AKITA JALT meetings in 2010
picture album page 1 - the 1st meeting of 2010
(go to the April meeting)

March






Guest speaker: Takaaki Hiratsuka
Date: March 27th, 2010
Title: What Language Should We Be Using In Our Classrooms?
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: AIU (Akita International University)
Room: B-103

14 people attended.

Chapter Report (to be printed in The Language Teacher) Guest speaker: Takaaki Hiratsuka AKITA: March - What language should be in our classrooms? by Takaaki Hiratsuka. Having completed a pilot study that involved local Akita high school students exploring the issue of using L1 in a L2 focused classroom Hiratsuka presented his findings, as well as the topic of instruction by native English speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs). This was a highly interactive presentation where meeting participants were called-on to engage one another in discussing topics derived from the above issues. Throughout his presentation Hiratsuka described the literature that drove his study. The final stages of this presentation included watching video footage, and listening to audio recordings of the high school students that participated in the pilot study. From his findings and analysis Hiratsuka believes there are times when L1 can be used in the L2 classroom, and that NESTs and NNESTs should collaborate in order to properly prepare students for the future. After the formal presentation Hiratsuka took questions ranging from how he collaborates with his colleagues to his opinion on recent MEXT action plans for language education in Japan. From start to finish this presentation was highly engaging. A good time was had by all. Reported by Wayne Malcolm

AKITA JALT meetings in 2010
picture album page 1 - the 2nd meeting of 2010
(go back to the March meeting)

April







Guest speaker: Marcos Benevides
Date: April 24th, 2010
Title: Intensively Extensive: How my experience as an ESL learner has contributed to my teaching and writing
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Sunpal Akita-Gakushushitsu 2, 4th Floor at Akita City Bunka Kaikan

8 people attended.

Chapter Report (to be printed in The Language Teacher) Guest speaker: Marcos Benevides Akita: April - Intensively Extensive: My Experience as an ESL Learner by Marcos Benevides. Through his experience as an English as a second language learner Benevides encouraged the audience to reflect on past experiences, and use them to shape classroom instruction. Remembering how his father was enthusiastic about reading Benevides realized this caused him to be enthusiastic about reading, so he now shows great enthusiasm in his classroom when it comes to extensive reading assignments. Coupled with choosing interesting content students can engage, Benevides employs a narrow-reading approach to extensive reading. He illustrated this by taking the audience through his adolescent experience with the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons. The captivating content allowed Benevides, and his friends, to acquire an extensive vocabulary by intensively reading at a level higher than their own. That experience influences how he creates linguistically, and imaginatively, challenging textual material. This was evident as he spoke about his new murder mystery textbook, Whodunit, published by ABAX. It also reflects a belief in task-based learning, which he also talked about. The audience had many questions, which Benevides used to promote discussion. It was an extensively intensive experience. Reported by Wayne Malcolm

more pictures
go to JALT photo album 54

go to pictures of the meetings in 2009
go to pictures of the meetings in 2008
go to pictures of the meetings in 2007
go to pictures of the meetings in 2006
go to pictures of the meetings in 2005
go to pictures of the meetings in 2004
go to pictures of the meetings in 2003
go to pictures of the meetings in 2002
go to pictures of the meetings in 2001
go to pictures of the past meetings (1998 - 2000)
Akita JALT

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