• Teacher Motivation Questionnaire

    I’ve been asked by Maggye Foster at Hachinohe Gakuin University if we could share a survey she is currently holding. I will let her explain the rest. If you have a few moments, please feel free to fill it out. Thanks.

    Teacher Motivation Questionnaire

    Link to Survey here

      Authors:

    1. Crooks (International University of Japan)
    1. Foster (Hachinohe Gakuin University)

    The main objectives of this study are: (1) To bring to light internal and external factors that may influence teachers’ motivation and demotivation (2) To analyze the diverse ways teachers cope with stress and/or maintain their motivation to teach. Please note that we do not ask for personal or institutional names, and all data supplied will be anonymized and kept in the strictest of confidence. The collated data, however, will be used for research, presentation, and publication purposes, but your individual results will not be presented in a manner that would lead to the information being associated with you.   It is expected the completion of this questionnaire will take no longer than 15 minutes.

    Link to Survey here 

  • Upcoming – February 22, 2015 – Jason Hill – Using Popular Culture to Create Interesting English Classes

    Location: AIINA, ROOM 602
    Date February, 22 2015
    Time: From 1:30pm – 4:30pm(13:30-16:30)
    Cost: Free for JALT members. ¥1000 for non-members. ¥500 for full-time students.
    Contact: iwatejalt@hotmail.com or jasohill@gmail.com phone/fax: 019-663-3132

    Creating motivation in the English classroom is a challenging proposition in Japanese schools. This is especially true with junior high and high school English curricula. The textbooks try to be stimulating, but usually the content is out of date or is of little interest to students. To get enthusiasm for English back in my classrooms, I have been injecting more popular culture(TV, film, music, sports etc.) into my classes and finding success. I find there is a fine balance in what you can talk about, and this depends on the students’ interests and the amount of time the schedule allows. I would like to talk about my conclusions and then have a small workshop to discuss how we can spice up our English classrooms and make learning more enjoyable and productive.

    Bio

    Jason Hill is Instructor of English at elementary and junior high schools, and currently works for the board of education in Hachimantai City, Iwate. Over the past eleven years, he has taught at every level of primary and secondary education as well as teaching classes for hospitality workers in the tourism industry. He was a participant the JET programme from 2003-2006 and continues to strive to make learning English an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavour.

  • Upcoming – December 14 – Bryan Hahn – Developing Automaticity in Reading: A Study of University Students in Japan

    Location: AIINA, ROOM 817
    Date December 14, 2014
    Time: From 1:30pm – 4:30pm(13:30-16:30)
    Cost: Free for JALT members. ¥1000 for non-members. ¥500 for full-time students.
    Contact: iwatejalt@hotmail.com phone/fax: 019-663-3132

    Abstract

    Many Japanese students learning English do not develop language skills naturally. This includes reading. Students often focus on too many reading tasks at the same time so they do not comprehend what they read. As a result, it’s important they reach automaticity in order to read at full comprehension. Dubin and Bycina (1991) state that reading at a rate of 200 words per minute is necessary for full comprehension. Not only will students begin to understand what they read, it makes the task of reading much more enjoyable.

    This might explain why the vast majority of my students self admit to never having read a book written in English from cover to cover. The act of reading becomes too laborious making them want to give up. Students can be taught to read faster by reading in “chunks”, or having the ability to see multiple words at the same time. This quantitative study will examine if teaching students to read in “chunks” will significantly improve their reading rate over the course of one semester. Participants are students at Akita International University enrolled in advanced level Reading. Students will be given a pre-test, followed by weekly practice of reading in chunks and timing their reading rate to determine progression, and conclude with a post-test at the end of the term. It is hypothesized students’ reading rates will be significantly higher during post-test results compared to pre-test results. Understanding the concept of automaticity will assist teachers in orchestrating a successful reading class.

    Brief Bio:

    Bryan Hahn

    Lecturer, AIU (Two years), EAP Dept.

    Also taught at unis in Korea and in the public and private sector in Los Angeles.

    B.A. Journalism

    12 years as a Reporter for various news networks

    M.A. TESL

    10 years teaching experience