Category: Uncategorized

  • JALT 2022 Four Corners Tour in November – Yilin Sun

    First Meeting: Aomori University of Health and Welfare 

    C block, 2nd floor, room C204

    Date: November 26, 2022, 2:00pm

    Theme: Thinking with FIRE for 21st Century English Learners in Japan

    Fee: Free for JALT members

            Free for non-members

    Abstract: This workshop will focus on ways to foster students’ (especially young learners’) critical thinking skills as part of the 21st century learning. The speaker, who has extensive experience in classroom teaching and teacher education in both ESL and EFL settings, will share strategies to incorporate effective questioning techniques which can be adapted for all levels of learners. She’ll also discuss critical 21st century skills that EFL teachers can incorporate in their classes.

    Second Meeting: AIINA Rm 806 

    Date: November 27, 2022, 1:30pm

    Theme: Workshop: Counter-Storytelling: A Critical Asset-based Pedagogical Framework

    Fee: Free for JALT members

            Free for non-members

    Abstract: The facilitator will use counter-storytelling as a theoretical underpinning and share “asset-based” Culturally Responsive Teaching activities that she and her colleagues have designed to engage participants in hands-on activities to examine the social context of our students’ personal and educational stories as well as our own. Powerful stories, arts, and poetic modes of expressions from students from systematically underserved and under-represented backgrounds will be shared.

    Speaker Profile

    Yilin Sun is a tenured professor (Emeritus Professor) who directed faculty development programs at the Seattle Colleges in Seattle, WA, U.S.A for the past three years before her retirement. She has served the field of TESOL for over 35 years as a classroom teacher, program leader, teacher educator, and researcher with many higher education institutions in China, Macau, Canada, and the USA. Dr. Sun is a former president of the TESOL International Association (2014-2015) and the founding president of Macau Association for Applied Linguistics (MAAL). In 2021, The English Language Specialist Program of U.S. Department of State recognized Dr. Sun as one of thirty specialists who have made a lasting impact on the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) field since 1991. Dr. Sun is also serving as Chief Editor of the series Foreign Language Teacher Education and Development: Selected Works of Renowned TESOL Experts published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Over the years, Dr Sun has given numerous keynote/plenary and featured presentations at international professional conferences. She has authored and coauthored books, book chapters, and journal articles. Her research interests include curriculum development, program assessment and evaluation, L2 reading, vocabulary learning, critical thinking, classroom-based action research, teacher education, ESP/EAP, Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), and NNEST/bilingual/multilingual English speaking teachers in the ELT field.

  • TILES 2021 – Using L1 in the Classroom

    TILES2021 Call for Proposals

    Date: Sunday, September 26

    Time: 13:30 – 17:00

    Place: Hirosaki Gakuin University & Online

    Submission Materials:

    (1) Abstract: 100-200 words describing your intended presentation (in English or Japanese).

    (2) Presenter Bio: Up to 100 words describing yourself and your current teaching situation (in English or Japanese). Submit to Vikki Williams: w_vikki@auhw.ac.jpSubmission Deadline: Friday, July 16Presentations should be between 20 – 30 minutes, followed by a 10-minute Q & A session.

    We welcome presentations in either English or Japanese; however, it would be appreciated if important information was available in both languages.

    Presentations should include one or some of the following:

    • Describe the presenter’s own research.

    • Describe the presenter’s own classroom experience.

    • Give practical examples or ideas for classroom use.

    TILES2021

    発表者募集日日：9月26日(日)

    時間：13:30~17:00

    場所：弘前学院大学およびオンライン

    提出書類：

    (1) 概要：発表予定の内容について、英語100-200語。日本語300-400字。

    (2) 発表者のバイオグラフィー ：発表者自身と発表者の現在の教育活動状況について、英語100語以内。日本語200字以内。提出先：ウイリアムズ・ヴィッキー（w_vikki@auhw.ac.jp）

    提出締切：7月16日（金）

    発表時間：20-30分（＋質疑応答10分間）

    英語と日本語いずれかによる発表でかまいませんが、重要な内容は両言語で伝わるようにしていただければ幸いです。

    発表の内容に以下のことを含めてもらえれば幸いです：

    • 発表者の研究について

    • 発表者の教育現場での経験について

    • 教室で使える実践的なことについて

  • December Writing Workshop

    Event page:

    Join Zoom Meeting https://umuc.zoom.us/j/97336507526?pwd=Z0ZRM2VaUkt4cW5VRnpQcTVySUdRdz09

    Zoom link information can be found on the event page.

    https://www.facebook.com/events/200740951642126/

    1. Using Google Slides to support Writing in Online or Hybrid Classrooms

    This presentation focuses on an ongoing and small-scale classroom-based research project that evolved from the need to help students overcome the barriers of writing for academic purposes. It will offer background of both the project and the literature linking sociocultural perspectives and collaboration with writing to support noticing by increasing the “visibility” (Hyland, 2003) of academic writing features. In addition, the presentation will share practical, technology-based pedagogy (primarily Google Slides and Docs) for improving writing skills that will be of interest to teachers in CLIL and other academic writing classroom contexts.

    Julia Christmas, (University of Niigata Prefecture) has classroom experience that includes many years at both secondary and tertiary institutions in Japan. Her research interests include CLIL and CALL. 

    1. Using Corpora to Support and Develop Writing Skills

    This presentation hopes to show the basics of how to use the CocaCorpus and Sketch Engine for Language Learners.  The presenter will explain how to make materials that help students do corpus searches by themselves (e.g., collocates, connotations, noticing patterns). Participants are encouraged to play active roles during this presentation as they’ll have the opportunity to try these tools for themselves in a breakout room workshop. Possible issues with these tools and how teachers can help students avoid them will also be shared.  

    Sarah Deutchman currently works at Waseda University where she has taught academic writing and discussion for 3 years. Her area of research focuses on using and analyzing corpora, building vocabulary lists based on corpora, and polysemy.

    1. Storytelling Through Google Speech to Text

    Google Speech to Text is a powerful voice technology that has become part of our daily lives with its applications such as Google Home. This presentation will delve into the technology from a learning standpoint and familiarize the students with the use of it for creating short stories through Google Docs. The activity will be extended online through a breakout room group discussion. 

    Timothy Ang is currently finishing his Masters in Bilingual and Multicultural Education at the University of Alcalá. He teaches English at universities in the Kansai area of Japan. His current interests include Task Based Learning, Student Motivation, Computer Assisted Learning, and Curriculum Development.

    1. Planning a Day Out with Padlet

    In this short presentation, the presenter will demonstrate how to use the map feature on Padlet. They will detail how their students practiced informative writing by creating reviews of favorite places in the area, then worked with a partner to plan a perfect day out. If time permits, participants can write a review of their favorite place. 

    Kathryn Akasaka came to Japan on the JET program and has been here ever since. She holds a BA in Education from Earlham College and currently works at Shirayuri JHS and HS and lecturing part time at Iwate University, Iwate Prefectural University and Iwate Medical University. 

    1. Using Online Discussion Boards to Teach Summarizing & Paraphrasing 

    In this short presentation, the presenter will share how they have used online discussion board tasks to help students learn to summarize and paraphrase, an essential skill in academic writing. They will also share how they helped students intentionally incorporate new vocabulary and grammar into their posts, and ultimately later in their term essays. 

    Rachel Stuart has been teaching in Japan for 6 years and holds a MA in TESOL from Biola University, California and currently teaches in the Bridge Program at the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) in Misawa, Aomori. She is also the program chair for the Iwate-Aomori JALT Chapter.