To register for this event, email: yojaltpresident@yojalt.org Takumi Nakao Title: Why an ordinary high school student in Yokohama transferred to an online high school and lives on Kikaijima Island I was an ordinary high school student who went to a public high school in Yokohama. However, ever since my high school life started, I had thought that the education my school provided me was not what I hoped to have on many points. It was because I was aiming to go to college abroad and grow as a person in the global environment. Therefore, I have always been trying out how I can learn English (and many other things) more effectively and grow myself by utilizing different opportunities and resources online without relying on school education. Through those experiences, not only could I improve my English skills but gained lots of insight, network, and confidence, which helped me make a big decision. At the end of last summer, I finally decided to relinquish my useless school education and design my education on my own by taking a gap year. I moved to an online high school in October and left my family and hometown in November. Since then, I have enjoyed living on an island with local people where I can learn a lot by immersing in their traditional lifestyle, beautiful nature, and challenging social issues. At the same time, I can spend plenty of time communicating with different mentors online and having a self-dialogue to plan my future. Bio: Takumi Nakao (he/him) | Senior in N high school | Raised in Yokohama | Lives in Kikai island | Taking a gap year Natsuho Mizoguchi Title: My Journey as a Young Japanese in JALT Summary: Since the early days as a member and an officer in JALT, the presenter has acquired various knowledge and perspectives that she would have otherwise never had outside the association. Those experiences include warm and happy moments shared with friends and teammates, as well as tough times that she was not very sure what she could do to be of contribution to the group. However, being a part of JALT became an important step of her professional path as a language teacher in Japan. This talk will explain the struggles the presenter had and how they are now helping her to serve as the Chair of SPINS. Bio: Natsuho Mizoguchi is a part-time lecturer at Gifu University. She has been the Chair of JALT Student Peer Interaction Network Subcommittee (SPINS) since its creation in 2021. She also fulfills her role as an officer of Gifu chapter and a conference organizing committee member of JALT2023, PanSIG2023, and JALTCALL2023. Emily Choong Title: “Why am I so nervous?”: Developing a speaking anxiety questionnaire Abstract: Among the language skills, speaking is a priority and challenge for many learners of English (Wang, 2021; Maher & King, 2022) but it is also one of the primary sources of anxiety in the language learning classroom. While studies have shown that English speaking anxiety has decreased in online lessons, students in Japan still have mixed feelings towards speaking English face-to-face and online (Isobe, 2021; Maekawa, 2021; Tat et al., 2022). In order to reduce speaking anxiety in classrooms, the speaking anxiety of Japanese students should first be assessed. Therefore, a questionnaire is now being developed to investigate speaking anxiety in face-to-face and online learning post-pandemic. This session is a discussion of some existing literature on English speaking anxiety and the questionnaire development process. Bio Emily Choong is an ALT in Niigata City and a Master’s candidate. Her current research interests include foreign language anxiety, speaking skills, and language attitudes. She has been actively involved in JALT holding local and national-level membership positions, and volunteering at conferences. Emily is also originally from Malaysia, meaning her idea of treating herself when not working or doing research is a fun-filled foodie day out fuelled by coffee. Ethan Smith and Noah Yoshimura DeHaan Title: Creative Thinking Activities in an English Classroom Abstract: Creative thinking is the ability to use one’s interests and experience to solve problems and create works of art with uniqueness and originality. The benefits of incorporating creative thinking in an English as a second language (ESL) classroom should not be overlooked. Creative thinking activities motivate students to learn and practice English by creating opportunities for them to express themselves and feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in themselves. The absence of creative thinking in an ESL classroom could leave a lot of students with an overall misunderstanding of the reasons to learn English and some with a complete disdain for it entirely. Therefore, in order to avoid such issues and create a classroom that fosters a student’s imagination and motivation to learn, creative thinking activities should play a critical role in every ESL teacher’s lesson plan. Bio: My name is Ethan Smith, and I have been teaching English in Japan for over ten years. I am currently teaching at Shizuoka Seiko Academy, a private junior/senior high school located in Shizuoka City. I have recently graduated from Fort Hays University with a Masters of Science in Education (ESOL) and am looking to become more active in the academic community. My teaching philosophy is that students who dislike English are less likely to become confident, proficient English users. It is the responsibility of each English teacher to provide students with fun, stimulating lessons that provide both enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment. Bio: Noah Yoshimura DeHaan is a Shizuoka Seiko Middle School first grader. He belonged to the Shizuoka STEM Academy where he researched games and concentration. He is currently part of the World’s Largest Lesson Student Advisory Panel. He likes games, language, technology and books. He wants to find a way to combine all these things for his own future and to help other people. *YoJALT Announcements and Break Time Naoki Tashiro Title: The Influence of Second Language Learning on Native Language Producing Ability: Focusing on Paraphrasing Ability Summary: In English education settings in Japan, the purpose of learning English is to develop communicative competence and cross-cultural understanding (MEXT, 2019). However, it is also important to consider the contribution of English language learning to enhancing students’ native language abilities. Akita et al (2019) discuss the perspective of teaching students’ metalinguistic abilities, in collaborative classes. This study attempts to clarify the influence of second language learning on native language abilities, focusing on paraphrasing ability. The study conducted the following five methods to collect data: a questionnaire, an English Speaking and Writing exam, and a Japanese speaking and writing paraphrasing exam for eight students. The results revealed that the development of students’ speaking ability in English has a positive influence on their paraphrasing ability in Japanese writing. The study aims to show how an intensive English education curriculum cultivates Japanese language ability in the process of English language learning as a byproduct. Bio: Naoki Tashiro is a student in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at GIfu Shotoku University, Japan. He is a student adviser and staff member at MELT (the social language learning space at the university). He has experience teaching English and Japanese to students ranging in age from two years old to high schools. Martin Sedaghat Title: Presentation title: Social-Emotional Learning with Picturebooks Abstract: When teaching very young learners, all aspects of their development must be taken into consideration, including physical, language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Emotions are a particularly important and difficult concept for children, and learning how to identify, express, and control these feelings is a vital part of growing up. This presentation will focus on a small-scale classroom research project conducted with a group of four and five year old children that used “The Color Monster” by Anna Llenas to prompt self-reflection about emotions. The connections between colors and feelings were discussed, and learners also created drawings to respond to the concepts. By using this multiliteracy approach, the children were able to think about their awareness and responses to their own emotions. Participants will learn about how to develop social-emotional skills with their own young learners, as well as some of the important aspects of conducting research with children. Bio: Martin Sedaghat is the English teacher and curriculum designer for the Niigata University of Health and Welfare International Preschool. He has taught young learners in Japan since 2003 and is currently studying toward an MA TESOL. His research interests include childhood development, picturebooks for EFL, and game design for young learners. Shizuko Raja Title: How can we elicit speech from silent students? – A cooperative Action Research Abstract: How can we improve our teaching? I’ve been struggling with teaching English in junior and senior high schools in Japan for many years, and finally, as a teacher-researcher, I decided to do action research (AR) with my colleague. The aim of this study is to explore how we can elicit students’ speech, particularly from the reticent ones. I’ve collected 13 video recordings and analyzed this data focusing on teacher-student interactions. I’ve also conducted reflective feedback interviews with my colleague several times. We finished one cycle but are still in the middle of our research. I would like to share what I’ve found so far in my research. Biography: I’ve been teaching English in private junior and senior high schools in Tokyo for 10 years. I took a sabbatical year, and I’m studying English teaching at the graduate school of