Hamamatsu JALT:

What Is English Conversation, And How Can It Be Taught?

Date: Sunday, November 18th, 2012 Time: 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Speaker: David Barker, Gifu University

Description:
Almost every teacher in Japan will have some experience of teaching a conversation class. In many cases, the aims of these classes do not extend beyond a general notion of "getting the students talking," and this is all too often reflected in the very limited results that they achieve. David Barker believes that many conversation classes fail to produce measurable results because the students simply do not have a sufficient command of the language that they need to converse. To use a theatrical metaphor, teaching English conversation to Japanese university students is a bit like trying to teach dramatic skills to actors who don't know their lines. In this presentation, Barker will consider what English conversation actually is, how it can be taught, and what kinds of knowledge students need to have before they can reasonably be expected to learn how to do it.

Organization: Hamamatsu Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Hamamatsu JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1,000 yen

Venue: Hamamatsu Shimin Kyodo Center (across the street from Create Hamamatsu)

Location: Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan

Contact Hamamatsu JALT

Website: www.hamajalt.org