Tag: Discourse

  • Late-Winter Meetings Report – 2016

    Today I’m going to report on the meetings we had in January and February. I like putting them together in this format. Let me know in the comments if you’d prefer them to be separate.

    Diane Nagatomo – January 31

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    We were very lucky to have Diane Nagatomo from Ochanomizu University in Morioka at the end of January to talk about the research she is currently undertaking.  Diane is tackling professional identity development of English teachers in Japan who have chosen to reside in the country permanently.  He research focuses specifically on foreign women who are married to Japanese men and what they must deal with on a daily basis.

    Diane gave us an account of Victoria. Victoria is a woman from Australia who came to live in Japan and teach here. However, she also became the manager of a temple and the mother and wife. Diane explored all the ways in which Victoria identities cause her issue in a typical Japanese town.  The daily struggle of a foreign woman in the Japanese work world is perhaps not surprising, but the ways in which Victoria deal with the identities placed on her as well as the identities she places on herself give an insight into her live.

    After the presentation Diane held a workshop in which we explored identity and how it impacts the way people are treated.

     

     

    John Campbell-Larsen  – February 28

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    John Campbell-Larsen from Kyoto Women’s University was our plenary speaker last year at MEES 2015. We were so enthralled by his talk on using discourse makers, that we asked him to come back and give a full ninety minute presentation on the topic. He did not disappoint.  Not only did John give us an overview of the history of of discourse markers and some of the negativity that has been shown towards them, but he also taught us how to teach them to students and gave us an account of how he does it in his classes. I am now convinced that these once disregarded “filler” words such as ‘so’ ‘uh’ ‘you know’ and ‘I mean’ might just be the ticket to English language fluency.

     

    We want to thank both Diane and John for taking the time out of their busy schedules to join us this year.

     

    Reported by: Jason Hill

    All photography ©2016 Jason Hill

  • Upcoming: Febraury 28 – John Campbell-Larsen

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    Date and Time: Sunday, 28 February – 1:30pm – 4:30pm
    Speaker: John Campbell-Larsen
    Location: AIINA Rm 602 (map https://goo.gl/maps/kEQo5UV2jPr)
    Fee for JALT members: Free
    Fee for one-day members: 1,000 yen (500 yen for students)

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    Discourse marking: Function not Filler

    Talk-in-interaction is more than just the exchange of propositional statements by participants. Speakers suffuse their talk with words and chunks that perform a variety of interactional tasks such as managing turn taking and floor holding, showing the speaker’s attitude to what they are saying and the like. These discourse markers (DM) are among the most frequently occurring items in spoken language and are also key components of spoken fluency, but they are often absent in learner language and are often dealt with in a cursory manner, if at all, in many language courses. This presentation will look at DM in English and examine the meanings and functions of common markers with reference to the literature. The presenter will then go on to describe some ways in which DM can be taught to learners.

    Discourse Marking in the L2 Classroom

    In this workshop participants will have the chance to engage in activities to raise awareness of discourse marking in English and investigate the meanings, functions, pronunciation and usage of common English discourse markers. The presenter will supply materials that can be used in the classroom and participants can practice the activities from a students’ perspective and discuss how to utilize or adapt materials for their own particular teaching context. The session will conclude with a discussion on any issues raised during the workshop.