ELT Calendar

Sunday, October 29th, 2006

Nellie's ELT Workshop and Book Fair 2006 in Yokohama
Time: 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Speaker: Yoko Matsuka, Setsuko Toyama, Alastair Graham-Marr and many more!
Organization: Nellie's Group, Ltd.
Location: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Short description: ELT materials supplier Nellie's Group will hold its 6th annual ELT Workshop and Book Fair this year in five locations: Osaka (October 15), Yokohama (October 29), Nagoya (November 12), Tokyo (December 3) and Fukuoka (January 21, 2007).

What did you think of the course? - Understanding Students' Course Evaluations.
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Speaker: Christine Winskowski and Susan Duggan
Organization: Iwate-Aomori Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture
Short description: Do you wonder what students are thinking when they fill out those end-of-semester course evaluation forms? Ever wondered why someone picked a 5 instead of a 6? A 4 instead of a 5? Since the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mandated the administration of course evaluation forms in 1996, their use in Japan has sharply risen.

Learning styles and strategies
Time: 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Speaker: James Graziani
Organization: ETJ Tokyo (English Teachers in Japan)
Location: Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis
Short description: James's workshop will focus on some of the learning styles and strategies students use to process English as a foreign language, as well as talk about specific ways to maximize communication within the EFL classroom (such as role plays and songs to lower inhibitions, guessing games to encourage the students to take risks, making posters to encourage teamwork, etc.

Wine, Cheese, and The New TOEIC (followed by Osaka Chapter elections and business meeting)
Time: 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Lin Lougheed of Pearson Longman, and Grant Trew of Oxford University Press
Organization: Osaka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
Short description: Osaka JALT, in conjunction with Nara and Kyoto chapters, welcome the experts from Pearson Longman and Oxford University Press to tell us about the new TOEICR test.

Using Cooperative Learning in Your Classroom
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Speaker: David Schneer
Organization: Gunma Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture
Short description: The use of Cooperative Learning techniques creates a classroom environment in which each student readily contributes towards greater individual and group learning gains.

(1) BULATS Test Trials; (2) Cambridge ESOL Exams
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: (1) Elaine Gilmour; (2) Martin Nuttall
Organization: Sendai Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
Short description: Double Feature! (1) We'll examine the results of BULATS (Business Language Testing Service) exam trails, and consider students' motivations and achievements.

Manuscript and Illustration Exchange
Time: 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Speaker: Writers and Illustrators
Organization: The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Japan
Location: Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis
Short description: SCBWI Tokyo will hold a Manuscript and Illustration Exchange for writers and illustrators. Bring a picture book dummy, 10-15 pages of a children's or young-adult manuscript, or illustrations to share for constructive feedback.