Diane Hawley Nagatomo (Ochanomizu University) , Rie Koizumi (Juntendo University), Michele Steele (Gunma University)

1. From Dutiful Daughters to English Professors: How Gender Shapes the Professional Lives of Japanese Female University English Teachers
(13:00-14:00)
by Diane Hawley Nagatomo (Ochanomizu University)
This presentation examines the role of gender in the professional identity development seven Japanese female university English teachers ranging in age from their early thirties to their early sixties. The participants’ female gender will be shown to be at the heart of their professional identity– first by being guided into English study from an early age by parents because of its perception as an “appropriate” area of study for daughters, then by obtaining graduate degrees to escape a boring career or to recover from a failed marriage. As university teachers, their gender plays a strong role in how people interact with them as professional women, and shapes their participation as members of their university faculties.
Diane Hawley Nagatomo has been living and teaching in Japan since 1979. She is an associate professor at Ochanomizu University and has a PhD in linguistics from Macquarie University. Her research interests include language teacher identity, language learner identity, and materials development. She has authored and co-authored numerous EFL textbooks for the Japanese market. Her most recent book, Exploring Japanese University English Teacher’s Professional Identity, was published in 2012. She can be contacted at Hawley.diane.edla@ocha.ac.jp>.
2. Integrated speaking tasks used for teaching and assessment
(14:15-15:15)
by Rie Koizumi (Juntendo University)
Tasks involving the integration of speaking and other skills have been used for the TOEFL iBT® Test and TOEIC® Speaking Test. The Course of Study also stipulates that junior and senior high school teachers should use such tasks to enhance balanced English proficiency. This presentation introduces integrated speaking tasks that can be used for teaching and assessment, and discusses advantages and disadvantages, and ways to implement the tasks in the classroom context.
Rie Koizumi, Ph.D. (University of Tsukuba, Japan), is an Associate Professor at Juntendo University, Japan. As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Tsukuba and Reitaku University, Japan, she taught postgraduate courses on Rasch analysis and research into speaking and listening. She is an ad hoc reviewer of Language Assessment Quarterly and JALT (Japan Association for Language Teaching) Journal. She is a vice secretary general of the Japan Language Testing Association (JLTA) and an active member of the JLTA steering committee. She is interested in examining the validity of the interpretations and uses of the scores of speaking and vocabulary tests and in modeling factor structures of language ability and performance, especially with respect to fluency, accuracy, and syntactic complexity of oral production. Her publication has appeared in Language Assessment Quarterly, System, TESOL Quarterly, and JALT Journal.
3. Bringing Gender Issues into the Language Classroom
(15:30-16:15)
by Michele Steele (Gunma University)
What are “gender issues,” exactly? Students often find that gender issues are really human issues, topics that concern everyone. Teachers sometimes introduce political or social issues in their classes without realizing that they are, in fact, gender issues, as well. In this workshop, participants will generate ideas about what kind of topics they would address in a lesson on gender issues. An overview of an Intensive Course with a gender-centered theme will be presented, along with the feedback received from the students at the conclusion of the course.
Michele Steele has lived in Japan since 1995 and has operated a language school and taught classes at universities for the past fourteen years. She has focused primarily on bringing environmental, social, and gender-related issues into the classroom. She was the president of the Gunma chapter of JALT for six years, and is now the program chair, as well as the Best of JALT coordinator for JALT national.
4. Business Meeting (16:15-17:00)