October Grand Forum: Culture in Language Education
October 11 @ 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM
1,000 yen for non-members, JALT members are free
Join us for a relaxed day of guest speakers, fresh ideas, and great company.
โญKeynote Speakers
Dr. Alan Thompson (Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University)
Encountering Culture and Language through Authentic Texts
Texts composed for general readers and audienceโpoems, raps, novels, playsโserve as the main materials in several skills and content courses at a Japanese university. In this talk I will illustrate their use in learning pronunciation, prosody, and phonetics, in building automaticity in conversation, and in understanding cultural differences. I will also raise and discuss various issues involved in deploying authentic texts, such as their role in relation to controlled language, the use of Japanese-language texts, and bilingual/translingual presentation and discussion.
BIO
Alan Thompson has a PhD from the University of Toronto and teaches at the Faculty of Humanities, Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University. His main research interests are in literature & language teaching and in language contact & change.
Dr Cameron Smith (Aichi Gakuin University)
Culture and History CLIL to Support Critical Thinking in the Age of Generative AI
In this presentation, I will describe the approach taken to the latest revision to a presentations-based CLIL textbook series on world culture and history designed for Japanese university students.
The revisions address three issues. First, improving the choice of unit themes to enable a class of students to produce a sufficient variety of presentations. Second, the longstanding CLIL challenge of bridging subject matter expertise and language teaching expertise. Third, the need to strengthen the courseโs critical thinking and peer interaction components, particularly given the advent of generative AI.
BIO
Cameron Smith received his PhD from Edinburgh University. He teaches in the Department of English Language and Cultures at Aichi Gakuin University. His research interests include creativity in language education, AI in education policy, and CLIL.
โญMaterials display
โญPoster Presentations and Short Presentations
Call for papersโsubmit your proposal here. (Submission deadline September 13th, 2026)
Sponsored by:
PAWS International
