Kobe JALT - Spring 2007 Newsletter

JALT KOBE CHAPTER
APRIL 2007 NEWSLETTER
We hope that you had a wonderful and well-deserved break.  In this newsletter you will find upcoming events from this month to June. So get your calendar and schedule our chapter meetings.  Please take note of the meeting in May*. It will be on a Sunday with a different venue and a fun family type barbecue afterwards. We hope to see again in one or all our events!

UPCOMING EVENTS
April Monthly Meeting-Saturday, April 21, 2007
Content Teaching Ideas for Low-Level Classes
Speaker: Stephen Ryan
Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Sat., April 21)
Cost: JALT members: FREE       For One-Day members: 1000 yen
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe. tel: 078-241-7204)

The trend towards teaching content through the medium of English is firmly established in Japanese universities. Much of the literature available, however, refers to Intermediate and Advanced learners of English.

Drawing on experience of teaching various content areas, such as Non-verbal Communication, Intercultural Communication and the History of Space Exploration, to students with only an Elementary level of English, the presenter will share his philosophical approach to this task, as well as giving examples of many practical materials he has developed.

*May Monthly Meeting and BBQ�|Sunday, May 20, 2007
Japanese Public Elementary School Life and International School Life: How Do They Compare?
Speaker: Amanda Gillis-Furutaka
Time: 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (Sun., May 20)
Cost : JALT members: FREE       For One-Day members: 1000 yen
Venue: Kobe Regatta and Athletic Club ( www.krac.org <http://www.krac.org> ) 1-20, 2-chome, Hachiman-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 651-0085

Parents with children approaching school age face many important decisions about their children's education. The first of these is often whether to send their child to the local Japanese school or to an international school. The speaker has children in both kinds of school and will show the daily life in both types of school and explain differences in the teaching approach and curriculum content. There will be plenty of time for questions and it is hoped that members of the audience will feel better informed when the time comes to make this difficult first decision. After the presentation, there will be a barbecue. The cost is 2000 yen per head, please contact Shirley Ando ( shirley@otemae.ac.jp) if you want to join the BBQ. Bring your kids - they can play in the club's garden area during the meeting (we will have people supervising)

June Monthly Meeting-Saturday, June 30th, 2007
Managing and teaching in coordinated English language programs
Speaker: Heidi Evans and Juanita Heigham
Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (Sat., June 30)
Cost: JALT members: FREE       For One-Day members: 1000 yen
Venue: Kobe YMCA (2-7-15 Kano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe. tel: 078-241-7204)

In many universities, new departments and existing programs are moving towards coordination, meaning teachers use common syllabi and materials to reach shared goals and objectives across course sections. This presentation will focus on how coordination benefits an institution, its teachers, and students. The facilitators will begin with a short overview of their contexts, followed by a discussion of the rewards and challenges of coordinated programs.
 


ANNOUNCEMENTS
President David Heywood announces that as a chapter we can sponsor one presenter at the JALT National Conference http://conferences.jalt.org/2007/  in November without going to the usual vetting procedures giving the member a guaranteed spot to present. It is, however, OPEN to those who have never presented at the conference. If you're interested, please email David at heywood@smile.ocn.ne.jp
Steven Nishida, Nara JALT President, has created a JALT Eikawa SIG (Special Interest Group) discussion list at: http://groups.google.co.jp/group/jalt-eikaiwa-sig  (click "join this group" to sign up).    A strong interest in reviving this SIG has prompted Steven to create the list. He looks forward to collaborating with motivated language schools, learners, and owners to bring greater resources to those in similar environments.   
College and University Educators (CUE) SIG is calling for proposals for its conference June 23 and 24, 2007 in Nagoya with a theme of lifelong learning. If you're interested please visit the conference website. http://jaltcue-sig.org/node/6

AREA EVENTS
For those of you who are new to the area and would like to explore Hyogo, Kobe's prefecture, here's an English site for you to peruse.
http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/index.html <http://www.hyogo-tourism.jp/english/index.html>
We value your comments and suggestions regarding this newsletter. We're thinking to add a NEW MEMBER, JOB OPPORTUNITIES/FOR SALE sections.  We'd love to hear from you!

CHAPTER OFFICERS

President - David Heywood

Neighboring Chapters - Upcoming Meetings

Nara Chapter

Sunday, April 15th, 2007 Nara Chapter

1)Internet Technology and the Emergence of New Discourse Communities; 2) Bloggerriffic: Using blogs in language classrooms

Speaker: Marlen Elliot Harrison, MA
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (Sun., April 15)
Fee (JALT members): free
Fee (One-Day members): free
Venue: Tezukayama University, Gakuenmae Campus (At Kintetsu Gakuenmae Station, on the Nara Kintetsu Line)
Description: 1)Internet Technology and the Emergence of New Discourse Communities:

During part one of the presentation, Marlen Harrison will discuss how internet chat rooms, blogs and discussion boards facilitate the emergence of new language and what this means for our students.

2) Bloggerriffic: Using blogs in language classrooms.

In part two of the presentation, the Marlen Harrison will walk participants through the process of creating their own Wordpress blogs and then discuss how blogs can be utilized in the language and writing classrooms both as classroom management tools for teachers and as scaffolding for students.

Osaka Chapter

Saturday, May 19th, 2007, Osaka Chapter (Osaka Prefecture)
"From a Silk Cocoon," viewing the award winning film with its co-writer and director
Speaker: Satsuki Ina - California State Univ., Sacramento
Time: 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM (Sat., May 19)
Fee (JALT members): 500 yen

Fee (One-day members): 1000 yen

Venue: 1 minute from JR Takatsuki Station, at the Sogo Shimin Koryu Center

http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp/db/kurasu/db4-koryu.html

Description:
This Dr. Ina is a cross-cultural psychotherapist who was born in the U.S. internment camps during World War II and who made the Emmy award-winning docudrama about her family's heartbreaking story of their incarceration. Although the events of this story happened over 60 years ago, the issues of loyalty, nationality, racial profiling, and personal liberties during times of war remain with us today in the post-9/11 world. 

For more information please see http://www.fromasilkcocoon.com/ or www.osakajalt.org

Osaka JALT is proud to co-sponsor this event with The Nikkei Gathering and SIETAR Kansai.

Saturday, October 6th, 2007 Osaka Chapter

Gender and Leadership: Some Socio-Pragmatic Considerations

Speaker: Professor Janet Holmes of Victoria University, New Zealand
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Sat., October 06)
Fee (JALT members): To be announced
Fee (One-Day members): To be announced
Prefecture: Osaka
City: Osaka
Venue: Temple University Japan, Osaka: Osaka Ekimae Bldg 3, 21st Floor, tel: 06-6343-0005 http://www.tuj.ac.jp/newsite/main/maps/osaka.html
Description: Professor Holmes is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and teaches Sociolinguistics, specialising in language in the workplace, New Zealand English, and language and gender issues. She was Director of the project which produced the Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English, and is currently Director of the Wellington Language in the Workplace project. She has published on a range of sociolinguistic and pragmatic topics, including New Zealand English, New Zealand women's usage, sexist language, pragmatic particles and hedges, compliments, apologies, disagreement, humour and small talk, and other aspects of workplace discourse. Her most recent books are the Blackwell Handbook of Language and Gender, co-edited with Miriam Meyerhoff, and Power and Politeness in the Workplace, co-authored with Maria Stubbe.

For more about Professor Holmes: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/staff/janet-holmes/holmes.aspx

This event is proudly co-sponsored by the GALE and Pragmatics SIGs as well as Osaka Chapter.

Teachers Helping Teachers

website http://www.geocities.com/yamataro670/tht.htm

 Youtube video with slideshow of photos from Teachers Helping Teachers 2007 is Laos.

Call for Volunteers

Finally, we would like to encourage more Kobe Chapter members to get involved. Getting involved can be as easy as coming to our meetings or contributing something to our newsletter. The strength of JALT depends greatly on volunteers like you willing to share their time and energy. Hope to see and/or hear from you soon.