GILE-SIG

Newsletter

 

Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Global Issues in Language Education Special Interest Group (GILE SIG) of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT). Our group works to promote global awareness, international understanding, social responsibility and action to solve world problems through content-based language teaching drawing on fields such as global education, peace education, environmental education and human rights education. Our GILE SIG produces a dynamic quarterly newsletter, organizes presentations for local, national and international conferences, and maintains contacts with organizations ranging from UNESCO and Amnesty International to Educators for Social Responsibility. Join us in teaching for a better world!

New Website

This re-designed GILE SIG website was launched in January 2007. We hope you enjoy the site, its new design and the many exciting features it offers. While the site is being updated, there may be occasional broken links and other technical issues. You can help us improve the site by sending your feedback or details of any problems you encounter to Albie Sharpe.

Special Features

We are happy to announce the launch of a new Facebook page (thanks very much to Jack Brajcich).Please join help to make it an active addition to the global issues education community:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Issues-in-Language-Education/116270381757654

Look out for our Twitter account - coming soon!

As part of the site redesign, John Spiri has made a WIKI page, where Global Issues and Language teaching ideas can be exchanged. It's important for us all that this board is active, so please visit it post on it often! Other new pages include a multimedia page where videos and artwork can be displayed. Don't forget to check out the Peace One Day video that John has posted there.

Membership and Subscriptions

The Global Issues SIG warmly welcomes all those who wish to join our group. For JALT members, a one-year membership is 1500 yen. For non-JALT members, a one-year subscription to our quarterly newsletter is just 2000 yen. For details on membership and newsletter subscriptions, click here.

GILE Newsletter

The year 2010 commemorates the 20th anniversary of our Global Issues in Language Education Newsletter. Thanks to all those who have contributed over the years! Check out our two decades of back issues on our website. The theme for our summer 2010 issue is “Teaching about Apologies and Forgiveness”. This features (1) an analysis of how apologies are taught in English textbooks in Korea, (2) a description of an EFL unit on apologies, critical incidents and cross-cultural communication, and (3) a special section of teaching ideas on apologies, forgiveness and reconciliation. Also included are a description of a volunteer program for Japanese EFL students in Boston, a report on the 2010 Osaka Pan-SIG Conference plus all the latest global education news and information! Regular features include book reviews, news and announcements on global education events. To subscribe to the newsletter, click here. For back issues, click here.

Other news:

GLOBAL ISSUES AT JALT 2010 CONFERENCE

Nov. 19 – 22 in Nagoya

(1) GILE SIG Forum: Sharing Ideas, Lessons, Resources

(Saturday, November 20th, 11:20 am - 12:50 pm Room 1103)

This annual "idea sharing" session is open to all interested teachers. It features classroom reports, EFL activities, teaching materials and innovative curriculum ideas to help you integrate global issues and international understanding into your classes. Handouts, lesson plans and teaching resources will be available to take home. Come join this unique session to learn about the latest teaching approaches and share your own ideas!

(2) GILE SIG Colloquium: Education and Action in the Classroom and Beyond

(Monday Nov. 22nd 9:15 - 10:45 am Room 1201)

This colloquium will feature a panel of educators who will report on initiatives they have undertaken to integrate a social action component into their language teaching. Topics will include a “global English” program that takes students to Asia and Africa, student action projects on global issue themes plus out-of-class activities linked to fair trade, peace education and social justice. Join us to discuss how language teaching can promote action for a better world!

(3) GILE Featured Speaker: Anna Baltzer (US peace educator and activist)

JALT’s GILE SIG and Gunma Chapter are pleased to sponsor Ms. Anna Baltzer, US author, educator and peace activist, as a JALT 2010 Featured Speaker. At JALT 2010, Anna will discuss education and activism, social responsibility in language teaching, and the need for teachers and learners to speak out against social injustice. Come attend her sessions to learn about peace in the Middle East and to get classroom ideas for teaching about critical thinking, media literacy and conflict resolution.

Anna’s Featured Speaker Sessions:

(4) Global Issues SIG Annual General Meeting

(Saturday, November 20th, 7:00 - 8:00 pm Room 1103)

Come and attend this year’s annual Global Issues in Language Education SIG business meeting to:
hear reports about our 2010 SIG membership, SIG finances, recent programs and activities.
Discuss our SIG newsletter, SIG projects, JALT 2011 plans and selection of SIG officers

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

ANNA BALTZER JAPAN LECTURE TOUR

November 11 – 22, 2010

JALT’s Global Issues SIG is arranging a pre-conference lecture tour to give teachers and students in Japan a chance to meet Anna, listen to her story and learn how we can contribute to peace in the Middle East. Her talks are scheduled for the following dates and places. Please come and attend! Further details will be announced in October. Contact Kip Cates if you’d like to help us organize, support, publicize or fund this event.

Nov. 11–12 (Thu-Fri) Kanto (Tokyo)
Nov. 13–14 (Sat-Sun) Gunma
Nov. 15–16 (Mon-Tue) Kansai (Kyoto/Osaka)
Nov. 17–18 (Wed-Thu) Hiroshima
Nov. 19–22 (Fri-Mon) Nagoya (JALT 2010)

Anna Baltzer Profile

Anna Baltzer is a Columbia University graduate, an EFL teacher, a Fulbright scholar, a granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, and an award-winning lecturer, author, and activist for Palestinian human rights. As a volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service, she has worked for peace, documented human rights abuses and supported nonviolent resistance to the Israeli Occupation. She has appeared on TV 100 times (including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and lectured at over 400 colleges, churches, mosques and synagogues around the world.

Anna is the author of Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories. In 2009, she received the Arab- American Anti-Discrimination Committee's prestigious Rachel Corrie Peace & Justice Award for her commitment to justice in the Holy Land. She has published over 25 articles in journals such as Counter Currents, Op-Ed News and Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU) and her work has been profiled in newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal. She is a contributor to three upcoming books and serves on the Middle East committee of the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom.

Websites:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Baltzer
- http://www.AnnaInTheMiddleEast.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------

PEACE AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE 2010

This year the focus is less on language and more on the actual concepts involved in Peace and peace promotion. Therefore the Committee seeks sessions and panelists that will educate, engage and enlighten audiences on the broad themes of peace and how to achieve it, the descriptive and normative role of academia, the media and society in war and peace and the exploration of the ways in which they could do more to promote peace.

Submissions for presentations: Due October 31, 2010.

More details are available on the conferences and events page or visit the PGL homepage at https://sites.google.com/site/pgl2010/

ASIAN YOUTH FORUM (AYF 8)

October 14 – 19, 2010

The 8th Asian Youth Forum (AYF) will be held in Seoul, Korea from October 14 – 19, 2010 as part of the Pan-Asian Conference on Language Teaching (PAC 9). This will bring together 80 college-age young people from 16 countries in Asia for seminars, workshops and events aimed at promoting international understanding, intercultural communication and leadership skills through the medium of English-as-a-global-language. For more information, go to the AYF 8 website:

AYF 7 Powerpoint: http://www.slideshare.net/KipCates/asian-youth-forum-ayf-2009
AYF 8 Website: http://ayf8korea.weebly.com/

For further news on other events, please visit our Conferences and Events page

© 2010 GILE-SIG