In this issue:

2018 CUE
CONFERENCE

JALT 2018 IN
SHIZUOKA

THREE FEATURE
ARTICLES AND
CUE CAREERS

CUE CIRCULARISSUE 7
NOVEMBER

2018

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

Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, in Hokkaido

Photo by Honoka Kurochi, a second-year student

It’s conference season!
Welcome to our seventh issue, as we head into our third year of publication.
The CUE Careers column returns in this issue, with valuable advice about keeping your“employment dossier” in good order. Our three feature articles once again cover avariety of topics. Guy Smith, in his second article for CUE Circular, discusses his
perspective on the idea of the flipped classroom. Justin Pool has some interesting ideason the topic of authentic materials, and Daniel Velasco shares how he’s gotten his
students thinking critically about some pretty big issues.
Behind the scenes, we welcome an additional Assistant Editor to the CUE Circular
team: Mark Howarth, from Sojo University in Kumamoto. He’s long been active with
the Vocabulary SIG, and I’m very glad that he accepted my invitation to help produce
CUE Circular.

CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018

Well-written, practical, down-to-earth articles
about the day-to-day realities of teaching in our
sector is what CUE Circular is all about. Are you
presenting at JALT 2018, but have concerns about
whether a formal write-up for a peer-reviewed
scholarly journal is feasible? Please consider
giving CUE members the narrative version ofwhat you did; how you came up with your project,what happened along the way, what you learned,
and how things went. Your fellow CUE SIG
members would love to read about yourexperiences, ideas, and observations in an easyto-read, accessible style so we can try your ideas
for ourselves without reinventing the wheel.
Please enjoy this issue of CUE Circular.

Steve Paton, Editor
CUE Conference 2018
Over 100 people attended the 25th CUE
conference at Rikkyo University on September
15-16. With 43 presentations and 14 posters, theweekend was quite an active one. Attendees werealso treated to plenary talks by Kay Irie and Jo
Mynard, as well as an opening greeting by SIG cofounder Gail Jackson on how CUE got started
from the original concept by Gillian Kay.
Walls outside presentation rooms were adorned
with posters that displayed various aspects of
CUE history. All attendees were presented with a
special USB flash drive containing virtually all
CUE publications since its inception in 1993. Glen
Hill gave a brief but moving memorial to the late
Terry Fellner, a CUE comrade and officer for
many years. In addition, CUE held its traditionalraffle, and this year the recipients were Howard
Brown and Yasushi Miyazaki, who got certificatesand 10,000 yen to spend on reference books of
their choice. Congratulations!
The 2018 CUE Conference.
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Thanks to everyone for braving the Saturday rain,
and to all the volunteers and organizers for such a
wonderful time!
CUE in Shizuoka at JALT 2018•••

Don't miss our combined pecha kucha forumwith the TD SIG ( Moments of Creating Culturein the Classroom, Saturday, 11:00-12:30, Kaigi
Hall, 11F).
Get to know the CUE officers and the SIG
agendas for 2018 and 2019 at the AGM.
(Saturday, 3:45-4:30, Rm. 904).
Stop by the CUE SIG information table anytime
Saturday or Sunday. Ask about publishing,
grants, events, and anything else you have in
mind.

Feature articles
Flip the teacher

4

Guy SmithPondering the nature of authentic
materials

6

Justin Pool

Incorporating TV commercials inuniversity classes
Daniel Velasco

9

CUE Careers column
Cultivate your employment dossier

13

Michael Parrish and Richard Miller
The 2018 CUE Conference.

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CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018

Feature articles
Flip the teacher
Guy Smith, International
Christian University
Guy Smith teaches academic
reading and writing. His
research interests are Self
Determination Theory, wellbeing in education, criticalthinking in language learning,and educational technology.
guys@icu.ac.jp

In 1987, Sylvester Stallone starred as
Lincoln Hawk in Over the Top, a movie
about the world of competitive arm
wrestling. Perhaps some of you recall themovie, since there have not been a great
many movies about the world ofcompetitive arm wrestling? It was notparticularly well received; on the TV andmovie review and rating website Rotten
Tomatoes it has a positive rating of only
40% from the critics (general fans like itjust a little more, at 49%). The movie has
stayed with me through all these years,
though, mainly due to the psych-up
routine Stallone uses to get ready for arm
wrestling matches against his huge,
massively muscled, and ferocious-looking
opponents. Usually a mild-manneredman, when Hawk turns his baseball cap
around, he turns himself into a demon ofconcentration and focus, willing to pushhimself to any lengths to win. He switchesfrom mild-mannered truck driver to aman possessed, channeling his killer
mind-set. In that mode he is remarkably

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successful, going on to become the arm
wrestling champion.
As Stallone playing Hawk demonstrates,
switching mind-sets is a common andsuccessful strategy in sports, visible inexpressions commonly used in the
sporting world such as “psych yourself
up,” and “get your game face on.” Forathletes, switching mind-sets andpsyching up helps them to achieve higher
levels of performance and focus.
But what kind of “game face” might it beuseful for our students to have, and andafter figuring out what it might be, how
we can get them to turn their caps
around?
Recent research seems to indicate that theuse of mind-sets may be able to help ourstudents reach higher levels in ourclassrooms. One way this can be done isby creating teacher mind-sets amongst
our students by “flipping the teacher.”
Flipping the classroom, we know, involves
assigning tasks that are often done in theclassroom (such as reading texts orlistening to lectures) to home learning
before the class. One of the earliest andmost influential teachers to experimentand apply the flipped classroom idea was
Eric Mazur. A professor of applied physics
at Harvard University, Mazur used theterm peer instruction to describe histeaching approach and found that thiskind of learning improved test scores,
performance in problem solving skills,
and student engagement with the!4CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018

coursework (Crouch & Mazur, 2001).
Another person who has made asignificant contribution to the success andspread of the flipped learning style isSalman Khan, creator of the website Khan
Academy which uses video instruction athome to flip the classroom. The flippedclassroom has become a useful approachto teaching, and so too could “flipping theteacher”.
Rick Nauert (2016), in his article “Student
Mindset Can Enhance Learning,”
reviewed research from a study in thejournal Memory and Cognition whichinvestigated how learners would approachlearning if they were anticipating teaching
the material to other students (flipping
their mind-set to being a teacher). Other
groups of learners in the study were told
they needed to learn the material for atest. The result was that the group oflearners who approached the learning in
the teacher mind-set naturally andactively tended to seek out and employ
more effective learning strategies. Nauert
commented, “The study suggests that
instilling an expectation to teach may be asimple, inexpensive intervention with thepotential to increase learning efficiency athome and in the classroom” (2016, para.
11). The idea is simple yet powerful. By
simply asking our students to “be ateacher”, we might be able to initiate amind-set that will encourage our students
to naturally utilize more active andeffective learning strategies. In their
preparation to teach, students will bethinking about how to effectively present
the material to the group, and selecting
examples might be relevant. Thus,
students will apply learning processes that
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are more active in nature than passive rereading of material or trying to remember
lists of ideas for a test.
In the college classes I teach, the focus ison the development of academic skills,
such as writing, reading, research, andcritical discussion. In one class, we may
cover two or three academic writing tips
and some reading skills, we may spend
time discussing the content of a reading,
and we may look at some ideas andconcepts connected to expanding on theideas in the reading. Thus, within theclass, several learning opportunities arise,some introduced by the teacher and some
generated by the students themselves. At
the end of each class, I usually spendsome time reviewing what was covered
and answering questions or taking
comments from students. After the class, I
select two or three students and send
them an email. In the email, I explain they
have been selected to “be a teacher”. Theirjob in the next class is to teach one or twoof the points or information we covered inany of our previous classes and add an
opinion, an example, or a fact. Somestudents become very motivated by this,making an appointment with me andcoming to my office to practice theirteaching, asking for my feedback andadvice. Further, while most of mystudents say they felt nervous aboutteaching the class, afterwards they almost
always say it was a valuable experience.
As the term progresses, I ask students to
do longer “be a teacher” presentations
and to add to the presentation a question
and answer section. This also gives me theopportunity to give my students advice on
presentation skills for future “be a!5CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018

teacher” attempts. One of my colleagues
who also started to do “be a teacher” told
me recently that when she forgot to assign
student teachers for the next class, thestudents who were next in line came up
and told her so, and asked her to schedulethem!
Not only is “be a teacher” a great way toactivate effective learning strategies inyour students, but you may find thestudents starting to teach you. Some of my“flipped teachers” have added
information, ideas, or ways of explaining
things to their presentation that have been
so interesting and relevant to the learners
that I have added them into my lessons.
In my two years of using “be a teacher” asa warm-up in my classes, I have found it
to be an activity my students find valuable
and enjoyable, and one that has given me
much food for thought when it comes toreflecting on my own teaching.
References
Crouch, C. H., & Mazur, E. (2001). Peer
instruction: Ten years of experience andresults. American Journal of Physics,
69(9), 970-977.
Nauert, R. (2015). Student mindset cane nh ance learni ng. Psych Centr al.
Retrieved fromhttps://psychcentral.com/news/
2014/08/11/student-mindset-canenhance-learning/73487.html

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Pondering the natureof authentic materials
Justin Pool, Osaka Kyoiku
University
Justin Pool is a member ofthe English Education
Department and a learning
advisor in the school's Global
Learning Community. He is
genuinely pleased to beparticipating in humanity andall of its extravagances.
pool@cc.osaka-kyoiku.ac.jp

Imagine you know nothing about lions (Iwill leave it completely up to you as towhat kind of scenario you want to create
in your head to explain this situation). To
remedy this gap in knowledge, you are
told that there is one in town at the local
zoo. You peer through a barred enclosure
to see this isolated beast with eyes glazed
over staring vacantly into the distance.
You spend all day watching as the docile
giant occasionally stands and ambles backand forth between the barren walls of its
enclosure before returning to its previous
state lying down with an apathetic yawn.
Now, imagine that instead of going to thezoo to learn about lions, you were able toobserve them firsthand in the savannas of
Namibia. You watch as they interact with
their pride. As your safari guide attempts
to quietly inch closer in the jeep, the lion
becomes alert, muscles tense, as it
protectively scans the landscape fordanger. Later in the day, you watch in awe
as the pride works together, covering thevast area with bounding leaps to viciously
take down a fleeing water buffalo.
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It is quite clear in which of these scenarios
you would garner a more accurate
understanding of the nature of a lion.
Only by observing a lion in its natural
habitat can we understand how it behavesin those conditions. Similarly, learning
about a language outside of the confinesof its natural environment can also offer
us a distorted view. When the language isrestricted to decontextualized sentences
in a textbook, the learner has no way tosee how the language interacts with its
vibrant surroundings. Authentic
materials, however, offer learners theopportunity to see the language
performing natural functions in its
natural environment.
It is quite easy to say that EFL teachers
ought to integrate authentic materials
into their curriculum. This conventional
wisdom acts as a dull magnet pulling at us
consciously or subconsciously,
influencing our pedagogical choices andmaterial selection. However, as is often
the case, taking a closer look reveals amuch more complex picture.
What are authentic materials?
Authentic materials are often defined as
those materials which the L2 community
produces for the intended consumption of
the L2 community. However, do these two
conditions alone make the use of thematerial an authentic experience? I would
argue that when taking a literalist view of
the term authentic materials there are
numerous other conditions that must be
met and that the likelihood of fulfilling allof the conditions in a classroom setting is
extremely low. Therefore, we should not
ask the question of whether materials are
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authentic or not, but rather to what extent
are they authentic.
First of all, material selection itself is an
obstacle to materials being truly
authentic. Teachers, with good reason,
tend to select “authentic” materials thatchallenge their students but are ultimately
digestible for students at a certain level.
There are also a myriad of otherpedagogical reasons why an educator
would select one “authentic” text overanother. The selection of materials itself,
however, reduces the authenticity of thematerials. In real-life situations, language
learners will not have simpler, levelappropriate language chosen for them.
Instead, they will need to make do withwhatever language input they are offeredin a given context. Thus, the act of
selecting linguisticallyappropriate
language provides an inauthentic
language scape for the learner. In short,selection is modification.
Another obstacle to materials used in theclassroom being authentic is the fact thatthey are often not being used in theirnatural context. The materials are often
being pulled from their natural context(be it a restaurant menu, an
advertisement, or a newspaper article)
and are then used in a decontextualizedstate. The teacher can give backgroundinformation about where the text comes
from, who the intended audience is, andwhat the greater scope and context of thetext are, but if the text wasn’t designed forthe language classroom, then theauthentic material is being used in an
inauthentic way. (If it were indeed
designed for the language classroom, it!7

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wouldn’t an authentic material in the firstplace).
Beyond these two additional
characteristics, in order for authentic
materials to truly be authentic they mustnot be altered for pedagogical purposes,
and they must allow for normalinteraction with the L2 community inaccordance with the type of material it is.
For example, a restaurant menu ought tobe used to perform its true function as avehicle for selecting and ordering food.
How can we create lessons with ahigh level of authenticity?
Allow me to offer one example of how I
try to have my students engage withauthentic materials in an authentic way.
In a restaurant unit, I use online
restaurant reviews. The use of these itself
would traditionally be seen as using
authentic materials in class. However,does simply reading these reviews
constitute engagement in an authentic
way? As an introductory activity, I select a
few English reviews of well-known
restaurants in the area. I delete any directreference to the restaurant’s name andask the students to use the reviews tofigure out which restaurant the review isreferring to. Despite lacking certain
characteristics of authenticity, engaging
in reading activities can bring positive
rewards. Learners practice dealing withtexts using top-down processing, theylearn the types of words and phrases usedby actual people, they acquire genrespecific knowledge, and they develop
confidence that they can successfully deal
with English texts to gather meaning.

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To also ensure that students have theopportunity to engage with the restaurant
review website in a more authentic way, I
assign learners to write their own reviewof the restaurant of their choice inEnglish. This requires learners to write
something that will be meaningful for anauthentic and real audience (English
language speakers visiting Japan).
Beyond the benefits mentioned in theprevious paragraph, learners are writing apublished piece for a broad, thoughunknown audience. This seems toincrease both focus and motivation.
Additionally, learners are able to associateEnglish with localized topics that are ofinterest to them.
Conclusion
The idea of a truly authentic material is amyth. It is certainly fair to point out thateven observing the lion in the savanna
will alter the lion's behavior by theobserver's presence. However, this is stillmuch more preferable than trying tounderstand what a lion is by observing its
existence in a zoo enclosure. Instead of
striving for perfect authentic materials,
we must understand our pedagogicalgoals and ask how our materials help toachieve those goals with the belief that,
overall, materials that embody moreauthentic characteristics will generally
offer more pedagogical rewards.

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Incorporating TV
commercials inuniversity classes
Daniel Velasco, Rikkyo
University
Daniel Velasco is anassistant professor andmental health therapist.
His research interests areinterculturalcommunication andcounseling support foruniversity students.
dvelasco@thechicagoschool.edu

It all started when I first played the
Pathways 2: Reading, Writing, andCritical Thinking DVD. I rarely use
textbook DVDs, especially in my reading
and writing classes, so using one was outof the ordinary for me. However, I wanted
to mix up my strategy for the current
lesson, so I decided to pop the Pathways
DVD into the player. Unfortunately, it wasa strange video on a German artist with amullet hairstyle that would make Patrick
Swayze’s Road House character jealous.
The video documented the artist’s attempt
at making people aware of the global trashproblem by creating a thousand “trashpeople”—sculptures of people made fromlandfill trash.
Those who swear by Pathways will most
likely label my cynicism as EFL heresy,
but it’s not meant to be an insult to
Pathways or the German Patrick Swayze.
The video is actually pretty interesting,but none of my students appeared to find
it interesting at all, and follow-up
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activities fell flat. I was reaching for highlevels of critical thinking and analysis but
instead got a room full of silence andblank stares.
This is the dilemma many university
educators find themselves in. With thecoming of globalization and the relaxingof immigration laws, Japanese
universities are scrambling to“internationalize” their programs bychallenging students to think morecritically, open-mindedly, and globally.
Although this is a great step forward for
the Japanese education system, theburden falls squarely on university
educators to energize their classes withcritical thinking activities that challenge
students to move out of their comfort
zones.
This leads me back to the German Patrick
Swayze. At the end of the video, I asked ausually kind and soft-spoken student,“Would you like to see the Trash People inperson?” She looked bewildered andresponded with a resounding “No! Wouldyou?” Her question caught me off guard.
“No,” I sheepishly replied, causing thestudents to erupt in laughter. Following
this, I was able to save the lesson, but I
learned to be much more careful about
using textbook DVDs.
Neuman, Wong, Flynn, and Kaefer (2018)
argued for the usefulness of incorporating
videos into classroom lessons, and I am
confident no one will debate this.
However, other researchers admit that“very little is known about video’s role inknowledge development and helping
critical thinking” (Carmichael, Reid, &!9

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Karpicke, 2018, p.5).
My goal was to reach what I termed“Global Critical Thinking” (GCT), which
combines both critical thinking skills andcultural understanding (one’s own culture
and other cultures) through lesson plans
centered around videos. The “Swayze”
incident led me to my search for videos
that would present serious global issues
while providing adequate entertainment
to my millennial audience. I remembereda great video of a Chinese detergent
commercial that I had used in a few otherclasses (discussed below), and soon foundmyself searching for more controversial
television commercials. I collected three,
and I will briefly list them here along withthe activities that I found success using.
The first video is actually a collection of
old Folgers Coffee commercials from the
1960s depicting the typical pretty,
subservient stay-at-home housewife
attempting to please her hardworking
husband but failing in dramatic fashion
with each cup of coffee she serves (Folgers
Coffee Sexist 60s Ads, 2011). After thevideo, I placed students into groups oftwo or three and asked them to choose
from one of the following:
1) Recreate one of the coffee ads toreflect a more “modern” family;2) reenact one of the commercials,
switching the genders; or3) act out one of the commercials as it ispresented, and afterwards discuss
how you felt during the performance.
The students really enjoyed putting on
little performances and were surprisingly
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candid about how they felt about
traditional gender roles, as well as thepros and cons of modern family
situations.
The second video is titled “Kool-aid Kids
in Japan” and tells the brief story of two
American children traveling to Japan,
only to be disappointed to find theirtraditional Japanese meal was not servedwith their favorite sugary beverage (KoolAid Kids in Japan 1960 commercial,2013). The Japanese stereotypes are
numerous, and so I chose to use an
exercise I created called the E.A.D.
(Evaluate, Analyze, Describe) (Velasco,2015). Briefly, students are asked to firstevaluate how they feel about what ishappening; next, analyze the situation—i.e., why it is happening; and finally,
describe the situation in the video in thesimplest terms. The activity is more
complex than simply evaluate, analyze,
and describe, and it takes some time toproperly explain it, but supportive
resources can be found online for thoseinterested in trying it.
The last video is the one previously
mentioned—the infamous Chineselaundry detergent commercial. It shows
an extremely attractive Chinese woman
shoving a laundry detergent pod into an
African man’s mouth before cramming his
body into her washing machine (Racist
Chinese Laundry Detergent Ad Qiaobi (俏比) ad, 2016). Instead of killing him,
though, the detergent magicallytransforms him into a skinny Chinese guy.
In classes with only Japanese students, I
find there are two kinds of response—they
either express how unbelievably racist the!10

CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018

commercial is or say it’s funny and thatthey don’t see a problem with it. For thisreason, I ask small groups to prepare a 5minute presentation on possible issues in
the commercial (Was the commercial
racist, or were there simply culturaldifferences/ misunderstandings?), andwhat they learned from the experience.
Teachers are certainly not tied to thesevideos, connected themes, and theaccompanying activities. Other topics/
themes teachers can explore are:• Culture/cultural differences• Gender roles (e.g., traditional vs.
modern)• Sexual/racial discrimination• Hierarchy/power distance & struggles• Socioeconomic status• Collectivist vs. individualist societies• Stereotypes
When creating and implementing lessons,the following steps consistently work forme:• Create a vocabulary list/handout (e.g.,cloze) to give to the class before you
show the video• Provide a pre-viewing discussion topic/
question, and hold small-group
discussions• Show the video several times, if
necessary• Hold small-group discussions or
activities (e.g., summarize the video)that lead into a full class discussion• Offer insights/guidance—don’t be afraid
to tell students what you think• Other in-class assignments or
homework: have students write journal
entries; assign a related article and havestudents write a reflection paper; assign
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group or individual presentations/speeches.
Finally, make sure you consider thefollowing points before your lesson:• Conduct a needs assessment for yourclass—what’s missing that will help
students understand more?
• Investigate themes that may beappropriate for your class—don’t pushthem too far!
• Consult with a colleague about yourideas. If something makes them
uncomfortable, chances are yourstudents will be, too.
• Plan to show your videos early in thelesson. Give your students time toprocess and discuss what they’ve seen
before they leave your class.
In conclusion, catching and keeping
students’ attention is a global issue ineducation, and almost every teacher
struggles with it. If classes become morechallenging and, dare I say,uncomfortable, then perhaps we canbegin helping our students become better
critical thinkers and interculturalcommunicators. And who knows—maybe
one of those videos will inspire a few ofyour students to get mullet hairstyles.
Patrick Swayze would be proud.
References
Carmichael, M., Reid, A., & Karpicke, J.
D. (2018). Assessing the impact ofeducational video on student
engagement, critical thinking andlearning. Sage Publishing. Retrieved fromhttps://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/
files/hevideolearning.pdf!11

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Folgers Coffee sexist 60s ads. (2011).
Retrievedfromhttps://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnjjkgIO3Ck
Kool-Aid Kids in Japan 1960 commercial.
(2013). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WMrRd6MYJP8
Neuman, S. B., Wong, K. M., Flynn, R., &Kaefer, T. (2018, April 26). Learning
vocabulary from educational media: The
role of pedagogical supports for lowincome preschoolers. Journal of
Educational Psychology. Advance online
publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/
edu0000278
Pathways – Chapter 4 – Trash People.
(2014). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ieMRVUrwinY
Racist Chinese laundry detergent ad
Qiaobi (俏比) ad. (2016). Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=X27dvuBSyXE
Velasco, D. (2015). Evaluate, analyze,
describe (EAD): Confronting underlying
issues of racism and other prejudices for
effective intercultural communication.
IAFOR Journal of Education, 3(2), 82-93.
Retrieved from http://iafor.org/archives/
journals/iafor-journal-of-education/
10.22492.ije.3.2.05.pdf

Autumn colors outside Fukuoka
University library

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CUE Careers
Cultivate youremployment dossier
Any downtime from teaching duties is agood time to organize and update yourprofessional dossier. Having yourprofessional life’s work in an accessible
and easily manageable format benefits
your professional development in
preparation for performance reviews, job
promotion, and most importantly, inapplying for a new job.
Although some universities’ application
processes require only a CV, most requirea variety of documents to assess acandidate’s qualifications. A good CV anda copy of your master’s degree is just the
beginning. Schaaff (2012) reminds us
there are two kinds of applications:“complete and incomplete.” The best way
to ensure that your application is read,rather than shredded, is to include all theitems requested in the posting. Be sure tofollow all instructions to the letter, eventhe niggling details such as writing“English Instructor Application” in red
ink on the envelope, if asked. It may seem
nitpicky, but it will guarantee that yourapplication lands on the correct desk. I
applied to one university that required ashort video of a sample lesson. I ignored
the request three times, and when I finallyadded the DVD on the fourth try, I got aninterview. The same goes for using
university-specific forms. Even if you havea perfectly organized and formatted CV, if
the university wants applicants to use a
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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

particular format, use it! It makes it easierfor the institution to hire you. The
additional effort is minimal, as theinformation required is quite similar
across institutions. It should only require
some careful cutting and pasting tocomplete. If you cannot provide somerequired document by the deadline, do
not ignore the requirement. Instead,explain why you could not deliver it andwhen you will be able to do so. For
example, it may take a few weeks fororiginal university transcripts or letters ofrecommendation to be delivered.
One additional point is professionalism incommunication. Respect the modes ofcommunication specified in the posting.
Do not call if email is requested. Also,
make sure that you are easy to contact via
email, post, or phone. Be sure to use anemail address that looks professional, not!13CUE CIRCULAR 11/2018<sexy.beers69@hotmail.com>. If yourmain email is “cute,” you can create a
simple, professional email address andhave all incoming mail forwarded to yourmain address. It is not advisable to use
the email for your current job for job
hunting correspondence, as there may be
issues of privacy and using company
resources for private matters. (The same
applies for making copies of your CV andpublications at work.) Other popularmeans of communication are the webbased video conferencing services, such as
Skype or Facetime. If you are applying
from abroad, having such an account canbe invaluable. Again, an innocuous screen
name is appropriate.
Below is an itemized list of the documents
typically required in an application for acontract or a tenure-track position. Not
every application requires each item, but
most require some combination of theitems listed.
Academic curriculum vitae (ACV)This is the most basic and widely required
document. You should have a complete
academic CV (ACV), and it should include
everything that is related to youracademic work. Your ACV should include
a list of all publications and presentationsin APA or MLA format. The ACV, in anutshell, is divided into four basic areas ofyour professional life: your education,
research (publications, presentations),
teaching experience, and service(committees, etc.). (For a detailed
description of the ACV, see Miller, 2011a,
2011b, 2017, 2018; Parrish, 2014.) The
cornerstone of this is the philosophy of
the “balanced scorecard” (Miller, 2011b)
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that helps indicate the areas ofprofessional self-improvement where one
should focus. The ACV is not just a historyof your accomplishments; it is somethingthat should be reflected upon and usedlater to help guide your professional goals.
List of academic publications
One of the ways that academic job
applications differ from those of otherprofessions is the emphasis placed on
published research, which serves as theprimary criterion that differentiates
candidates. An articulate andchronological list of all of your work
should be ready to go at any time. That
applies to those actively searching for
employment and those who have no plans
for any change, as institutions often
require periodic reports on research andprofessional activities to justify researchfunds and/or retention. The list should be
divided between “academic publications,”
consisting of articles, chapters, or books,
and what is termed sonota in Japanese, or“other published work,” which includes
shorter academic works, publishedfiction, or journalistic writing. The former
is the important one, and may be the only
list that a hiring committee will beinterested in seeing but the list of sonota
publications can be of interest for somecommittees and presents a broad view of
the candidate. While it might not beenormously influential, any positive effectwill help. The list should also include briefsummaries of the works. Ideally thisdocument would also be translated
professionally into Japanese.
Employers typically request a sample ofyour academic writing, that is, copies of!14

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your articles in peer-reviewed journals or
chapters in academic books, or even thebooks themselves. Keeping several
offprints or neat photocopies of your best
publications saves time before sending
applications. Some ask you to indicate on
your ACV which publications were
included with your application as well as
which were peer reviewed.
Documentation of educational
achievement
Even in the digital age where everything isavailable online or in the cloud, there arecases where physical evidence isnecessary. The first and foremost is theeducational degrees you have earned.
While a photocopy is usually sufficient,some employers may need you to produce
the original degree. Original diplomas andoriginal (or photocopies of) university
transcripts are increasingly required toverify that a candidate actually attended
and completed a course of study and to
determine how rigorous the course of
study was. Cases of fraud andmisrepresentation are occurring more andmore frequently. It is a good idea to order
several copies at once. One would be used
for photocopies and the others used incase the employer requires a sealedtranscript. Transcripts take time to arrive
from abroad, so ordering them early isimportant. Additionally, transcripts areuseful if an opportunity for further study
arises. Having the required
documentations at hand will be helpful.
Evidence of educational andprofessional excellence
Employers want to get a sense of whatkind of teacher or person you are. One
JALT CUE SIG

way of obtaining this is to ask for a
written statement regarding your teachingapproach or philosophy. The specificquestions vary, but the gist is the same.
Writing a basic version ahead of time cansave time when applying. Of course, thestatement would need to be tweaked foreach individual institution. Similarly,
employers ask candidates to provide an
example of a detailed model lesson or
sample curriculum. Sometimes they canbe lessons or courses you have taught, butother times they are expected to be uniqueto the application. In either case, finding
and preparing a few excellent lessons andsyllabi ahead of time and getting feedbackon them saves time when preparing anapplication. Some universities require avideo of a sample lesson. This may sounddaunting, but a video of a lesson taken ona smartphone may suffice. Some
universities require a list of all courses a
candidate has taught during their career.
Your employer can provide the course
titles, semesters taught, and enrollment
figures. Take the time to collate a concise
and complete document.
Another thing employers want to know iswhether the candidate is a good teacher.
Getting “proof of good teaching” means
one of several things: teaching awards,
letters of recommendation, or student
evaluations. Try to ensure that you arerecognized for your pedagogical skills andkeep those records. The easiest to forget
are likely to be the student evaluations, sokeep good records of those. Keep incontact with the people on your list of
professional referees, and update anychanges in title, institution, or email
address. Make sure you choose a referee!15

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who can speak confidently about yourabilities and qualifications, not just thehighest-ranking member of staff.
Closing notes
Remember to visualize each job as a
combination lock that has a set of criteriathat the hiring committee is looking tofulfill. You may not have every criterion
listed in the advertisement, but as ajobseeker, you need to fulfill as many of
the requirements as possible. By beingorganized and focused, you will increase
your chances of checking as many of theboxes as possible.
The importance of being prepared withan up-to-date academic or professional
dossier was highlighted for the authors
when we were both applying for jobs inJune. Both of us put a significant amountof time into preparing our applications,but one author had most of the materials
ready to go, while the other was
scrambling to re-assemble a portfolio. In
the end one dropped out and the otherultimately received a job offer.
Congratulations, Richard!
References
Miller, R. (2011a). Using the balanced
scorecard to keep your career on track.
The Language Teacher, 35(3), 74-75.
Retrieved from http://jaltpublications.org/tlt/departments/jobinfo-centre/articles/823-using-balancedscorecard-keep-your-career-track
Miller, R. (2011b). The basics of theacademic CV. The Language Teacher,35(4), 104-105. Retrieved from http://
jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/
job-info-centre/articles/992-basicsacademic-cv
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Miller, R. (2017, Dec. 13). Making impact
resumes. Retrieved from https://
jobsinjapan.com/blog/job-seeker-advice/
making-impact-resumes/
Miller, R. (2018, June 27). Tools for
success in Japan. Retrieved from https://
jobsinjapan.com/blog/job-seeker-advice/tools-for-success-in-japan/
Parrish, M. (2014). Balancing youracademic scorecard at JALT2014. The
Language Teacher, 38(4), 96-97.
Schaaff, G. (2012). Beyond your résumé:
Getting noticed and getting in. The
Language Teacher, 36(3), 75-76.
Retrieved from http://jaltpublications.org/tlt/departments/careerdevelopment-corner/articles

CUE Circular
Issue #7, November 2018
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 Editors

Dion Clingwall
Mark Howarth

Proofreading

Mary Hillis
Ryan Richardson
Glen Hill!16