Date and Time: Saturday, 26 March 2011 – 1:30pm – 2:20pm
Speaker: Peter Ross
Asking university students to give in-class presentations can be an excellent way to stimulate enthusiasm and generate meaningful discussion, leaving students with a feeling of success and accomplishment. However, asking students at a low level of English proficiency to present on topics that are too hard for them can accomplish just the opposite, leading to frustration for all concerned– the audience, the teacher, and the presenters themselves. One solution is to steer LLEP students away from research-based presentations in favor of simple, non-academic topics, asking presenters to draw information from their own experience, expertise and imagination. Participants in this workshop will construct a sample non-academic presentation, and view videos of successful student performance.

Theme: Teachers talk on improving classrooms with featured speaker Dr. Peter Mickan
(Post Graduate Applied Linguistics Program Coordinator at the University of Adelaide)
Special Guest: Dr. Kim, Young-Min (English Education Department Professor at Daegu National University of Education specializing in elementary school English Education)
Day: February 18, 2011 (Friday)
Time: 18:00 to 19:30
Place: University of Tokushima Ctr. of Gen. Ed. Bldg #5 2nd floor Meeting Room.
Fee: JALT members JPN 500 (for dinner and refreshments)
non-JALT members JPN 1,000
Agenda: We will start off with our Featured Address centered on how we live with all forms of texts (i.e. discourses) and how we make sense these texts (i.e. communication). For us teachers, this will be significant in how we are to help students make meaning from these texts and the role grammar plays in these texts.
The address will be followed by a roundtable discussion to explore methods of improving our EFL classrooms. This roundtable will be an opportunity for teachers to engage in an open and rewarding discussion with colleagues in other institutions to share stories not only for encouragement but a chance to pick up some fresh strategies to enhance your own classroom. So, come with any questions or issues you might have in your day-to-day practice and join the discussion.
Reservation and Contact: Mail Steve Fukuda at steve@ias.tokushima-u.ac.jp by February 14th, 2011

Speaker: Trudie Heiman
Abstract: The Lexical Portfolio: is computer-based/online corpus-based course for learning all high frequency words missing from student’s vocabulary. Teachers can lead this course and interact with students while presenting a rich array of methods to learn and remember words. Features of the interactive Learning Management System (LMS) and corpus-based tools will be demonstrated
Date & Time: Saturday, Jan 29th from 1.30-3.30pm
Location: Room 411, Education Campus, Kagawa University

East Shikoku JALT will be holding its final meeting on December 18th at Kochi Women’s University. Neil Cowie, from Okayama University, will be giving a talk on ‘Reading and the Hidden Curriculum.’ This will be Neil’s second presentation to ESJALT and I am sure it will be as interesting as his first. We hope you can find time to come and attend our final meeting for 2010.
Date: December 18th
Time: 4:30 – 6:30
Place: Kochi Women’s University, Meeting Room 1 (Ground/1st floor)
Speaker: Neil Cowie
Title: Reading and the hidden curriculum
In the first half of the presentation the speaker will present an example of a typical reading lesson and encourage participants to discuss how this compares with their own teaching or learning experiences. The reading lesson is aimed at first year university students and combines elements of intensive and extensive reading as well as various strategies for improving reading skills. It could be adapted and used at different ability levels. In the second half the lesson will be examined from a critical pedagogy perspective in terms of the hidden curriculum that it might expose students to. These hidden messages relate to materials choice, cultural influences, and classroom management amongst others. Participants will be asked to reflect on how they might approach similar issues in their own teaching.

Video of Alan Maley’s talk.
Title: Where do New Ideas Come From?
Date/Time/Place: Wednesday, Nov. 24th, Kochi Women’s University, Eikokuji Campus, Meeting Room 1 (1st floor – 5 meters from the main entrance) Time: 6:30-8:00
Abstract:
In my 40 years in ELT, I cannot recall a time when ‘new ideas’ was not on the agenda! I shall suggest five possible sources for such new ideas. I shall also suggest that this search, though it may ultimately lead to dead ends, has an important motivational and developmental function for teachers and trainers. Along the way, I shall suggest how some of these sources might be linked to Action Research projects. The five sources are:
1. Teacher Interaction: Here I shall explore the various kinds of interaction which often produces innovative ideas – ranging from formal training contexts, through semi-formal professional contexts such as conferences, to informal exchanges in staff rooms.
2. Heuristics: By heuristics, I refer to basically simple ‘rules of thumb’, which, when applied inevitably change the teaching interaction. I will deal in some detail with John Fanselow’s ‘do the opposite’ (Fanselow, 1978). I shall also point out the heuristic basis of the ‘designer methods’ (Suggestopoedia, etc.). Other heuristics, such as ‘withhold information’ will also be mentioned.
3. Re-explorations of Traditional Techniques: Here I describe some areas which have been renovated by creative thinking; dictation, homework, vocabulary, reading and grammar, and suggest some others ripe for re-development, such as repetition, questions, dialogues, drills and translation.
4. Borrowing from Feeder Fields: These fields will include NLP, Multiple Intelligences, Music, and Art. I shall suggest that there are potential benefits to be had from considering areas such as Neuro-science, the psychology of Consciousness, and Creativity theory itself.
5. New Developing Areas: The most obvious (with certain caveats) is Information Technology. I shall also refer to Literature, Global Issues and CliL as content-related areas, and to Young Learners and Advanced Learners as areas for development. Recent renewed interest in ‘Flow’ (Czikszentimihalyi, 1990) will also be included.
Speaker Profile:
From 1962-1988, Alan Maley worked for the British Council in Jugoslavia, Ghana, Italy, France, China and India. He was Director-General of the Bell Educational Trust in Cambridge from 1988-1993 and then worked as Senior Fellow at NUS, Singapore until 1988. From 1999-2003 he set up and ran the graduate programme in ELT at Assumption University, Bangkok. He is currently Visiting Professor at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, a freelance writer and consultant. He has published over 40 books and numerous articles.

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, Nov. 13th, Kagawa University, Education Faculty Campus, Room 411 (3:30-5:30)
Abstract:
As of 2004, all universities in Japan must submit to an external accreditation evaluation every seven years. They receive detailed written assessments which are made public. They also receive grades: pass, probation, and fail. MEXT, hopes these new requirements will induce improvements in teaching and research quality. Universities are being prodded into a greater level of transparency in regard to finances, grading policies, and even hiring practices. Harassment prevention procedures have had to be adopted. These accreditation assessments also serve to confirm both the presence of on-campus “Faculty Development” committees and the effectiveness of their various activities.
University accreditation, at least in theory, represents an unparalleled opportunity to achieve meaningful, lasting educational reform in this country. However, as is often the case with reform attempts of this scope, the reality is much more complex and, particularly with regards to EFL classes and their (often non-Japanese) instructors, troubling.
In his presentation, Bern Mulvey will provide a critical overview of the accreditation requirements, including both the associated problems and the potential opportunities they represent.
Speaker Profile:
Bern Mulvey has served as Dean at a Japanese university which was undergoing accreditation and headed an accreditation committee. He is therefore able to provide valuable first-hand insights not available elsewhere in English. He currently works at Iwate University, so this may be your only chance to hear him speak in Western Japan.
** Please contact Gerry McCrohan at Kagawa University for further details: gershin2003@gmail.com
JALT members: free
One-day members: 500 yen

Date: September 12, 2010
Location: The University of Tokushima General Education Bldg. 5-302
Objective: A collection of posters will be presented for participants to share information and gets ideas for lessons and activities. We hope the poster presentations provide in-depth discussions, and opportunities for networking.
Fee: Free for members, 500 for nonmembers
Presentation language: English and Japanese

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Speaker: Minoru Yoshioka
Title: Intercultural Communication in Practice: Insights from the (Foleshill)Field
Date/Time/Place: Saturday, July 24th, Kochi University, Building 3, Room 310 (1:00-2:30 p.m)

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**Presentation**: Making our Teaching More Effective
**Speaker:** Shirley Leane
**Time: **June 13 (Sun), 1:00-2:30
**Place**: Kagawa University, Educational Faculty Campus, Room 411
**Abstract:**
Many people who come to Japan to teach English have had no formal teacher training, and others of us may have forgotten many of the things we learnt. In this workshop we will discuss ways to make our teaching more effective, and how we can better support language learners in our classrooms.

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Linda Ohama is currently residing in Onomichi, Hiroshima, where she is filming for a future project.
Film screening: Fusions of the Heart, Ishizue
New short documentary by Linda Ohama (36 min., filmed on location in Onomichi, Japan [Engl./Jpn.]). It is a story about one’s roots and branches and why it is important to develop and maintain one’s roots to understand one’s place in our world. Thirteen young Nikkei Canadian youth known as Chibi Taiko (6-23 years old) travel to Japan to discover their roots and learn to play taiko – traditional drum – with an Onomichi taiko group, Betchar Daiko. Ishizue follows their journey with surprising results for both the Canadians and the Japanese.
Time: June 12 (Sat) 3:00-5:00 pm
Place: KWU Eikokuji Campus (Nansha) Room 137
Sponsored by East Shikoku JALT and Kochi Women’s University