Call for Papers for inaugural Osaka JALT Journal, deadline Feb.16

PLEASE SEE THE FULL CALL FOR PAPERS ON OUR EDITORIAL PAGE.

RIP JALT President Kevin Cleary, 1962-2014

From the JALT Board of Directors:

With great sadness we announce that JALT President Kevin Cleary passed away peacefully last night (Wed., Jan. 15) in Kyoto in the presence of family.

{After suffering a heart attack the previous Friday night, before a JALT exec meeting.}

Kevin was an exemplary teacher, author, leader, and most of all, friend.

His passing marks the closing of a tragic week for his family but begins a longer and very difficult period for everyone. Many of you have already offered to help in any way that you can. As soon as we know how you can be of assistance to Kevin's wife and children, we will let you know.

Funeral services were on Wed., Jan. 22 at Saint Ignatius Catholic church, Sophia University, Tokyo.

The warm and caring outpouring of support for Kevin and his family is
no surprise to those of us who knew him. The many emails and other
messages have been comforting and are a genuine expression of the love
and respect people have for Kevin. We will communicate all of your
condolences to his wife Naoko Fujiwara 藤原直子様（奥様）and children Kirsten
and Atticus.

We will all miss Kevin.

From the Board of Directors

~~~~~~~~~

Here are just a few practical details to share:.

1. 弔電（Choden) Condolence telegram
If you wish, please send these care of the church by noon on Jan.22.

聖イグナチオ教会
〒102-0083　東京都千代田区麹町6-5-1
〒102-0083　Chiyoda-ku, Koujimachi 6-5-1, Tokyo, Japan
電話：03-3263-4584
喪主：藤原直子


2. Condolence cards
If you wish to send a condolence card, please mail it to JALT Central
Office. We will collect all of the cards and take them to the family.

JALT Central Office
Urban Edge Building, 5th Floor 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016
〒110-0016 東京都台東区台東1-37-9 アーバンエッジビル5F JALT事務局
Tel: 03-3837-1630 Fax: 03-3837-1631 Email: jco@jalt.org

~~~~~~~~~~~

Osaka Chapter President Bob Sanderson has these words of condolences on behalf of Osaka JALT:

Kevin Cleary's sudden and unexpected death is a real tragedy and a terrible loss for all who knew him. He was a truly gentle soul, uncommonly mild-mannered and even-tempered, incredibly intelligent with no sense of arrogance whatsoever, a husband, father, author, and a tireless worker and great president for JALT. He took time out of his busy schedule to attend our Osaka/Kobe Tech-Day-Plus mini-conference this past September, which we greatly appreciated, and after our post-conference dinner party I had the pleasure of taking him out for drinks privately where he shared with me how much he really loved the work he was doing for JALT. He made a huge impact on the organization in many ways such as by helping streamline and improve treasury and database systems, but perhaps most notably by presiding with such mild-mannered yet firm authority at what might otherwise be rather contentious board meetings. He will be sorely missed and remembered very fondly by many. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Winter Potpourri micro-conference - Sunday, January 19, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. in Umeda, followed by our annual Shinnenkai/New Year's Party 5:30 - 8:00

Join us in Umeda's Municipal Lifelong Learning Center's Multi-media lab in the Eki-mae Dai-2 Building, 5F, for an open Osaka JALT Council session and nine presentations, followed by our annual Shinnenkai/New Year's dinner party at Satoyama Dining restaurant:

9:00  Osaka JALT open council meeting - Join us in remembering and celebrating the life of JALT President Kevin Cleary, who passed away unexpectedly this past week, and share ideas for the future.

10:15   Laura Markslag - Implementing Mobile Assisted Language Learning in an EFL Context

Mobile technology has a special way of engaging learners. This presentation will describe various activities using mobile phones, mobile phone applications, and free online publishing that instructors can use to implement mobile assisted language learning (MALL). These engaging four-skill activities encourage language learners to work collaboratively and have been well received in a variety of EFL classes.

Laura Markslag, M.S.Ed., is a lecturer at Osaka Gakuin University. Her experiences teaching EFL around the globe have led to her interests in developing authentic teaching materials, technology-assisted learning, and cross-cultural communication. lauramarkslag@gmail.com

 

10:45  Josh Wilson - Engaging classes and saving time with socrative.com 

Socrative is an easy-to-use student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of exercises and interactive activities via smartphones. The site is free and doesn't require student registration. Users can upload open-ended or multiple-choice quizzes and use the survey function to prompt in-class discussions. In this session participants will learn best practices for using Socrative.

Josh Wilson is an assistant professor at Kansai Gaidai University, where he teaches intensive EAP courses and American Studies. He is a proponent of educational technology with a passion for innovative content creation tools. When not teaching he researches educational games and designs video games for language learning. ichifish@gmail.com

11:15  Sean Gay - Comparative Efficacy Research in EFL

Instructors are under pressure to produce results that cover the gamut from increasing fluency, improving accuracy, and developing complexity (Skehan, 1998). There are several teaching methods out there with strong proponents, among which the presentation, practice, production model (PPP) and task-based learning and teaching (TBLT) are prominent and oppositionally juxtaposed.

Sean is currently a lecturer at Ritsumeikan University and is working on a doctorate in Health Sciences. As a student of two fields he seeks opportunities to learn from both.

11:45  Oliver Rose - Mobile Game Apps for Vocabulary Study

Several mobile game apps that I have designed will be shown with explanation of both the pedagogical and game design considerations. Key features include progress tracking, data import from the Quizlet flashcard site, text-to-speech audio, and enjoyable input methods that require production (not just recognition!). Playable versions of these games and further details can be found at www.lexwordgameapp.com and www.kanjigames.com

Oliver Rose is an Assistant Professor of EFL at Kwansei Gakuin University. He is interested in MALL (mobile-assisted language learning), vocabulary acquisition and gamification, and has produced several online/mobile applications for language-learning. oliverrose@hotmail.com

-- Lunch Break 12:25 - 1:40 --

(choose from the many restaurants on the B1 and B2 levels)

1:45  David Mann - Measuring the uniqueness of students in English language classes

This presentation seeks to emphasise the uniqueness of individuals in our classes and will demonstrate a way of analysing survey data to reveal the huge diversity therein. I will try to show how an awareness of this diversity has forced me to re-think my approach to Needs Analysis. 

With over 30 years in the EFL business teaching over 40 nationalities, David has worked in ESP and EAP in Japan for 15 years. mann.david.mann@gmail.com

2:30  James Jensen - The Implications of Phoneme Acquisition Studies for Teaching EFL

I will discuss the relationship between phoneme acquisition studies and teaching in an EFL context. I will discuss the neural basis of our L1 phonemic architecture and the methodologies that are the most effective for modifying a second language learners "non-violent communication" as a base for activities in a first year university oral communication class.   Non-violent communication (NVC)  focuses on expressing feelings and needs. Since NVC is very precise in its use of language, it is not only beneficial for group dynamics but also for students' understanding of fact/opinion subjective/objective dichotomies. It is also fun.

James has taught at the university level in Mexico, Spain and here in Japan. I have a M.A. from the University of California and a certificate in TESOL. I am the founder of Aka-Kara English. information@aka-kara.com

3:15  Gordon Ratzlaff - Any stressed-out teachers out there? Let's Explore Mindfulness

The practice of Mindfulness and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction can make a happy teacher. Through explanation, discussion, demonstration, practice, questions and answers, this presentation can help to make your life as a teacher more integrated, balanced, and satisfying, thereby lending your students a helping hand. Let's take a look at what can turn into the adventure of a lifetime. 

Gordon is presently Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto. goratzlaff@aol.com 

4:00  Chad Cottam - Color, Flow & Culture: Board Work in the Japanese EFL Classroom

As much as I am interested in incorporating new technology into the classroom, my current positions sometimes leave me relying on my white or blackboard as the focus of my lesson. Whether or not this is the case for you, I hope you can get some ideas from this presentation on how to improve your overall lesson presentation, and I hope to provide some insight into white or blackboard use as the cornerstone for an organized and efficient lesson (with or without the adoption of technology).

Chad Cottam hails from the Gold Coast, Australia. He holds a B.A. in Languages and Applied Linguistics, and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (TESOL). Coming from a background of business-to-business sales, he has been teaching in Japanese universities (Mukogawa Women's University, Kobe Gakuin University), businesses, and language schools for over six years. His interests include teacher self-analysis, dealing with low student motivation, technology, and language policy. chad_cottam@hotmail.com

4:25  Thomas Robb - The Mreader Quiz Program for Extensive Reading

The Mreader.org site, and the MoodleReader plug-in version, allow schools to implement an extensive reading program by providing an easy way for teachers to check whether their students have done the required outside reading. The program features over 3600 quizzes on the most common graded readers and youth readers, with randomized questions to discourage cheating. The program is free of charge and can be accessed from a web browser, tablet or smartphone.

Tom Robb is Chair of the Department of English, Kyoto Sangyo University. His current research focus is on Extensive Reading, and technology for language learning. tom@tomrobb.com 

4:55 -- Exit and head to Shinnenkai

This micro-conference is free for all JALT members, and costs 1000 yen for one-day members (500 yen for full-time students).

After the presentations, please join us in celebrating the life of JALT President Kevin Cleary (who passed away unexpectedly this week), the new year, and the winding down of another academic year at Satoyama dining restaurant, located on the 17th floor of the Terminal Building (near Hankyu Umeda station), starting from 5:30 pm. The dinner buffet is 2500 yen and nomihodai (all you care to drink) is just an additional 500 yen. The restaurant is completely smoke-free and has fantastic views of the city and a very healthy menu. All are very welcome, so feel free to invite friends. RSVP to osakajalt@yahoo.com to reserve a seat with us. 

Call for Papers for inaugural Osaka JALT Journal, deadline Feb.16

PLEASE SEE THE CALL FOR PAPERS ON OUR EDITORIAL PAGE.

Call for Osaka JALT's Winter Potpourri micro-conference on Jan.19, 2014

Welcome to the Year of the Horse!

Osaka JALT's Winter Potpourri will take place on Sunday, January 19 in the multi-media computer room at the Lifelong Learning Center in Umeda. (Kita-ku, Umeda 1-2-2 500 Ekimae Dai 2 Bldg. 5F Osaka-shi, Osaka 530-0001)

The Winter Potpourri is a "micro-conference" event that welcomes presentations on whatever topics people would like to present. Several of our members responded to our recent survey that they would be interested in presenting for us in the coming year, and so we would like to start off the new year with this "micro-conference".

Osaka JALT's two regular mini-conferences (Back to School, and Tech Day Plus) offer concurrent presentations in multiple rooms, whereas this "micro-conference" will offer a series of presentations in just one room.

Feel free to submit a presentation of the same or similar topic that you presented at the recent national conference in Kobe since there's a very good chance you'll have a new audience this time.

Call deadline: Wednesday, January 8. (extended from Jan. 6)

Submissions: http://osaka-jalt.blogspot.jp/

When: Sun., Jan. 19, 2014
Where: Multi-media computer room at the Lifelong Learning Center in Umeda. (Kita-ku, Umeda 1-2-2 500 Ekimae Dai 2 Bldg. 5F Osaka-shi, Osaka 530-0001)  

Link to meeting location: http://osakademanabu.com/umeda/

Event poster: