TOKYO

    Workshop schedule

Apr 26

Apr 26

May 17

May 17

Jun 7

Jun 7

Jul 19

Jul 19

Sep 27

Sep 27

Oct 4

Oct 4

Nov 29

Nov 29

Jan 17

Jan 17

Feb 28

Feb 28

Mar 13

Mar 13

   Trainers

David Paul

Founded David English House in an apartment in Hiroshima in 1982 and built it up to become one of the most respected schools in East Asia. He is also the founder of ETJ (English Teachers in Japan). David has spent a lot of time travelling around East Asia training teachers and helping both private schools and ministries of education to introduce more student-centered programs. He has also been a guest speaker at many conferences throughout the region. However, these days, when he is not teaching, he focuses almost entirely on training and supporting teachers at a grass-roots level. His books include: ‘Teaching English to Children in Asia’ (Pearson), ‘New Finding Out’ (Macmillan), ‘Communicate’ (Compass), ‘Motivate’ (Compass), ‘Communication Strategies’ (Cengage)

Rob Waring

Dr. Rob Waring teaches at Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan. He is an acknowledged expert in Extensive Reading and second language vocabulary acquisition and lectures and publishes widely on these subjects. He is on the Executive Board of the Extensive Reading Foundation and is also author and series editor of the Foundations Reading Library, the Footprint Reading Library, and the Page Turners Reading Library by Cengage Learning.

Alastair Graham-Marr

Has his Masters in Applied Linguistics. He’s an Associate Professor at the Tokyo University of Science and has been teaching in Japan for 22 years. In addition to his teaching he also
works as an editor for Abax Ltd., a specialty ELT publisher. His research interests include second language acquisition, the role of output, the role of explicit teaching and communicative competence.

Robert S. Murphy

Founder and Principal, Murphy School of Education. Author of the popular EFL textbook series, Optimal Levels!. Robert studies and conducts research at Harvard University with the main field work in cognitive development rooted in Japanese schools. His current doctoral research (supervised by Zoltan Dornyei at the University of Nottingham) connects neuroscience, intercultural studies, and EFL in Japan – Robert has a Master’s degree in TEFL/TESL from the University of Birmingham, and is now a tutor/supervisor for the Birmingham MA distance program. Robert is fully bilingual (English/Japanese).

Marc Helgesen

Author of more than 150 professional articles, books and textbooks including the English Firsthand series (Pearson Education/Longman Asia) and has lead teacher development workshop on five continents. He is professor at Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University, Sendai and adjunct at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies MA TESOL Program.

Terry Yearley

Terry Yearley has been on the ETJ-Tokyo committee since its foundation in 2006, serving as Coordinator and Programme Officer. He has an MA TESOL from Teachers College Columbia University, and a first class honours degree in ‘Linguistics with TEFL,’ and the Trinity College London ‘Certificate TESOL’ from his native England. Terry has been teaching EFL in Japan for over ten years. He currently works at high schools, exam prep schools, and universities in Kanto.

Jerry Talandis Jr.

Jerry Talandis Jr. has been working as an English teacher in Japan since 1993 and received his MSc in TESOL from Aston University. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Toyama, focusing primarily on teaching English conversation and composition. His research interests include pragmatics, materials design, learner autonomy, and professional development. He can be reached on academia.edu.

Herman Bartelen

Herman Bartelen, director of the English program and self-access learning center at Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages in Tokyo, has written nine EFL textbooks and has given more than 30 professional workshops about English-language teaching. He has a Masters in TESOL from the University of Birmingham, U.K.

   Workshops

 TESOL1: Motivating students to communicate
Trainer: David Paul
How can we motivate lower level university students and adults to communicate? How can we motivate junior/senior high school students to use English more communicatively?

TESOL2: Communication activities
Trainer: David Paul
Teachers will practice and assess a range of activities that motivate students to communicate. This will include the creation of new activities by teachers.

TESOL3: The mind, the brain and English language teaching
Trainer: Robert S. Murphy
Learn about cutting-edge neuroscience. Find out which EFL activities make the most neuroscientific sense. Uncover neuromyths and discover how to create potent neuro-based EFL teaching activities for your own classrooms.

TESOL4: Cognitive development and dynamic task-based learning
Trainer: Robert S. Murphy
How do students actually learn topics? We will look at Dynamic Skill Theory (from Harvard) and the fascinating stages of cognitive development that our students go through. Take home a notebook full of task-based activities that you will help design for your own students.

 TESOL5: Principles of vocabulary learning
Trainer: Rob Waring
What are the main factors when selecting vocabulary to teach? What approaches lead to the best results?

TESOL6: Managing an Extensive Reading program
Trainer: Rob Waring
Teachers will learn how to set up, manage and run an Extensive Reading program. Teachers will discuss their own programs to find appropriate solutions for the problems they face.

TESOL7: Principles of Second Language Acquisition
Trainer: Alastair Graham-Marr
Teachers will be given a brief introduction to the field of second language acquisition. They will then discuss how to apply some of the discussed principles to their teaching situation.

TESOL8: Fundamentals of Teaching Listening
Trainer: Alastair Graham-Marr
Teachers will learn the fundamentals of teaching listening. Teachers will discuss when, why and how to teach bottom-up and top-down listening skills. Teachers will discuss how to apply these techniques
to their classes.

 TESOL9: Teaching Communicative Competence
Trainer: Alastair Graham-Marr
Much of what learners strive for is communicative competence. Teachers will discuss what this means and how to more broadly apply some of these principles to their teaching situation.

 TESOL10: Assessment methods in the EFL Classroom
Trainer: Alastair Graham-Marr
Teachers will learn and discuss many of the issues and difficulties associated with language assessment. They will then discuss how to apply these methods to their particular teaching situation.

TESOL11: Balance in Language teaching
Trainer: Rob Waring
This workshop overviews various aspects of language teaching to determine the appropriate balance of listening and reading and speaking and writing as well as language focus and fluency focus instruction both at the curriculum and lesson planning levels. Participants will reflect on their own teaching practices in light of their discussions.

TESOL12: Getting the most out of your materials
Trainer: Rob Waring
This workshop will focus on learning how to assess and adapt various types of ELT materials for suitability for in various learning environments. Participants will also learn the principles underlying the creation of classroom materials and have a chance to create or adapt their own in the workshop in groups. Teachers are encouraged to bring the materials they are currently using to aid discussion.

TESOL13: DIY NeuroELT: Making your textbook more brain friendly
Trainer: Marc Helgesen
We’ll explore seven ways any textbook can be improved to make it work with the brain. Most of the ideas require little or not special preparation.  Please bring a textbook you use.  – You’ll probably leave with next week’s lesson plan.

TESOL14: Let’s get physical: The brain/body connection
Trainer: Marc Helgesen
People are meant to walk 10-20 km a day.  Does having learner sit for an hour or more make sense?  We’ll look at practical ways to use physical movement in class, plus reasons the brain and body need to work together.

TESOL15: Digital Learning and Teaching
Trainer: Herman Bartelen
This workshop will look in detail at digital learning and teaching in the ESL/EFL classroom. We will begin by defining digital learning and digital literacy, and then explore how phones, tablets and computers can be used in current English classes for effective learning and teaching. Software programs and applications will also be examined.

TESOL16: Self-Directed Learning
Trainer: Herman Bartelen
This workshop will review the theory and practices of self-directed learning. We will begin by discussing the belief that students must take responsibility for their learning in order to become more effective learners. The workshop will then examine ways to encourage more student autonomy, self-motivation and reflection inside and outside the classroom. The concept of lifelong learning in relation to self-directed learning will also be studied.

TESOL17: Teaching pronunciation
Trainer: Terry Yearley
We will look at some features of pronunciation, and practice some methods for teaching those features. There will also be an opportunity for you to share your ideas and learn from your fellow students.

TESOL18: Adapting materials for speaking practice (ages 4-6)
Trainer: Terry Yearley
We will look at some textbook units and photocopiable materials and consider ways in which they can be further developed for speaking practice. There will be an opportunity for teachers to apply the principles, so please bring along a copy of a textbook that you use.

TESOL19: Teaching Conversation Skills to Large Classes
Trainer: Jerry Talandis
Teaching English conversation to large classes of 40 or more students is a common situation for many teachers in Japan. In this workshop, we will explore some specific techniques and ideas that can help teachers make the best of this challenging situation. Time will also be provided for discussion and troubleshooting of participants’ particular situations.

 TESOL20: Oral Communication Cultural Codes
Trainer: Jerry Talandis
Rules that govern proper communication are culturally specific. For example, which is a better form of greeting, to bow or shake hands? In this workshop, we will investigate how to help Japanese students learn about and deal with three key differences between Japanese and English speaking styles in order to help them speak English more naturally.