Tag: October

  • Upcoming – Gerome Rothman – Understanding Labour Contracts and the Five Year Rule

    __________________________________________

    Date and Time: Sunday, 29 October 2017– 1:30pm – 4:30pm
    Speaker: Gerome Rothman
    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)

    ___________________________________________

    The talk will  begin by giving a brief background about temporary labor contracts to set up an examination about a unique problem facing language educators in the corporate and university sector – the so called five-year rule/ten-year rule.  This rule purports to provide a method for temporary labor contracts to become converted to permanent contracts.  This presentation will discuss the ins and outs of this new policy, the myths associated with it, the implications of the policy.  It will close by explaining why cooperation, rather than competition with ones colleagues is the only way to build solidarity and improve working conditions in the academic workplace.

    Bio:  Gerome Rothman is a Field Director and Organizer at Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union (Tozen Union for short).  As an organizer at Tozen he is a case officer for 10 of its locals, responsible for leading collective bargaining, drafting demands and legal documents, and representing the union to third parties such as the Labor Relations Commission 労働委員会.  He is also Tozen’s representative to the executive of Rengo Tokyo, Rengo being the national federation with which Tozen became affiliated in 2016.  He is also English language instructor at the  Foreign Service Training Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    About Tozen Union:  Tozen a Japanese labor union based in Tokyo with members who hail from over 35 countries. Members work in a diverse range of sectors including language education, financial services, warehousing, and translation/interpretation.  Tozen aims to be the most democratic and transparent union in the world.  Our website is at www.tokyogeneralunion.org http://www.tokyogeneralunion.org.

  • Upcoming – October 26 – Brent Jones – Content-Based Instruction Workshop

    Here is the listing for our October event. It’s a bit early to be posting here, but I’m hoping it will give you time to make arrangements to attend the talk.

    Location: AIINA, ROOM 602
    Date October 26, 2014
    Time: From 1:30pm – 4:30pm(13:30-16:00)
    Cost: Free for JALT members. ¥1000 for non-members. ¥500
    for full-time students.
    Contact: iwatejalt@hotmail.com phone/fax: 019-663-3132

    Content-focused language teaching approaches such as Content-Based Instruction (CBI) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) continue to gain both recognition and credibility. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to both the theory and practice of such approaches, with special emphasis on the affective learning domain. After looking at the various benefits and challenges of a content-focuses approach, the presenter will introduce an example of a theme-based CBI program that is currently being used in a tertiary-level English program for management course students in Japan. The aim here is to highlight for participants each step in the instructional design process as well as some of the various considerations at both the macro (curriculum) and micro (task) levels. Participants will then be challenged to consider the motivational merits of implementing a content-focused approach in their own teaching contexts, and be presented with a list of suggested readings for further exploration.

    Bio: Brent A. Jones has taught ESL/EFL in Hawaii and Japan since 1987, and has been involved in teacher training since 2002. He has worked in corporate training programs at Sony, Mitsui Trading, Hitachi Shipbuilding, Nestle, and Sumitomo Chemicals. He was formerly the coordinator of the Business English Program at Kobe Gakuin University, and is currently the Director of Language Programs for both the Management Course and Study Abroad Course at Konan University, Hirao School of Management. His major research interests are L2 learning motivation, extensive reading, curriculum development, instructional design, content-focused approaches to language instruction and creativity.