ALT Agorà – July 19, 2022 – Register Now!
Summer break! Holidays! We are almost there!
No homework, just something to think about during the break. This time you can choose between a workshop on TBLT (to empower you with new approaches!), and a very informative session on the Japanese curriculum (to learn more about the goals and policies that affect our students and have a better understanding of the dynamics that govern our workplace). Both sessions are very important and will leave you with a lot to ponder. One thing for sure: it will be a pleasant summer night in great company! See you soon!
When: Tuesday, July 19, 2022, @7:30pm JST
Where: Zoom CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
***Please update your Zoom software to the latest version**
How to join: the link will be sent to your email address.
Follow us on FB: https://facebook.com/altagora
This month join us to talk about the following topics!
Room 1: TBLT workshop: How to do communicative language teaching in the classrooms?
Yoko Takano (Okidoki Eigo School)
Based on SLA research and theories, TBLT works well to make L2 learners active in the classrooms. However, what kinds of activities are effective for the target students? This presenter had done action research with 7th-grade students from 2016 to 2018 and noticed that this communicative language teaching made students motivated toward language learning and helped them improve their communicative competences. Therefore, this presenter has been doing TBLT for L2 learners (G2-G6 group, G7-9 group, SH 1-3 rd. group) in her small private school since 2016, so these students enjoy information gap activities through TBLT. Especially, they get wash back (positive) in the performance tests (speaking and writing) and show their incidental grammar competence. This workshop explains how to do TBLT, make the rubric for performance tests, and evaluate the tests. Overall, the workshop participants can prepare the input and output activities for their students.
Room 2: Education in Japan and the JPOSTL
Gaby Benthien (Shumei and Chuo University)
There are ongoing adjustments and changes occurring in both English language education and education in Japan. This presentation will first review the English Education Reform Plan corresponding to Globalization which was fully implemented in 2020. This will be followed by an explanation of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education, and how English classes may be approached in this cross-curricular framework. Many ideas for L2 teaching in Japan have been imported from Europe and adapted to the Japanese L2 context. The JPOSTL (based on the EPOSTL) is a reflection tool designed for both pre-service and in-service teachers. The second part of the presentation will focus on the J-POSTL, which comprises a number of self-assessment descriptors (SADs). The JPOSTL is used in pre-service teacher training at around 30 universities in Japan as both a reflection tool and a roadmap. However, the dossier section and SAD section are of equal benefit to non-JTEs teaching in primary and secondary and to some extent, tertiary education.
The speakers that will join us for this event are:
Yoko Takano (Okidoki Eigo School)
Yoko Takano has been teaching local students in her own school in Nagoya for 25 years. In addition, she is teaching 200 college students at Nanzan, Meijo, and Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (NUFS). She holds MA TESOL (NUFS) and MA TESOL 1 year-certificate
(Hawaii Pacific University, USA). She was awarded popular poster session in JALT 2019. Nagoya JALT program chair, NUFS teacher workshop member, THT in Kyrgyzstan.
Gaby Benthien (Shumei and Chuo University)
Gaby Benthien (BEd, MEd, DEd) is a professor at Shumei University and adjunct lecturer at Chuo University. She taught Japanese and PE at a secondary school in Australia from 1991 to 1999 as well as Japanese at a group of primary schools, and then worked as an ALT in Yamanashi for six years. She is currently teaching classes related to culture, general English, and L2 education in primary schools. Gaby’s research interests include intercultural understanding, L2 motivation, and teacher development.
Nicholas J. Wilson
Nicholas J. Wilson is an elementary and junior high school English teacher and curriculum developer fostering students’ digital literacy through foreign language education. He is a Level 1 & 2 Google Certified Educator and Level 1 Adobe Creative Educator in charge of supporting the professional development of English and Japanese teachers as a mentor, area leader, and member of the local board of education’s Digital Transformation Committee. His current research focuses on exploring the potential of the metaverse as a learning environment. He is also an active JALT officer involved in planning, promoting, and coordinating regional events and national conferences, and the founder and organizer of ALT Agorà, a series of monthly webinars designed for assistant language teachers, part of the ALT Training Online grassroots initiative.
