Ibaraki Chapter Spring Meeting (2024-03-17)

IBARAKI, March ―”Materials evaluation in actual classroom use: A case study”by Anja Gonzalez. She is a Cuban English teacher, focused on evaluating the effectiveness of the “Learning World 1” coursebook package in English conversation classes for young learners aged 6-8. While highlighting the positive aspects of the materials, Gonzalez discussed the need for some modifications to better meet learners’ immediate needs, such as managing children’s excitement during activities. As her methodology, she conducted data analysis based on classroom observation and teacher responses to a questionnaire, assessing the materials’ appropriateness using criteria developed by Ghosn (2019). Although her study appreciated the coursebook package, she highlighted a potential overreliance on the coursebook, limiting language learning opportunities. Gonzalez discussed how to maximize them in the classroom with her analysis results.
“Using Digital Tools in the Classroom: The Case of Classical Japanese and Japanese Palaeography” by James Harry Morris. He teaches early modern Japanese Palaeography to students at Ibaraki University and in 2023, he published the book“Digital humanities and religions in Asia” as co-editor as his research result at Waseda University, and continued his research of early Japanese Christians, called Kiri-shi-tan. At Ibaraki University, he devotes himself to education to train students with skills to understand early Japanese literature with digital tools. Morris set a research challenge for students to read early modern Japanese literature written in cursive Kana letters in Edo Period.  He thinks the solution is to involve students in Hon-Koku project, giving them the skills to decipher the documents of the Edo period using many apps. Morris delves into his teaching methods not only to provide useful digital tools, including“ min-na-de Hon koku” and apps that allow for automatic transcriptions but also to train students with traditional skillsets to avoid skill loss by using apps. Morris introduced the text about a giant catfish in an ancient document from the Kashima Shrine in Ibaraki about big earthquakes so that the participants could experience deciphering the text.“Gamified learning of the new General Service list: Worldle, Flashcards and more” by Charles Browne. Browne is the founder of the New General Service List Project (NGSL) and as his premise, he introduced the phrase, “Pedagogy before technology.” However, Browne has utilized technology to enhance problem-solving within education, through his NGSL project, known as Worldle, its comprehensive coverage of vocabulary was invented as a free game. Drawing from pioneering research such as Heinle and Heinle’s “Learning Vocabulary in Another Language,” the project has evolved through various editions from 1990 to 2022. The NGSL project aims to facilitate efficient vocabulary acquisition through the development of card sets and gamification strategies, which allow necessary vocabulary for different types of English learners, as well as the validation of the word set through rigorous testing methodologies. He also took a look at MacDonald. E(2019), an analysis of Vocabulary Level in Reading Passage of the National Center Test. In discussing his card sets, he argued the issue of the validity of textbook English, English for tests including the National Center Test and the TOEIC test.