ELT Calendar

Saturday, April 23rd, 2005

Dyslexia: I've heard of it. But what really is it?
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Thomas Warren-Price
Organization: Akita Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Akita City, Akita Prefecture
Short description: This presentation will help you develop an awareness of Dyslexia (and Dyspraxia). Dyslexia is a condition that affects people from all educational and social backgrounds.

Two Presentations: (1) Helping Others, Helping Yourself; (2) Beyond the Commercial Textbook: Your Own is Better
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Ken Hartmann; Lawrie Hunter
Organization: East Shikoku Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture
Short description: Ken Hartmann will give a short presentation on how teachers can help other teachers and ultimately how they help themselves and their students. Can you really make a difference in the life of your students and colleagues? What does it take to be of help to others? In the main presentation, Lawrie Hunter from Kochi University of Technology will show how the great developments in personal computing over the past decade have made it possible for every self-defined instructor to create language learning materials that are at least as good as those available commercially.

An Analysis of Pragmatic Errors Based on Riley's Hypothesis
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Hiroko Murakami
Organization: Okayama Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture
Short description: Intercultural communication can be interpreted successfully only when we are sensitive to the socio-cultural rules of language use and the differences between our first and second languages.

My Share: Teaching Young Children
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Michael Narron and Sachiko Ikemizu, Elizabeth Lokon, and Amy Szarkowski
Organization: Miyazaki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture
Short description: Three presentations on EFL teaching ideas for younger learners. Michael Narron and Sachiko Ikemizu will discuss the use of short English activity blocks in children's classes.

Student Evaluations of Teachers. What do the learners think?
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Peter Burden
Organization: Okayama Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture
Short description: The end of semester questionnaire given to students for course feedback has become a ritual for teachers and students. While the purpose of any student evaluation of teaching is the improvement of teaching and implicitly the improvement of student learning, are the results used to benefit the education system? For teachers to make improvements to their teaching after student feedback, they must consider student opinion worth listening to, and be willing to make the student a participant in the process.

Global Education through Role Play and Simulations
Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Speaker: Kip Cates (Tottori University and GILE SIG coordinator)
Organization: Kobe Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Short description: Experiencing global issues such as war, peace and human rights through role plays and simulations can result in more powerful learning than by traditional teaching methods.