February 2020 Newsletter
Dear Kyoto JALT Chapter Members & Friends,
February is here and how time flies. School is out until spring and Kyoto JALT won’t have its next event until March. If you’re keen on sharing your experience we’re holding a Call for Participants for our Grant Writing Symposium (send us your proposals by February 14th). This event should be particularly interesting for teachers who want to get their research funded. Also, don’t forget that the call for papers for JALT 2020 is due February 24th.
Also, in this issue there are calls for proposals/papers and some interesting events around Kansai. There is a call for research participants at the end of the newsletter
Richard Sparrow
Publicity Chair
On behalf of the Kyoto JALT Team
Kyoto JALT’s 2020 Event Schedule (Upcoming)
Getting your Research funded: A Symposium presented by Kyoto JALT: March 15th
One of the little-known steps to getting research done is getting it paid for. Come listen to Other researchers’ experiences in applying for grant money in Japan.
Lilt SIG Collaboration: April 19th
This is a collaboration with Lilt SIG on creative writing in ELT
TESOL x Brain SIG: June 20-21
This event, planned by the Mind, Brain, and Education SIG of the Japan Association for Language Teaching, in collaboration with TESOL, introduces the brain-based learning methods that have been developed so far.
Academic Publishing Workshop: TBA
Everyone knows you need to publish, but not everyone knows the ins, outs, and rigors of the publishing process.
4 Corners Talk: November (TBA)
In collaboration with the other Kansai Chapters we hope to bring a JALT 2020 speaker to the Kansai region for a pre-conference talk.
GALE Collaboration: December 5
Sexual harassment in the workplace is one of the serious issues of our time and can be hard to navigate by yourself.
Call for proposals: JALT2020
Community plays an important role in language education, both inside and outside classrooms, and will take centre stage at JALT2020. The theme of this year’s conference encourages participants to reflect on the importance of community, explore ways we can strengthen our professional communities and help students enhance their learning communities. We welcome sessions on any area of language education and professional development, particularly those which address the theme: Communities of Teachers and Learners. We are opening our call to teachers, students, administrators, publishers, and others who have an interest in learning about and shaping language education in Japan and beyond.
Proposals will be accepted until February 24, 2020 for Regular Vetted Proposals, Featured Speaker Workshops, and Technology in Teaching (TnT) and Professional Development (PD) Workshops.
JALT2020 will be held at Tsukuba International Congress Center (Epochal Tsukuba), Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, 20-23 November 2020.
Advance Notice and Call for Papers
60th PALT Anniversary and 2020 PAC (Pan-Asian Consortium) International Conference: Call for Papers
Date: Thursday, December 3rd, 2020 Time: Time TBA
Call for papers: February 12, 2020
Description: The Pan-Asian Consortium of Language Teaching Societies (PAC) is unified by a belief that teachers of English around Asia have much to share and learn from each other. The 2020 PAC Conference will be held in conjunction with the 60th PALT Conference on December 3-5, 2020. For more information, please see this conference poster on the PALT site.
29th MELTA International Conference 2020: Call for Papers
Date: June 3rd through the 5th 2020
Call for papers: February 20, 2020
Events around Kansai
February 2020 SIETAR Kansai
Gibberish: A powerful tool of non-verbal communication
Speaker: Nobukatsu Okubo (trainer and author)
Date: February 1, 2020 (Saturday)
Time: 14:00-17:00
Description: Gibberish literally means words that have no meaning. We live in a super information-oriented society, and it is said that to maintain our mental and cerebral condition in good shape, it is useful to have time separate from language and words. Gibberish can make this possible without much effort. In the beginning of this session, Okubo will give a brief explanation of Gibberish followed by exercises for participants to experience Gibberish. Gibberish can connect people through the pre-language or 0 (zero) language. The moment Gibberish starts, the distance between people shortens and laughter can come in. Gibberish is truly effective as a communication tool.
Profile of the Speaker: Nobukatsu Okubo is the Chair of International Gibberish Association (Gakkai) and the youngest among the top master trainers of Laughter Yoga worldwide. He has earned a certificate from Laughter Yoga International University in India. Mr.Okubo’s Laughter Yoga method consists of Laughter Yoga, Gibberish, and Skip (involving movement). In this workshop Okubo will focus on Gibberish with some explanation of Laughter Yoga. He appeared on TEDx (TEDxyouth@Kobe) in 2016 and is also the co-author of The Miracle of Laughter.
Venue: Nishinomiya Daigaku Koryu Center (ACTA East Tower 6F Rm 2), 2 minutes from Hankyu Nishinomiya Kitaguchi station https://www.nishi.or.jp/access/sonotashisetsu/daigakukoryu/daigakukoryu-gaiyo.html
Fee: Free for members and students; 500 yen for non-members
Language: English/Japanese/Gibberish
Social event: Dinner after the session at a restaurant. Reservations for dinner required by January 28, 2020
Contact: fujimotodonna@gmail.com
ETJ Chubu Expo
ETJ Aichi
Date: Sunday, February 9th, 2020 Time: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Speaker: Many great speakers
Description: The Chubu ETJ EXPO is the premiere event of the year for all teachers of English in the Chubu region. Featuring many workshops with presenters speaking on a wide range of topics related to teaching English in Japan. For teachers of students of all ages, ranging from babies to senior citizens, we guarantee you will learn new ways and means to help your students learn better. Come learn, share and grow! Please register at the ETJ Aichi Expo webpage.
Cost: ETJ Members: 1000 yen
Non-members: 2000 yen
Venue: Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Hoshigaoka, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya For Directions
Nagoya JALT
Scaffolding Tips for Jr. High Extensive Reading Students
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2020 – 1:30pm
Event Speaker: Noriko Kurishita
Description: Extensive reading (ER) practitioners are often caught in a dilemma of whether or not to test learners’ comprehension, as comprehension tests usually undermine the joy of savoring stories. This study attested sociocultural theory in assisting individual development of ER in the context of public junior high schools. A well-planned follow-up activity of book talks created a learning community in which learner and teacher-scaffoldings functioned to promote ER. As a consequence, learners’ reading quality improved without any comprehension tests. Moreover, a detailed survey revealed what teachers should instruct in order to facilitate book talk.
Profile of the Speaker: Noriko Kurishita teaches at public secondary schools in Gifu prefecture. She earned her M.A. in linguistics at the University of Washington, WA, USA and M.A. Ed. at Gifu University. Her research interests include extensive reading and teaching methodologies.
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: 1,000 yen
Location: Nagoya International Center, 4F, Lecture Room 3
Nagoya JALT
Error Log Efficacy and Belief
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2020 – 3:00pm to 4:30pm
Event Speaker: Chris Lear
Description: This presentation explores the efficacy and learner beliefs of error logs in undergraduate academic writing classes. The study shows that by combining error logs with uncoded, focused corrective feedback, students made fewer subject-verb agreement and singular/plural noun ending errors. Through semi-autonomous self-correction, students became more aware of these errors and were able to identify them more independently. Students were then given a questionnaire to explore their beliefs on the experience, which resulted in an overall positive response to the activity.
Profile of the Speaker: Chris Lear is a Lecturer at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, where he teaches academic writing to first- and second-year undergraduate students. He holds an MA in Linguistic Science from Nanzan University. His research interests include peer review, anxiety reduction, and mixed AR/VR classroom application.
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: 1,000 yen
Location: Nagoya International Center, 4F, Lecture Room 3
Oxford University Press
Oxford Teaching Workshop Series 2020
Date: Sunday, February 23rd, 2020 Time: 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Speaker: Rob Peacock, Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto, Setsuko Toyama., Tetsuro Nishiyama
Description: Creating empowered 21st century learners. See the event series webpage for details.
Cost: free
Venue: Nagoya AT Bldg, 2F, Nagoya Sun Sky Room A (map)
Oxford University Press
ELTOC 2020: English Language Teaching Online Conference
Date: Thursday, February 27th, 2020 Time: 12:00 AM – 5:00 AM
Speakers: Tammy Gregersen, Harry Cunningham, Gordon Stobart, Joon Lee, Philip Haines
Colin Finnerty, Shaun Wilden, Barbara Hoskins, Diana Lea, Ed Dudley, Therese Hopfenbeck, Nick Michelioudakis, Sarah Rogerson, Fiona Mauchline, Jamie Keddie, Nicky Hockly
Description: What if every teacher around the world could attend the same event? Join us for a series of webinars delivered by leading ELT experts. Watch a variety of sessions focussed on global skills, assessment for learning, digital and vocabulary. Connect with experts and share your thoughts with colleagues around the world.
Join any of the sessions and receive a certificate of attendance and exclusive ELTOC resource pack.
For more details about this online event, please see the conference webpage. It runs over 3 days in February; the best time for teachers in Japan is on Friday 28th. All sessions will be recorded.
Cost: free
Venue: Online: To register, click here
Research help needed: Request for Research participants
Zemi in Japanese Universities
Dear all,
We are two teacher/researchers based in Kansai who are investigating how foreign (i.e. non-Japanese) instructors feel about teaching the zemi in Japanese universities. We feel that the zemi offers unique challenges and opportunities for instructors assigned to teach these courses, and we want to understand them more deeply.
We hope to interview foreign teachers who are currently teaching zemi classes in Japan. Each interview will take around 60 minutes to complete. We are happy to meet any willing interviewees at their place of choice.
If this sounds like an interesting topic for you to discuss, please contact us at the following email: <zemi_interviews2019@hotmail.com>.
Many thanks,
Martin Hawkes, The University of Shiga Prefecture
Calum Adamson, Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts
Writing in Japanese Universities
Purpose:
The aim of this study is to examine how Japanese students’ writing improves over the school year and to see how effective online grammar checkers are in improving grammatical accuracy. Specifically, the study seeks to examine grammatical accuracy, fluency (how many words students can write in 30 minutes along with 10 minutes for editing), complexity (vocabulary and syntactical).
（１）研究の目的
本研究の目的は、日本の学生の文章表現が１学年にわたってどのように向上するか、オンライン文法チェッカーが文法的正確さを向上させる上でどれほど効果的であるかを調べることです。
Call for Participants:
I am hoping to obtain permission to gather data at three to four institutions in western Japan and in Kansai region and to solicit the cooperation of approximately 120 students. Students will be asked to write a total of three papers, one every four months, concerning various topics.
西日本 3大学施設の調査
西日本の3〜4大学施設でデータを収集し、約120人の学生の協力をしてもらえるように承諾を頂きます。 学生はさまざまなトピックについて、4か月に1回、合計3つの論文を書くように依頼します。
Contact Information:
Email: long@dhs.kyutech.ac.jp
Address: Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1 Sensui-cho, Tobata-Ku, Kitakyushu-city, 804-8550
Telephone: 093-884-3447
Appreciatively,
Robert William Long III Ed. S Kyushu Institute of Technology
Finally,
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