ELT Calendar

Sunday, February 18th, 2001

Effective During-reading Strategies
Time: 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Mary Lee Field, Ibaraki University
Organization: Ibaraki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Short description: This presentation will illustrate, explain, and teach two effective "during-reading" strategies to help Japanese students monitor their comprehension of an English text.

Teaching Connected Speech
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Maurice Jamall, Tokai University
Organization: Kanazawa Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Short description: An understanding and working knowledge of connected speech--elisions, liaisons, reductions and weak forms--is essential for understanding English as it is spoken naturally.

Motivating Learners in the LL
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Tsuchiya Maiko, Miyazaki Municipal University
Organization: Miyazaki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture
Short description: Tsuchiya will report survey results on learner attitudes toward English study from a group of second-year university students, and discuss how learner feedback has influenced her thinking on course goal setting, lesson planning, and materials and activity development for low-intermediate learners in her LL classes.

Graded Readers: Reading Extensively Beyond the Classroom
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Speaker: Jeffrey Herman, Oxford University Press
Organization: Gunma Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Gunma City, Gunma Prefecture
Short description: We cover the ins and outs of Extensive Reading using Graded Readers, from initial book selection through student evaluation. For the novice and experienced teacher alike, the presenter provides ideas for how to confidently and creatively supplement any course with an enjoyable and motivating out-of-class reading program.

Language and Cognitive Science
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Speaker: Dean Williams
Organization: Osaka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
Short description: Psychological, symbolic-mathermatical, or social theories of language are insufficient because they do not adequately address the indisputably biological nature of our species' linguistic ability.

Against All Odds: The Challenges of being a High School English Teacher in Japan
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Charles Browne, Aoyama Gakuin University
Organization: Saitama Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture
Short description: Although there has been much debate about Japanese high school English education, most arguments have been based on anecdotal evidence. To begin developing baseline quantitative data about Japanese high school English teachers, a 26-question survey was sent to all 1,234 high school English teachers in Chiba prefecture.

Empowering Students via Ethnographic Study Abroad
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Linda Kadota
Organization: Hiroshima Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture
Short description: A discussion of an exchange program which was a success in providing non-academic students with some challenges. A Program encouraging Ethnographic study was developed in response to the decline in university enrollment and corresponding decline in academic ability, with simultaneous increase in student apathy.