2015 August 8 | Matthew Cotter | Kinesthetic Learning - Finding a Balance

Matthew Cotter

This was an excellent presentation that was not to be missed.

The presentation began by outlining some principles of kinaesthetic learning. Matt then gave examples from his own past experiences as a self-identified kinaesthetic learner and as a teacher of different age ranges and types of students. In the second half of the presentation, Matt had everyone on their feet as he demonstrated some techniques to incorporate more physical movement into the learning process. The presentation culminated with an example Maori lesson using kinaesthetic learning.

2015 June 27 | Rob Fritz | The (Intercultural) Language Classroom

Thanks to everyone who braved the rainy weather to make it out! 

Notes from the presentation

Part 1: Theory

Rob Fritz

Despite the Ministry of Education's (MEXT) aims to produce globally-minded citizens, the recent educational climate in Japan is that of students who are inward-looking, or uchi-muki. The problem is exacerbated by the implantation of language education that remains focused on grammatical accuracy. To achieve the Ministry's stated aims, Mr. Fritz argues that language education must incorporate culture into the curriculum in a meaningful way. He advocates the following changes:

• Deep adjustment to the educational infrastructure
• Deep awareness of development of self 
• Awareness of how sociocultural factors influence our subjective world view

2015 April 12 | Nagasaki JALT Executive | Poster Sessions: Meet YOUR Nagasaki JALT Executive

Thanks to everyone who came out for the April meeting. The executives presented on a range of topics, providing something for everyone.

Thom Rawson (President) presented about making a digital textbook.

Thom Rawson

• By making learning materials digital, teachers are better able to engage students where they spend much of their time and attention already: online and on their digital devices.
• Digital textbooks allow for immediate feedback to students through automatic grading. This not only saves time for the teacher but can motivate students.
• There are a variety of platforms available for creating digital coursework, including the following:
• • LMS: Moodle, Blackboard, Manaba
  • Google: Google Docs, YouTube, Blogger

2015 February 22 | Sergio Mazzarelli | Fostering Learning Autonomy with the European Language Portfolio / Peer Evaluation Using Moodle

Sergio Mazzarelli
Kwassui Women's University

The speaker will offer two presentations. The first will explain how an adapted version of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) was used to foster student autonomy and motivation in three classes at a Japanese university. In particular, the presentation will focus on how the ELP helped students formulate learning goals and self-monitor progress in achieving those goals. There is growing interest in the ELP, but many teachers are not sure how to make it work in the Japanese context. Far from intending to be prescriptive, the presenter hopes to inspire others to find their own way to deploy this powerful tool.

2015 January 10 | Dawn Kobayashi | Focus on Drama | Sponsored by CUE SIG!

Dawn Kobayashi
Sponsored by CUE SIG

This presentation will both introduce to attendees how the presenter is using drama as the main teaching methodology in university English lessons and give attendees a chance to try out some of the drama techniques for themselves. Finally attendees will be encouraged to reflect on how they might employ similar techniques in their teaching environments.

2014 December 13 | Terry Fellner | Pseudoscience in EFL: What is it and "woo" is responsible?

Terry Fellner

This presentation will focus on the use of several practices and methodologies currently found in language teaching that have little or no scientific evidence to support their use. The presentation begins with an examination of what is meant by the terms “pseudo-science” and “woo” and then provides the audience with a fun pseudoscience demonstration to illustrate how these concept can be easily accepted and misunderstood. This talk will examine the efficacy of the following concepts: learning styles, left/right brain learners, multiple intelligences, and neuro linguistic programming as well as question the teaching and utilization of several common TOEIC test strategies. The presentation concludes with a brief discussion about why it can be difficult to get evidence-based results in EFL contexts and yet, why it is important that we try.

Bio: Terry Fellner is Associate Professor at the Center for General Education at Saga University. He has been a teacher, teacher trainer, researcher, for more than 20 years in Africa, Canada, and Japan. Currently he is the section editor of @CUE in The OnCUE Journal, and his research interests include motivation, vocabulary acquisition, outdoor language learning and L2 reading.

Location: Dejima Koryu Kaikan, 2-11 Dejimamachi, Nagasaki

Fee for JALT members: Free

Fee for one-day members: 1,000 yen, free for students

Contact or Queries: Email contact form

2014 November 21~24 | JALT 2014 International | Conversations Across Borders

JALT2014: Conversations Across Borders

JALT2014: Conversations Across Borders

40th Annual International Conference on Language
Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Exhibition
Friday, 21 November 2014 - Monday, 24 November 2014
Tsukuba International Congress Center (Epochal Tsukuba)
Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan