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If you are looking for a job or an employer, please visit the JALT Jobs Forum.

Wednesday
Nov192014

Oxford will be giving away free stuff Thu. Nov. 27th @ The Blarney Stone in Umeda 7 - 9 pm

OSAKA

Date: Thursday, November 27th

Time: 19:00~21:30

Venue: The Blarney Stone, Umeda

06-6364-2001

www.the-blarney-stone.com

 You can find a map to the venue at the above link

 Come and check out Oxford University Press' new books to receive your free coupons.

Of course while you are there, you can enjoy good food and drink

as it is a lovely Irish pub!

 

If you have any questions,

please don’t hesitate to contact Oxford directly:

elt.japan@oup.com or 03-5444-5454

Saturday
Nov012014

JALT2014 Four Corners Tour in Kansai: The Teaching Power of Stories, by Bill Harley on Mon. Nov. 3, 6~9pm at YWCA Umeda

 

JALT2014 Four Corners Tour in Kansai: The Teaching Power of Stories

 

Date: Monday, November 3rd, 2014 Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Speaker: Bill Harley, JALT2014 National Conference Plenary Speaker, Two-time Grammy-award winning musician, storyteller, and author

Co-sponsored in Kansai by Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka JALT Chapters.


The Teaching Power of Stories: A teacher is someone who gives stories to others so they can make their own. Regardless of the subject taught, story is central to how people make sense of the world and build a community with others. In this workshop, participants will look at how stories work in people's lives, what stories define their own lives, and how to use story in an educational setting. Teachers will leave with new ideas for using story in the classroom and a deeper understanding of their work as teachers.


Bill Harley is the JALT2014 International Conference Plenary Speaker. He is a two-time Grammy-award winning musician, storyteller, and author. Please see BillHarley.com for more information.

Handouts (4 pages) for his presentation can be previewed & downloaded at: http://tinyurl.com/HarleyHandouts

And here's a poster promoting his various books & CDs, which you can buy online at Amazon.co.jp and get his autograph after this gig, if you want: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2ulkc55hgw4kp9/bhflyer1.pdf?dl=0

Pre-registration recommended:
Seating is limited, so pre-registration is highly recommended. Reserve your spot by November 2nd via http://tinyurl.com/4CT-Kansai to receive a 500 yen reduction in the attendance fee.

Cost: JALT Members: 500 yen if pre-registered, 1000 yen if not
Non-members: 1000 yen if pre-registered, 1500 yen if not

 

Venue: Yamanishi Welfare Memorial Hall

(山西福祉記念会: Same bldg. as YWCA in Umeda)

11-12 Kamiyamachō, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, 530-0026, tel. 06-6315-1868

Link to venue: http://www.yamanishi-fk.jp/access/


Please help spread the word for this special Kansai JALT Four Corners Tour event: 

Click on the poster below to download via Dropbox, and print out & post up at your schools. (Thanks in advance!)

Thursday
Oct232014

Jon Dujmovich -- Curiosity to Competency: Intercultural Activities for the Language Classroom

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, 2:00pm - 5:00pm at Osaka Municipal Lifelong Learning Center, Namba OCAT Bldg. 4F

Language educators often speak of using techniques, and activities appropriate for each stage of language learning. But when it comes to incorporating cultural learning in the language lessons, there is usually very little consideration given to the learners' developmental stage of intercultural learning. The consequences of ill-matched activities can lead to reaffirmed or deeper cultural misunderstandings, and little or no growth in intercultural competency. In this workshop the presenter will demonstrate and discuss how to incorporate culture-based activities into the ESL/EFL classroom according to the learners' intercultural developmental stage, age, language ability, and other factors. All activities and techniques demonstrated are grounded in intercultural communications theory and methodology coupled with ESL pedagogy. The presenter will provide opportunities to experiment with ideas and activities in a participatory workshop format while demonstrating how the activities can be adjusted for learning stage appropriateness. Participants will be able to incorporate the ideas and activities from this workshop into their classes, and immediately apply them to their lessons.

Jon Dujmovich is an Assistant Professor in the Contemporary International English Dept. at Aichi University, Toyohashi. In 2008 Jon was awarded a grant to design and implement an English language intercultural communications pilot course for third year Jr. H.S. students in Shizuoka prefecture with the aim to prepare them for "international classes" at H.S., increased intercultural contact, and study abroad. Prior to that Jon worked in the corporate world as an intercultural trainer and language instructor for Matsushita National/Panasonic Overseas Training Center and Excel International.

This event is co-sponsored by Kansai SIETAR.

Location: Namba Shimin Gakushu Center (Osaka City Municipal Lifelong Learning Center - Namba Branch), (O-CAT 4F, 06 6643-7010) http://www.osakademanabu.com/namba/
Free for JALT and SIETAR members and full-time students
One-day members: 500 yen
Saturday
Sep272014

Tech-Day+2014 mini-conference, Sun, Oct 5 at Otemae University, Itami campus

 

TechDay+2014 

at Otemae University (Itami campus)

Sunday, Oct 5, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm


co-sponsored by Osaka JALT & Kobe JALT

Download schedule here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4la5um6jlllo65z/Tech%20Day%20Plus%202014%20%20Schedule.pdf?dl=0

Tech Day Plus is one of our best-loved events of the year. Our goal is to share ideas on a wide range of topics, both tech-related and non-tech alike. Our "Tech" presentations are in fully equipped computer labs, while our non-tech "Plus" presentations are in regular classrooms.

This year's event will again be at Otemae University's Itami campus, which is just 75 meters from Inano station on the Hankyu line or 5 minutes walk from JR Inadera station on the Takarazuka line.

Plenary by Charles Browne of Meiji Gakuin University

A New General Service List:


Words and Online Tools for EFL Success



The New General Service List (NGSL) is a list of core vocabulary words for EFL learners and is a major update of West's (1953) GSL. Based on a carefully selected 273 million word sample from the Cambridge English corpus, the 2800+ words of the NGSL offer an amazing 92% coverage of most texts of general English.  This presentation will give a brief background on the list and project before moving on to introducing a large and growing number of free online resources that are available to help you teach, learn, analyse or create teaching materials based on the NGSL. One of the underlying messages of this presentation is the need for applied research to utilize and take advantage of online resources in order to help teachers, researchers and learners to benefit from that research.

Charles Browne is Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL, Director of the EFL Teacher-Training Program at Meiji Gakuin University. He is a specialist in Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition and Extensive Reading, especially as they apply to online learning environments, and has written dozens of research articles, books, and textbooks over his 29 years in Japan. In addition to his recent work in creating two important new corpus-based word lists for second language learners known as the New General Service List (NGSL) and the New Academic Word List (NAWL), he has also helped to create a wide variety of research-based language learning and analysis software such as the OGTE (Online Graded Text Editor), ER-Central, EnglishCentral, WordEngine, V-Check, and GoFluent, and works hard to share this knowledge with teachers, researchers and software developers through countless presentations, seminars and hand-on workshops. 

Thanks to Cambridge University Press for sponsoring Dr. Browne's transportation costs!
http://www.cambridgejapan.org/

 

Additional presentations:

Shirley Ando & Noriko Mori of Otemae University, "A Short-term English Service Learning Program with Long-term Effects" 

David Bramley of Osaka Jogakuin University, "Student Reactions to eBooks and iPads"

Harry Carley of Matsuyama University, "CALLing on Japan and the World," "YouTube & You: Video Production Explained," & "Wikis Revisited: A Single Software Tool for a Variety of Courses" 

Gordon Carlson, Robert Sheridan, & John Jackson of Otemae University, "The Benefits of Conducting Leadership Camps"

Matthew Cook of the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, "Apple's iPad, iCloud, Airplay, iOS/OSX in the Classroom"

Neil Cowie of Okayama University & Keiko Sakui of Kobe Shoin Women's University, "Four-part framework of approaches to e-learning for language teachers"

Lisa Cross, a JET Alum based in Kyoto, "Resume Building"

Paul Daniels of Kochi University of Technology, "Using Google's Speech API for language instruction"

Mark Donnellan of Kwansei Gakuin University, "Voice recording in Moodle"

Paul Evans of Kyoto, "Achieving Active Listening With Large Classes: Low Tech/ High Payoff"

Sean Gay of Ritsumeikan University and Michael Iwane-Salovaara of St. Andrews University, "Excelling with Excel"

Charlotte Lin of Kanda University of International Studies, "iPad Blogging in University English Writing Classes"

Rachel Manley of Kanda University of International Studies, "Using Edmodo to Communicate with Students"

James Rogers of Kansai Gaidai University, "Advanced flashcard program design: Beyond spaced repetition and traditional Leitner algorithms"

Oliver Rose of Kwansei Gakuin University, "Phrase Maze Online/Mobile Game"

Jacob Schnickel of Jissen Women's University in Tokyo, "Metaphors for Describing Projects: Guidelines & Caveats"

Frances Shiobara of Kobe Shoin Women's University & Mark Donnellan of Kwansei Gakuin University, "Raz-kidsOnline Extensive Reading"

Rodney Smith, Osaka public schools, "Circle Work: Encouraging speaking & cooperative learning through competition"

Ryan Smithers of Bukkyo University, "Computer Applications for CALL Learner Training"

Anthony Torbert of Kobe Gakuin University, "Successfully using video files such as YouTube in class and presentations"

Yoshihiko Yamamoto of Ritsumeikan University, "Teaching learners of English who are different proficiency levels in one class"


There will also be publisher displays by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Pearson.

5:00 - 7:00 pm: dinner party at a nearby restaurant

Photos and details of past years' Tech Day Plus events can be found at http://tdp.osakajalt.org/ .

Location: 
Otemae University - Itami campus, very near Hankyu Inano and JR Inadera stations
Cost:
JALT members: 
1000 yen (500 yen for K-12 teachers and those 65+, free for students)
One-day members: 
2,000 yen (1,000 yen for K-12 teachers and those 65+, 500 yen for students)

Please help spread the word!
Click on the poster below to download & print out via Dropbox, and post up at your schools. Thanks!
Wednesday
Aug062014

JALT2014 Four Corners Tour in Kansai: The Teaching Power of Stories, by Bill Harley on Mon. Nov. 3, 6~9pm at YWCA Umeda

 

JALT2014 Four Corners Tour in Kansai: The Teaching Power of Stories

 

Date: Monday, November 3rd, 2014 Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Speaker: Bill Harley, JALT2014 National Conference Plenary Speaker, Two-time Grammy-award winning musician, storyteller, and author

Co-sponsored in Kansai by Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka JALT Chapters.


The Teaching Power of Stories: A teacher is someone who gives stories to others so they can make their own. Regardless of the subject taught, story is central to how people make sense of the world and build a community with others. In this workshop, participants will look at how stories work in people's lives, what stories define their own lives, and how to use story in an educational setting. Teachers will leave with new ideas for using story in the classroom and a deeper understanding of their work as teachers.


Bill Harley is the JALT2014 International Conference Plenary Speaker. He is a two-time Grammy-award winning musician, storyteller, and author. Please see BillHarley.com for more information.

Handouts (4 pages) for his presentation can be previewed & downloaded at: http://tinyurl.com/HarleyHandouts

And here's a poster promoting his various books & CDs, which you can buy online at Amazon.co.jp and get his autograph after this gig, if you want: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2ulkc55hgw4kp9/bhflyer1.pdf?dl=0

Pre-registration recommended:
Seating is limited, so pre-registration is highly recommended. Reserve your spot by November 2nd via http://tinyurl.com/4CT-Kansai to receive a 500 yen reduction in the attendance fee.

Cost: JALT Members: 500 yen if pre-registered, 1000 yen if not
Non-members: 1000 yen if pre-registered, 1500 yen if not

 

Venue: Yamanishi Welfare Memorial Hall

(山西福祉記念会: Same bldg. as YWCA in Umeda)

11-12 Kamiyamachō, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, 530-0026, tel. 06-6315-1868

Link to venue: http://www.yamanishi-fk.jp/access/


Please help spread the word for this special Kansai JALT Four Corners Tour event: 

Click on the poster below to download via Dropbox, and print out & post up at your schools. (Thanks in advance!)