Oxford in Oita

Next Saturday (June 18th) the Oxford Kids Tour is coming to Oita.

Details available at:

http://www.oupjapan.co.jp/events/summertour/schedule.shtml#shikokukyushuokinawa

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2nd Oita English Language Teaching Seminar

******UPDATE****************************************************************

The 2nd Oita English Language Teaching Seminar will be held on Sunday April 17th at Compal Hall Room 400 (Art Room on 4F) in Oita City.The event will start at 09:30 for registration and finish at 16:00 and is free.

Sponsors of the event are ETJ Oita, Oita JALT, Oki-NET and Pearson Kirihara KK.

Confirmed presenters so far:

Simon Goddard Weedon (E English School / The Daily Yomiuri),

Kazuya Yamamoto (Oita Fuzoku Elementary School) & Ed Kellerman (Oita Fuzoku Elementary School / Albion English School),

Scott Aubrey (Risumeikan APU)

Monica Hamsciuc (Risumeikan APU)

Antoinette Jones and Warren McDonald (Ritsumeikan APU)

Tristan Scholze (Rainbow Bridges / Fukuoka Women’s College)

Meg Takemura (Pearson Kirihara)

There will be a materials display from Pearson Kirihara KK, Book Shop provided by Little Monsters ELT Books and a coffee shop too!

This will be the biggest ELT event to be held in Oita so please make a date in your diary!!

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ETJ Expo

The ETJ Expo comes to Fukuoka this Sunday. The location is Seinan Gakuin University with presentations from 10:00 to 18:00. Schedule is avilable here:

2010 Kyushu ETJ ExpoSunday

2010 Kyushu ETJ ExpoSunday I will be there all day (I’m doing one presentation after lunch!)

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Oita JALT Workshop

Unlucky timing, however ……………… Oita JALT also have a workshop this coming Sunday. if you’re free, why not see both!

DETAILS

Teaching and learning English humour, in principle and practice

September 16, 2010 by Oita Chapter

Date and Time: 

Sunday, 14 November 2010 – 1:00pm – 2:45pm

Speaker: 

Richard Hodson

We are pleased to have Richard Hodson, a lecturer in the Faculty of Global Communication at the University of Nagasaki Siebold and a Best of JALT 2009 recipient, come to Oita to give a special lecture about how to use humour in the classroom. First, he will explore the key pedagogical and cultural issues that need to be considered when introducing humorous materials in the EFL classroom, including insights both from humour theory, and from recent ELT research. In the second half of the presentation he will describe, and report results from, two recent research projects. This is a useful presentation for any English teacher in the area.

Location: 

Beppu International House, first floor main hall

Guide to Location: 

Link to meeting location

Fee for JALT members: 

Free

Fee for one-day members: 

500 yen

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ETJ Oita Workshop

The next workshop will be on Sunday November 14th at Compal Hall, Oita City. The workshop will be from 18:30 – 20:30.

Details

Presentation: Checking Comprehension / Checking Understanding
(Simon Goddard Weedon)
This short presentation will look at different ways to make sure students are understanding the language the see, hear and say.

Discussion:
It’s the end of the year as we know it! Please bring one idea or story from your 2010 classes. In small groups, we will share ideas, stories and challenges.

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ETJ Expos

The ETJ Expo comes to Fukuoka on Dec 5th 2010. If you haven’t attended the Expo before …… now’s your chance. There will be presentations by famous, infamous and non-famous teachers and authors, as well as materials displays and the chance to meet other like-minded professionals.

EXPO INFO http://www.eltnews.com/ETJ/events/expos.shtml

I’m looking forward to attending Paul Nation’s presentation. For anyone unfamiliar, he is one of the most prominent experts on vocabulary learning and this is an opportunity not to be missed!!

FUKUOKA EXPO INFO http://www.eltnews.com/ETJ/events/fukuoka2010.shtml

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Sep 2010 Presentation

These are the presentation notes for Simon’s session on teaching reading fluency for Elementary School students.

ETJ Presentation Sep 2010

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Oita English Language Teaching Seminar 2010

Thank you to everyone who came to the event yesterday – I hope you enjoyed the presentations and went home with some new ideas for your classes. Big thanks to all the presenters too.

Simon’s Presentation Notes:

Oita English Teaching Seminar 2010 handout

Oita Godo Shinbun report on the seminar

OkiNet2010

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第1回大分ELTセミナー！

Sunday May 23rd :  5月23日（日曜日）

Oita Prefectural Art College: 大分芸術短期大学

１０：００～１６：００

Details to follow.

6  Presentations

Book Displays and Sales

Information here!!:

Oita%20English%20Language%20Teacher%20Training%20Seminar%202010

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ETJ-Oita / Oita JALT End of Year Workshop

The final workshop of 2009 will be held on Sunday November 29th at Compal Hall, from 18:30-20:30.

This will be a biggy!! 2 rooms and 4 presentations, 2 presentations will run at the same time so you can choose which one to attend!

Presentation Info:

Using Literature to Teach “Empathy” to Medical Students

“Empathy” is an important term in medicine, but it is an abstract concept that is difficult to define, even for native English speakers. This presentation reports on a course that was taught to fourth-year Japanese medical students. The goal of the course was to deepen students’ understanding of “empathy” using English readings of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. This presentation outlines the methods and materials used, and the results of a student questionnaire that was given at the end of the course.

Sean Chidlow is a lecturer in the Department of Medicine at Oita University. His field of research is the Medical Humanities. Specifically, he is interested in the methods of using literature to teach concepts that are relevant to the field of medicine.

 

Using mind maps to promote critical thinking in writing and debating

In advanced English classes where debate, discussion and research papers are used as assessments, students need critical thinking skills in order to succeed in these tasks. This presentation will examine the adoption of a mind mapping software, rationale, that was introduced into and Advanced English II class at APU in order to enhance students writing, and debating skills. Building on the literature of the value of critical thinking mind maps, the authors examine how electronic mind-mapping can be used effectively in the classroom to promote student’s debating and writing skills.

Lindsay Mack is a lecturer at APU where she teaches Advanced English classes. Her research interests include: critical pedagogy and academic writing.

 

Testing your tests – do they achieve what you want them to?

Teachers of all persuasions incorporate some kind of testing into their classrooms. BUT, …… do the students and teachers always get the maximum benefit from these. The presentation will look at the difference in style and approach for placement, assessment, diagnostic and achievement tests and will suggest a number of approaches designed to motivate students

Simon Weedon is co-founder of ‘E’ English School, and teaches at Meiho Junior/Senior High School. He is Coordinator of ETJ-Oita and is a monthly columnist for The Daily Yomiuri.

 

Classroom Activities for Eigo Note and Beyond

With the introduction of English as a set class for 5^th and 6^th Grade Elementary School students, teachers are now faced with a unique opportunity, and also a challenge. The presentation will feature a range of immediately useable classroom activities for participants to take to their own classrooms.

Etsuko Minami is Vice Principal of Higashi Wasada Elementary School in Oita City. She is an active ETJ Committee Member with a keen interest in promoting English education at Elementary School level.

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