Back to School 2018: Osaka JALT's 8th annual spring mini-conference

Saturday, May 12, 2018 - 9:00am to 5:30pm

Back to School 2018 is Osaka JALT’s 8th annual spring mini-conference which aims to share ideas on a wide range of topics to help everyone in the new school year. With long and short presentations, poster sessions, and plenty of time to socialize (including a dinner party afterwards at a nearby izakaya), there is sure to be something for everyone.

RSVP by Thursday, May 10, to reserve a seat at the dinner party.

See below for the full schedule.

This year's plenary speaker is Dr. Curtis Kelly of Kansai University, who will be presenting The Neuroscience and Psychology of Motivation.

3L students. You know them: Low Ability, Low Confidence, and Low Motivation. While there is no easy answer on how to get them engaged, a look at the key theories of motivation gives us insights on how we might work with them.  In neuroscience, the role of emotion became a hot topic less than a year ago, but not emotion as we think of it.  Emotional valence is attached to every memory and through predictive processing shapes our orientation towards future experiences.  In short, no emotion, no learning.  As for the psychology of motivation, the most valuable theories are some of the oldest – Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Roger’s criteria for building a humanistic relationship: 1) authenticity, 2) empathic listening, and 3) absolute positive regard.  After examining the science behind motivation, we will have a short workshop.  The audience will be given motivation problems to design solutions for, such as making a textbook lesson more engaging, or dealing with a sleeping student.  

Curtis Kelly (EdD), is a Professor of English at Kansai University and founder of the BRAIN SIG. His life mission is to “relieve the suffering of the classroom.” To do so, he has made over 400 presentations on neuroscience, motivation and teaching writing, and has written over 30 books with learner-centered activities, including Significant Scribbles (Longman), Active Skills for Communication (Cengage), and Writing from Within (Cambridge). 

This event is co-sponsored by Oxford University Press and Osaka Jogakuin University's Research Institute of International Collaboration and Coexistence.

Location:
Osaka Jogakuin University
Address:
2 Chome-26-54 Tamatsukuri
Chuo, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture 540-0004 Japan

 Event Speakers: Dr. Curtis Kelly, Kansai University

Fee for JALT members: Free

Fee for non-JALT members: 2,000 yen (1,000 yen for full-time students)

Poster Presentations:

Jeffrey Barnett - Where is the Reading Section? Critical Thinking, Task Focus, and Developing Motivation

Andrew Blaker - Vocabulary Notebook Use in High Schools

Gordon Carlson - Service Learning and English Leadership Camp

Gretchen Clark - All things Flipgrid: An essential tool for out-of-class speaking practice via video

Claire Murray - Can Japanese students become better language learners?

Philip Riccobono - KakaoTalk: Examining university students attitudes’ toward a mobile platform for learning English

Aaron Sponseller - Initial Validation of a Parental Reading Belief Scale for Japanese L1 Mothers

Short presentations:

Mehrasa Alizadeh - The Basics of Navigating a Learning Management System (LMS) in Japanese

Sachiko Aoki - English Songs for Comprehension of Connected Speech

John Campbell-Larsen - Why do you ask? Transactional, display and interactional questions in the classroom  

Barry  Condon - Creativity, Technology and Grammar          

Imogen Custance - Anyone for (Sentence) Tennis?

G. Clint Denison - Examining the Lexical Profile and Speaking Skills of English L2 Learners

Max Diaz - Using Mobile Messenger Applications in In-Service Learning Environments

Paul Dickinson - Giving Language Classes a Motivational Reboot with Kahoot!

Ray Franklin - Analysis of Fluency and Pronunciation in Controlled vs. Spontaneous Speaking Tasks

Akemi Fu - College students’ growth through a short study abroad program

Mary Hillis - Activities for improving academic writing skills  

Arthur Lauritsen - University Style Lectures in English?!?!?     

Elizabeth Leigh - Research and Curriculum Design in an Advanced English Course in Education for Sustainable Development at Osaka City University

Kane Linton - Redefining English Assessment in Japanese Education: The Link Between Motivation and Opportunity  

Paul Mathieson - Tickling funny bones to aid academic vocabulary acquisition

Sachiko Nakagome - Teaching effective use of translation software to university students  

Richard Sparrow - TBLT and Flipped Learning: A Reading Focus in a Communcation Class

Yasue Shinomiya - My Way of Using Google Forms in Class

John Syquia - Learning Vocabulary Through Watching Television for Pleasure

Catriona Takeuchi - Teachers Helping Teachers: From then to now

Long presentations:

Anne Barkow - Simple Strategies To Teach Listening 

John Carle - Motivation: Old School Tools and High Tech Tricks!

Paul Lyddon - Structuring Effective L2 Group Discussions

Justin Pool - Selecting and Integrating Authentic Materials into the Curriculum: A Restaurant Unit

Oliver Rose - Digital Tools for Independent Productive Sentence-Level Practice

Matthew Ross - A look at teaching in Rwanda

Leeja Russell - Code of Conduct: Specific Strategies for Improving Classroom Management  Competence