jalt71

AKITA JALT meetings in 2016
picture album page 1 - the 1st meeting of 2016

March
Guest speakers: Patrick Dougherty
Date: Saturday, March 26, 2015
Topic: Creating a Student Friendly, Technology Supported, Course Delivery System: A Tale from the Middle East.
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Join-us (Floor 3, Room 6)

9 people attended

Chapter Report
(to be printed in The Language Teacher)
Guest speaker: Patrick Dougherty

AKITA – March 2016 – Report on the Akita JALT Chapter Meeting on Saturday, March 26th. Creating a Student Friendly, Technology Supported, Course Delivery System: A Tale from the Middle East.
Our meeting on March 26th was well attended. There were three non-JALT member guests who visited to see what JALT is all about and are now intending to join the chapter. We even had a guest who came all the way from Kyoto to hear our speaker’s presentation.
The day’s presentation was given by Dr. Patrick Dougherty, a professor at Akita International University and the head of their English for Academic Purposes Program and Foreign Language Education. His presentation was titled, “Creating a Student Friendly, Technologically Supported, Course Delivery System: A Tale from the Middle East.” The presentation dealt with Dr. Dougherty’s experience working in the United Arab Emirates where he and his team at the Higher Colleges of Technology developed a hybrid course delivery system that was geared at allowing Emirati women to attend graduate school. That particular population was occasionally unable to partake in graduate education due to social strictures, and the course delivery system -- one that mixed a traveling professor, multiple cohort sites, video conferencing, and a variety of on-line platforms -- was created to allow access to continuing education opportunities.

Reported by Patrick Dougherty

AKITA JALT meetings in 2016
picture album page 1 - the 2nd meeting of 2016

April
Guest speakers: Paul Chamness Miller, Ph.D.
Date: Saturday, April 23, 2016
Topic: The Effectiveness of Recasts in the Language Classroom: A Meta-Analysis
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Join-us (Floor 3, Room 6)

12 people attended

Chapter Report
(to be printed in The Language Teacher)
Guest speaker: Paul Chamness Miller, Ph.D

AKITA – April 2016 – The Effectiveness of Recasts in the Language Classroom: A Meta-Analysis – Paul Chamness Miller, Ph.D., Akita International University. Many language teachers employ ‘recasts’ as a means to correct their students’ language without interrupting the flow of conversation. In order to examine what we know and understand about the effectiveness of recasts in the second language classroom, the presenter showed the results of a meta-analytic review of 13 papers published since the early 1990s on the current research on recasts. Initial analysis showed an average weighted effect size of 0.38. A Q-statistic test revealed that the studies contain heterogeneous data, where significant difference occurred in the type of treatment given to the participants, the type of grammatical structure studied, and in the difference in the second language being studied. What this means is that the meta-analytic sample was too small and the multiple types of recast too diverse to actually show whether or not recasts were effective. Thus further research is required to validate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of using recasts in the classroom. A fun time was had by all, especially appreciated was the introduction of snacks at the meeting.

Reported by Stephen Shucart

AKITA JALT meetings in 2016
picture album page 1 - the 3rd meeting of 2016

May
Guest speakers: Dr. Peter McCagg. Vice President of Akita International University
Date: Saturday, May 28, 2016
Topic: Metaphorically Speaking: Empowering EFL Learners
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Akita International University, D101 (in the D Lecture Building)

15 people attended

AKITA JALT meetings in 2016
picture album page 1 - the 4th meeting of 2016

June
Guest speakers: Mr. Ben Shearon
Date: Saturday, June 25th, 2016
Topic: Money 101: Personal Finance, Investing, and Retirement for Residents of Japan
Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Place: Join-us (Floor 3, Room 6)

9 people attended

Chapter Report
(to be printed in The Language Teacher)
Guest speaker: Mr. Ben Shearon

AKITA –

Reported by Stephen Shucart

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