Final committee meeting to prepare for PanSIG2022

You can test the Zoom link for E21 here. (The room camera is not switched on yet)

This is the Forum of the gender awareness in language education (GALE) SIG. GALE’s mission is to research gender and its implications for language learning, teaching, and training; to improve pedagogical practices, develop language teaching material; to raise awareness of workplace and human rights issues related to gender for language professionals; and to increase networking opportunities among language professionals interested in teaching, researching, and/or discussing issues related to gender and language education. Forum speakers represent a wide range of research and perspectives on gender awareness in language education within the SIG and the organization of JALT as a whole. Presenters will engage in discussion of the importance of gender issues within the language teaching profession.

This forum is a collaboration between the Teaching Young Learners (TYL) SIG and the Intercultural Communication in Language Education (ICLE) SIG. Its aim is to showcase how intercultural communication is approached in primary and secondary schools from a variety of perspectives. Some of our invited presenters will share their research based on descriptors from the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (FREPA) as to what degree intercultural communicative competence is promoted in the new elementary school English textbooks. Presenters will also discuss the difficulties of teaching aspects of an L2 that are not a common feature in the L1 sociocultural environment, engaging ways in which a teacher can introduce their own country and culture to a class, how the School Lunches Project promoted the development of an investigative stance towards plurality, and how intercultural understanding is incorporated in pre-service teacher education.

The Brain SIG’s monthly Think Tank publication has become the focus of our efforts to learn and teach others about the brain. By drawing on the expertise of SIG members in Japan and authors around the world, we are able to address a wide range of topics related to neuroscience, psychology, and language learning. In this forum editors and authors from the MindBrainEd Think Tanks will give short, concurrent presentations related to some of the topics we have covered over the last year, then lead small group discussions to explore these topics in more depth and relate them to your teaching practices. Join us and find out how our Think Tanks help us make brain research meaningful and engaging for educators.