JALT Event

The year is drawing to close, and every teacher must have hit highs and lows in this calendar. Some of the experiences have enriched us and throughout the year, we have collected little gems of activities or classroom management techniques that have greatly helped us. Would you like to share with other language educators what has worked for you this year? Come along to the December Kyoto JALT meeting and share your ideas with other teachers. There will be a Christmas party after the meeting.If you have an idea to share with us and/or are planning to attend please send us an email at kyoto@jalt.org
We are pleased to announce the presenters will be Bjorn Fuisting, Robin Russ, Oana Cusen, Trent Spriggs, Michi Saki and David Clayton.

There will be a bonenkai at a quaint Italian restaurant called Dish in Sakai-machi near the Dobashi streetcar stop. We hope to see you there! Contact Lauer for details at 0824-24-6353. RSVP by Monday, December 1st.

It will be shown how a text such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone can be used as the basis for a language course covering all 4 skills as well as vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The presentation will be followed by a workshop on developing such materials.

This presentation investigates team-teaching between a Japanese teacher and an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in an English classroom in a junior high school in Japan. I visited a junior high school located in Nagano Prefecture and observed one team-teaching lesson. Afterwards interviews were conducted with all direct stake holders of team-teaching, the Japanese teacher, the ALT and their students, to discover more about the context of the lesson.
The results of the data analysis have revealed that although there were some merits to team-teaching, it was not always performed effectively. Looking back though the history of English language education in Japan, it is clear that the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme is one instance of the autocratic introduction of educational policy, yet to improve and sustain the programme in the long-term, it is necessary to encourage accessible means of investigating local practice. This study in itself represents a potential example of such an investigation.
This presentation has received Okaya School Board's "Koen-meigi".

Contributions for the JALT 2008 Proceedings are due on December 1st. In this workshop, we hope to provide peer support for anyone planning to submit a paper. We will be looking at both content- and form-related features that should improve your chances of having the paper accepted for publication.
After Myles Grogan's brief review of requirements for the Proceedings http://www.jalt-publications.org/proceedings/2008/call.html , Matt Apple will provide a refresher on APA style. This will be followed by a comment from Deryn Verity, former Associate Editor of the JALT Journal, who will give an editor's perspective on the writing process.
Finally, we will break out into small groups and give feedback on the pieces you are preparing.
Bring a copy of your paper for the proceedings, and get the benefit of feedback from peers.
Myles Grogan, of Momoyama Gakuin University, is Osaka JALT Program Chair and editor of the My Share column in JALT's The Language Teacher magazine.
Matt Apple, of Nara National College of Technology, is coordinator of JALT's CUE SIG (College and University Educators' Special Interest Group).
Deryn Verity, of Osaka Jogakuin College, is former Associate editor of JALT Journal.

The presenter will give a brief introduction of tasks related to motivational theory based on the Pintrich and De Groot's Model (1990). Then, in a workshop format, take the participants through a receptive skills listening lesson specifically focusing on task sequences and how that may help or hinder student learning by improving their levels of motivation. The presenter will then give evidence of how task sequences improved his students' motivational levels based on a classroom action research project. This will be followed by a group discussion focusing on how teachers and educators can improve levels of student motivation based on the participants own teaching situations

Bringing together all English teachers. There will be presentations and materials for college teachers, high school teachers. elementary school teachers, kindergarten teachers. In fact, the aim is to provide top-class presentations and material displays for every kind of English teacher. You can preregister for the Expo at http://www.eltnews.com/ETJ/events/preregistration.shtml. It is OK to attend the Expos without preregistering but it saves time on the day of the Expo both for yourself and for the volunteers taking care of registration.

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is a methodology that utilizes a theme-based curriculum rather than focusing on the traditional forms, functions, situations or skills. We will examine two different types of CBI course: one a four-skills practical English course on the theme of global climate change, and the other a conversation course based on science fiction DVDs.
Both Bobby Mamoru Takahashi & Stephen Shucart teach at Akita Kenritsu University.

This presentation will provide a brief introduction to systematic textbook evaluation. Results of evaluations of two EFL/ESL textbook series for children, Finding Out and Let's Go, will be discussed. The aim is to supply teachers with skills to critically evaluate textbooks and materials for younger learners.
This is the second of two consecutive presentations on this day. The fee covers both talks.

After a brief overview of the three methods, we will look at the value of, and discuss ways of, putting together all three methods to best nurture young readers.
We will look at some common mistakes in teaching phonics, and suggestions for improving your teaching.
Because most EFL teachers of young students in Japan are severely limited in teaching time, some ideas on how to make the most of your time will be included.
This presentation is to be followed by a second one. The entrance fee covers both talks.