One-day Conference: Improving English Skills in Japan through the use of Tasks

以下の講演会が行われるようです。

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Improving English Skills in Japan through the use of Tasks

Keynote Speakers: Rod Ellis & Natsuko Shintani

The University of Kitakyushu
14 December 2013

This one-day conference sponsored by the Faculty of Foreign Studies at the University of Kitakyushu is for English teachers in the local area, future English teachers in training, and anyone else interested in language teaching.  The key note talk will provide an introduction to what tasks are, how they can be used in teaching, and how teachers know if they work. Specific presentations will then address how input tasks can be used to improve learning with beginning level Japanese students, how simple speaking tasks can be created which push students to use more advanced language, and how grammar instruction might be improved by supporting it with tasks. The event will include a reception to allow participants to socialize as well as a final panel discussion in which participants can ask questions and talk about any problems they have in using tasks with Japanese students.

Schedule of Events

1. 10:30-12:00: Rod Ellis, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Using Tasks in Task-Based and Task-Supported Language Teaching
2. 12:10-13:00: Craig Lambert, University of Kitakyushu, Japan
Using Task-Based Teaching to Advance Language Use

3. 13:00-14:00: Reception (Lunch Break)

4. 14:00-14:50: Colin Thompson, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Using Task-Supported Teaching to Improve Grammar Instruction
5. 15:00-16:30: Natsuko Shintani, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Using Tasks with Beginning Level Japanese Learners

6. 16:30-17:00: Panel Discussion
Participants will have a chance to raise questions and concerns about using tasks in Japanese schools generally, as well as in situations that they face in their own schools and their own classes. 

Registration
The conference is provided free of charge, but we request that you pre-register so that we can plan and prepare handouts and materials in appropriate numbers.  To register for the conference, simply send an e-mail with: (1) your name, (2) your school or affiliation (if applicable), (3) your e-mail address, and (4) a telephone number that we can use to contact you in the rare event of changes in the schedule.  If you are coming together with others, please indicate the number and names of the additional people in your group.