Conference Reviews
Two Perspectives on the 48th Annual
2022 JALT Conference
William Brooks and Anthony Young
Aichi University
JALT 2022, the 48th Annual Conference on Language Teaching and Learning& Educational Materials Exhibition was held at the Fukuoka InternationalCongress Center on November 11-14, 2022. The venue was conveniently locatedin the scenic city port area, approximately two kilometers from Hakata Station.
It was the first in-person/online (hybrid) conference and the first opportunity
for face-to-face interaction at an annual JALT conference since the onset of theglobal pandemic. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to catch up
with old friends and make new acquaintances in person. The city had a vibrantnightlife and an endless array of restaurants that boasted delicious cuisines, such as
mentaiko (spicy cod roe), tonkotsu ramen, and motsunabe. In addition, Fukuoka’s
famous Christmas illuminations along the Naka River provided attendees with avariety of splendid activities and experiences to enjoy between events.
At the conference all online and hybrid sessions were handled on theCVENT web-based platform, which showcased presentations about bridging
the gap between research and teaching practices. Consequently, both attendees(and presenters), William and Anthony were eager to attend and learn how othereducators might feel about this possible divide and how they would approachthe challenge.
Participants could pre-register online, and as usual, the registration staff
members were helpful and friendly. The conference venue consisted of twoadjacent buildings, the main five-story hall and the “S” annex, which offereddozens of rooms hosting numerous presenters. Most rooms were spacious, yet184

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small enough to allow for active Q & A exchanges. The central lobby areas oneach floor of the main building were also ideal for social interaction amongcolleagues and meeting fellow conference attendees.
The conference kicked off on Friday with primarily technology in teaching(TnT) workshops. Louise Ohashi presented on machine translation, exploring
the importance of setting usage guidelines to reduce academic misconductand maximize learning opportunities. William found her suggestions helpful,in considering ways to control students use of translation software in his own
essay writing courses. Jerry Talandis and Theron Muller also presented on how
to facilitate student autonomy and self-evaluation using Etherpad and Vocaroo,
two free online tools. Both Anthony and William particularly enjoyed how
Etherpad could simultaneously be used to collaboratively edit text documents
and see all changes in real-time by displaying each author’s text in separate colors.
On Saturday, the plenary speaker, Jim McKinley, presented on the nexus
between language research and teaching practices. He had been a practitioner
before moving on to a full-time research career in London, so Anthony found hisperspective on the growing divide between teachers and researchers insightful
and helpful to reflect on his own attempts at classroom-based research. Thiswas followed by Ryoko Tsuneyoshi’s presentation on the Japanese education
system’s problem of having internationalization based around English language.
Tsuneyoshi’s argument about how English as an international language is often
aimed at having our students converse with native speakers abroad, yet often
instructed by non-native speakers, reminded William of how Japan has a long
way to go in terms of accepting English as a lingua franca.
Both William and Anthony attended Paul Leeming’s presentation onfostering motivation through task-based learning using self-determination
theory as a framework to understand how task-based language teaching enhanceslearner motivation. Anthony found it interesting how Leeming demonstrated
the differences between the presentation-production-practice approach andtask-based instruction, and how tasks are able to promote more meaningfulclassroom interactions. William also enjoyed John Creswell’s afternoon online
plenary about mixed methods research approaches. Since William is currently
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conducting research for his PhD project, he found Creswell’s 10-step approach
useful in evaluating qualitative and quantitative aspects of data collection and inchoosing which mixed-method designs may be most appropriate for him.
On Saturday afternoon, William conducted a 25-minute workshop on
teaching students how to use MS Excel and MS Word with project-basedlearning. William provided practical guidance on how to develop lessons plans
and student scaffolding to create model company ledgers and annual business
reports which can also be also applied as a practical writing exercise.
On Sunday, Anthony attended Kensaku Yoshida’s plenary on MEXT’s new
course of study. Based on feedback from students, Yoshida was able to show
attendees how instruction at primary and secondary schools is slowly becoming
more influenced by research-based SLA approaches. This is promising, as it
shows a shift towards more interactive, student-focused language education.
In her plenary, Karen Hill Anton highlighted her worldwide travels andhow they became a journey of self-discovery. Elsewhere, Chia Suan Chongpresented on how to help students become more effective international
communicators. This interactive workshop featured practical lesson ideas on
how to stimulate reflection and speaking practice through critical thinking
activities, storytelling, and drama. Anthony found this interesting as he often
incorporates critical thinking exercises into his own curriculum from time totime. On Sunday afternoon, Anthony gave a presentation on the effectiveness ofsynchronous online communication modes, specifically text chat and voice chat,to promote uptake in the EFL classroom. The results of his study showed howcommunicative environments affect learning gains and how certain task types
are more conducive to certain communication modes than others.
Overall, both Willima and Anthony felt the 2022 JALT conference was agreat success. Navigating the venue was not too difficult, and finding the way
to each presentation on time was quite easy. However, in hindsight, they think
it would have been better if they had planned out their days more carefully
beforehand to avoid taking so much time in corridors and pondering about which
presentation to attend next. Having a busy schedule as most instructors do often
hinders prior planning due to travel and preparation for personal presentations,186

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and this being the first in-person conference in a couple years proved to bea reminder that preparation is imperative. Nevertheless, all of the presentersthat they observed were very professional and eager to share their experiences
and research findings in front of a live audience again. William and Anthonyhighly recommend future JALT conferences to anyone who is passionate about
their teaching, second language acquisition, research, and connecting with likeminded people.

Authors’ Bios:

William Brooks is an associate professor in the Faculty of International
Communication, Department of Global Liberal Studies, Aichi University. Williamis currently pursuing his PhD on labor migration at Nagoya University. His researchinterests are CALL, project and task-based learning, and critical thinking. brooks@vega.aichi-u.ac.jp.
Anthony Young is an associate professor in the Faculty of Letters, Literature
Department, Aichi University. Anthony just completed his Doctor of Education at
the University of Southern Queensland on task-based learning through synchronous
computer-mediated communication. His research interests include task-based
language teaching, CALL, and machine translation. anthony@vega.aichi-u.ac.jp.

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