Here is the conference booklet for the 6th Joint JALT Tokyo conference to be held on Sunday December 9th at Temple University, Japan Campus

1.
6 th Joint JALT
Tokyo Conference
Sunday December 9th, 2012
Rooms 206-207, Azabu Hall,
Temple University, Japan Campus
Plenary Speakers:
Andy Curtis (Anaheim University)
Shinichi Izumi (Sophia University)
Co-sponsored by JALT Tokyo and West
Tokyo Chapters along with Abax,
Cambridge University Press,
Cengage Learning, englishbooks.jp,
McGraw-Hill Education, and Macmillan
Language House. With Special thanks
to the Graduate College of Education,
Temple University, Japan campus

2. > Plenary #1: 10:00-11:00
Andy Curtis - The Origins of the "Best Method Movement": Past, Present
and Future
(Kindly sponsored by Cengage Learning)
These days, few would argue that there is just one best method for learning a
language. However, 75 years ago, in October 1937, The Modern Language
Journal published an article entitled "Lecture on the best methods of teaching
the living languages," given by Professor George Ticknor, then at Harvard
University. Ticknor's talk had been given more than 100 years previously, on
24 August 1832 -- nearly two centuries ago. This may, then, be one of the few
times that the origin of a long-prevailing idea in language education can be
precisely pinpointed.
According to Ticknor: "The easiest and best method, therefore, for persons of
all ages and all classes to learn a living language is undoubtedly to learn it as
a spoken one" (1937, p.19). In Ticknor's talk, we can also see the origin of
what we now refer to as the Native-Speaker Myth, in which native-speakers of
the target language were (or still are) assumed to be the best teachers of the
language: "Persons, then, who have the opportunity, should learn the living
language they wish to possess, as it is learnt by those to whom it is native"
(1937, p.19). In this plenary, we will look at the "best method movement":
where we are now, where we have been and where we are going.
Bio-information Professor Andy Curtis is an independent consultant for
international education, based in Ontario, Canada. He is currently teaching in
the Graduate School of Education at Anaheim University, California, USA,
and in the Department of Languages and Cultures at Sabana University, in
Bogota, Colombia. He received his MA in Applied Linguistics and Language
Education, and his PhD in International Education, from the University of York
in England. Until recently, he was the Director of the English Language
Teaching Unit at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and he has also
taught at the School for International Training in Vermont, USA.

3. > Poster Presentations A: 11:15-12:45
John Bankier (Soka University) – Hedging in Academic Writing: What to Teach
and Ways to Teach it
Commonly used in academic writing, hedging expressions such as “it may be” or “it
appears that” can demonstrate the writer’s confidence in a statement and provide
polite deference (Hyland, 2000). Misinterpreting and misusing hedges can
significantly affect how meaning is expressed and understood, yet few textbooks
focus on hedging. This presentation will define what hedging is and describe a) a
study conducted to determine how Japanese university students view hedges b)
suggested methods for teaching hedging in the classroom. Participants will also
receive a handout of activities.
Patrick Foss & Ted O’Neill (Tokyo Medical and Dental University) - Teaching
English study skills in a university summer intensive course
“How can I improve my English?” This is a common question from first-year
Japanese university students. Out of the highly-structured environment of high
school and now more responsible for their own learning, they often seem at a loss
concerning how to study English by themselves. The presenters will explain how they
conducted a 1-koma summer intensive course designed to teach students how to: 1)
use online resources and other readily-available tools to improve their English
reading, writing, listening, and speaking abilities; and (2) set and monitor personal
language study goals.
Mario Leto (Tsukuba University) - American Indian Literature: Cross-Cultural
Explorations for Language Education
While the more salient aspects of language will always be of concern to the second-
language learner, non-linguistic issues of culture and identity also present a
promising aspect of language education. Second-language learners, through the
creative interpretation of literature, gain both a deeper understanding of the linguistic
aspects of a text in addition to a cultural, political, and historical cross-cultural
education. This poster presentation will show how American Indian literature—as
understood, interpreted, and creatively assimilated by the reader—can be used in the
second-language classroom to explore cross-cultural issues and the role of the
English language in the global community. It will introduce a diverse selection of
American Indian writers and texts and show how second-language students can
identify and develop their own world-views and cultural experiences alongside their
language education. The poster presentation will also offer some practical
pedagogical applications that have proven effective in the second-language
classroom.

4. Kurtis McDonald (Kobe College) - Everything in moderation: Japanese
students' attitudes toward the use of IT in higher education
Recent literature seems to suggest a growing recognition that students’ perceptions
toward the technologies used in their university courses may have a significant
influence on their overall effectiveness. This study seeks to provide an assessment
of current Japanese undergraduate students’ attitudes toward the use of technology
in their courses by examining several recent studies on this topic in conjunction with
the results of an original survey administered to 74 student respondents. Additionally,
it seeks to provide further context for these findings by contrasting them with
comparable areas of recent EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR)
Studies of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology conducted in North
America. The findings suggest that the Japanese students surveyed are using a wide
range of technologies in relation to their coursework, have relatively high self-efficacy
toward IT use, and generally recognize its importance yet they prefer moderate use
of technology in their classes.
Paul Rowan (Nova Southeastern University) - Peer Derived Feedback: a Self-
efficacy Tool to Improve Learner Outcomes
Peer Feedback is a time-tested system with students editing their peer’s assigned
work/tasks. Usually, peer feedback is completed with a red pen correcting mistakes.
Intimidating when you are unsure of your answer, and often-similar mistakes are left
unmarked and thus uncorrected. While guidelines are usually given, often students
are not clear what to check or correct. The peer-derived feedback exercise aids the
learner in identifying problems in their work because they have defined what is to be
checked based on their experiences. With the peer derived feedback rubric, students
no longer correct the work of their peer but rather, they simply identify problems that
need to be addressed in the work. Enhanced understanding of assigned tasks leads
to improved learner motivation leading to more positive outcomes for the learners.
This poster presentation will show how a student derived feedback/critique functions
and how this activity can be implemented.
Reiko Takeda (Colombia University, Teachers College) - Small talk: Awareness-
raising activities for EFL students
While small talk in the workplace by non-native English speakers has been widely
researched, small talk by EFL students in the school context remains an
underexplored area. This presentation introduces research on small talk as a social
lubricant in workplace interactions. It then introduces the presenter’s preliminary
qualitative study based on pilot lessons on small talk to Japanese college students in
an intermediate conversation class. Activities have been designed to develop
students’ sociopragmatic awareness by analyzing small talk interactions through
contextual factors, such as status difference and social/psychological distance
between the speaker and hearer, and how they determine the pragmalinguistic
choice of language for small talk. Based on analyses of students’ discourse
completion tasks, ways to raise awareness on small talk are discussed. While
activities were designed for Japanese college students preparing to study abroad in
English-speaking countries, they can be modified for language learners of all levels.

5. Robert Werner (Kanda University of International Studies) - A Creative Way of
Teaching Students How to Visualize and Write a Personal Narrative
This poster demonstrates a creative method of teaching students how to write a
personal narrative. Adapted from Calkins and Oxenhorn’s (2003) “small moments”
strategy, students first make a timeline of the event in reverse order to better
visualize and recall their experience. The poster provides a step-by-step guide
showing what both the teacher and students are doing during each stage of the
process. Applicable for English learners of all ages and intermediate to advanced
ability levels, instruction is scaffolded so students can listen to a model story and
watch a timeline being made before completing these tasks on their own. The story is
written in separate parts before revision, peer review, and completion of the final
draft. Handouts of a model story and timeline will be available, and Japanese
students’ work will be displayed.
> Poster Presentations B: 14:00-15:30
Andrew Boon (Toyo Gakuen University) – There is No Best Method - only our
Sense of Plausibility
This poster presentation will provide an overview of Prabhu's (1990) article "There is
no best method - why?" It will discuss the question of whether a method depends on
the context in which it is used; whether eclectism may offer us a way forward; or
whether the idea of 'method' itself risks reducing teaching to the mere act of us going
through the motions. With these questions in mind, it will explore Prahbu's concept of
a teacher's sense of plausibility as being the 'real' guiding force that helps create
and shape the language learning experience within our classrooms for our students.
Finally, it will argue that understanding our own subjective sense of plausibility as it is
realized within any given teaching moment may in fact offer us a 'best method.'
David Gann (Various Universities) - A Four-Stage Process for Scaffolding
Critical Thinking Skills
This poster presentation covers the presenter’s efforts to improve English language
learners’ critical thinking through (1) explicit instruction of a critical thinking skill set;
and (2) the scaffolding of autonomous use of specific lexical features associated with
formal argumentative and colloquial persuasive speech and writing. This involves a
four-stage cycle that incorporates (1) out-of-class listening to the presenter’s self-
produced podcast, Critically Minded: Critical Thinking for 2nd Language Learners
(http://criticallyminded.com), followed by podcast transcript reading and note-taking;
(2) in-class small-group discussion of the podcast content and relevant personal
experience; (3) on-line text reconstruction exercises (TREs) that reinforce students’
working knowledge of lexical items taught in the podcast; and (4) on-line computer
mediated communication involving final group project work during which the
aforementioned textual features are applied practically in the students’ field of study.

6. Helen Hanae & Erina Ogawa (Toyo University) - English-language Manga:
Comics for the haves and the have-nots in your classes.
The visual representation of conversation and humorous approach of comics build a
strongly scaffolded, emotionally rewarding environment, both for understanding
difficult content and for generating productive language. Since human beings pay
more attention to visual stimuli than to almost anything else, nonverbal visual support
helps both weak and strong students. Comics and manga add emotional affect to
visual organization of content – this is why a good comic aids learning, while a poor
one simply distracts readers even further. We have found that whatever teachers
may think of “manga”, students know that they are not necessarily an easy
option…they read them eagerly, talk about them, and think about them. You can give
your students Tin-Tin, or you can use comics or graphic guides to help them learn
about the world of work, a foreign culture, statistics, or copyright law. Come and “see
what we mean”!
Mark Howarth (Kyushu Sangyo University) - A multi-method approach to
teaching a 4-skills course
The poster will describe a curriculum that was developed for lower level students
(TOEIC 250-400) taking a 4-skills course at a Japanese university. A variety of
methods/tasks are used so as to accommodate a wide range of learners’ individual
strengths and weaknesses. The curriculum places emphasis on first developing a
deeper, more productive knowledge of high frequency vocabulary via a sentence
writing exercise. Reading skills are developed through extensive reading for
pleasure, as well as an intensive reading approach using a textbook. Students
watch TV shows, such as The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants, and
transcribe a portion of the show as an intensive listening exercise. Finally, speaking
skills are developed by discussing student-generated topics, as well as orally
presenting book reports they have written for the reading program. The presenter
welcomes any feedback or suggestions for improvement to the curriculum.
CeAnn Myers (Toyo Univerisity) - Learning a Language: Engage and Excite
Students through Content-based Instruction
This poster presentation will provide participants with a variety of practical
suggestions for incorporating content and language learning together in a way that
excites students and enhances learning. According to Stoller (1997), content-based
instruction (CBI) increases students’ interest and motivation. This presentation will
show participants how the integration of content and language skills can be very
beneficial to students. Within CBI, teachers are constantly using activities to deepen
students understanding of the content and language skills (Kong, 2009). Focusing
on practical information on implementing activities that will enhance content and
language learning such as: drama, white boards, experiments, guest speakers, field
trips, and projects. A handout detailing the benefits of the activity and tips for using it
in the classroom on each activity will be available to participants. The information can
be tailored, allowing participants to focus on the activities best suited for their
situation.

7. Roberto Rabbini (Tokai University) - Learning Discernment Teaching the New
World Order
The presenter will display and share a variety of upper intermediate adult age
activities that promote critical thinking skills and debating strategies based on
controversial topics related to the New World Order (NWO). The concept of
“Teachability Index” will also be discussed, which enables learners to evaluate their
level of motivation to learn new subjects. The goal of these materials is to raise
students’ awareness of the NWO and to increase their linguistic and rhetorical
competency, allowing for growth at numerous levels. The content topics covered are
a first for the EFL/ESL industry as many teachers and students alike may not be
familiar with the issues surrounding the NWO. The eclectic approach adopted
highlights the fact that indeed there is no one single best method for learning a
language.
Hitomi Sakamoto (Toyo Gakuen University) - English as a Global Language:
Promoting International Exchange with Turkey
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the presenter received a number of
encouraging messages written in English from Turkey, which she forwarded to
English teachers in the devastated area so that they could share them with their
students. Since then, a Turkish teacher and the presenter have had their students
exchange letters in English. In the feedback comments of the students who
experienced this exchange of letters, they said that they were happy to use English
and wanted to learn more English words to encourage people. In March the
presenter visited the Turkish school with 170 cards written in English by Japanese
elementary school students and gave them to the Turkish students, who made
pleasing comments in English. The aim of this poster presentation is to show one
way to facilitate communication between Japanese students and students in other
countries using English.
Jennifer Toews-Shimizu (Seigakuin University) – Young Learners Output and
Audience: A Socio-cultural linguistic Perspective
This study examines how young EFL learners speech is affected by the audience in
a meaning-focused speaking task. The participants come from a private elementary
school in Japan. This paper reports on a classroom-based study of learner
interaction in two social contexts, interaction with the teacher/researcher (Group T)
and interaction with a hand puppet (Group R). This study is based on motivational,
anxiety (FLA) and socio-cultural theories. The results show that the young learners
deliver varied speech tendencies and behaviors in each social context. It was found
that Group R’s interaction was characterized by; more L2 utterances, more correct
utterances, higher intrinsically motivated utterances, and more total utterances than
Group T. The prevalence of these patterns suggestions that audience can highly
influence the young learner’s output performance and motivation.

8. > Plenary #2: 15:45-16:45
Shinichi Izumi (Sophia University) - Beliefs about Language Learning,
Learning Strategies, and Confidence of EFL Learners: Issues in
Instructional Counterbalancing
(Kindly sponsored by Abax)
What ideas do second language (L2) learners have about the nature of
language learning? How did they come to have those ideas? These questions
have attracted interest of language teachers and Second Language
Acquisition researchers because learners' ideas or philosophies about L2
learning potentially exert strong influence on both the process and product of
L2 learning. It is generally believed that learners’ beliefs constitute a variable
that accounts for individual differences in L2 learning and thus are viewed as
an important construct to be investigated in relation to their subsequent
impact on learners’ behaviors. In this talk, the presenter is going to talk about
my recent study that investigated how learners’ previous learning
backgrounds influence their beliefs about L2-learning approaches, their uses
of learning strategies, and their self-efficacy and confidence in their L2
abilities. I will discuss the implications of the results for language learning and
teaching.
Bio-information Professor Shinichi Izumi is a professor at Sophia University,
Tokyo, Japan, where he teaches in the BA program in English Language
Studies and the MA and the PhD programs in Applied Linguistics and TESOL.
He received his MA in Applied Linguistics from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale and his PhD in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University.
He has been involved in EFL teacher education throughout Japan and has
published widely both nationally and internationally in areas related to
instructed second/foreign language acquisition, in particular on topics related
to CBI (Content-based Instruction), TBI (Task-based Instruction), Focus on
form, and CLIL (Content-and-Language-Integrated-Learning).
> Closing: 16.45-17.00