Meeting Reports

Murata wrote, “There is a shortcut to the TOEIC test” on the whiteboard and then illustrated how she successfully guides students through their preparation with that adage in mind. Motivate them by reminding them of the bragging rights that come with a high score, make them memorize as many words as possible—with correct pronunciation, help them get used to unexpected yet natural responses in a variety of English accents. Don’t waste valuable exam time listening to predictable directions—just read as much as possible, remember the TOEIC is business orientated, to help guess answers when necessary and be sure to finish the test. Murata then completed her whiteboard advice with, “but there is no shortcut to learning English properly,” which set up the final group discussion very well.
Sullivan has used genre analysis in a immigrant literacy program in Australia to familiarize students with the type of documents they encounter in their new society, and has adapted the methodology in Japan for the TOEIC preparation. She uses test questions as useful practice exercises for business English, then encourages analysis for a deeper understanding of the subject—and hence the test itself.
Post-presentation lively discussion honed in on the whiteboard theme, bemoaning the control over TEFL teaching that TOEIC wields, resulting in no correlation between actual communication ability and appropriate class placement, frustrating for many instructors—who can ascertain both within three minutes of casual chatting. We pointed out that such a test was actually pointless if crammed for and underscores an endemic fixation with exam taking—but conceded that it was generally useful for job placement, and speculated upon its future in the current economic climate.

Amihan April Mella-Alcazar provided both inspiration and advice to an audience largely consisting of university English majors. The inspiration came from her own example of learning a third language at school in her native Philippines and her fourth through sixth languages while serving internships or pursuing higher degrees in foreign countries. Her advice was for students to find a practical application for their English skills in volunteer work or internships in an area of interest to them. She gave four concrete examples: the JALT-sponsored Teachers Helping Teachers program which operates throughout Asia, the Asian Youth Forum which meets in rotating Asian countries annually, the Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (AIESEC, an international student-led organization) internships which take place all over the world, and the Philippine Study Tour which is a joint project of AIESEC and the Bukid Foundation (which Alcazar helped establish) on Mindoro Oriental. She walked students through the application process for each program and played video clips showcasing them.