JALT Event

We will hold our 13th annual JALT Oita symposium on Sunday, November 6th, and for the first time in 3 years, we will be holding the event in person!

If you are interested in presenting at this event we would like you to submit a short proposal consisting of a title and abstract (150 words max) by 11.59pm on October 21st.

If you are presenting at JALT International the following weekend, this is a good opportunity for you to get practice and audience feedback. Alternatively, this is also a great chance to present any projects you may be working on to a friendly and knowledgeable group of fellow language teachers. We also welcome proposals from non-JALT members too!

If you would like to present, please send an email to our Program Chair, Ben Rentler, at jaltoita@gmail.com with a title and short abstract by 11.59pm on October 21st.

We look forward to hearing from you,

The JALT Oita Team

This online event will feature shortened versions of presentations to be given at JALT2022 by NanKyu members. More details will be sent directly to NanKyu members.

Both willingness to communicate (WTC) and motivation are studied as causes of each other (MacIntyre & Charos, 1996; Yashima, 2002). How they fluctuate during a lesson has been suggested to closely correlate (Pawlak, Mystkowska-Wiertelak, & Bielak, 2016). On the other hand, teachers' usage of motivational teaching strategies (MotS) and students' motivation have been demonstrated to correlate (Cheng & Dörnyei, 2007; Guilloteaux & Dörnyei, 2008).

The author conducted a mixed-method study in a Japanese high school EFL classroom to investigate whether teacher use of MotS enhances students' WTC. Pre-treatment and post questionnaire, self-reports, classroom observation, and stimulated recall interviews were used as research instruments. As a result, it was shown that the MotS usage by the teacher stimulated students’ desire to speak, but some elements, including anxiety towards speaking English and lack of L2 self-confidence, were holding them back from actually speaking.

Broadly speaking, three types of students were identified. The first type, “learners with low anxiety and high L2 self-confidence,” could speak up if the topic and the task interested them. The second type, “learners with high L2 anxiety and low L2 self-confidence,” had trauma towards speaking English caused by their negative past experiences, regardless of their proficiency. However, with linguistic support from the teacher, they were able to speak. The third type, “learners with high L2 anxiety and low L2 self-confidence, also with low L1 WTC,” tended not to speak up even in classes conducted in the Japanese language. They were able to speak, however, with personal support from the teacher which helped enhance their self-esteem.

The significance of this study is that it shows that teachers need to provide emotional and cognitive as well as linguistic support to the whole class, and to individuals, to fulfill learners' WTC.

This presentation would be suitable for ELT teachers and researchers who are interested in motivation in second language teaching.

MINAKO ANTOKU is a PhD student at Sophia University and teaches at Dalton Tokyo Gakuen Junior & Senior High School. Her research interests are the psychology of language learners and the impact of teacher intervention. When not studying, she travels and exercises through yoga and jogging.

This is an online event organized and hosted by JALT Gunma Chapter.

THIS EVENT IS ONLINE VIA ZOOM.

Three speakers will present a research project that examined how English teachers at universities in Japan used English and Japanese in their courses in 2020 and 2021. Teachers have had to adapt to different teaching formats during the COVID-19 pandemic, so this is a great opportunity to share.

The speakers are:

Eleanor Carson, an English lecturer at Matsuyama University. Her research interests include Medium of Instruction, WTC, and Student Autonomy

Julia Kawamoto, an associate professor at Ehime University. She has more than twenty-seven years teaching experience.

Ian Willey, an associate professor at Kagawa University. His research interests include English for Specific Purposes, Medium of Instruction, and International Posture.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89736202667?pwd=U0E1UXBMT3RKNzZERldtMFRUNG4vdz09

Meeting ID: 897 3620 2667
Passcode: 320263

It's free for everyone. See you there!

Sunday October 16th at the Nagoya International Center (3rd floor).

Sponsored by the JALT Chapters of Gifu, Toyohashi, and Nagoya.

After party at Coat of Arms from around 5:30pm. No set menu, just order as you go and cover your own bill. Happy hour drink specials will be available. https://en.coatofarms.jp

Please RSVP for the event using the QR code or link.
https://forms.gle/JY7gyGnQ3iQ1rs9v8

Our next ZPD will be on Friday, September 30 at 8 PM.

The September ZPD highlighted speakers are Kinsella Vallies, research coordinator of the Writers' Peer Support Group (PSG), and JALT's Publication Board Chair, Theron Muller, and other members of the JALT Publication Board.

Afterwards, we'll break up into smaller groups to discuss those topics and, as usual, we will also have an orientation for new officers and new members, tips and best practices in teaching, getting published, Eikawa & ALT Issues, Online teaching, Hybrid teaching, and more.

Please join us for networking, informal chat, and in building a community of practice with JALT members and prospective members.

This event is free and open to all.

Abstract: Yoichi Kiyota

Enhancing Intercultural Understanding, Imagination and Communication Skills through Participation in the Art Miles Mural Project and Min-pack Learning Kit Project

This presentation showcases two projects carried out at mainstream schools in Japan.

The Art Miles Mural Project is an international project implemented at high schools around the world. The project aims to develop skills necessary for students to become globally-minded citizens, and to foster an understanding of cultural diversity. Participants need to express ideas effectively with words and through artworks.

Min-pack (みんぱっく) is a learning kit for children developed by the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka. The kit is sent out to educational institutions in a suitcase. It contains items related to the daily lives of people in different regions around the world, for example clothes and musical instruments, which have been selected by museum curators.

The keyword common to both projects is imagination. The learning activities are based on authentic interactions, creativity and cultural artifacts and not only bring to life different cultures, but also enhance students’ imagination and ability to examine cultures from different perspectives, which can be a driving force to foster intercultural understanding.

Abstract: Ruth Iida

Encouraging Young Learners to Search for Meaning through Pictures and Props

This presentation, based on homework notebooks and speaking videos done by nursery and elementary age learners, will show how encouraging learners to consistently link their written and spoken work with self-generated images and self-determined props can benefit students as individuals and group members, while enabling teachers to better understand and support them. In addition, young learners can effectively use pictures and props to personalize, predict, elaborate, and enlarge their network of usable vocabulary. By learning to harness their imagination, children can begin to grasp and assimilate meaning effectively and to communicate that meaning to themselves, their classmates, and their teachers. Enlarged to include parents and siblings, this circle can become a child’s first language-learning community: the support system needed to ease their transition into the wider world.  

Bios:

Yoichi Kiyota is Professor of Education at Meisei University in Tokyo, Japan. He has been involved in English language education management, English teacher training and professional development for secondary in-service teachers since 2008. Yoichi has also been an advisor for project-based learning programs and international educational projects at local schools. His current research interests are language learning portfolios and foreign language learning in cooperation with museums.

Ruth Iida has been the owner and head teacher at Rainbow Phonics English School in Hadano City for twenty-three years. She is active in the Tokyo JALT Teaching Younger Learners chapter and received a Best of JALT award in 2019 for her presentation on music and language acquisition. Ruth enjoys developing curriculum for her learners, writing and illustrating stories for them, and engaging in the learning process along with students. She draws inspiration from collaboration with other Eikaiwa owners and teachers as well as online courses, live workshops, presentations, and her own reading. Ruth is an avid participant in the ongoing challenge to understand well enough to teach and be understood by others. 

This year's annual online (Zoom) forum will be on the theme 'Examining the Past and Envisioning the Future'
with invited speakers from Tamagawa University, as well as speakers from the host institution, Aichi University.

Please register at the e-mail address by 13th October.

The Spring of 2020 will, among educators worldwide, be forever associated with incredible
challenges that some might call creative, some might call traumatic. Teachers everywhere
were scrambling to find answers to questions they didn't even know how to ask concerning
what was called an Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) environment. It was then that many of
us found some answers, new knowledge, and a new way community for sharing that
knowledge in Online Teaching Japan (OTJ), a Facebook private group that brought teachers
from all around the world to inquire, share, and commiserate over all the bumps in the road
that teaching in the pandemic would bring.
And now that we are emerging out from under the pandemic how should we see our experience?
Was it just an emergency that we put behind us and return to “normal” or do we look at it as an
opportunity to push ourselves further ahead in what we can do to improve our classrooms?
José Domingo Cruz was close to the centre of the phenomenon that was OTJ. He became
known as a ZOOM expert early on and helped provide weekly information sessions to get
teachers ready to use unfamiliar tools like video conferencing software, learning management
systems, and digital education suites. In this presentation, he will talk about OTJ’s role in
helping teachers through the pandemic and discuss and consider what its future role might be.

Location: On Zoom (To register, please contact yojaltpresident@yojalt.org)

Glenn Magee – Promoting Harmony and Well-Being for both Teachers and Students

Abstract: The teacher curates the emotional life of the classroom and forges closer relationships with the students. As a result, emotional intelligence is developed through the development of connections that contribute to a calm and safe learning environment. It is optimal to develop a relationship (attachment style) between teachers and students that is both secure and healthy (Cozolino, 2014). As a result of providing models of behavior, promoting harmony, and helping learners form habits of excellence, teachers can achieve this. I will introduce ideas on how teachers can promote harmony, well-being, and use routines that support both learners and teachers in the classroom.

Bio: Glenn is a Lecturer in English Education at Aichi Prefectural University. He has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (TESOL/TEFL) from the University of Birmingham and is a founding member of JALT BRAIN SIG. His main research interest is Mind, Brain, and Education – researching how biological processes intersect with educational practice with a specific focus on student well-being in the English as a Foreign Language classroom. His research is focused on promoting healthy relationships that foster optimal learning conditions and draws on the latest findings from positive psychology, educational psychology, and the neuroscience of learning and motivation.

Ian Willey – Promoting International Posture in Japanese University Students

Abstract: The presenter will discuss two studies in a project aiming to develop a university English curriculum grounded in International Posture-building, using a survey designed by Yashima (2009). In the first study, the International Posture scores of students in first and second-year English courses were assessed, and a relationship between International Posture and gender, English proficiency, and major was examined. In the second study, pre-/post-course surveys were conducted to determine if “speaking to the world” activities, in which students expressed and shared their opinions about diverse topics, boosted students’ International Posture scores. Attendees will then have a chance to share their own methods of promoting International Posture in their students.

Bio: Ian Willey has an MA in TESL from Kent State University and a PhD in second language writing from Hiroshima City University. He is currently an associate professor at Kagawa University. His research interests include English for Specific Purposes, Medium of Instruction, and International Posture.