ELT Calendar

Saturday, June 25th, 2005

The Seventh Annual International Conference of JSLS (day 1 of 2)
Time: To be announced
Speaker: Keynote Speakers: Dan I. Slobin (University of California, Berkeley)
Organization: The Japanese Society for Language Sciences
Location: Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis
Short description: The Japanese Society for Language Sciences invites proposals for their Seventh Annual International Conference, JSLS 2005. JSLS welcomes proposals for paper and poster presentations and for one symposium.

SIETAR Japan Year 2005 20th Conference (day 1 of 2)
Time: To be announced
Speaker: Call for papers is due March 24
Organization: The Society for Intercultural Education, Training, And Research
Location: Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis
Short description: The theme of this year's conference is "Constructing Multicultural Spaces: Being Ourselves Together". Please see the SIETAR website for full details.

ELT at the Crossroads: 40 Years of Research, Teaching, and Service (day 2 of 2)
Time: To be announced
Speaker: Deadline for Proposal Submission: February 10, 2005
Organization: The Korea Association of Teachers of English
Location: Seoul City, Seoul (South Korea)
Short description: Please see day one for details. .

Fostering Awareness of Learning Styles and Alternative Approaches to Learning English
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Speaker: Steve Brown, Professor at Konan Women's University in Kobe and JALT National President
Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Short description: Learners in colleges and universities are often left to their own devices when it comes to furthering their English studies outside the classroom. Having emerged from an exam-passing approach to get into the college or university, many of them are not quite sure how to set about improving their English, or even of what works (or doesn't work) for them.

Using Video/DVD in the Classroom
Time: 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Speaker: Raphael Bourgeois, Senior ELT Consultant, Thomson Learning.
Organization: Nagasaki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture
Short description: Discover practical strategies for teaching learners to become fluent users of English as a world language. This hands-on workshop will present step-by-step demonstrations of classroom techniques and activities for developing oral fluency, and provides an overview of Thomson ELT's exciting new course series.

Bilingual Education in Asia and Content Materials
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Speaker: Jason Good
Organization: Akita Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Akita City, Akita Prefecture
Short description: It seems common these days to say that Japan is lagging behind the rest of Asia with its English education, but what exactly is the rest of Asia doing with regards to English education, especially for their kids? What is being taught at the bilingual schools? We'll look at both the bilingual movement across Asia, as well as take a closer look at the North American-based reading curriculum and content materials being used by many of these schools.

Video-Based Pragmatics Course
Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Speaker: John Rylander and Donna Tatsuki
Organization: Kobe Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture
Short description: John Rylander and Donna Tatsuki describe a course that targets false-beginner to low-intermediate university students ranging from first to fourth-year students at a women's university in Kobe.

Field Notes Facilitator
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Speaker: John Gunning
Organization: Gifu Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture
Short description: The speaker will demonstrate the benefit of using in-class field notes which serve as an integral part of his teaching journal. .

Engaging Learners in Their Own Learning with a Drama Approach
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Speaker: Steve Brown
Organization: Kitakyushu Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Short description: Drama in the language classroom is often thought of as just a series of 'techniques' or 'fun activities' aimed to get students actively using the language.