This year's Kansai Four Corners event features Gabriel Díaz Maggioli of Uruguay, one of the plenary speakers at JALT2017, and is again co-sponsored by Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka Chapters of JALT. This year we also welcome John Wiltshier, co-author of English Firsthand, sponsored by Pearson Japan.
12:30: Registration opens
1:00 - 2:00 - John Wiltshier, co-author of English Firsthand, 5th edition, sponsored by Pearson Japan
Good education versus gamification--Who wins?
Why do our students, spend so much time gaming, tweeting, clicking, liking, uploading texting? As teachers we can critically observe students’ online activities to determine what — if anything — can be utilized for good education. In this presentation, I will present 6 principles that make online games, apps and internet-use so compelling – even addictive – and invite you to draw parallels to what you do in your classes. What this reveals may well surprise you! Then focusing on the 3Ts; teacher, textbook, technology, we will consider how our choices about what we do and the materials we use include or exclude these 6 principles. Practical examples from the newly published English Firsthand Fifth Edition, with its online component My Mobile World, will be used to illustrate how such principles can be built into textbooks and technology. Finally, when we reconsider the title; “Good education versus gamification -who wins?”, you should feel confident enough to suggest an answer.
John Wiltshier has been a teacher for 26 years and is currently a Professor at Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University in Sendai. He has presented nationally and internationally in Asia, Europe and the U.S being plenary speaker at the PANSIG conference and twice featured-speaker at the JALT International Conference. John is co-author of the highly successful English Firsthand series – 5th edition, published this year. In addition, he is author and series consultant (Japan) of the global six level primary course: Our Discovery Island.
2:15 - 4:15 - Gabriel Díaz Maggioli (JALT2017 plenary speaker, and Professor at the National Teacher Education College in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Director of the MATESOL Program at CLAEH University in Punta del Este)
Developing oracy skills in the classroom
The development of oracy skills is generally cited as one of the difficulties that English language teachers experience. In this workshop we will explore various tried and tested techniques that get students talking...and talking...and talking. Come to this workshop and learn a variety of techniques to help boost your learners' oral expression.
No matter what level we teach, we are generally confronted with silence whenever we introduce a speaking class. In this session, I will attempt to present a series of techniques that help learners activate their passive knowledge of the language so that they can express themselves orally both with fluency and with accuracy. The techniques range from controlled to free so that they can be usefully applied not just to the development of oracy skills, but also to the development of language as a whole.
Gabriel Diaz Maggioli is Professor of TESOL Methods at the National Teacher Education College in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Director of the MATESOL Program at CLAEH University in Punta del Este. He also acts as consultant in education-related projects for various organizations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. He is a teacher who applies the lessons learned in the classroom to his roles as teacher educator, researcher and author. His area of research is the application of Sociocultural Learning Theory to the field of teacher learning and has authored, and co-authored, 28 books ranging from coursebooks to reference books, as well as numerous academic articles. He has shared his theories and praxis with colleagues in the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Gabriel also works as a consultant for international agencies such as the European Union, UNESCO, UNICEF, the British Council, the US Department of State, and The World Bank. He currently lives and works in Uruguay, where he is Tenured Professor of TESOL Methods at the National Teacher Education College, and Director of the MATESOL Program at CLAEH University.
For those interested, we'll go to a nearby restaurant after the presentations for drinks and dinner. Please RSVP so we can be sure to reserve you a seat!
Saturday, April 14, 2018 - 10:00am to 4:00pm
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 4:30PM
