Bill Pellowe, Nathan Gildart, Sponsored by Matsuyama JALT​Bill will start the session with a demonstration of Google Forms, and how you should set up your Google Form for students to take quizzes. This overview will include self-grading quizzes as well as quizzes with open-ended answers that the teacher can grade as correct, incorrect, or partially […]

Paul RaineTeacherTools.Digital is a platform for creating and administering a range of different language teaching and testing assignments, which cover all four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. ​ It is compatible with smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops, and runs on all modern browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and iOS Safari. Teachers can […]

Phil NguyenThroughout COVID-19, the importance of emergency remote teaching has been advocated. With online classes being the new norm, it has perhaps become a necessity to continue this beyond the pandemic; meanwhile, teachers can benefit from learning and sampling new pieces of technology and software. But how can we do this in today’s environment? This […]

The NEAR Conference is back and will be 100% online. In conjunction with The Young Learners SIG, this year’s conference looks forward to presentations by educators from various teaching contexts.

Jackson Koon Yat Lee, Emily ChoongPresenting is in the nature of many jobs today, including teachers. Whether the presentations are done in a small classroom or at a big conference, it takes some skills to deliver your story or what you would like to share. With that in mind, what makes a good presentation? What […]

Namiko TsurutaHow are modern Japanese learning environments tackling diversity & inclusion? How can we help our learners appreciate and share their own cultures? What does it mean to educate our learners to become “global leaders” in Asia? How can we create more inclusive learning spaces? Join us for a lively and inspiring workshop delving into […]

Chigusa SatoJoin us for this free online Q&A event with clinical psychologist/school counselor Chigusa Sato. Her specialties include developmental differences, bullying, trauma, anxiety, depression, school refusal, and family issues. Now is your chance to get a professional’s answers to all those nagging questions you have! Chigusa has 15 years of experience as a public school […]

Emily Choong, Phil NguyenThis workshop is for educators at any level who would like to explore how to use Canva, an online graphic design platform. Learn how to take advantage of Canva’s user-friendly functions, library of royalty-free resources, and educational templates to create visual content. From presentations to worksheets, infographics, and video posters, join us […]

Plenary: Christopher GrahamNEAR Language Education Conference 2022 is co-sponsored by JALT Niigata and GILE SIG. It aims to bring together language teaching and topics related to environments. Both the environment outside the classroom, and the one within. This conference will provide a space for discussion and collaboration for anyone who is interested in improving their teaching […]

Niigata Chapter’s first live event in 3 years. We will have a MyShare event by members followed by a general chapter meeting. Hybrid setting (in-person at Tokimeito, online on Zoom). Meeting location for in-person attendees: Click here!

Dr. Louise Ohashi  In this workshop, we’ll delve into the benefits and potential drawbacks of incorporating AI in language education. We’ll explore how educators can integrate the new technology to create content-specific materials that are level-appropriate for their students. Furthermore, we’ll discuss the use of AI as a tool for language learners, including the creation […]

May Kyaw Oo (Plenary Speaker)This conference is co-sponsored by JALT Niigata and Nagano Chapters. The 15th NEAR Language Education Conference is back face-to-face at the University of Niigata Prefecture, Niigata City. The theme this year is “What is the Future of Language Learning?” We look at the future of language learning, both in the classroom and […]

Jonathan deHaanJoin us for a dynamic presentation about the SDGs!  Abstract The Sustainable Development Goals connect to every area of students’ lives. How can something so important and immense be thoroughly explored in a class or curriculum? That’s for each teacher to decide based on what they can do in their unique context. So, in […]

James YorkIn this two-hour workshop, James York, founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Ludic Language Pedagogy journal, will introduce various ways to teach languages with games and other playful activities. No coding, programming, or game design skills are necessary! By the end of the workshop, participants will have levelled up their… …ludic literacy (What types of […]

Plenary: Marc Helgesen⭐️ Conference Theme: Creating and sharing in the language teaching context ⭐️ NEAR Conference Date: June 29th 2024 (Saturday) ⭐️ Conference Venue: NUIS Furumachi Campus (📍Niigata City) ⭐️ Submission:  Online Form   ⭐️ Submission Guidelines:  We are accepting proposals for presentations and poster sessions in the following areas applied research, curriculum design teaching practice […]

Lily Thukralhis workshop will introduce language teachers to the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, which is an effective tool for pedagogical reflective journaling. The focus will be on the CoI’s three core elements—cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence—and how they can be used to enhance reflective practice and improve language teaching. Through interactive activities […]

Martin Spivey Learner corpora are ‘systematic collections of authentic, continuous and contextualized language use (spoken or written) by L2 learners stored in electronic format’ (Callies & Paquot, 2015). For EFL instructors, examining student language production through corpora can improve one’s understanding of such issues as frequent spelling and grammatical errors, and over/under-use of particular words or phrases […]

Martin Spivey Learner corpora are ‘systematic collections of authentic, continuous and contextualized language use (spoken or written) by L2 learners stored in electronic format’ (Callies & Paquot, 2015). For EFL instructors, examining student language production through corpora can improve one’s understanding of such issues as frequent spelling and grammatical errors, and over/under-use of particular words or phrases […]

Martin Spivey Learner corpora are ‘systematic collections of authentic, continuous and contextualized language use (spoken or written) by L2 learners stored in electronic format’ (Callies & Paquot, 2015). For EFL instructors, examining student language production through corpora can improve one’s understanding of such issues as frequent spelling and grammatical errors, and over/under-use of particular words or phrases […]

Martin Spivey Learner corpora are ‘systematic collections of authentic, continuous and contextualized language use (spoken or written) by L2 learners stored in electronic format’ (Callies & Paquot, 2015). For EFL instructors, examining student language production through corpora can improve one’s understanding of such issues as frequent spelling and grammatical errors, and over/under-use of particular words or phrases […]

Dr. Wayne MalcolmWe at JALT Niigata are thrilled to announce that we have teamed up with the Teacher Development SIG for our main event this year: The 17th Annual NEAR Language Education Conference x Teacher Journeys Conference. This exciting collaboration promises to be a landmark event under the theme “Teacher Journeys, Student Journeys: Leading and Learning.” At the […]

This workshop equips EFL teachers with five research-backed techniques to dramatically improve students’ speaking fluency through structured practice and strategic communication training. The session will also introduce recent fluency research findings from Tohoku University examining an online fluency tool for first-year university EFL students. This research explores the impact of filler words on speech rate, […]

Join JALT Niigata on December 7, 2025, from 14:00-16:00 for this FREE online event! Heather Suzuki will lead a workshop on “Designing for Inclusion: Overcoming Classroom Barriers to Active and Inclusive Language Learning.” Learn how classroom design and physical support can support or limit engagement and collaboration, and discuss creative solutions to overcome layout barriers […]

Speakers: Mark Frank and Li-Hsin Tu After hearing Mark’s NEAR 2025 presentation “The Japanese Sake Making Project at Toyama University of International Studies,” Li-hsin invited him to guest-lecture in her CLIL class, and built an entire project-based unit around it. In this workshop, Mark will give a version of his presentation, and we will share […]