You can test the Zoom link for F21 here. (The room camera is not switched on yet)

The goal of content-based instruction (CBI) is to teach the subject—not the language—with the goal of providing genuine topics that interest and motivate the student beyond what many sterile language textbooks achieve. Literature is a creative product aimed at stimulating interest, so as a CBI subject it perhaps has the greatest potential to engage EFL students. Literature ranges from six-word memoirs, to comic books, to lengthy novels: it's creativity knows no bounds. As literature is a creative product, so too are the methods for using literature in language education. This forum mimics the theme of the conference : (Re) Imagining Language Education. How do you use literature to engage your students?

In this LiLT forum, we would like to address this topic. Presenters will share their experiences in how they use literature in their classroom.

Integral to the forum's success is audience participation; questions and insights will be solicited and greatly appreciated. Non-members and LiLT members alike are encouraged to attend and enrich our friendly and inclusive forum.

Performance in Education refers to the use of activities such as roleplays, skits, process drama, readers theatre, speech, debate, oral presentations, dance, music, spoken word, rap, kamishibai, film, and podcasting in education. The Performance in Education SIG focuses on the use of these activities by teachers and students inside and outside of the classroom. The SIG Forum will feature lightning presentations (10-minute presentations) by a diverse lineup of presenters who will share their ideas and experience on the various facets of Performance in Education.

In this Forum, three Pragmatics SIG members will take turns sharing how and why they became interested in the field and what specific areas they have worked on. They will then use their creative imagination to brainstorm where they hope the field of pragmatics—and in particular, our SIG--will go in the future. The panelists include Jim Ronald, who will speak about his constant efforts to develop and promote pragmatic activities for the second language classroom. Next, Yosuke Ogawa will talk about using an interdisciplinary approach and the synthesis of approaches, i.e., an examination of conversation analysis, discourse analysis and sociolinguistic research. Then, Benio Suzuki will share his practical work on requests and refusals, and his research on interactional competence. Noriko Ishihara, another expert and a well-known professor of pragmatics, will guide the overall discussion. The main goal is to share with the audience the wide range of topics where pragmatics is relevant and engage everyone in a discussion about future pragmatic directions.

As the pandemic forced us to move online, learner needs became more diverse and complicated in language education. Teachers’ resources and strategies increasingly face a growing need to reflect these changes. The Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (2016) mandated the provision of equal educational opportunities for all learners, including those with special needs. However, according to JASSO (2020), the percentage of students with special needs in higher education slightly decreased last year. This raises the following questions: Does online teaching better accommodate learners with special needs? Did the online context level the playing field and make traditional differences and difficulties invisible for teachers in? Further research is needed to fully understand these changes. In light of this, the ALL SIG forum will focus on sharing ideas and relating experiences of all participants. This forum will showcase individual stories and experiences creating needs analysis framework for the purpose of assessing contexts and sharing strategies and resources. By creating a support network, educators can work together to address the diversity of needs reflected in today’s classroom. The goal is to raise awareness of diverse learner needs and develop inclusive strategies for language teachers and school administrators.

The panelists will talk about the lack of knowledge in creating barrier-free classes for learners with different abilities, current changes in policies in Japan, and how teachers are working with students to make their classes more inclusive. The session will begin with definitions of disabilities, issues faced by teachers who are not trained in recognizing them, and how teachers can create or modify classes to be effective for all students. Panel members will speak about helping students at all levels of education. We also hope to have enough time to answer participants' questions and help them make their own classes barrier-free.

Find out what to look forward to in 2023!