Ibaraki JALT Event Archives

October 2019 Chapter Meeting Date:   Saturday, October 5 th , 2019 Venue:   Tsukuba Gakuin University, Tsukuba Directions:   https://www.tsukuba-g.ac.jp/access/ Doors open:  9:30 Morning Program:   10:00 – 12:00 Title:   A Glance at English Education in Iran and Turkey Presenter:   Abdollah Dodangeh, Tsukuba Gakuin University   Summary:   In our discussion, I will address the place of the teaching/learning English language in Iran and Turkey from a social and cultural perspective. English language teaching in public and private institutions will be briefly discussed.   Grammatical and phonetic affinities between Persian, Turkish and English languages will also be touched upon. Families' enthusiasm in educating their children at an early age, the value of English language skills in the community, the function of the English language in the labor market, and its impact on securing a better career for new generatio...

                                                                                Joint Meeting with Brain SIG Theme:   Racking your brain ? Fix it on Brain Day ! Date:  June 8th, 2019 (Saturday) Venue: University of Tsukuba, CEGLOC (room CA304)       Access to Tsukuba Campus:    http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/access/tsukuba_access Campus Map:    http://www.tsukuba.ac.jp/en/access/tsukuba-campus   Speakers: Curtis Kelly & Caroline Handley Presentation Title: Brain Day Mini-Conference Summary: In collaboration with the BRAIN SIG, the two Coordinators will give us an all-day workshop on 5 things every teacher should know about the brain and how to use that information in the classroom.   They will discuss discoveries like: no emotion...

Date:  March 17th 2019 (Sunday)   Venue: Ibaraki University Mito Campus (room #13 Common Education Building) http://bit.ly/MitoMap Morning Program:   10:00-11:30  Speaker: Samuel Nfor Presentation Title: Communicative Language Teaching:  Functionalizing Students’ ‘Out-of-School’ Literacy Practices through Mime The presentation discusses the benefits and challenges of experimental Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in a Japanese university EFL oral communication class and concludes that bringing students’ literacy practices from outside the context of formal education into the EFL classroom acknowledges their investment in classroom language practices, secures student engagement, and yields perceived improvement. Afternoon Program:  13:30-15:30  Speakers: Sanae Kawamoto & Tracy Brown Presentation Title: Explaining Japanese Culture using Easy Simple English As International visitors are increasing in Japan, we have opportunities to assist the...

Ibaraki Chapter December 2018 Meeting Afternoon Program:  14:00 – 16:00 Presentation Title: Heritage and the function of the university in society By Grant Black DSocSci, CMgr, FCMI, FRSA. President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan). Presentation Summary: Higher education reform policies in Japan, such as through the Super Global University funding project, aim to boost the university's role as a knowledge-producing centre of innovation and global skills development.   In some ways this indicates a change in the function of the university in society.   How do we balance the heritage and history of a Japanese university institution with the drive to adopt global practices and implement international-minded reform policies? Bio: Dr Grant Black is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a business & university global strategic management firm based in Tokyo. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Bu...

Date:  Sunday, October 2 1 , 2 018 Venue:   Tsukuba Gakuin University (Meeting Room #2) Morning Program:   10:00 – 12:00 Title:   Female foreign language teachers in the Japanese labour movement By:   Julia Kimura, lecturer, Mukogawa Women’s University Abstract/Overview:  Women fill less than half of the permanent full-time jobs in Japan but make up approximately 70 % of the contingent workforce, which includes part-time and contract workers, such as university adjunct professors. Women are also underrepresented in the abour movement, which is notoriously a man’s world, particularly in top leadership positions.  In this talk, I provide an account of women and organized labour in Japan, as well as a de scription of female foreign language teachers from inner circle countries participating in their labour union in west Japan. Afternoon Program:   14:00 – 16:00 Title:   Overcoming challenges in providing support for participants in stu...

Ibaraki Chapter June Meeting Presentations     Morning 10:00 – 12:00 １． The brain’s many different memory processes: applications to language teaching. By Assistant Professor Bruno Jactat, University of Tsukuba (CEGLOC-centre) Bruno currently teaches French but has used auditory processing devices for training children, teenagers and adults in different languages. In this workshop he will give an overview of the brain’s various memory functions and let you experience firsthand how this can empower further learning in your classes. Afternoon 14:00 – 16:00 2. Language-in-Education Policy in Nepal: Status and Challenges By Researcher Manita Karki, School of Education, Kathmandu University, Nepal.   This presentation provides a brief picture of language policy and planning in Nepal especially English language education in particular. Further, it highlights some critical comments, and key challenges to language planning in Nepal. 3. Business Meeting (16:20~17:00) Date: Saturda...

Presentations: Morning 10:00 – 12:00 1. Teaching Writing: Why and how can we include grammar and culture (context)? By Nivedita Kumari,  Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba (CEGLOC-centre) Kumari has taught EFL Japanese learners for four years and has been interested in research related to cross-cultural studies on pragmatics. With a background and PhD in linguistics, she intends to apply the theories of linguistics to classroom teaching. Afternoon 14:00 – 16:00 2. Educational development in Nepal By Pramila Neupane,  Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba (CEGLOC-centre) With a Ph.D. in International Studies and a Master’s degree in English Language Education, her current research focuses on socioeconomic issues in education in developing countries. Also being interested in student motivation, she will talk about educational development issues in Nepal in the changing political situation and share her research on student’s motivation in learning English. 3. Busine...