With the 2019 JALT International Conference approaching, Nara Chapter continued its exploration of the conference theme, Teacher Efficacy, Learner Agency, at a local level from the perspective of both established and early-career educators. In the first presentation, Robert Maran, Professor Emeritus at Osaka Shoin Women’s University, discussed an EFL program he had coordinated, focusing…

With the 2018 JALT International Conference approaching, this Nara Chapter event explored the conference theme, Diversity and Inclusion, at a local level. There were two talks presented by three speakers. In the first presentation, Akiko Mokhtari, a Japanese teacher of Chinese and English languages discussed her students’ diverse or different perspectives on both languages.…

Mehran, who along with another Iranian speaker had mesmerized the Nara Chapter audience with their talk about the beauty of Iran a year before, shared with the audience this year her realities of harassment around gender and nationality. Her personal accounts of the “microaggression” she experienced since she left her country revealed how people, in general, are ignorant of others…

Kashimoto talked about his four-year ongoing project, Templish, the combined term between “temple” and “English.” He voluntarily teaches local children at a temple about Japanese culture and customs in English. Various monthly activities such as pounding rice cake, flowing noodles, abd making a charm enable children to learn English practically. Interaction with foreign volunteers…

Mayeda talked about the challenges of a course-integrated extensive reading program, such as building a graded readers library space, developing a book loan system, and introducing an M-reader option. She emphasized that cooperation among those involved is indispensable for success in integrating ER into the curriculum. Goldberg, the founder of Xreading, an online reading…