2014/07/27

Title: Negotiated Syllabuses and Motivation

Speaker: Andrew Boon

Gunma JALT members and friends gathered together for a Sunday double-feature by Andrew Boon.

In his first presentation, Boon explored the benefits and difficulties of negotiated syllabuses in three different teaching contexts. With a steady, practiced delivery interspersed with ample time for group discussion, Boon showed that a limited amount of negotiation often produces the best results, and that by keeping in mind their learners levels, willingness and expectations, most teachers can reap the benefits of responsible, autonomous, motivated students from negotiated syllabuses.

In his second presentation, Boon gave a practical overview of Dörnyei's motivational teaching practice. By demonstrating various fun and motivational teaching techniques, Boon gave attendees easily implemented ideas that they will no doubt take back to try in their classrooms. Recommended reading on motivation includes Dörnyei's Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom and Case Studies in Language Curriculum Design, edited by John Macalister, I.S.P. Nation.

Andrew Boon is an associate professor in the faculty of humanities at Toyo Gakuen University. He has been teaching in Japan for over 16 years and is an Aston University PhD student. He has been an active member of JALT since 2004, has presented at numerous conferences, and has published several articles on teacher development, motivation, and methodology. He has also written a number of commercial textbooks and graded readers.