Event Report, Ibaraki Chapter, September 2022

IBARAKI/OLE SIG: On September 21, Naoko Ochiai gave an informative presentation entitled “Mediation to help hearing-impaired students learn German” to the Multilingual Cafe and Ibaraki JALT Chapter. Ochiai introduced the CEFR “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” established in 2001 by the Council of Europe and the CEFR Companion Volume 2018/2020 as the renewed standard for learning, teaching and assessment. She addressed the application of the CEFR in MEXT by giving references published in Japan. Ochiai exemplified the effect of the CEFR-J Project as the modified version of CEFR to support English Education in Japan, including NHK’s language program which follows the CEFR Can-Do level. She moved to the topic of CEFR-CV, and the adaptation process with mediation descriptors. She also focused on teaching language to hearing-impaired students based on mediation in the CEFR-CV. Ochiai pointed out the deficiency of description for hearing-impaired language learners in CEFR. She referenced the mediation-mode in which the learner was considered as a social agent that could create bridges and helps to construct or convey meanings from spoken to sign or opposite; or even from one language to another. Ochiai shared a few mediation activities based on collaborative language use in CERF-CV. She improved the students’ learning by utilizing subtitles in videos. She supported her views by giving descriptive information and a student’s video made by the Simpleshow videomaker where students can make it for free. Ochiai also referred to a T-Shirt Project as a productive learning method, that could be used for hearing-impaired students to develop their language learning skills and also communication skill by designing a T-shirt with imperative form in German. Ochiai used visual materials and real situations to engage students with the language, such as sharing a part of an interesting movie entitled “In den Gängen (In the Aisles) 2018.” And another impressive movie entitled “Bornholmer straße (Bornhlomer street) 2014”, describes the fall of the Berlin Wall. She believes that such movies enable learners to develop culturally. She added comments from students related to the movies as a tool to boost their learning and also develop their cultural knowledge. Ochiai concluded that mediation should be researched more comprehensively. Reporter, Abdullah Dodangeh