全国語学教育学会
Kyoto Chapter
a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the improvement of language teaching and learning
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JALT2010
36th Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Expo
Chapter Meeting of December 13, 2009
Presentations by Professional Development Scholarship Recipients and End-of-the-Year Luncheon
2009-2010 Chapter Officer Elections
Paul Evans and Glen Cochrane
Reported by Wakana Takai-MacLean
Synopsis: Kyoto chapter sponsored its first annual Professional Development Scholarship Fund to first-time attendees to the 35th JALT Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Exposition in Shizuoka last November.
The winners, Paul Evans and Glen Cochrane, reported about their experience: what opened up their eyes and stimulated their brains. Glen gave a report of presentations he attended on culture and technology with EFL, whilst Paul gave a report on the TLT annual meeting, using cell phones in EFL environment and ESL writing. Both carefully studied the conference brochure in advance to line up the presentations to attend, spent the three intensive days wisely at the venue, returned to the chapter event more confident as professionals, and gave a positive overall impression of the conference which encouraged prospective conference attendees.
Kyoto chapter will continue to offer the scholarship during the next academic school year. A sandwich luncheon was followed to celebrate Christmas and the end of the year.
Chapter Meeting of October 25, 2009
Presentation Practice Session for JALT National Conference/Kyoto JALT Chapter Business Meeting
2009-2010 Chapter Officer Elections
Kim Bradford-Watts, Bjorn Fuisting and Michael Furmanovsky
Reported by Wakana Takai-MacLean
Synopsis: The Kyoto chapter in October provided an opportunity for three speakers to introduce their presentations that are going to be presented at the JALT National Conference in November.
Kim Bradford-Watts prepared her poster session on metaphorical patterns through analysis of randomly picked textbook prefaces written in English. This unique study suggested the significance of the awareness of metaphors for teachers in the EFL environment.
Bjorn Fuisting presented a stimulating analysis on how to start, organize and re-organize extensive reading programs. This overall talk was aimed at various ER organizers and worked as a starter kit for a complete beginner to a managing kit for those facing obstacles along the way, as well as a budget consultation.
Michael Furmanovsky, using two examples of movie versions of classic novels in Graded Readers, pointed out the possibility of bringing out characters’ personalities and using them to introduce vocabulary for personality traits.
These practice sessions were a good chance for presenters to polish up their presentations before their big show, but for those who unfortunately cannot attend the National, it was a tasty bite. The 2009-2010 annual officers’ election were held at the end of the presentations.
Chapter Meeting of September 25, 2009
Using Drama Activities with Diverse Levels of University Students
Sandra Healy and Amanda Gillis-Furutaka
Reported by Wakana Takai-MacLean
The September Kyoto event invited two speakers: Sandra Healy and Amanda Gillis-Furutaka to share their teaching practices of using drama activities in university classes.
Healy’s presentation focused on her class adopting Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Her discussion was that drama-related activities provide reality in the language learning environment, and bring out not only all four skills of language acquisition but also personal development and improvement in motivation among students.
Gillis-Furutaka covered role-play activities based on TV interviews, ordering at restaurants and conversation at travel agencies. By using role-play, she stated that students can learn how communication also includes non-verbal dimensions. Role-play unexpectedly draws out aspects of student characters that they themselves are unaware of. The handout for Ms. Gillis-Furutaka's presentation can be found here. Presentation slides used in Ms. Healy's talk can be found here.
Both speakers’ discussions included actual video recordings of the students that they used for both teacher and student self-evaluation. Both mentioned the hurdles of using audio-video equipment and how to solve the problems. The hands-on techniques in their organized presentations and video clips were informative, ready to be implemented by the audience in their own classes.
Extensive Reading in Japan Seminar 2009
Thank You!
The JALT Extensive SIG, Kyoto JALT and Osaka JALT would like to thank everyone who made this July 5th event a roaring success! Thank you coordinators, publishers, presenters, and attendees! See you next year in Nagoya!
Want more information on Extensive Reading? Visit the JALT ER web site.
To view pictures of the 2009 ER Seminar click here.
Chapter Meeting of July 5th
Extensive Reading in Japan Seminar 2009
Reported by Wakana Takai-MacLeanThis full day seminar began first with paper presentations. The 25-minute presentations varied from using Moodle Reader, describing tips for successful programs, to using movies with graded readers. All sessions concluded with energetic questions and answers.
After a friendly pizza lunch, a 45-minute plenary speech was given by Rob Waring of Notre Dame Seishin University. Rob`s speech contained an introduction to the aims and types of ER courses. For those already into ER teaching, more guides for promoting the programs or solving problems were also provided.
Poster sessions following the plenary speech presented hands-on experiences from teachers using ER in their classrooms. The afternoon paper presentations covered such topics as starting an extensive listening program, goal setting, peer reading circles, and students`motivation in ER.
Also in attendance were publishers displaying interesting reading materials. This ER seminar attracted over 130 participants in a vibrant atmosphere, with stimulating discussions, and many satisfied faces. For more details on the seminar please visit http://sites.google.com/site/jalt2009erconference/Home
Chapter Meeting of June 14th
Brain-based teaching and Learning-Centered Activities
Curtis Kelly
Reported by Michi Saiki
With the overwhelming success of the Kyoto JALT MASH ‘09 meeting back in February of this year, we decided to do the same format again for our June event. This time, the focus was on brain-based teaching and learning centered activities, with the keynote presentation on brain studies by Dr. Curtis Kelly.
He talked about the growing movement called “brain-compatible teaching”, which calls on us to develop teaching practices that focus less on language and more on how it is learned. After Dr. Kelly’s talk, we had poster sessions by five teachers, who shared their approaches on learning-centered methods and activities.
Discussion circles then followed, where attendees talked about related issues of the day and action plans. There was so much positive feedback from participants who complemented on the vibrant speakers of the day and their presentations.