Nagoya JALT January 2024 Event

It's our first event of the year! Come and Celebrate 2024 on January 20 from 6:30 to 7;30 pm with Nagoya JALT's first event of the year. Join us at Nagoya Kokusai Center 4th floor (No.3 Room) as we hear presentations by Noriko Kurashita and Steven Charles.

Noriko Kurashita will talk about "Changing Learners’ Beliefs in an Extensive Reading Community". This study attempts to reveal the process of changing learners’ beliefs through collaborative activities to promote L2 extensive reading (ER) in a university classroom. Substantial studies of L2 ER have been reported to demonstrate the benefits of ER for L2 language development (e.g., Elley & Mangubhai, 1981); however, the shifting learners’ beliefs of L2 learning towards its natural methodology have been hardly studied. By utilizing the frameworks of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) and landscapes of practice (Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015) the results revealed the complexity of the shifting process of EFL learners’ beliefs toward ER methodology through interactive activities. The ethnographic study spanning six months with periodical interviews with target students showed various degrees of ER treatment, such as some students were absorbed in stories accepting the new learning methodology, whereas others remained ambiguous due to the influence of other classes they took, despite their pleasant experiences on reading.

Steven Charles will talk about "Students’ Perceptions of Peer Review and Self-assessment in EFL Writing". While conducting peer review and self-assessment sessions in writing classes, teachers assume that these activities are beneficial to the L2 writing student. Students’ perceptions of these activities are not always taken into consideration by teachers. This project tracks a first-year writing class at a university in Japan over a fifteen-week term. This intensive writing class includes five one-paragraph writing assignments. As the students were executing these tasks, they answered an online questionnaire five times to gauge their opinions of peer review and self-assessment. The mixed method questionnaire consisted of a combination of Likert scale statements and sentence completion items to record and evaluate students' reflections on the two evaluation techniques. The general pattern that was observed indicated that students recognized the value of student-centered evaluation. The overall positive perceptions of the students observed in this project indicate that student-centered evaluation is a constructive part of the EFL classroom.

This event is free for JALT members, students, and first-time attendees. 1,000 yen for non-members.

Come and join us afterward as the chapter will hold its New Year's Party from 8 pm to 10 pm at Kaiseikan (Nagoya branch). The cost will be 4,400 yen for all you can eat and drink. There are only 15 seats available. Please sign up at the link below or send us a message.

Hope to see you on January 20th!