ELT Calendar

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Task-based learning in a themed context
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Marcos Benevides
Organization: Okayama Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture
Short description: Task-based language teaching (TBLT) represents the evolution of communicative language teaching into a more structured performance-based approach. Gone is the day when anything-goes "free conversation" passed for language teaching; instead, TBLT's emphasis on achieving clear, quantifiable, authentic goals allows students to gauge their strengths and weaknesses in meaningful ways, boosting motivation and the possibility for a sustained virtuous cycle of language learning.

(1) Teaching the Strategies of Speaking; (2) Teaching Listening to Low-level Learners
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Speaker: Alastair Graham-Marr, ABAX
Organization: Osaka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
Short description: Alistair Graham-Marr, of ABAX publishing and author of Communication Spotlight, will make two presentations: 1. Teaching the Strategies of Speaking: helping students with fluency, involvement and clarification strategiesAll of us use strategies when we speak.

(1) How to Write for JALT Publications; (2) Open Career Doors to EFL Teaching Positions in Colleges and Universities in Japan
Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Speaker: (1) Malcolm Swanson; (2) Akiko Tsuda
Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture
Short description: (1) How to Write for JALT PublicationsJALT offers a wide variety of opportunities for educators to publish and present in their fields of interest. However, submitting a proposal or manuscript is just the start of a long process, and, if not done properly, can lead to rejection from the outset.