MASH looking for teachers/researchers to write papers for a book on fluency in EFL

February 08, 2010

MASH Collaboration are working with Paul Nation to produce an edited volume of papers on fluency in EFL and are looking for teachers/researchers who are interested in submitting papers.

The call for submission states: 'The objective of this volume is to gather the voices of teachers/researchers in EFL to help explore fluency in their contexts and how that informs ELT theory, practice, and methodology. In EFL, fluency as a classroom goal has been largely neglected, for a variety of contextual and motivational reasons, including: 1) a focus on test preparation, and 2) a perceived lack of authentic opportunities to use English. Due to a number of relatively recent developments, fluency has been increasingly recognized as an important classroom objective and essential component of learner competency.'

To get more information or submit an abstract, please send an e-mail by clicking here. The deadline for abstracts is May 31.

John Lowe interviews Miyu Ishiwata

February 07, 2010

In the latest ELT News interview, John Lowe talks to Miyu Ishiwata who is involved with Eikoh – one of the largest jukus in Japan – which was founded by her father. She is also Director of Little Steps – a private school for children in Tokyo.

Miyu talks about her education in Japan and in Phoenix, her work for Eikoh and the distinctive features of Little Steps, the school for young learners that she established. She considers it to be very important for Japanese children to learn English, and says: 'Children are so receptive at this age, and their listening skills develop very quickly. Also, the innate ability to mimic with accuracy and conviction the unique phonetic sounds of a foreign language soon deteriorates with age and continued conditioning.'

The Tokyo one-day certificate course in teaching children is this Sunday.

February 05, 2010

The David English House one-day certificate course in teaching elementary school children is coming to the YMCA Asia Youth Center in Sarugaku-cho, Tokyo, this Sunday. Click here for a map showing how to get to the venue. This course has built up a very high reputation over the years. Thousands of teachers have taken the course and gained the certificate.

The trainer is David Paul, author of 'Teaching English to Children in Asia', 'New Finding Out', 'Communicate', 'Communication Strategies' and other books.

Topics covered:
* How do children learn?
* Using games effectively
* Building reading and writing skills
* Developing communicative skills
* Integrating songs
* Lesson planning
* Developing international attitudes

All sessions are interactive. Methodology is underpinned by theory, but the emphasis is on how this theory can be applied to the teaching of elementary school children in the Japanese classroom.

The dates of the other courses are as follows: Feb 7 Tokyo, Feb 14 Sendai, Feb 21 Kanazawa, Feb 28 Fukuoka, Mar 14 Hiroshima

The course costs 12,000 yen, but it is 9,000 yen for ETJ members - teachers can join ETJ for free on the day of the course. Click here for more information on the course and maps for each venue. Click here for information on ETJ. Click here to send an e-mail to register for a course.