He was active in helping to organize the Niihari-gun Interactive English Forum and was a judge at the South Ibaraki Interactive Speech Forum on August 3, 1999. The detailed information will be posted soon. Fukushima A series of participant-centred workshops on action research, led by Andy Curtis from Hong Kong, and in association with JALT's Teacher Education and Learner Development Special Interest Groups. Workshops will be geared to people both new to action research and familiar with action research. There will be plenty of time and chances for pair and group discussions, as well as plenary sessions, informal networking, and socialising.
Students use language for their own purposes and at their own time.
Just because they are quiet in the classroom, doesn't mean they aren't listening and learning. The presenter will introduce a functional approach to teaching conversational English which equips students with the basic language and rules they need to participate in polite conversation, provides another way of organizing the language they have learned in other classes, and encourages the students to build on what they have learned even after they have completed the course by raising their awareness of the language around them. This approach has been successful within the constraints of large groups, limited time, various levels of motivation and ability among students, and the necessity of evaluation. It can easily be simplified for junior high students or expanded for college students. For directions click here.