Kobe JALT - Events

Upcoming Events

April 2008 MEETING

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Preparing for a University Year Abroad: Insights of Japanese Returnees

Speaker: Teresa Bruner Cox

Time: 18:00 (6 pm) - 20:00 (8 pm) (Sat., April 26 )

Fee (JALT members): free

Fee (One-Day members): ¥1000

Venue: Kobe International House (Kokusai Kaikan) Gokodori 8-1-6, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0087. Tel: 078-231-8161 http://www.kih.co.jp/map/index.html

Description: What challenges do Japanese university students face when participating in
study abroad programs in English-speaking countries? How well are sponsoring
institutions preparing ryugakusei for the intercultural academic experience?
In-depth debriefing interviews with students who had returned from a year
abroad yielded a wealth of insights which have been compiled into a training
video featuring 9 Strategies for Academic Success.

Contact David Heywood <heywood@smile.ocn.ne.jp> for more information.

May 2008 MEETING

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Theme Tasks for the Communicative Classroom

Speaker: Marcos Benevides

Time: 16:00 (4 pm) - 18:00 (6 pm) (Sat., May 24)

Fee (JALT members): free

Fee (One-Day members): ¥1000

Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe. tel: 078-241-7204)

Description: Benevides will demonstrate a estrongf task-based approach to communicative teaching. This will be based on his co-authored title, Widgets (2008 Longman), but will also be relevant to teachers seeking to develop their own task-based materials. Focusing on classroom practice, and featuring relevant video examples, the presenter will encourage teachers to view fluency-building, motivation and classroom management from a new perspective.

This presentation is aimed at teachers of young adults in classes of 12-40 students (ie: senior high school and college/university). However, junior high school and conversation school teachers may also find it informative.

Bio: Marcos Benevides is an assistant professor at Kansai Gaidai University. He has eight years of EFL teaching experience in Japan: three at public junior and senior high schools, and five at colleges and universities. He has presented at dozens of conferences and BoE-sponsored teacher-training programs around the country. He is co-author of Widgets, a new task-based oral communication title from Pearson Longman ELT.

June 2008 MEETING

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Putting Theories of Learning and Multiple Intelligences into Practice

Speaker: Curtis Kelly and Greg Rouault

Time: 18:00 (6 pm) - 20:00 (8 pm) (Sat., June 21 - )

Fee (JALT members): free

Fee (One-Day members): free

Venue: Kobe International House (Kokusai Kaikan) Gokodori 8-1-6, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0087. Tel: 078-231-8161 http://www.kih.co.jp/map/index.html

Description: Brain studies have given us a better picture of how learning occurs, but classroom methods have not kept pace. In this workshop, the presenters will review the fundamentals of learning – including multisensory input, deep processing, and meaningfulness – and examine multiple intelligences as a model for learning. Participants will then discuss teaching approaches that take these discoveries into account.

Biodata:

Greg Rouault is an EFL instructor in the Intensive English Program through the Language Center at Kwansei Gakuin University. Originally from the Canadian Prairies, he has been teaching in Japan for the past 9 years in language schools, business training, and colleges/universities. He has a Master of Applied Linguistics from Macquarie University and is interested in multiple intelligences, learning strategies, vocabulary, and ESP.

Curtis Kelly (Ed.D.) is a professor at Osaka Gakuin University, SELHi advisor, and specialist in adult education, student psychology, learning theory, storytelling, and EFL writing and speaking. He is coauthor of the Writing from Within series (Cambridge), Significant Scribbles (Longman), and the forthcoming Active Skills for Communication series (Thomson). He has made over 250 presentations at conferences in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the US.

Contact David Heywood <heywood@smile.ocn.ne.jp> for more information.