JALT Event

Tottori Chapter December 18, 2022 Event Report: Life After JET: Stories of Opportunity, Passion, Change, and Inspiration (What happened to those guys, anyway?) On December 18, 2022 the Tottori Chapter held their first in-person event in more than a year; Life after JET. This was a panel discussion about various paths possible to those JET participants who want to stay and make their career and life in Japan. There were four presenters, from three countries: Chris Hollis and Mel Ok from the US, Keiran Enright from New Zealand, and Ray Levy from Canada. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was uncooperative on the day, and brought us a blizzard. As a result, the attendance could be generously described as "sparse," but those present did both enjoy and get useful information from the event. Of particular use was the emphasis by all four presenters/panelists on the need for Japanese language competence. While it may be possible to get a good job in major metropolitan areas in Japan without Japanese language competence, in rural areas it is a necessity. Tottori JALT's next event will focus on teaching children, on February 5, 2023.

Please join us at Shake Shack restaurant in Umeda starting from 6:30 pm and lasting at least until 8:30 pm, if not later. (They close at 10 pm.) Drop by for a coffee or quick bite or hang out for as long as you like over a more leisurely burger, beverage, or treat. There's no admission fee. Just pay for whatever you order at the register. This is a great chance to meet up in person with old and new friends, schmooze, share stories, and continue ringing in the new year of the rabbit! We hope to see you there!

The Kyoto Chapter of JALT, in collaboration with the Gifu Chapter of JALT, the Kobe Chapter of JALT, and the Global Issues in Language Education Special Interest Group of JALT present their 3rd annual event on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) issues in ELT on January 29th, 2023. The Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (MEXT) policy is pushing many educators in Japan towards a more “globalized” or “diverse” education system. This goal is important but many of us have unclear definitions as to what this means and how it will affect them in their roles in their respective fields.

Storytelling often implies entertainment, however it can be educational and has been used as such throughout history. Storytelling has received attention in the SLA field as well. Most published research on storytelling in an L2 has involved young learners and has investigated its impact on linguistic skills (Lucarevschi, 2016), and the term storytelling itself can involve a wide variety of genres (e.g., folk tales, myths) and delivery mechanisms (e.g., written, spoken, digital). This presentation will focus on personal storytelling in the form of anecdotes. Anecdotes are short, spoken non-fictional accounts that recall a notable event and are commonly shared in daily conversations. The potential of anecdotes in language learning contexts has been promoted by educators (e.g., Jones, 2001; Wajnryb, 2003). However, while studies exist on storytelling, ones specifically concerning anecdotes are scarce: there is a large gap between pedagogical enthusiasm and empirical research. This presentation will give a narrative of the presenter’s doctoral research on student-told anecdotes in an EFL context. It will provide a wide-angle view of his research endeavor from an experimental task to a cornerstone of his oral communication classes. The presentation will also touch on qualitative research methodologies such as Narrative Inquiry and practitioner research in the form of Exploratory Practice (Allwright, 2003) that have sustained the presenter’s recent publications on this topic. The presentation will include interactive tasks in which attendees can practice sharing engaging anecdotes. Finally, the presenter will provide detailed lesson plans so that attendees can incorporate anecdote sharing in their own language classes. JOACHIM CASTELLANO is a lecturer at Gunma University. He is a doctoral candidate at Ryukoku University where he is researching SLA and storytelling, specifically focusing on anecdotes in L2 classrooms. Joachim was selected as an award winner for the 2013 Apple Distinguished Educator in Japan. THIS IS A FACE-TO-FACE EVENT

Zoom link is now available. Please register here to gain access to the event on Sunday: - 

http://ptix.at/rZZBGC

This session will take an introductory look at the three main kinds of memory--sensory, working, and long-term--and look at how they interact during the learning process. In addition, we'll explore how memory functions in Cognitive Load Theory, one of the major theories of learning today. With this theory in mind, we'll end by discussing and reflecting on the implications for teachers and practical ways to apply these ideas in our classrooms.

BIO: Julia Daley currently teaches English writing and conversation at Hiroshima Bunkyo University. Prior to that, she taught writing in the USA at the secondary and tertiary levels. When she isn't diving down neuroscience-related rabbit holes, she's busy being bossed around by her very demanding cats and fish.

Dr Ana Sofia Hofmeyr from Kansai University is joining us in Oita for a presentation and workshop on the theme of encouraging cultural education in the language classroom. This promises to be a fascinating event, so please come and join us! The event details and a full abstract are given below. We look forward to seeing you on January 28th!

ABSTRACT
The importance of developing an intercultural mindset in Japanese students is increasingly apparent. Traditionally, intercultural attitudes and knowledge have been fostered through study abroad programmes; yet, these opportunities remain out of reach to most students worldwide, forcing educational institutions to consider alternative ways in which to foster intercultural awareness among students on domestic campuses. The intimate relationship between language and culture suggests that foreign language classrooms may be ideal settings in which to foster an intercultural mindset, but a strict focus on linguistic competence over cultural understanding has generated a gap between policy and practice. This practical workshop will encourage teachers to consider what is meant by an intercultural mindset, ways in which to foster intercultural discussions in foreign language classrooms, particularly within time and textbook constraints, and the role of the teacher as an intercultural ambassador in the classroom.

Local members attending the JALT International Conference (in-person or online) will present summaries/reflections on the best presentations they attended at the conference. 

There are still a few speaking slots open and we’d like to hear from you! If you attended (or presented at) JALT2022, use the online form to sign up to present. Presentations in the past have typically been 20 minutes or so, but they can be as short as 5-10 minutes, or longer than 30 minutes depending on what you’d like to present.

These EdTech practical workshops are for language teachers who want to know more about EdTech and look for different ways to implement new ideas in their teaching. Each presenter will demonstrate an EdTech tool and give the audience some hands-on experience.

Abstracts:

Oliver Rose - Three web apps for ‘live’ in-class games

The presenter will introduce the following web apps which he designed, with input from Paul Raine, who also programmed them:

a) LingoMatchLive: In this communication game, players are divided into pairs who have to describe a list of target words to each other without saying the actual word (similar to the well-known ‘taboo’ game). A leaderboard shows the progress of the pairs, adding some fun pressure to communicate more quickly and fluently. It can be accessed free with no registration required here: https://lingomatch.live

b) LingoBingo: This is a bingo game in which the game host describes the target item and can see the progress of players as they respond on their smartphones. Game contents can be customized to use pictures or text. Students can also host a game with their group from their phone. It can be accessed free with no registration required here: https://lingobingo.live

c) LingoLabLive: This game has students competing with each other to create target sentences from given prompts. The prompts can be a combination of text, picture and audio. The answer can be set to one of 3 difficulty modes. It can be accessed free with no registration required here: https://lingolab.live

In this session the games will be demonstrated and their design and use will be discussed.

Adam Kardos - Digital Gamification for Young Learners 

In recent years we have seen a proliferation of digital learning resources. Many of these make use of gamification in order to keep learners motivated. But are simple digital games and points enough to keep young learners fully engaged and putting in the extra work they need to learn a language? How exactly do digital gamified learning resources motivate young learners? This presentation will use Self Determination Theory to examine the effects of fun, points trophies and other features of gamification on the motivation of young language learners. 

Bios:

Originally from Australia, Oliver Rose has taught EFL in Japan for 18 years and currently teaches at Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo, Japan. His special interests are in TELL (Technology Enhanced Language Learning) and materials design, especially for providing intensive productive language practice.

Adam Kardos, founder of AAS Press, is a teacher trainer and curriculum writer based in Hyogo. He has published textbooks and readers for young learners including Spring Country and Here Come the Unicorns, winners of the Language Learner Literature award. He has also produced the Gamerize Dictionary, a gamified learner dictionary app.

As in the past, teachers from contrasting countries who are currently studying in Japan will share their experiences of education including language learning and teaching. In a small group format, it will give you a chance to ask questions which you are interested in.

Our hybrid meeting at 15:00 Sunday October 30 will feature our members doing “dress rehearsals” of their national conference presentations. Feel free to join us in person or online via Zoom. Emily MacFarlane, Jim Smiley, Allison Murakami and Darren Kinsman will present on a variety of topics including student responses to different question types, threshold concepts and academic literacy, phonemic awareness instruction and interactive writing activities.

In Person: Neo Breakthrough meeting room (see website)
4-chōme-2-9 Chūō, Aoba Ward, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0021 - Google maps
6th floor - enter through the ground floor cafe and take the elevator
Online: through Zoom (pre-register for link)

Whether you plan to attend in-person or online, please pre-register to help us plan.