International Hanami at Osaka Castle Park

Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Time: starting at 1:00 pm and going until 6:00 or so
Location: Osaka Castle Park

Come and join us for a relaxing afternoon under the cherry blossoms. This is a great chance to relax and share ideas before the beginning of the new academic year gets into full swing, and to meet with other JALT members and other members of the community.

We will meet at 1:00 by the fountain near Morinomiya station (look for our blue JALT banners) or if arriving later follow the chalk signs on the pavement or come to the area of the park circled on the map below to find us.

If you have trouble, call 080-3789-6394 or 090-6732-6482 for directions.

This year's hanami will of course be more subdued than in some years given the circumstances in Tohoku, but we feel it's important to keep our spirits up and discuss ways of helping those that need it in Tohoku and elsewhere. We'll also be collecting donations if you'd like to contribute to relief efforts in Tohoku.

We'll be joining up with the Why Not?! group, Kinki Brewers, and possibly other groups as well. Feel free to bring family, friends, children, pets, musical instruments, etc. All are very welcome.

Please bring a lunch or other refreshments, and something to sit on. Some grills may be available if you'd like to barbecue. We look forward to seeing you there!

Back to School 2011 -- Call for participation -- Deadline for submissions extended to April 10

Due in part to the horrific earthquake and tsunami disasters and relief efforts in Tohoku, we have decided to extend the submission deadline for our Back to School event until April 10. We already have a relatively full slate of submissions but have plenty of room for more. We welcome submissions on a broad range of topics of relevance to language teachers and learners.

JALT’s Osaka Chapter, in collaboration with the Framework and Language Portfolio SIG and Task Based Learning SIG, invites submissions for this year’s Back to School event, to be held April 24 at Osaka Gakuin University.

Our goal is to exchange a wide range of ideas of practical application on a wide range of topics. Submissions for poster presentations and 25-minute presentations are invited on any topic related to the theory and/or practice related to Task-Based Learning, the Common European Framework (CEFR) and related pedagogical practices, or any topic of interest or practical application to classroom language teachers. Some double time-slots will likely be possible, space permitting.

Submissions should be emailed to back2school2011@gmail.com by March 20 April 10, and should include a title of 12 words or less, a summary of 60 words or less, a brief bio blurb including background and place of employment of presenter of 30 words or less, and the type and time of presentation preferred (ie poster presentation, or 25- or 50-minute presentation time-slot).

Two Publisher Events

In April this year (2011) elementary schools across Japan will begin teaching compulsory English classes for 5th and 6th graders. In order to help prepare teachers for these new classes, this coming Sunday (February 20, 2011) there will be two teaching children events in Osaka, both sponsored by publishers.

2011 Pearson Kirihara Teachers Conference in Osaka

Date: Sunday, February 20, 2011
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Location: Shin-Umeda Kenshu Center

For more information please see the Pearson Longman website HERE.

Oxford Teaching Workshop Series 2011: A New Start for English in Japan

Date: Sunday, February 20th, 2011
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:15 PM
Location: Shin Osaka Brick Bldg. 3F, Room A-D

For more information please see the Oxford University Press website HERE.

The 4th Annual Extensive Reading in Japan Seminar

Date: Sunday, February 13, 2011
Time: 11:00 am to 4:00 pm
Location: Okayama University, Tsushima campus, Foreign Language Center (General Education) Buildings A and B, Okayama-City, Okayama-Prefecture

This conference will focus on the various aspects of Extensive Reading with presentations in English and Japanese.

The conference is sponsored jointly by JALT's Extensive Reading Special Interest Group, Okayama JALT, and the Foreign Language Center of Okayama University.

For more information, please visit the conference site at http://erjseminar.org/

The 13th Annual Temple University Japan Campus Applied Linguistics Colloquium

Date: Sunday, February 13th, 2011
Time: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Location: Temple University, Japan Campus, Osaka Center (Umeda: Osaka Eki-mae Building #3, 21F)
Fee: ¥1,500

The 13th Annual Temple University Japan Campus Applied Linguistics Colloquium is an exploration of current research into second language acquisition and pedagogy. The primary goal of this event is to provide a venue for both new and experienced researchers to present their work in a supportive atmosphere. The second goal of the event is for researchers to be able to discuss research-related issues with one another in order to learn more about conducting high-quality educational research.

For more information, including a map and directions, please the the Temple Univerisity Japan Campus website HERE.