Tag: JALT

  • Upcoming – September 27, 2015 – Andrew Boon

    Date and Time: Sunday, 27 September 2015 – 1:30pm – 4:30pm
    Speaker: Andrew Boon
    Location: AIINA Rm 605  814
    Fee for JALT members: Free
    Fee for one-day members: 1,000 yen

    !!!!We are meeting in a different room than usual. Rm 605  814!!!IMG_6889

    We loved the presentations by Andrew Boon in June. We loved them so much, we are bringing him back to do two more presentations on September 27. If you missed him the first time, please be sure not to miss these.

    1] The reflective teacher

    In the act of teaching, we have little time to reflect on the successes or puzzles that occur within our classes and can lose valuable opportunities for gaining insights into our pedagogic practice. there is a need, therefore, for practical ways to
    help us think back upon our experiences more deeply and to discover what is actually happening in our classrooms. This workshop discusses the process of becoming reflective and the journey towards pedagogic self-actualization. It also provides
    a number of strategies and frameworks that can be used by teachers to facilitate critical reflection on their teaching and find new discoveries, possibilities, and ideas for research themes there.

    2] Negotiated syllabuses: Do you want to?

    It has been said that negotiated syllabuses can increase student motivation and involvement in the learning process. And yet, learner and teacher reservations towards gaining or relinquishing control of syllabus design decisions can often mean that negotiated syllabuses are difficult to implement. This presentation will look at three different teaching contexts in which negotiated syllabuses (or certain elements of negotiation) have been implemented (business courses, extension center courses, and university courses). It will describe the results of a qualitative research study into whether teachers and students really want to negotiate syllabuses. Finally, the audience will be invited to share their own experiences by answering the questions; have you and do you want to?

    Bio

    Andrew Boon is an associate professor in the faculty of humanities at Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo. He has been teaching in Japan for over 17 years and is an Aston University PhD student. He has been an active member of JALT since 2004, has presented at numerous conferences, and has published several articles on teacher development, motivation, and methodology. He is also co-author of Inspire; a 3-level listening and speaking coursebook (Cengage Learning, 2013-14).

    Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1041167942568271/

  • Highlights from M.E.E.S. 2015

    It’s been about twenty-four hours since M.E.E.S. 2015 wrapped up and I thought I would share some photos of the conference. I don’t really want to get into specifics. If you read the live-blog post,  you’ll have an idea of what the speakers were presenting on. If you missed out, there is always next year. I’d like to thank all the organizers and volunteers for the work they put into M.E.E.S. this year.

    IMG_6353 IMG_6357 IMG_6365 IMG_6371 IMG_6378 IMG_6379 IMG_6383 IMG_6391 IMG_6393 IMG_6395 IMG_6403 IMG_6407 IMG_6415 IMG_6424 IMG_6431 IMG_6433 IMG_6443 IMG_6445 IMG_6462

    All Photography ©2015 Jason Hill

  • 2015 M.E.E.S Conference in Hachinohe this Sunday -Liveblog-

    10403355_1518863631712992_4516237316012140592_n Event Link: –>  https://www.facebook.com/events/725840544190755/

    That’s all for the live blog. It was an excellent day. See you all next year.

    Live blog – Jason Hill

    Update: May 31 – 3:50pm – Marc de Boer – We can be friends. Linguistics and English conversation. What can we come away with?  There is something to be said about implicit learning. Something everyone can learn.

    Update May 31 – 2:55pm – Chutatip Yumitani – Presenting on Scott Thornbury’s 7 ways of Looking at Grammar.

    Update May 31 – 2:00pm – Marc Jones  has started his presentation on the frustrations with secondary language learning theory and the assistant language teacher system.    Update May 31 – 12:10pm – Neil Conway, Neil Addison. Scaffolding poetry reading in University EAP Classes.

    Update May 31 – 11:15am – James Hobbs – What’s in a word. Mr. Hobbes  looks at medical English words and deciphers them for us.    Update May 31 – 10:15am – Plenary speaker. John Campbell-Larsen. Teaching the spoken language.     Update May 31 – 9:50am – Booths are set up. We are ready to go.    Update May 31 – 8:37am – Full schedule of speakers.    Update May 31 – 8:15am – We just arrived at Hachinohe Gakuin University. Only 45 minutes until registration. It’s a beautiful day.     Update: May 30 – 9:02 – After party at overtime sports bar in Hachinohe. A warm welcome for our guests and speakers.        Update: May 30 – 7:12pm – We are having a welcome dinner for guests and speakers at La Plazatei(らぷらざ亭). The food is amazing. Nice to meet everyone.    Update: May 29 – 12:00pm – This is my last update before the event. I will use this post to liveblog details as they happen. We hope to see you all there. Here is the schedule again: 09:00 – 10:00 Registration 10:00 – 10:10 Opening Comments 10:10 – 11:05 Plenary Session 11:15 – 11:55 Session 1 12:05 – 12:45 Session 2 12:45 – 14:00 Lunch Break 14:00 – 14:40 Session 3 14:50 – 15:30 Session 4 15:40 – 16:20 Session 5 16:20 – 16:30 Closing Comments