Event Report, Speech, Drama, & Debate SIG November 2017

The Speech, Drama, & Debate SIG sponsored two mini-conferences in the 2017-18 academic year: one in Okinawa November 3-6, and one in Gero, Gifu prefecture March 26-27, 2018. Both conferences were interesting, useful, and fun. The presentations were scheduled consecutively so no one had to decide between two interesting presentations, and also because it made no sense to divide the audience so that all presenters could have a good sized audience. The relatively small number of participants at the conferences made for a friendly, cozy atmosphere. In addition, by advertising that the conferences, sited in popular sightseeing spots, were family friendly, and inviting family members to join in the banquet added to this warm atmosphere. The following is a brief description of each conference.
 
The first conference was SDD in Okinawa at Okinawa Christian University on November 3-6. The theme of the conference was Speech, Drama, & Debate: Teaching 21st Century Skills. On November 3 there was supposed to be a speech contest for Okinawa university students but the speech coach/teachers were not able to prepare the students so the contest was postponed to the Okinawa chapter conference Trends in Language Teaching 2017 held in December, where SD&D provided a judge. Instead, the day was spent preparing for the conference. November 4 and 5, the main presentation days, were started off with a welcome from Vivian Bussinguer-Khavari, coordinator of the SIG, and George MacLean, president of Okinawa chapter. The first presentation on Presentation-Assisted Learning (PAL) by David Kluge was a keynote for the conference, followed by two days of excellent presentations on using performance-assisted activities for language teaching and learning. Every presentation was interesting and useful; George MacLean, who had to teach in the morning of Monday, the final day of the conference, said that he used one of the activities from the conference and said it worked “like a charm”! (For details see the SD&D SIG Conferences website at .) The day ended with a memorable networking event at a traditional Okinawa restaurant, Paikaji, with traditional dishes, hostesses dressed in traditional kimonos, and a sanshinmusician who played for our group. One of the nice aspects was the presence of family members at the event. The last day was a cultural event starting with a lecture on the history and culture of Okinawa and a tour of beautiful Shurijo Castle, ending at a wonderful restaurant for food and drink, ending the conference with a closing panel discussion of the conference. The weather was lovely, the location was beautiful, and the conference was interesting and useful as well as warm and friendly. A perfect conference!