In this issue:

UPCOMING PANSIGCONFERENCE

THREE FEATURE
ARTICLESCUE CAREERS

CUE CIRCULARISSUE 2
March

2017

News and articles from the JALT College and University Educators Special Interest Group

Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, in Hokkaido

Photo by Glen Hill

It’s getting near time to thaw!
Welcome to issue 2 of CUE Circular. Thanks for your support of, and interest in, our firstissue last year. We were pleased by the feedback we received and are proud to continue
here with a selection of enjoyable and practical articles that might provide food for thought
as we head into preparations for the coming academic year.
Rebecca Arthur shares how she talks herself through difficult classes, Jonathan Isaacson
introduces a smartphone app that he integrated into classes, and Mathew Porter discusses
ways in which he’s helped students adopt autonomous and self-directed learning habits.
Those are followed by our regular CUE Careers column.
The Circular is all about providing a space for articles, essays, commentaries, anddiscussions like these, on topics that are of interest to teachers in our field. There is a lot toCUE CIRCULAR 3/2017

discuss, reflect on, and write about. We all haveexperiences worth sharing, we all have interestingteaching ideas, we all work towards similar goals andto solve similar problems, and we’ve all developed
points of view on a wide range of topics withinteaching at the university level. Let us hear about
yours! Readers will be glad you did, and you’ll be
adding to your resume.
What worked for you last year? What didn’t? What got
you thinking? How are you going to approach things
differently this year, and why? Please do take a look at
our website for a fuller explanation of what we’relooking for, and consider contributing an article.
I hope you enjoy the second issue of CUE Circular.

Steve Paton, Editor

Coming up - PanSIG 2017
This spring, CUE is getting ready for the JALT PanSIG
2017 Conference. This year’s conference will be held
May 19-21 at Akita International University, and thetheme is “Expand Your Interests.” The call for
proposals has already closed, but pre-registration forattendees is open through May 8. A more intimate
conference than JALT national, PanSIG is a great
opportunity to make connections with other CUE SIG
members.
SIG members attending PanSIG will take interest in avariety of CUE-related presentations as well as the
CUE SIG Forum. This year’s forum is titled“Expanding Students’ Interest in English with an Eye
on Global Citizenry.” Forum presenters will discusscreative pedagogical methods that promote sustainedinterest inside the classroom and provide practicalapplications in the real world.

JALT CUE SIG

Scenes from the joint TD-CUE
forum at JALT 2016. Presentersgave small-group presentations
on transformative moments ofprofessional development.
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Are you hearing from CUE?
Have you been getting CUE’s monthly SIG News
emails? If not, check your spam folder or contact
Publicity Chair Jamie Taylor. Calls for papers,
conference announcements, and other important CUE
communications are being sent in these messages.
You can also keep up with CUE on our website, the
JALT CUE SIG Members Yahoo group, our publicFacebook page, and our CUE members-only Facebook
group. We’re also happy to announce that our Twitter
account (@jaltcue) is up and running again.

Jamie Taylor, SIG publicity chair

Feature articles
Things I need to remind myself on adaily basis

4

Rebecca Arthur

Duolingo in the university classroom

6

Jonathan Isaacson

Self-directed learner training

9

Mathew Porter

CUE Careers column
Reflective practices and planning for
professional development

12

Michael Parrish and Richard Miller

www.pansig.org
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Feature articles
Things I need toremind myself on adaily basis
Rebecca Arthur offers some helpful
reminders for dealing withchallenging classes.
Rebecca Arthur, Poole Gakuin
University & College
Rebecca Arthur received her
Master’s Degree in TESOL fromthe School for International
Training (SMAT 7) and has beenteaching English in Japan for
many, many years.
arthur@poole.ac.jp

I teach required introductory English
conversation classes to first-year nonEnglish majors at a two-year women’scollege and have done so for many, many
years. As can be expected, the students
vary greatly in English ability andmotivation levels. Regardless, I havealways enjoyed teaching these classes andwatching students gain confidence andincrease their ability as the term
progresses. It is true, though, that while
many of these classes have been a joy toteach, some have been very challenging.
No two classes are the same, of course, andthe reasons can range from classroom
dynamics and personality conflicts to thegrowing number of students who arrive illprepared for English classes or college life
in general (or both). As I teach theseclasses, here are some of the things I needto remind myself on a regular basis.
JALT CUE SIG

It’s not personal.
Students’ lives are complicated. Don’t takethe fact that a student is doing poorly inyour class as a personal affront. It’s notabout you. (Or, at least, it’s rarely aboutyou.)
You know nothing!
Although it’s easy to make assumptions
about why students are behaving the way
they do, don’t! If there’s a problem, talk tothe student outside of class and express
concern. Ask if they have suggestions
about how you can help them with thisproblem. Don’t just assume you know
what’s going on. You usually don’t.
We’re all God’s creatures.
Yes, and that includes the student draped
over her desk who only uses a baby voice,as well as the one in the corner with a youcan’t-make-me look on her face.
Regardless of their behavior or how crossyou are, treat all students with compassion
and common courtesy.
Everyone is a work in progress.
Remember the student with the I’m-toocool-for-school attitude who used English
swear words in her homeworkassignments? And how, over the term, sheslowly shed her tough-girl persona andtransformed into a motivated student? The
potential for change is always there. Knowthat it is possible, and trust that it canhappen again.
And what did you know at 18?
Exactly! So, be generous and kind when
you discover your students have no idea
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about things you think they should know.
Help them remember what they haveforgotten, and if they didn’t learn it in thefirst place – hello, learning opportunity!
You’re not the mom!
Some students would be quite happy if you
micromanaged every aspect of theirEnglish learning experience. Don’t do it!
Of course, providing support is necessaryand helpful at first, but at some point,
students have to learn to make decisions
on their own. Give them choices instead ofalways prescribing how things should bedone, and no hounding them to turn in latehomework. Make sure they understandwhat is expected and are clear about theconsequences of their choices, and then letthem at it.
Count to 10…and then some.
Don’t be so impatient! There are a
multitude of reasons why students don’t
respond as quickly as you think theyshould. Always give more time than you
think is necessary or give them time tothink and come back later. Don’t be insuch a rush!
Who is the adult here?
You! You're the adult here so if there’s aproblem in your classroom, deal with it!
Trust me, the problem isn’t going to go
away on its own. Sure, it takes time,something you are always short of, but
taking the time to deal with it properly will
pay off. And remember, how you choose todeal with the problem affects every student
in your classroom. So, in the heat of the
moment, instead of saying or doing
something you might regret, take a deep
breath, calm down and be the adult. If thatmeans walking out of the room and
JALT CUE SIG

spending time in the corridor calming youranger and trembling hands so you canreturn and have a civil talk about
appropriate classroom behavior instead ofthrowing a hissy fit – do it. (Last week.
True story.)
Let it go! Let it go!
Of course, if a student’s behavior is
disruptive, don’t ignore it! However,choose your battles wisely. If it doesn’t
affect your ability to do your job and it’s
not affecting other students’ ability tolearn, sometimes it’s best to let it go. They
are 18-year-olds, not children. (Of course,
if a student sleeps through class, there will
be consequences. However, after one or
two reminders, don’t nag her about it. The
student has the right to make this choice –even if you don’t think it’s a good one.)Don’t stubborn on through…
Sometimes it can be lonely in theclassroom – especially if you are having
difficulties – but don’t be afraid to ask forhelp. Does a student need extra support?
That’s what advisors, support centers, andcounselors are for. Are you out of yourdepth with this particular student, group of
students, or class? Ask for help, or at least
talk to someone about it. (Thank you,
Support Center!) Don’t just grit your teeth
and stubborn on through. Believe me,
that’s not going to solve the problem.
Focus on the positive!
No matter how challenging it gets,remember there are students in your class
who are motivated and want to learn.
Don’t spend so much time on disruptive
students that you forget about the rest!

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This, too, shall pass!
So you’ve just had one of the worst classes
in the history of the world and you arequestioning your career choice – if not
your sanity. It’s okay! Welcome to theworld of teaching! Learn what you canfrom the experience, think about ways toimprove, and get ready to start all overagain.

Submit an article!
We’re looking to publish short,accessible, interesting articles
concerned with the day-to-day
realities and practicalities of teaching
and learning in our sector.
What’s happening in your teaching?
What’s influencing your decisions?
What obstacles have you overcome,and how?
What ideas or opinions do you havethat others might be interested toread?
What have you read, heard, or seen
recently that’s changed your approachto teaching, either in or out of theclassroom?

w w w .j a l t c u e .o rg /c u e c i rc u l a r

JALT CUE SIG

Duolingo in theuniversity classroom
Jonathan Isaacson introduces alanguage-learning smartphone appthat students can learn from andenjoy.
Jonathan Isaacson, Tokyo
International University
Jonathan Isaacson has taught
a wide variety of levels in a wide
variety of places in Japan since2004. His research interests
include world Englishes andmobile assisted language
learning (MALL).
jisaac@tiu.ac.jp

Last school year, while searching for ideas
to motivate our lower level students, myteaching partner and I came acrossDuolingo for Schools. Duolingo is a freelanguage learning app that was released in2012. It is largely based on translatingback and forth between the learner’s first
language and the target language. To makethe learning more interesting, it is set up tolook and feel more like a smartphone
game. The app groups language learning
into “skills.” The “skills” would more aptly
be described as grammar points, such as
prepositions and vocabulary sets, or words
g ro u p e d a ro u n d c o n c e p t s s u c h a s
education or family. It also incorporates
many game features, such as gaining
experience points and unlocking levels. In
early 2015, the developers released
Duolingo for Schools, a way for teachers toutilize the app in the classroom. Duolingo
for Schools allows instructors to monitor
students’ progress from a computer as well
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as set assignments based on either
experience points or skills.
Reasoning
We decided to try Duolingo with ourstudents for several reasons. One of thechief reasons is that it offers language
learning in a mobile phone gaming setting.
As most of our students use their phones
nearly constantly, this app would offer
them language learning on a familiar andcomfortable platform. Another key factor
in our decision to implement a trial ofDuolingo is that the method employed tolearn within the app is close to the current
English learning experience of ourstudents. Having worked in Japanese
junior high schools, I have seen firsthandhow many translation-based activities arepresent in English classes and textbooks.
Duolingo is also based mostly on back andforth translation between the learner’s L1and English. We believe that thisconnection could possibly offer an aid in
helping students make a transition to amore communicative language learning
style that many native English speaking
teachers employ. In many cases, theteacher does not speak the students’ L1,
and so translation-based activities are
impossible, regardless of their efficacy.
These two factors were the two major
reasons we decided to test Duolingo in theclassroom.
How Duolingo for Schools works
The way the app is set up for school use isquite simple. Teachers create virtual
classrooms for students to join, similar to
many LMSs such as Schoology. Oncestudents are in a classroom, teachers canthen create assignments. The assignments
are either to achieve a set number of
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experience points or a skill within the app.
With experience points, students are only
required to use the app, the lessons are
entirely the choice of the students. Withskill assignments, the teacher chooses one
skill that is predefined within the app. As
noted above, these skills can be either
grammar points, such as prepositions or
past tense verbs, or vocabulary sets, suchas words related to family or education. If
the teacher assigns a skill, students mustcomplete all the lessons within a skill,
anywhere between 3 and 10 short lessons.
Each lesson takes approximately fiveminutes. Students must complete theentire sequence of skills in the app before
they can “unlock” the assigned skill, much
like a video game. For example, before they
can begin the “occupations” skill, theymust complete both the “time” and“family” skills. The examples in the“occupations” skill require the words andgrammar learned in the “time” and“family” skills, as well as all the skills prior.
With either type of assignment, the teacher
sets a due date, and the teacher’s control
panel will let them know which students
have completed the assignment and which
students have not.
Mixed results
As this is our first time using the app inclass, we have seen both positive signs andareas we need to change. One of thepositives of using the app is that students
always have access to English study. This isvery useful during in-class activities whensome students work at a much faster pacethan others. Rather than having the fasterstudents sit with nothing to do, we ask
them to do a Duolingo lesson using theirsmartphones. As our students always havetheir phones with them, there is always!7

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something for them to do. Another positive
we have seen is that due to it being on theirphone and having game-like elements,
students seem to enjoy using the app,especially during the initial period of use.
In the first few weeks using the app,several students raced through the initialskills at a very high pace, helped in largepart by the ability to test out of skills. Since
then, the pace slowed, though it is not clear
if that is due to Duolingo fatigue, second
semester fatigue, other factors, or somecombination of the three.
On the other hand, there are somedrawbacks to the app, especially with
mixed ability and mixed motivation levels.
Ideally, we would like to utilize certain
topics from Duolingo in class. To best do
this, we would like to assign certain skills,
either grammar skills such as present tenseverbs, or specific vocabulary topics such as
family. Ideally, we would assign the skill as
homework and then use the structures andvocabulary in the next day’s class.
However, because students have worked atsuch radically different paces, it has beenvery difficult to do this. Students who havealready completed the skill areautomatically counted as finished, andstudents who have not yet unlocked theskill struggle to catch up. There arecertainly ways to work around thisproblem, such as asking the faster students
to go back and review the assigned skill;
however, it is not ideal. On the developerside, Duolingo has a reason for notallowing students to unlock skills without
going through the complete progression.
The course is designed to be cumulative,
with each skill building upon theknowledge gained from the priorcompleted skills.

JALT CUE SIG

Overall, I have been encouraged by thisattempt to incorporate Duolingo into theclassroom, though if I use it again, I think I
will start by assigning skills from the very
start, rather than assigning experience
points. I think incorporating quizzes basedon the grammar and vocabulary in the app
would also improve the overall experience,as the students would see more of aconnection between the app and theirclassroom activities. It would be important
to make the quizzes not too imposing,though, as that would take away fromsome of the fun that I feel is inherent inthis type of learning.
While Duolingo for Schools is not without
its problems, I think it could be a very
useful tool for educators, especially in auniversity setting when teaching lower
level or mixed level classes. Setting up a
virtual classroom in Duolingo for Schools
merely requires a free Duolingo accountand a computer. Once an account is set up
in the regular Duolingo, theschools.duolingo.com website will guideteachers through the steps for making avirtual classroom. The first step is creatinga classroom. Teachers can then choose acourse of study such as English forJapanese speakers, after which it is just a
matter of adding students to the courseand giving them an assignment. While itcan seem difficult for teachers who aren’t
as technologically savvy as their students,
Duolingo makes it very easy to set up a fun
supplement to regular classes.

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Self-directed learnertraining
Mathew Porter helps his students
develop autonomy.
Mathew Porter, Fukuoka Jo
Gakuin University
Mathew Porter has taught at the
post-secondary level in Japanfor 10 years. He is currently Cocoordinator of JALT's Learner
Development SIG.
portermathew@hotmail.com

Most language teachers have encountered
the definition of learner autonomy in theirteaching training or through theirprofessional development. As originallyproposed by Holec (1981), learnerautonomy is the ability to take charge of
one’s own learning. However, learnerautonomy goes much deeper than this(see, Benson, 2006, for a summary).
Talking about learner autonomy has been
likened to opening a can of worms, and as
a result, some teachers might not know
where to begin.
In 2013, I left traditional foreign language
teaching and began working as a language
learning advisor in a self-access center. My
main role was to help learners develop
autonomy. One approach to learnerautonomy that was influential to our
methodology was self-directed learning(SDL). Knowles (1975) described SDL as “aprocess in which individuals take theinitiative, with or without the help ofothers, in diagnosing their learning needs,
formulating learning goals, identifying
human and material resources for
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learning, choosing and implementing
appropriate learning strategies, andevaluating learning outcomes.” Selfreflection and critical thinking skills are
essential for effectively moving through theprocess, and an understanding of theprocess and development of self-reflection
and critical thinking skills requires
practice.
This process can be introduced to learners
in stages, helping them to prepare for a
final self-directed learning project. The
process can also be iterative, leading torefined learning plans and further action—
as with the Deming Cycle or Kolb’s
experiential learning cycle. If an entire
course can’t be devoted to self-directed
learning, classroom activities that call on
learners to use the metacognitive skills
addressed in the process can be added toother classroom activities. I will introduce
some activities here that can be used withlearners to diagnose needs, set goals, andintroduce an approach I found successful
with first-year, mixed ability university
students.
Wants, Interests, Needs.
The first stage in the process focuses onlearners’ needs, but limiting the diagnosis
to “needs” might be demotivating. Instead,having students examine their wants,
interests, and needs (WIN) can help
learners identify potentially exciting or
personally worthwhile learning objectives,
strategies, and resources (see Morrison,
2011 for more information). For example,
as a user of Japanese, I want to be able tospeak appropriately for my gender (male),age (41), and status (assistant professor).
I’m interested in classic cars and wild birds
and would like to talk to people with the!9CUE CIRCULAR 3/2017

same interests. Since I participate on many
committees at school, I need to write
emails, take handwritten notes, present
proposals, and give suggestions andopinions. This simple exercise revealed awide range of objectives I could focus on to
improve my current Japanese level.
The Strategy Tree
Another activity that can be done withstudents at any level to help them assess
the state of their current language
development is The Strategy Tree,
designed by Abe, Yoshimuta, and Davies(2014). The tree is a visual representationof a learner’s language skills based on aself-evaluation survey. Learners can draw
their trees in about 30 minutes and sharethem with each other, giving each student
an opportunity to see their strengths andweaknesses. This activity can also be used
to help learners (and the teacher)recognize trends within their group oflearners and how each learner is unique.
Goal-setting with ABCD and SMART
Based on a better understanding of theirwants, interests, needs, and their current
state of language development, learners
can identify a learning goal to pursue. In
my experience, when students are asked tocreate a goal, students formulate
something unrealistic, such as “mastering
English”. Here, students can be introduced
to two helpful acronyms, ABCD and
SMART, which can be used to evaluate andrefine goals to make them more realistic.
First, the ABCDs of goal setting (seeSullivan & Collett for an example) means
creating goals that are achievable,
believable, conceivable, and desirable. An
appropriate goal should take into
consideration the learner’s strengths as
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well as environmental constraints such as
time limitations. In addition, the goal
should be clearly stated and measurable.
The learner should feel the goal is realistic
and something they want to achieve.
SMART goals result in a similar checklist:
goals should be specific, measurable,attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
Using one of these acronyms, students cancheck and discuss their goals and make
improvements before creating a learning
plan. Based on my WIN analysis, one
realistic SMART goal would be becoming
able to write a business email requesting
action from committee members within
two weeks.
Identifying Resources
For two years, my colleagues and I
followed the self-directed learning process
as is with mixed results. We explicitly
introduced the stages of the learning cycleand developed activities and tasks forstudents to complete which would givethem practice in analyzing their needs,
formulating goals, choosing materials, andimplementing their learning plans. At theresource stage, the learners I worked withoften did not choose materials suitable forthe goals they had set; for example,
choosing a book with practice questions for
the TOEIC reading and speaking test to be
used to develop conversation strategies forsmall talk with a host family. As available
resources don’t always match perfectlywith students’ goals, students need to be
selective and innovative, but in our casethey struggled to be either.
In my third and final year, we designed avariety of questions, problems, andactivities for the four skills (vocabulary,pronunciation, grammar, and spelling)!10

CUE CIRCULAR 3/2017that could be solved or completed by using
resources in the self-access center and had
students complete this stage before theothers. This discovery approach toidentifying resources seemed to help
students become familiar with possible
resources and how to use them, making iteasier to introduce the earlier stages of theprocess.

Benson, P. (2007). Autonomy in language
teaching and learning. Language
Teaching, 40(1), 21–40.

Having a self-access center full of learning
resources might seem necessary for thisapproach, but it could be implemented byany teacher willing to investigate andcatalog materials available in the libraryand online. The teacher could then present
learners with a limited list of potential
resources along with a list of challenging
questions to initiate discovery. Throughout
the exercise, learners could be asked toshare in groups the resources they found toaddress the challenges. However,according to Grow (1991) one potential
problem when introducing self-directed
learning to learners arises frommismatches in the teacher’s orientationand learners’ level of self-directedness. In
other words, a teacher who acts as a
facilitator may not match well withstudents who are more dependent on theteacher. Grow’s article provides insights todealing with such mismatches.

Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign
language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

References
Abe, M., Yoshimuta, S., & Davies, H.
(2014). “Now maybe I feel like trying”:
Engaging learners using a visual tool.
Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal,
5(3), 277-293. Retrieved from https://sisaljournal.org/archives/sep14/
abe_yoshimuta_davies/ .

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Grow, G. O. (1991). Teaching learners to be
self-directed. Adult Education Quarterly,
41(3), 125-149.
Retrievedfrom
http://
thinkteaching.pbworks.com/f/Grow01.pdf.

Knowles, M. S. (1975). Self-directed
learning: A guide for learners andteachers. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall/
Cambridge.
Morrison, B. R. (2011). The bespoke
syllabus, objective setting and WIN
analyses. Independence IATEFL Learner
Autonomy SIG Newsletter, 52, 16-18.
Sullivan, K., & Collett, P. (n.d.). Study
Progress Sheet. Retrieved fromhttp://text.asahipress.com/free/
CDSLEJB/
4.2_Collett&Sullivan_Appendix2.pdf

CUE Circular
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CUE Careers
Reflective practices
and planning for
professional
development
January 28th marks the start of theChinese New Year, sometimes called thegreatest migration on Earth. In Japanese
academia, it is also often a time of change
and migration as many people change
positions. Although New Year’s Day is inreality just another day, nevertheless, themonths of January and February can beperfect times to set aside time forprofessional development due to the factthat most university educators do not haveclasses and have a lighter workload at thistime of year. The break between academic
years is a great opportunity to schedule
regular professional reflection and toreflect on what has occurred over the past
year that helped to improve your Academic
Curriculum Vitae (ACV), and how you
intend to improve it over the next year
(Parrish, 2015). If you do not currently
have one, you should take the time toproperly develop an ACV (Miller, 2011a,
2011b). This is also a good time to consider
your professional image: how you areperceived by colleagues as a person, an
educator, and a scholar. In our Internetconnected world, our public image isavailable to all who do a simple Google (orBing) search. Be aware that it isincreasingly common for hiring
committees to carry out such searches ofsocial media and online resources when
JALT CUE SIG

In this regular column, Michael Parrish andRichard Miller offer insights on theemployment market for college anduniversity language teachers in Japan, as
well as general career guidance, advice, andstrategies.
Contributions from readers with specificareas of expertise, or regarding specificissues or changes in the job market, areencouraged.

Michael Parrish and Richard
Miller are the current cocoordinators of the Job
Information Center at the
JALT National Conference,
and are former editors of the
Career Development column
in The Language Teacher.
email: cuecareers@gmail.com

vetting applicants. This article will offersome tips on how to optimize your online
presence and organize your activities tomaximize the benefits to your academic
career.
The first step is taking the time to update
your ACV. This is something that should bedone on a regular basis both as an
employment tool and as a tool for personal
and professional reflection. While
updating your ACV, be sure to typeeverything out on a separate page so thatyou can clearly see exactly what had takenplace over the year. At the same time,ensure that there are no errors on your
ACV. Make your published papers (or evenpresentation slides) accessible in at least acouple of different places; one could be
your profile page on your university
website or a personal website. If you do nothave access to those, some other options
include the following: Google Scholar,
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CUE CIRCULAR 3/2017

or even Scribd. Having your information
easily accessible makes you appear morelegitimate and scholarly. It also allows
access to hard-to-find publications such as
in-house university journals (kiyos) orolder publications. Although we encourage
making your professional achievements
more visible online, be careful what you
post on your personal social media pages,
either through blocking who can view yourpictures or by not posting potentiallyembarrassing photos or overly contentious
comments.
If you are full time at a university, you will
no doubt be required to fill out yourresearch and academic activities that arelisted under various headings. Whiledifferent universities have submission
times, it is typically towards the end of thefall semester (when hiring decisions
begin). I recommend doing this in
December for the previous calendar year.
This is an excellent opportunity to reflect
on the year in terms of the various
activities that helped to enhance your ACV.
Those activities can be categorized into
presentations and publications (be sure to
distinguish the two), service (e.g.,committees, volunteer activities),
education and training, and teaching.
When you look at the year that just passed,
see how much better your ACV is than at
this time a year ago. Reflect on how you
feel, and why you feel that way. If you wereparticularly satisfied, what activities madeyou feel that way? You can resolve tocontinue to do more of the same or todelve deeper next year. If, on the other
hand, you were dissatisfied with the lack ofimprovement to your ACV, then you must
consider what you want your ACV to look
like a year from now. How are you going tochange? What activities will you pursue?
JALT CUE SIG

There is a direct correlation between
reflection, planning and actual production.
Therefore, to get more production,planning is necessary. And, the best type ofplanning takes place after reflection andprofessional self-awareness.
Utilizing the SMART goals approach(Miller, 2012), plan your year in advance.
This describes the characteristics of wellarticulated goals. There are several popularversions of this acronym, but a common
one is that your goals should be Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, andTime -l imit e d (Hau g he y , 2016). In
addition, try setting benchmarks using the
Minimum, Target, Outrageous (MTO)
approach, with the most important goals
listed. Ask yourself, “How will I improve
my ACV to look like I want it a year fromnow?” As there are always opportunities toimprove, you need to discover ways tofulfill those goals. If you search forconferences and calls for papers, otherpublishing and professional development
opportunities will arise, sometimes in
unexpected areas.
Although the new year is a good time forintensive reflection, it is important to alsoschedule time in your monthly agenda forreflection and goal setting. So, be sure tospend a short amount of time regularly, atleast 30 minutes, going over how things
are shaping up with regard to your SMART
goals.
References
Haughey, D. (2016). Smart goals. https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.php
Miller, R. (2011a). Using the balanced
scorecard to keep your career on track. The
Language Teacher, 35(3), 74.
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CUE CIRCULAR 3/2017

Miller, R. (2011b). The basics of theacademic CV. The Language Teacher,35(4), 74.
Miller, R. (2012). Smart goals and goal
setting for career enhancement. The
Language Teacher, 36(4). Retrieved fromhttp://jalt-publications.org/tlt/
departments/job-info-centre/articles/
1661-smart-goals-and-goal-setting-careerenhancement
Parrish, M. (2015). A fresh start on careerdevelopment. The Language Teacher,39(3). Retrieved from http://jaltpublications.org/tlt/departments/careerdevelopment-corner/articles/4482-freshstart-career-development

JALT CUE SIG

CUE Circular
Issue #2, March 2017
A publication of the JALT College andUniversity Educators Special Interest GroupISSN 2432-5570
All rights re se rve dw w w .j a l t c u e .o rg /c u e c i rc u l a r
EditorSteve Paton

Assistant Editor

Dion Clingwall

Proofreading

Glen Hill

CUE SIG Officers
Coordinator
Program Chair
Treasurer
Membership

Wendy Gough
Daniel Newbury
Gareth Barnes
Lorna Asami
Kinsella Valies
Publications Chair Glen Hill
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Gavin Brooks
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Jamie Taylor!14