Kitakyushu JALT Presentation Reports
Kitakyushu JALT Presentation Reports for 2008
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12 January 2008
Marcos Benevides
Themed Tasks for the Communicative Classroom
Benevides arranged his presentation, which was sponsored by Pearson Longman, as a meal. The appetizers were nuggets of information about task-based instruction, such as the ease of use in multi-level classrooms since the same tasks can be performed with various degrees of grammatical complexity or difficulty of vocabulary. Benevides argued that themed tasks work best over the course of a semester. The students take one roles in a light simulation, such as the manufacturing company in his textbook, Widgets, which provided the entrée of the presentation. The story line, group work, and rotation of manufactured projects from group to group give students intrinsic motivation. In fact, by using subtle peer pressure, Benevides has been able to keep the students working entirely in English for each class session. As a result, attendance is also very high. For dessert, participants brainstormed other themes around which they could devise a set of tasks: being stranded on a desert island, designing the perfect high school, choosing a charity project and the country it will benefit, filling an empty shopping mall, renewing a blighted neighborhood.
Reported by Margaret Orleans
9 February 2008
David Latz & James Burdis
Dichotomies and Issues in Japanese Elementary School English Education: A Tale of Two Teachers
David Latz introduced the evening’s program with a retrospective timeline of MEXT’s policy reforms for English education in elementary school, an interesting recapitulation of Tom Merner’s projection of the plans in his presentation to us in September 2004, two years after the “Period of Integrated Study” became compulsory for primary grades. As anticipated then, the program still leaves the content of activities up to the individual schools-- and does not yet appear to have much to do with teaching English per se. Speaking and Listening continue to be the main focus of any EFL offered, with no attention to Reading or Writing.
James Burdis then told us about his work as a Native Speaker teacher at a local private elementary school; in a program which appeared to be much more extensive and intensive than that of the public school which Latz described next.
We finished the evening with group discussions of: curriculum; native vs. non-native teachers; Japanese elementary school teachers and training; and dispatch teachers vs. teachers as faculty.
These first-hand indications of initial English exposure for Japanese students should prove helpful for secondary and tertiary level instructors.
Reported by Dave Pite
8 March 2008
Koichi Kawamura, Onuma Junior High School, Kasukabe, Saitama
New Ideas to Change Junior High School English Lessons
We started off with a quiz about the speaker, a great way to simultaneously introduce himself and his topic—language teaching at the junior high level. Kids love games and Mr. Kawamura has lots of them, following the vocabulary-building warm-up with relative pronoun practice, description, yes/no and information questions, speed-reading and group discussion, as well as dialogue practice. He had us standing and moving around, repeating lines quickly with a partner while judging each others’ performance, and numerous other usable, useful exercises. Peppered with amusing anecdotes, the presentation finished with an explanation of how students' desks may be arranged together for a dynamic “English Salon” and a video clip of his classroom—full of engaged and interested children.
Reported by Dave Pite
12 April 2008
Yusuke Yanase, Hiroshima University
A three-dimensional understanding of communicative language ability
Yanase posits three dimensions of communicative language teaching, namely physical and linguistic ability—and "mindreading ability". He recalled being baffled in high school when his teacher brought a tape recorder into the classroom—because he had understood English language learning to be synonymous with translation. He is dismayed by the quantitative values applied to English communicative competence via TOEFL and TOEIC scores and emphasizes educational goals as opposed to business goals—prevalent in commercial ELT companies. Invoking theories of communicative competence, he led us through considerations of language usage appropriate to situations and the various ways we negotiate communication through anticipation of intended meaning. He pointed out that while talking he was watching our reactions, which in turn affected his performance, which implied our participation in the presentation—as tends to happen in all verbal interactions. Via diagrams, he helped us understand how linguistic knowledge combines with world knowledge to provide strategic competence, the real driving force behind meaningful conversation. As observed by one grateful member of the audience, this presentation really helped put into perspective what we as teachers-- albeit oft-times unaware of theoretical rationale-- are actually trying to do in our classrooms.
Reported by Dave Pite