ｆ
* 発表者：エミリー・マッソン　／　モニカ・ロバーツ
* 演題：「日本人フランス語学習者が直面する難しい発音」
「語彙指導の効果的な授業計画」　
* 参加費：会員・学生—無料　非会員— Y1000.
（非会員が初めての人を連れてきた場合はそれぞれ500円でOK）
Anytime for general and new information about many things, please check our main and event Facebook sites, or our websites at http://jalt.org/groups/Nagasaki and http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/ nagasaki.html or simply sign up for our monthly e-mail newsletter at http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/nagamail.php3
All welcome!

Developing English-Japanese Biliteracy (Mary Goebel Noguchi)
Families raising children with two languages as different as Japanese and English may wonder about what level of competency in each language they should be shooting for. Should they aim for complete mastery of all four skills in both languages—or set more modest goals, such as high levels of competency in all four skills in one of the languages and just oral proficiency in the other?
Drawing on a wide range of research on bilingualism, including her own studies on raising bilingual children in Japan, the presenter will provide a rationale for developing literacy in both of a bilingual’s languages and then go on to offer some suggestions on how parents can help their children develop literacy skills in both English and Japanese.
Interaction in Bilingual Communities (Tim Greer)
Bilingual children, by definition, can and do speak two languages, so it should come as no surprise that they sometimes use both of their languages in the same conversation. However this can also be a matter of concern for their parents, many of whom were raised monolingually. Drawing on a corpus of video-recorded naturally-occurring bilingual conversations, this session will focus on some of the socio-interactional functions of codeswitching and demonstrate how bilingual people can use it to express certain aspects of their identities. The discussion will invite parents to consider when and whether bilingual interaction is appropriate, and what (if any) effect it has on the acquisition of two or more languages. An optional barbecue will follow at 2000 yen for adults, 1000 yen for children 12 and under, free for kids 4 years and under. Limited childcare will be provided. Email Shirley Ando at kobejalt@gmail.com no later than Sunday, May 31th. to reserve the bbq and/or childcare.

This special visiting researcher will explain how differently American and Japanese speakers go about the task of disagreeing in conversations. Focusing mainly on the intonation of negatives in different situations in the two languages, she will identify ways for language learners to convey their meaning accurately to speakers from the other community.

Most modern teaching methodologies are based around communicative classrooms. However, when students do not feel secure enough in their classroom group to communicate, learning is compromised. Conversely, when they do feel secure, learning is enhanced.
The key to making students feel secure in the language classroom is to develop the group's cohesion. When classroom cohesion can be developed, students become more motivated to interact, creating a positive group dynamic that increases the effectiveness of lessons. This interactive workshop will discuss the importance of cohesion and demonstrate a number of activities that can be used to develop it.

Knowing a little bit about its history can open up new perspectives on a language and its cultural heritage. For teachers, this may offer a source of renewed interest in their subject as well as insight into some of its discrete linguistic features.
The status (or near dominance) of English as a global language makes it all the more essential for teachers of English to have at least a cursory understanding of its roots, development and relationship to other languages. Understanding where it has been may shed some light on where it is going.
Kevin Collins has been teaching the history of English at Wakayama University for several years. In this presentation, he will survey some of the major highlights of this fascinating story and share some of his reflections on ways that it can revitalize and improve our work as teachers.
Please come. There’s a pretty good chance you will never look at English the same way again.

Ever thought about opening your own language school here in Japan?
Here's your chance to find out what it takes.
Ranging from pedagogical approaches to tax issues, this presentation will cover many of the essential points that prospective owners need to know before starting up their own private school. James Gibson, who has ten years of experience running his own English conversation school in Osaka, will share some of his insights into developing and operating a successful business.