2013/03/10

Knowledge of culture is power to communicate-How I made and used Audio Visual teaching materials by Yukio Watanabe

Actually, most students don’t need English ability in their future as long as they live in Japan. Their motivation to study English is focused on their entrance exams. When they graduate schools, it means graduating from English. However they need the ability to communicate with foreigners, and the ability to understand each other in the future because of so many foreigners living and working in Japan. In order to raise their ability to communicate, teaching cultures is very important. Culture, history, religion, geography, and so on should be dealt with in English class. Then how can we do that?

Watanabe has, since his retirement, been working for a junior high school in Saitama City as an adviser of new teachers two days a week. His motto is to deliver the real-world into his class. He has made a lot of visual teaching materials such as slide pictures and video for more than 30 years. He has visited lots of countries and met lots of people to take video and to interview for a long time.

The CoLe train is here. All aboard! See how cooperative learning will get your students (and you) to your destination by Joël Laurier

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s latest revisions of the Courses of Study (CoS) call for a more communicative teaching approach in English classes. For this to happen, teachers’ roles will have to change from those of instructor to that of facilitator. This transition can happen by using cooperative learning. This short presentation was intended primarily for Japanese Teachers of English (JTE) but was equally beneficial to Native English Teachers (NET).

Laurier teaches at Gunma Kokusai Academy. His research interests include bilingualism and language policy but he is best known for his teacher development in cooperative learning. He recently completed his MA (TESOL) at Columbia University’s Teachers College, where he was co-recipient of the 2011 John F. Fanselow Scholarship. Along with his son Noah, he is the voice and face of the Yomiuri Kodomo Shinbum’s award-winning weekly Hello Eikaiwa feature.

Music to My Ears: Using a Song-based Activity to Improve Basic Language Skills by Sylvain Bergeron

For the purpose of improving basic language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing - this short presentation will introduce a song-based activity that is sure to keep students (at any level) interested, actively engaged and motivated to learn.

Bergeron is originally from Montreal, Canada, and has been teaching EFL in Japan since 1993. He is currently teaching at Maebashi Ikuei Senior High School and is an MEd (TESOL) candidate at the University of Wollongong. His research interests include collaborative, learner-centered and task-based teaching/learning.

A few considerations on critical thinking instruction by David Gann

In recent years critical thinking has become a popular subject in university courses. In this My Share, the presenter posed several questions and offered several answers for consideration. These included: What is critical thinking? What are the four major approaches to critical thinking instruction. How is the issue of which approach is most appropriate changed by the shift from an L1- to an L2- learning context?

Gann is an adjunct professor at five universities in Gunma and Saitama. He is the JALT Critical Thinking SIG Coordinator and the co-producer of Critically Minded Podcast: Critical Thinking for Second Language Learners. His interests include reading strategies, technology and language learning and critical thinking instruction.

Guided imagery - an unconventional listening exercise by John Larson

Listening to Mr. White and Mary talk about her school trip to Kyoto isn't very interesting or relevant. This presentation introduced the idea of using edited guided imagery scripts as an alternative to orthodox listening exercises. It was a time to relax and let our imaginations run wild.

Larson has been a teacher at Gunma Prefectural Isesaki High School for eight years. He is President of JALT Gunma Chapter and his interests include chess, Grateful Dead bootlegs and humanism.