NEAR Conference
Announcement: 15th NEAR Language Conference Proceedings
Presenters of the conference will be contacted with more information on the conference proceedings. For any inquiries, kindly email us at niigata@jalt.org.
15th NEAR Language Conference 2023
The 15th NEAR Language Conference was held face-to-face once again at the University of Niigata Prefecture, Niigata City on 2 September 2023. The conference was attended by both chapter members and participants from other prefectures. This year's conference was co-sponsored by JALT Nagano chapter who were also in Niigata. On behalf of the committee, thank you everyone for your support for this year's conference and we look forward to seeing you again next year.
Conference theme: What is the Future of Language Learning?
The NEAR Language Conference 2023 looks at the future of language learning, both in the classroom and beyond. In what directions are language teaching and learning headed? What will remain important, and what will become important? How will teachers and students be affected by changes- and how will they create change?
Plenary session: May Kyaw Oo
Title: Advocating for Transformative Change: Addressing Nativespeakerism, Social Justice, Diversity, and Equity in ELT
Abstract: In this talk, I will address nativespeakerism, social justice, diversity, and equity issues in the ELT landscape of Japan and Southeast Asian countries. My talk will call upon ELT professionals to become advocates for transformative change. Highlighting the consequences of nativespeakerism, I will explore the need for allyship and solidarity within and beyond the classroom. I will also share my journey of activism to challenge discriminatory practices in ELT and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Committee’s efforts in making JALT a more equitable association for teachers as incoming chair of the DEI committee. Additionally, I'll touch upon how activism in ELT influenced my role as an art activist for Myanmar, emphasizing the interconnectedness of art and social justice efforts. In line with that, this talk will extend its focus on the importance of integrating social justice themes to foster socially conscious and empowered learners in inclusive ELT classrooms. I will also share practical strategies for promoting allyship and activism with the hope that it will empower educators to act in their institutions and communities and inspire their students and themselves to become citizens with a strong sense of civic agency. By collectively addressing these issues, I hope that this talk will further motivate participants to work towards a more just and equitable world.
14th NEAR Language Education Conference 2022
NEAR Language Education Conference 2022 is co-sponsored by JALT Niigata and GILE SIG. It aims to bring together language teaching and topics related to environments. Both the environment outside the classroom, and the one within. This conference will provide a space for discussion and collaboration for anyone who is interested in improving their teaching environment, or the environment we live in. This year's NEAR conference is online.
Plenary Session: Christopher Graham
Title: English Language Teaching and Climate Change. What’s the connection, what’s happening across our global community and what can I do?
Abstract: The climate emergency is a global catastrophe that involves us all, and the international English language teaching community is no exception. This talk will commence by looking at the interface between the climate crisis and ELT in terms of both the negative impacts of some of our behaviours on the environment, and the opportunities we have to integrate climate change education into our lessons. It will continue by focussing on some examples around the world of how ELT practitioners are engaging with the crisis, and will end by suggesting some guidelines you can use to approach the topics in your classes and across your institution.
About the plenary speaker
Christopher Graham holds a degree in Politics from Warwick university, a Cambridge DELTA and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a freelance English language teaching consultant, teacher educator and author based in the UK. He has worked in the field since 1981 in over 30 countries for the British Council, ministries of education and international publishers.
He was one of the founders of ELT Footprint, a 2020 ELTons Award winner, and is currently working on research, materials writing and media activities around ELT and climate change for the British Council as part of the Climate Action in Language Education project. He has recently published books for teachers around 21 st Century Skills and ELT and Climate Change.
13th NEAR Language Education Conference 2021
The NEAR Conference is back and will be 100% online. In conjunction with The Young Learners SIG, this year's conference looks forward to presentations by educators from various teaching contexts.
Conference website: https://near2021.edzil.la/
Plenary session: Alison Hasegawa
Title: Opening the Door to Learners’ Creativity Through Picturebooks and Poetry
Abstract: In this talk, first, I’d like to explain my own definition of ‘meaningful learning,’ by introducing several specific examples that stand out in my mind, while I also look back and reflect on my personal experience as a teacher during my career so far. My teaching journey has up to now, been spent entirely living in the Tohoku area of Japan, first as an instructor in public schools on the coast of Fukushima for 22 years, and then as a teacher trainer at Miyagi University of Education in Sendai, for the last 10 years. Through examples of student work, I’d like to demonstrate that by using just a simple picturebook in the right way with children, or encouraging the writing of poetry with university students, for example, we can be rewarded with precious moments of real, meaningful learning in English class, and gently activate our students’ rich creativity. Such classroom activities were particularly relevant for learners soon after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster of 2011 when my students shared their moving personal narratives, and through that, we were able to create a bond of mutual understanding and empathy in class. In order to facilitate creating similar meaningful learning in the future, in any classroom, I’ll share specific questioning techniques to use when we introduce the heart-warming and versatile resource, picturebooks, in our classes, for students of any age. Here, I’ll connect my ideas and methods to the ‘Meaningful Learning Theory,’ introduced by Dr. David Ausubel in the 1960s and then I will show practically some simple steps to expand a simple read-aloud into a more engaging and interactive activity. In addition to this I’ll explain how we can develop both critical and creative thinking in our learners, and even touch on Social-Emotional Learning, such as identifying and dealing with difficult emotions, which again, has particular significance to the residents of the Tohoku region. Finally, I’d like to take an optimistic look into the future and share some goals for both my own career and the teaching of English in Japan as a whole.
Resources: https://near2021.edzil.la/sessions/k1KjpFnyhWI1HbEnPJFO32Rovacc27PE1m9nnekK.pdf
For more information on our past conferences, visit https://jalt.org/groups/chapters/niigata.
