Dear chapter members,

 
I’m sure everyone is busy and back to school in some capacity now. We hope everyone is staying healthy and safe. We have a lot of information for you this month about upcoming online events. See below:
 
 
This month there will not be a Member Spotlight event, however November 28th Betsy Lavolette will be presenting From Emergency Remote Teaching to Online Learning: The Role of Professional Development. We are still accepting proposals for future Spotlight events and if you are interested please submit them here.
October’s main chapter meeting will be an academic publishing workshop on October 17th starting at 1PM. Melodie Cook and Greg Rouault will talk about the ins and outs of getting your paper published and PD.
Kyoto JALT is also co-sponsoring Kansai SIETAR’s event: Alzheimer’s disease prevention through intercultural communication in an aging society. The aim of this session is to highlight various practical ways in which Alzheimer’s disease prevention can be approached through intercultural communication from within mainstream foreign language education.
The Social Justice Book Club has been reworked to become the Social Justice + Language Teaching Working Group. They will hold their first meeting Wednesday, October 7th at 4pm. If you are interested in joining, please fill out the registration form. Working group leader, Betsy Lavolette,  will send out Zoom links closer to the day.
In addition, Kyoto JALT officer elections will be online this month from the 16th to the 31st so make sure to watch your inbox for information about how to vote. In this month’s newsletter we’ve included statements from all the officers. Please note: We are currently looking for a co-treasurer to join our team. The co-treasurer helps to keep finances in order on event days by collecting fees and reimbursing money to invited presenters and officers. The co-treasurer also helps with budget planning and monitoring the monthly financial report, as well as general chapters duties to help organise events for our members. Please contact jaltkyoto@gmail.com with “Co-treasurer position” in the subject to request more information or to apply.
 
Also, in this issue, you can find JALT 2020 conference news, a call for volunteers for JALT National Online, details about events throughout Kansai, information about the 2020 JALT research grants, calls for papers/presentations, and a request for research participants.
 
Richard Sparrow
 
Publicity Chair
On behalf of the Kyoto JALT Team
 
 
 
Kyoto JALT’s 2020 Event Schedule (Upcoming)

• Academic Publishing Workshop: October 17, 1PM~

• [October Member Spotlight: We are taking a break this month. 

• Annual General Meeting: November 7

• November Member Spotlight: November 28, 1PM~ From Emergency Remote Teaching to Online Learning: The Role of Professional Development by Betsy Lavolette (PhD, Associate Professor of English, Kyoto Sangyo University)

• GALE Collaboration on ‘Harassment’: December 5 1PM~

• What can we do to promote social justice in our classrooms (and beyond)? 
• How can we make Kyoto JALT (and JALT) a comfortable space for all language teachers?

• Discuss and provide feedback to each other on our lesson plans and classroom experiences that involve SJ. •
• Read and discuss book chapters, articles, etc. on SJ themes. •
• Plan and implement SJ-themed activities for students and teachers.

The next meeting will take place as follows: Wednesday, October 7, 4 p.m. To get the Zoom link, please sign up here. For our next meeting, we are reading Yoshi Grote’s chapter in the recently published book, Foreign Female English Teachers in Japanese Higher Education: Narratives From Our Quarter (English Edition). Yoshi's chapter, "Supporting LGBTQIA+ Students in the Classroom," is a quick read and thought-provoking. AND we are lucky to have the author as one of our participants, so we can ask her questions about it! Looking forward to discussing with you on Oct. 7.
 
Academic Publishing Workshop

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2020
Time:  1:00pm – 4:00PM
Speakers: Melodie Cook (University of Niigata Prefecture), Greg Rouault (Hiroshima Shudo University)
Venue: Online
 

1:00 Getting Published in Peer-Reviewed Publications: What and What Not to Do
By Melodie Cook (University of Niigata Prefecture)
 
In this presentation, former JALT Journal editor Dr. Melodie Cook will talk about the process, from start to finish, of how articles are published in peer-reviewed journals. She will walk through what editors look for in the initial selection process, how reviewers are assigned, how papers are edited, and share general timelines for each phase of the process based on her experiences working with JALT Journal. Melodie will also talk about how to choose appropriate journals, the importance of following the journal’s remit (requirements), how to write an airtight submission, format appropriately for each journal, and avoid common writing and submission pitfalls. She will show remit pages from different journals in order to highlight their similarities and differences and make recommendations for journals that are suitable for both novice and experienced researchers. She will also talk about predatory publishers, especially how to spot them, avoid them, and the consequences of publishing with them. There will be a workshop in which participants will read different parts of manuscripts and decide what the issues are in them. There will also be an extensive question-and-answer session – participants are encouraged to bring questions with them that Melodie can answer.
 
2:15  Book Reviews, Conference Reports, & Interviews: Gateways to Academic Publications
by Greg Rouault (Hiroshima Shudo University)
 
Educators are expected to be involved in professional development and ongoing learning. By
attending conferences and reading the latest findings in research and practice, teachers can share their experience as trainers, mentors, and authors. Collective teacher efficacy is the belief of school staff or faculty in their ability to positively influence student behavior and guide academic achievements. Hattie (2017) reports a high effect size of d = 1.57 for the relationship between collective teacher efficacy and student achievement. Writing for publication and exposing one’s thoughts to peer review and public readership can consolidate professional knowledge and build teacher efficacy. The summary and critique in book reviews, the narration and reflection in conference reports, and the informed interaction in interviews demonstrate active participation in the academic discourse community. This presentation looks at these three gateway publications for academic writing available to all teachers with any level of learners of curriculum. Workshop activities will cover the structure of these genres with actual samples explored together. Participants will leave with an understanding of the ins and outs of writing for publication and some targets for their submissions along with increased motivation to put themselves out there with their writing to a supportive learning community.
ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88942701037?pwd=cmo5eklVemVXdnpmODBmZnVLUkQwdz09
 
Alzheimer’s disease prevention through intercultural communication in an aging society
 
Date: Saturday, October 18, 2020
Time:  2:00pm – 5:00PM
Speaker: Stephanie Ann Houghton (Saga University)
Venue: Online
This event is co-sponsored by SIETAR Kansai and Kyoto JALT. Contact Donna Fujimoto at fujimotodonna@gmail.com to get the Zoom link and with any questions. The presentation will be in English, with Q&A in English and Japanese.
 
The aim of this session is to highlight various practical ways in which Alzheimer’s disease prevention can be approached through intercultural communication from within mainstream foreign language education. In this session, Alzheimer’s disease prevention will be explored through Houghton’s FURYU (風流) Educational Program (FEP), which is currently under development in the Faculty of Art and Regional Design at Saga University. Houghton’s research has traversed through intercultural dialogue and (post) native speakerism through to art (performing arts/dance) and regional design (fitness). These will be reviewed from various standpoints related to lifestyle management including heritage management, intercultural dialogue, health and fitness, technology, art generation and social business.
 
Stephanie Ann Houghton PhD is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication at the Faculty of Art and Regional Design, Saga University. She has published multiple academic books and articles in peer-reviewed international journals. She is co-editor of the book series Intercultural Communication and Language Education with Melina Porto. Addressing the development of intercultural communicative competence, her main research areas include intercultural dialogue, native speakerism and citizenship education, with a special focus on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Kyoto JALT 2020 Officer Election
 
2021 Officer elections, October 16-31: Kyoto chapter officer profiles and a request for candidates
 
From October 16-31, we will be holding our chapter election for the 2021 Kyoto chapter officers. The statements from our current officer slate are below. If you would like to join us, please send a statement of interest to jaltkyoto@gmail.com with "Joining the officer team" in the subject, and we will contact you for more information. We can use more officers to help with all positions, so if you are interested in getting involved in supporting the language teaching community in the Kyoto area, please get in touch.

President: Thomas Amundrud (Continuing)
Statement: I have served as a Kyoto chapter officer since 2008 and as Kyoto chapter president since 2017. In that time, we have furthered our mission to serve all foreign language teachers in the Kyoto area with a diverse and representative officer team. We have also adapted to our current challenge under the continuing COVID-19 crisis to provide professional development online. In 2021, I look forward to working more with our great officer team to collaborate more with other professional development organizations, help JALT and our chapter continue adapt to the challenges we face, and help improve language teaching in our area.
Programming chair: Gretchen Clark (Continuing)
Statement: As I head into my third year as Programming Chair for the chapter, I’m extremely proud with how our chapter has handled the effects of COVID on chapter activities. Not only have we successfully held 4 online chapter meetings on topics from Story Listening to how to bring social justice issues into the classroom, we have made these informal Zoom meetings accessible to all kinds of members/presenters, from secondary to university level, from newbie to veteran. We are meeting as a chapter more than ever and keeping a sense of community at the forefront of our chapter activities, which is important as we continue to ride the wave of change that COVID has brought.  I am looking forward to continuing in this position in 2021 where I, along with the entire committee will continue our efforts to reflect on the needs of our diverse membership and make Kyoto JALT a source for professional development for all.
 
 
Programming co-chair: Chelanna White (Continuing)
Statement: In my first year as co-chair of programming, I helped launch our monthly Community Spotlight event, an informal online event highlighting Kyoto JALT members and their research interests. I have also facilitated a partnership between JALT and the Kyoto Prefectural Board of Education, which I hope will be fruitful for both organizations for many years to come. I am looking forward to working with the rest of the officer team to plan events that highlight the diversity of English teaching in Kyoto and Japan, whether Covid-19 requires that these events be held online or we can meet safely in person. 
 
Facilities chair: Yoshimi Ochiai (Continuing)
Statement: Over the past two years, I served as a facility chair. I will work behind the scenes and organize the event as a backseat player. My job is on hiatus due to the COVID-19 situation, but I am able to serve as a facility chair again this year when we have a face to face event. 
 
Treasurer: Martin Hawkes (Continuing)
Statement: I have been a chapter officer for around ten years and involved in treasury for most of the past four years. In that time, we have looked to use our funds to hold stimulating events for our members and to support other events in the Kansai area. With uncertain times ahead, I aim to ensure the chapter finances remain in good order through 2021 and beyond.
 
We are currently looking for a co-treasurer to join our team. The co-treasurer helps to keep finances in order on event days by collecting fees and reimbursing money to invited presenters and officers. The co-treasurer also helps with budget planning and monitoring the monthly financial report, as well as general chapters duties to help organise events for our members. Please contact jaltkyoto@gmail.com with “Co-treasurer position” in the subject to request more information or to apply.
 
Membership chair: Ben Thanyawatpokin (Continuing)
Statement: I have been a member of JALT since 2015, however this will be my second year serving as an officer in Kyoto JALT. In my first year I dutifully kept up with membership numbers and made sure there were no serious discrepancies with Kyoto JALT membership data. In the coming year I hope to continue working with my fellow officers and members-at-large to provide the best possible events, workshops, and activities for all members. There will be many challenges, but I believe my contribution will aid in overcoming them and ultimately improve the field of language teaching in Kyoto.
 
Publicity chair: Donny Sparrow (Continuing)
Statement: I have been a member of JALT for 3 years now and for the last year and a half I have been serving as the publicity chair. I have continued to make sure that the monthly newsletter has been of high quality and made sure that the membership is informed of what is going on in the chapter and JALT at large. With the advent of online events online publicity has become a much larger part of my job. I have expanded our activities on Facebook and Twitter, and I still would like to reach out to the membership to hear what you think, so as to inform our actions in the coming year. 
 
Publicity co-chair/Webmaster: John Syquia (Continuing)
Statement: As Kyoto JALT Webmaster I relaunched Kyoto JALT’s website in 2019 to improve ease of access for our members. The website now is one of several ways that both members and non-members can get information about our chapter events. In the coming year I plan to focus on adding additional functions to the website and, as always, keeping it updated in a timely manner. 
 
Kyoto’s Member Spotlight in November - From Emergency Remote Teaching to Online Learning: The Role of Professional Development
 
Date: Saturday, November 28, 2020
Time:  1:00pm – 2:00PM
Speaker: Betsy Lavolette, PhD, Associate Professor of English, Kyoto Sangyo University Venue: Online
Description: Join us for a Kyoto JALT exclusive preview of a talk that Betsy will be giving in December!

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84013343779?pwd=UlFHV2FiNGpCRXBXNHllTk9LWUdTQT09


From Emergency Remote Teaching to Online Learning: The Role of Professional Development
Most faculty have experienced emergency remote teaching (ERT) due to the ongoing pandemic. However, ERT should not be confused with online pedagogy designed using best practices (Gacs et al., 2020; Hodges et al., 2020). Regardless of whether teaching is online, face-to-face, or hybrid, we must be able to provide students high-quality learning experiences, incorporating what we have learned from ERT into current and future teaching. Professional development (PD) is one key to making the transition from ERT to effective online learning and beyond. In this talk, I present examples of my experiences with online teaching and learning as a teacher, course developer, and PD facilitator. I also present preliminary results of a survey investigating the PD experiences of language faculty at Japanese universities and invite the audience to share their experiences. I then make the case that moving from ERT to online learning requires PD driven by pedagogical needs. To that end, I advocate for and provide examples of PD activities organized by faculty members via communities of practice and describe how these activities fit the guiding standards for effective PD (Duguay, 2020; Duguay & Vdovina, 2019). This bottom-up, flexibly implemented PD will continue to serve faculty beyond ERT, through online learning, and post-pandemic. We welcome proposals at any time and will negotiate with the prospective speaker about a suitable date/time. Submit your proposals here: https://forms.gle/eXaHigiUoeupoHSx9
ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84013343779?pwd=U1FHV2FiNGpCRXBXNH11Tk9LWUdTQT09
Zoom Link: http://bit.ly/kyotospot

News
JALT 2020 NEWS
The JALT2020 team has been working very hard on this year's conference, and this newsletter includes a call for volunteers. There has been some confusion about the length of the conference, and we'd like to clear that up. On the website, you can see that JALT2020 is will be Monday, November 16 to Monday, November 23, 2020. This does not mean eight days of morning to evening presentations! Monday the 16th to Thursday the 19th will have evening events such as some of the SIG Annual General Meetings, some roundtables, and possibly an online networking event or two. The conference weekend (Friday the 20th to Monday the 23rd) will be morning to evening, as per usual for one of our conferences.
 
Get Involved in JALT2020! Help with Room Hosting, and YouTube Editing and Uploading

JALT2020 will be needing room hosts for this conference as well as people to help edit and upload a good number of YouTube videos. While we have a rough idea for what the schedule is looking like, we want to start recruiting people to help with room hosting and YouTube videos. Knowing we have people on board will help our Coordinators deal with scheduling training sessions, make protocols, and figure possible rotation schedules. So, please look at this Google form (see link below) and complete it if you are willing to help with these jobs. The form references both jobs. We would appreciate a response as soon as possible.
https://forms.gle/rhyWV4ni3GL5cMi19
 
JALT2019 Plenaries on YouTube
Our JALT2019 plenary sessions have been uploaded to YouTube. Here's the plenary speaker playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpP8yzHmmyNEoKhvf9fQ6SgN_ib4JH56P
 
Call for Presentations
 
POSTPONED The Second Performance in Education: Research & Practice Conference
The Performance in Education SIG's Performance in Education: Research & Practice Conference/student Showcase/Student Film Festival scheduled for June 12-14 has been postponed to February 20, 2021 and changed to a one-day online conference using Zoom and videos uploaded to our YouTube channel.
This conference looks at practice of and research into Performance in Education (PIE). The purpose of the conference is to widen the research base for supporting the use of performance in all aspects of education (teaching, consolidating teaching, and testing/evaluation) across the curriculum (medicine, law, history, etc.) and is not limited to English language education.
The conference will include practical presentations and workshops as well as research presentations and workshops on how to conduct research.
The special features of this conference include:-
1. Plenary Speeches by Rod Ellis and Dawn Kobayashi
2. Research & Practice Presentations
3. Student Showcase Presentations (students demonstrate or present: speeches, debates, pecha-kucha, drama, skits, puppetry, Readers Theatre, kami-shibai, spoken word poetry, etc.)
4. Student Showcase Exhibitions (with permission of their students, teachers exhibit student-created work including videos of their performances.)
5. Student Film Festival
6. Interesting Teacher/Student Performances
7. Research Auditions
8. Networking Event
9. Cultural Tour of Nagoya
Conference website: https://tinyurl.com/PIESIG-Nagoya2020
Submissions: https://sites.google.com/view/sddpalresearchconference/home 
Submission Deadline: September 30.
 
Online Events
 
TUJ Distinguished Lecturer Series (Tokyo, Seminar 1): Developing Lexical Competence: From Theory to Classroom Practice to Online Application
Date: Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Speaker: Charles Browne (Meiji Gakuin University, Japan)
Description:
This seminar will be conducted dually on campus and online by Zoom for the public session on Saturday, 14:00-17:00, followed by on campus only sessions (Saturday, 18:00-21:00, Sunday, 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00). The admission for the on campus public session is limited to 50 (first-come-first-served basis) while the Zoom link will be sent to others, including those who signed up for the online public session, between 13:00-13:50 on the day of the public session (Saturday). Students taking this seminar for credit will be required to attend on campus public session. Pre sign-up is required for anybody attending the public session except for those credit students. The sign-up process must be completed through "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline for Tokyo is Friday, October 2 at 12:00.
This seminar will consider the development of Lexical Competence from several points of view. Through a review of some of the core research in second language vocabulary acquisition we will first try to dispel some of the "myths" about vocabulary learning that are still prevalent among classroom practitioners and researchers. Keith Folse's excellent book, "Vocabulary Myths: Applying Second Language Research To Classroom Teaching", one of the two required books for this course, covers eight such myths including the idea that (1) in learning another language, vocabulary is not as important as grammar or other areas, (2) using word lists to learn L2 vocabulary is unproductive and (3) presenting new vocabulary in semantic sets facilitates learning.
After developing a basic understanding of how vocabulary should be tested, taught and learned, we will then move on to consider several corpus-derived word lists for second language learners that I have developed. We will then review a range of classroom vocabulary teaching and testing techniques based on current research.
Finally, we will look at and get hands on practice in using a variety of online tools for testing, teaching and conducting research on second language vocabulary acquisition. Seminar participants who take this course for credit will use and assess one of the many online tools in the context of current research in this area.
Organization: Temple University Japan
Cost: free
 
Student Engagement with English as a Lingua Franca Toyohashi JALT
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2020 - 1:00pm to 3:30pm
Event Speaker: Ayako Suzuki, Rasami Chaikul, Sherry Schaefer, Nora Kotseva-Katsura
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
This annual joint forum from Aichi University's Institute for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences (IRHSA) and JALT's Toyohashi Chapter brings together four speakers, affiliated with Tamagawa University, Aichi University and Aichi Gakuin University. Full details can be found in the links to the flyer. Registration is necessary, which can be arranged by contacting the IRHSA e-mail address.
 

 
Teacher Journeys 2020: Session 5
Date: Sunday, October 4, 2020 (All day)
Event Speaker:  Michael Kuziw, Colin Skeates, Bill Snyder, Chiyuki Yanase, Wendy M. Gough, Jamie G. Sturges, Shoko Kita, Adrianne Verla Uchida
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: Experiences in Emergency Remote Teaching
Description:
Each Sunday, we'll be releasing a collection of videos as part of our Teacher Journeys 2020 conference. The videos will continue to be available on our website afterwards.
This week's videos are as follows: 
1. Examining Workplace Transition Under a Pandemic - Michael Kuziw
2. Experiences Researching English Part Time University Lecturer Voices During ERT - Colin Skeats et al. 
3. Two Halves or a Whole? Reflecting on Two Approaches to English Discussion in an Online Format - Jamie G. Sturges & Shoko Kita 
4. Reflections from my ERT Journey - Adrianne Verla Uchida
 
More information about the conference can be found at –
https://sites.google.com/view/teacherjourneys2020/home?authuser=0
 
11th Annual JALT Oita Language Learning Symposium
Date: Saturday, October 10, 2020 - 10:30am to 6:00pm
Event Speaker: Vetted
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: 
Language Learning Symposium
Dear members and friends of JALT Oita, We will have our 11th Annual JALT Oita Language Learning Symposium this October 10th, and we are welcoming proposals to present at this day-long event. If you are presenting at JALT International in November, this is a good opportunity for you to get practice and audience feedback. If you missed the application deadline or have an idea that you are not sure would work at the larger conference, this is a good place to share your ideas with a friendly and knowledgeable group of peers. Presentations on any topic related to language teaching practice or research are welcome. Please send a brief abstract (150-250 words) to kent.jones.apu@gmail.com by September 25th. You will be notified about the acceptance of your proposal by September 28th.
Online Meeting Link: 
Zoom ID: 960 0365 5034
 
OLE ZOOM CONFERENCE
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2020 - 10:00am to 12:00pm
Event Speaker: Bertlinde Voegel, Margit Krause-Ono, Monika Szirmai
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: OLE ZOOM CONFERENCE
Topics for discussion: 1. Policies and measures introduced by individual universities in the first semester and plans for the second semester and beyond 2. Feedback and thoughts on coping with the sudden changes in Other Languages Education (OLE) in the first semester of 2020. 3. Plans and suggestions for preparing for the second semester and later
Online Meeting Link: OLE SIG
 
JET / ALT Event: Sharing Experiences and Best Practices Tokyo JALT
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2020 - 2:30pm to 4:00pm
Event Speaker: Justine McCabe
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: JET, ALT
Location: Zoom (link provided to all who RSVP)
RSVP: http://bit.ly/TJALTrsvp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/306113497103272/
This will be an open discussion led by a group of seasoned JETs / ALTs designed to share effective strategies and classroom activity ideas as well as effective ways to deal with any concerns or issues you may have. Please come and share your experience and ask any questions you may have.
 
As always, visit https://sites.google.com/view/tokyojalt for more information about this and other Tokyo JALT topics.
Connect with Tokyo JALT online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tokyojalt/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tokyo_jalt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tokyo_jalt
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4663586/profile
Online Meeting Link: RSVP
 
October Grand Forum Nagoya JALT
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020 (All day)
Event Speaker:  Marc Helguson
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
This combined Nagoya/Gifu/Toyhashi JALT will include presentations from a number of local presenters, along with Marc Helguson's "Positive Psychology in ELT Online". By our powers combined! For detailed information and presentation times, please check the Nagoya JALT Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/nagoyajalt
 
Key Concepts in the Neuroscience of Language Learning / Curtis Kelly Gunma JALT
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Event Speaker: Curtis Kelly
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: Neuroscience of Language Learning
After almost a century of wandering in the dark, neuroscience is finally shining a light on how the brain learns language. Every month is bringing new discoveries and many are utterly unexpected. To name just a few, we have now discovered: a) how in just a few thousand years we could grow a brain that can read; b) why that boy who “doesn’t get it” might be the smartest; how emotion is at the root of Everything (capital intended); and how a relatively new theory, Predictive Processing, is giving us a completely different picture of how the brain works. Language and learning are two key processes of the brain, so every language teacher needs to know how these work in order to be an effective teacher. Avoiding complicated jargon, we will examine key concepts in the neuroscience of language learning and try to connect them to good teaching practices. This event will have games, quizzes, discussion, tasks, or other surprises, so folks will have to participate actively. CURTIS KELLY (E.D.D.) founded the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG and is currently the producer of the MindBrainEd Think Tanks, a magazine connecting brain sciences to language teaching. He is a Professor of English at Kansai University in Japan. He has written over 30 books, including the Cambridge Writing from Within series, and given over 400 presentations. His life mission is “to relieve the suffering of the classroom.”
 
Making Room for Improv Matsuyama JALT
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 2:15pm to 4:20pm
Event Speaker: Ian Willey, Kagawa University
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
In this workshop, the presenter will first describe a series of speaking-focused English courses for medical staff and students at one university hospital. Activities included IELTS and TOEFL-style speaking tasks and speech practice as well as techniques adapted from the realm of improvisational theater. These “improv” activities develop learners’ empathy as well as communicative competence and can easily be applied in 3-5-minute chunks of a standard lesson. The presenter will introduce several activities, of varying difficulty levels, which the audience can practice in pairs and small groups, and perhaps try out later in their own classes.
Biography: Ian Willey is an associate professor in the Higher Education Center at Kagawa University. He has an MA from Kent State University and a Ph.D. from Hiroshima City University. He has published and presented widely on the topics of English for medical purposes, teacher identity, and classroom language use.
Link to meeting location
 
JALT International Conference Sneak Preview Hiroshima JALT
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Event Speaker: Several Teachers/Researchers from the Chugoku area
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
To whet your appetite for the JALT International Conference Nov. 16-23, the October Hiroshima JALT meeting will feature several Zoom presentations which will also be given at the conference. The talks have all been vetted by the conference committee, so they are guaranteed to be of high quality! For details, see the Hiroshima JALT Homepage at Google, or the newsletter.
 
Teaching During the Pandemic: Advice from the Brain / Curtis Kelly & Amanda Gillis-Furutaka Gunma JALT
Date: Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Event Speaker: Curtis Kelly & Amanda Gillis-Furutaka
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: Social Brain & Online Learning
Through fMRI research, Matthew Lieberman discovered a large network in our brain devoted to figuring out other people’s thoughts and intentions: the mentalizing network. The social brain is also important for learning and is active anytime the working memory network, which we use for analytical thinking, is not. Lieberman calls it our Superpower, but he also defines our Kryptonite: traditional education. Educators tend to see the social aspect of learning as a frivolity, or ignore it altogether. For designing rich online classes, synchronous or not, the social brain has much to teach us, including why we experience “Zoom fatigue.” This event will have games, quizzes, discussion, tasks, or other surprises, so folks will have to participate actively. CURTIS KELLY (Ed.D.) founded the JALT Mind, Brain, and Education SIG and is currently the producer of the MindBrainEd Think Tanks, a magazine connecting brain sciences to language teaching. He is a Professor of English at Kansai University in Japan. He has written over 30 books, including the Cambridge Writing from Withinseries, and given over 400 presentations. His life mission is “to relieve the suffering of the classroom.” AMANDA GILLIS-FURUTAKA (Ph.D) is a professor in the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Kyoto Sangyo University. She has researched and written on various topics (bilingualism, international education, extensive reading, popular music and culture) and in recent years has found a common underlying link to all of this – the brain! So these days she is eagerly learning about how the brain develops and functions and how these findings can be applied to the language classroom.
 
CEFR and CLIL - The praxis of teaching, learning, and assessment with CEFR and CLIL
Date: Friday, October 23, 2020 - 7:00pm to Sunday, October 25, 2020 - 1:40pm
Event Speaker: Dr Masashi NEGISHI (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
Dr Yuen Yi LO (University of Hong Kong)
Fee for JALT members: free
Fee for non-JALT members: free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: Integration of CEFR and CLIL - International Symposium & Workshop (Online)
With increased interest in the integration of CEFR and CLIL, this international symposium & workshop serves to further the educational discussion within CEFR in all levels of education, with the additional understanding of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Instruction). Our goal is to create a forum for discussions promoting the understanding of concepts related to, applications of, and future directions of CEFR and CLIL in Japan and beyond. We are aiming to bridge the research and practice divide and will provide a rich context for discussion throughout the conference. The intended goal is to engage the audience in the themed discussions and provide theoretically informed ideas, activities, and procedures they can integrate in their classrooms. Presentations (thematic discussion, poster and workshop) will be arranged in thematic block sessions including discussion sessions. These discussions are based on the conference theme and will be moderated.
The event will be held throughout online.
See for more inf0rmation: https://cefrjapan.net/events/22-events/83-cefr-and-clil The program will be available soon.
For signing up use the following link https://tinyurl.com/y22g9ev6 .
 
Predictive Language Processing and Its Role in ELT Sendai JALT
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2020 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Event Speaker: Mind / Brain SIG
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: Predictive Language Processing and Its Role in ELT
Neuroscience has a new understanding of how the brain works: the brain is a prediction machine and Predictive Processing is the system by which we navigate and learn about the world. We constantly process information from our environment and store it in our memory and actively draw on this data to make sense of and act on new incoming information. We can do this quickly and efficiently by making predictions based on what is already known. Our predictions are mostly accurate, but sometimes we meet the unexpected, and this is when we learn something new – when we recognize a gap between what we expected and what we discover. We then adjust of our internal models of the world.
The forum will first present the basics of Predictive Processing and its role in learning and effective classroom practices. Following this initial overview, there will be brief introductions to some applications in the language classroom, such as multi-word utterances, grammar, intensive reading, extensive reading, and study abroad. This will be followed by two consecutive breakout sessions in which the participants can choose to join two different speakers on two topics listed above for focused and in-depth discussions.
 Speakers names and topics:
Curtis Kelly: Intro to PP and MC
Caroline Handley: intensive reading
Harumi Kimura:multi-word utterances
Cooper Howland: grammar
Jason Lowes: PP in depth
Stephen M. Ryan: study abroad
Amanda Gillis Furutaka: extensive reading.
Online Meeting Link: 
Register to get meeting information
 
Teaching Younger Learners Tokyo JALT
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2020 - 2:00pm
Event Speaker: Diane Lamb, Gaby Benthien, Eng Hai Tan
Fee for JALT members: Free
Fee for non-JALT members: Free
Contact or Queries: Send Email
Event Theme: project-based learning, cultural awareness, and cooperative storytelling using magic flashcards
RSVP: http://bit.ly/TJALTrsvp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/791092011703520
This event, sponsored by Tokyo JALT and the TYL SIG, is for teachers of kids to young adults, so teachers of preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school, are all encouraged to come! As always, there will be great, short presentations and lots of time for discussion and networking. More details coming soon but
 
here is the line-up of presenters:
Diane Obara on project-based learning
Gaby Benthien on cultural awareness in the primary/secondary classroom
Eng Hai Tan on Cooperative Storytelling using Magic Flashcards
 
Diane Obara:
Abstract: In 2016, Diane moved her mom and child multicultural children's literature reading classes out of her home and established a community school for her own bilingual children and other local residents. A core component of the curriculum centered around project-based learning. This presentation will showcase four of the projects (including videos) from the school that were featured in the March 2020 edition of The Language Teacher (https://jalt-publications.org/tlt/archive).
Bio: Diane Obara is an adjunct lecturer at Rikkyo University, with more than fifteen years of teaching English in higher education. In particular, her experience working with Japanese learners spans the globe, from the USA to Japan to Southeast Asia (teacher training). Some of her recent research interests include Educational Entrepreneurship and Bilingual Curriculum Development for Teaching Young Learners (TYL), mixing methods that include intercultural collaboration using multimedia, PBL (project-based learning) and CLIL (content).
 
Gaby Benthien:
Abstract: Culture and language are closely intertwined, and cross-cultural understanding is one of the aims of L2 education in Japan. As educators, we want to promote cultural awareness, arouse curiosity and develop empathy in our students and to encourage them to see the world through different perspectives, learn to observe and reflect before judging, and to learn about their own culture. While real and virtual exchanges allow children to engage and interact directly with children from other cultures, in-class activities using photos, picture books, folktales, songs, films, documentaries, roleplays and simulations can also be embedded into L2 classes to enhance cross-cultural understanding. This session will give some examples and ideas about how cultural awareness activities can be introduced into the elementary and secondary L2 classroom to complement the units in the textbooks or as additional activities.
Bio: Gaby Benthien (BEd, MEd, EdD) is Associate Professor at Shumei University in Chiba, and Adjunct Lecturer at Chuo University in Tokyo. She has been teaching foreign languages (Japanese, German and English) to a range of age levels and in a variety of teaching contexts in Australia and Japan for nearly 30 years. The majority of her recent classes have been related to intercultural understanding and L2 education classes for students taking elementary education license credits. Her research interests include L2 teacher education and development, L2 motivation, socio-cultural aspects of language education, intercultural communication and understanding and study abroad. In her free time, Gaby enjoys being outdoors, being creative, and exploring Japan and other countries. Gaby is a member of the JALT Teaching Younger Learners SIG, Intercultural Education in Language Learning SIG and Teacher Development SIG and is also involved with the JACET-based Japanese Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages for Elementary school Teacher Education (JPOSTL elementary).
 
Eng Hai Tan:
***Required materials to actively participate: scissors,  2 A4 pieces of slightly thick (craft) paper (white) and colored pencils or pens.  I think most 100 yen shops have craft paper (and pencils). Also, it's best if you have a PC, laptop or any digital device that allows you to open Google Docs. Plus of course a good dose of creativity and imagination! ***
Intro: Engaging young learners requires more than pedagogical skills, the inherent creativity of teachers is often put to test. The types of social setting can also play a part in the quality of learning. Classroom learning environments can be classified generally into three social categories: competitive, individualistic, or cooperative. Cooperative learning is often associated with higher level of reasoning, greater generation of new ideas and transfer of learning as compared to competitive or individualistic learning. In this workshop, participants will experience different types of social learning settings as they learn how to make magic flashcards and cooperate as a group to create a story using the flashcards. Each group of three participants will be given six telltale picture cards and they are required to use them in their stories. Using graphic organizers, they will discuss the setting, characters, problem and resolution. Next, participants will transfer their ideas from the graphic organizers onto storyboards. They also decide on the 6-frame illustrations they wanted for their stories. Finally, they will draw on their magic flashcards with the main scenes of their stories and practice presenting them to the other groups. Bloom’s taxonomy will also be explored as participants engage from lower to higher order thinking tasks, from remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and finally creating their original story as a group. For the benefit of everyone, it is crucial for all participants to get ready two A4 sheets of sturdy-ish paper (or drawing block paper), a pair of scissors and colour pencils. Participants will also use Google documents when creating their story as a group, hence, it’s advisable to work from a device that has a sizable screen. 
Abstract: Storytelling is an innate part of human behavior. Learning through storytelling is a natural way to acquire language. Stories give a sense of meaning to students as they learn new words. Through this hands-on workshop, participants will be expected to create stories in groups, learn how to make magic flashcards, and present stories using them. With these flashcards, your students will have fun while presenting their stories in a more creative and engaging way.
Bio: Eng Hai Tan has more than 20 years of teaching experience. He has taught in public primary schools and the National Institute of Education in Singapore prior to working as an administrator in an English immersion school in Japan. He is currently an Associate Professor in the University Center for Liberal Arts Education, Meio University. His research interests include Pedagogy, Language Acquisition, Motivation and Educational Technology. 
 
Research help needed: Request for Research participants
 
Writing in Japanese Universities
Purpose:
The aim of this study is to examine how Japanese students’ writing improves over the school year and to see how effective online grammar checkers are in improving grammatical accuracy. Specifically, the study seeks to examine grammatical accuracy, fluency (how many words students can write in 30 minutes along with 10 minutes for editing), complexity (vocabulary and syntactical).
 
（１）研究の目的
本研究の目的は、日本の学生の文章表現が１学年にわたってどのように向上するか、オンライン文法チェッカーが文法的正確さを向上させる上でどれほど効果的であるかを調べることです。
 
Call for Participants:
I am hoping to obtain permission to gather data at three to four institutions in western Japan and in the Kansai region and to solicit the cooperation of approximately 120 students. Students will be asked to write a total of three papers, one every four months, concerning various topics.
 
西日本 3大学施設の調査
西日本の3〜4大学施設でデータを収集し、約120人の学生の協力をしてもらえるように承諾を頂きます。 学生はさまざまなトピックについて、4か月に1回、合計3つの論文を書くように依頼します。
 
Contact Information:
Email: long@dhs.kyutech.ac.jp
Address: Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1 Sensui-cho, Tobata-Ku, Kitakyushu-city, 804-8550
Telephone: 093-884-3447
 
Appreciatively,
Robert William Long III Ed. S Kyushu Institute of Technology
 
Finally
Kyoto JALT on Social Media
Visit our website https://kyotojalt.org/
 
To keep up to date with all the things from Kyoto JALT via Facebook, please join our Kyoto JALT Facebook Group 
 
Follow us on Twitter: @JaltKyoto


******
 
Hope to see you at some of the events.
 
Donny Sparrow,
Publicity Chair
On behalf of the Kyoto JALT Team