Osaka JALT Online (OJO) is a free webinar series dedicated to bringing together language teaching professionals from Japan and beyond in a friendly, supportive, and low-pressure online environment. We welcome both JALT members from the wider JALT community as well as non-members to share presentations about their passions and interests related to language teaching and teaching in Japan in a friendly, supportive, low-stakes environment. Ultimately, OJO aims to foster professional growth, expand networking opportunities for presenters and attendees, and build deeper connections among our community. 

Language as Movement

This presentation looks at ways the gestures we make are not separate from, but potentially part of the language itself. Embodied cognition is an emerging field in linguistics and thus attendees are invited to rethink how their gestures and movements impact their classrooms and whether this could be utilized to help students achieve learning outcomes.

Heather Gulick is an ESL educator for both business and Schools with over 10 years teaching experience in Japan across various levels and ages. She has a Bachelor’s in Linguistics with a minor in Japanese and is currently pursuing a Masters in Neuroscience and Education. 

Connecting Global Issues to Our Lives: Teaching Development, Poverty, and Gender in Japan

This webinar reflects on my attempt to teach development studies and sociology to encourage students to explore global and local issues, connect these issues to their lives, find their own questions, and consider how they might contribute to well-being and social change from where they stand. My experiences in the Philippines and UN development cooperation deepened my understanding of global issues, while childbirth and parenting in Japan helped me connect those issues to my own life, showing me how close poverty, gender inequality, and isolation can be to anyone’s life. I will share students’ varied responses, challenges, and strategies.

Hanayo Hirai, PhD, is Professor at Otemon Gakuin University and specializes in development studies from a sociological perspective. Her research connects Japan and the Philippines, focusing on poverty, gender, care, and inclusion, especially vulnerable children and families. Drawing on UN agency experience, her teaching links global issues with local communities.

RSVP HERE to let us know how many to expect and to get the Zoom link sent to you before the event on August 9, 7:00 – 8:00 pm.