Edzil.la

Sessions Asia/Tokyo

Go Compact

All times are in Asia/Tokyo which you can change.

  • Jun 3rd • 18:00 • 3h • Enter virtual here • Conference Events • - • - @ Lounge

    Open to Presenters, Attendees, and Hosts. If you have any questions about the conference this weekend please drop in for a chat.

  • Lounge #1646

    Jun 4th • 17:30 • 1h45m • Enter virtual here • - • - • - @ Lounge

    A space for continuing conversations from presentations or just socializing. There will be self-selecting breakout rooms available, so feel free to enter one, relax, and see if anyone stops by to 'sit at your table'.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room C

    In the distance learning environment, fostering and nurturing classroom community has become increasingly important. Language learning takes place beyond the classroom through community engagement, interactions with peers, family, and friends. By encouraging our learners to value the importance of social and intellectual relationships, students respond positively to risk-taking, increased self-esteem and self-efficacy, develop greater cognitive performance, and so much more. ZOOM provides an online platform for students to not only interact with each other “in” the classroom but outside of it. In this workshop, I seek to offer a practical demonstration of how to effectively do this. I will introduce pre-teaching activities such as turn-taking strategies and conversation phrases and expressions. Following this, I will provide a structure to guide students in leading discussion circles through ZOOM. The workshop will end with student and teacher reflections, insights, and potential pitfalls.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room G

    This workshop will present the work of the EU-funded CLIL Open Online Learning Project (www.languages.dk). Since 2018, the project team have been updating and expanding the functionality of clilstore.eu - an Open Educational Resource which serves as a repository of open access materials and an authoring tool that enables educators to create multimedia learning units combining audio, video, text, images and Web 3.0 applications. Learner autonomy is underpinned by the way the authoring software treats embedded texts, that is, verbatim typescripts of audio or audiovisual recordings are automatically linked word for word to a nexus of online dictionaries that helps boost their reading skills. This workshop will introduce participants to the ways in which Clilstore can support Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and language learning generally. A selection of sample learning units showing how Clilstore.eu is currently being used to good effect will be presented. Participants will then be given a hands-on demonstration of how to author a new teaching unit containing: video/ audio content, transcript with all words linked to online dictionaries in over 100 languages, and embedded learning tasks. Participants will also learn how to use Clilstore's inbuilt portfolio and personal vocabulary tools. The Clilstore user interface is currently available in the following languages: Danish, English, Spanish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Italian.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room D

    Immersive learning has been a buzz word in the field of education for the past several years as an increasing number of affordable consumer devices and free/proprietary apps become available. Among various types of immersive learning solutions, virtual reality (VR) has gained much attention among educational technology researchers and developers worldwide. In this workshop, the presenter will show how to use Engage (https://engagevr.io/), a proprietary virtual reality app accessible on VR and non-VR devices, to create immersive learning materials for on-demand purposes and to conduct synchronous online classes. Given that VR headsets are not yet available to the majority of learners, this platform specifically designed for education can be a promising tool as it is compatible with PCs, iOS and Android mobile devices as well as major VR headsets. Although the freemium version has many features, a paid account is more beneficial for professional content creation and real-time use. The participants of this workshop are requested to download the app on their device in advance.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room E

    The author invites JALTCALL participants to a BOF (birds-of-a-feather) meeting where everybody thinks out loud in an informal setting. Data, analyses, and predictions of pre- mid- and post-pandemic virtual classrooms are scarce because the situation is developing. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, some teachers and schools chose to use virtual classrooms. During the pandemic, many teachers and schools were forced to use virtual classrooms. Soon, we hope, the pandemic ends. How widely will virtual classrooms continue to be used? Will teachers and students return to pre-pandemic format? Or will they continue to prefer virtual classes? What variables (such as the student's age, or class size, or subject matter) might affect the choice between real and virtual classes? Nobody knows what the "new normal" will be. Let us attempt to predict, in order to prepare. The author will provide objective data and subjective analyses. Members of the audience are encouraged to voice their observations and intuitions. A link to an online survey will be announced before the conference to bootstrap discussion. Outcomes of this session may be reported at JALT-2021.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room A

    Recent Studies (for example Saito, 2016) have found that in addition to conventional teacher-centred feedback, peer feedback in speaking classes can provide students with meaningful learning opportunities. However, learner reticence to provide face-to-face feedback, coupled with time constraints and the recent shift to online classes can make such feedback problematic. By using the free DocAppender plug-in for Google Forms as detailed in this hands-on presentation, attendees will be shown a way for learners to provide fast and easily accessible feedback to their peers. Using Docappander, students can type their observations on a Google Form, with this feedback being automatically sent to a Google Document, thus enabling the speaker to obtain swift reactions to their speaking performance, without the need for face-to-face spoken feedback . Attendees will firstly be shown a brief demonstration of the app. I will then show how to create a simple Google Form to send feedback to individual Google Documents assigned to students. Finally, attendees will be offered suggestions for further applications of the software beyond peer review in speaking classes. This workshop will be of particular interest to those teaching debate or presentation classes.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room B

    Rapid advances in AI offer opportunities to use speech recognition technology to enhance speaking tasks and improve speaking assessment for language learners. This online session will guide participants through the process of designing speaking tasks that can be automatically scored and that can provide individualized speaking feedback using the popular Moodle course management system. The speaking tasks can be designed and deployed using a free Moodle quiz-type plugin called ‘Speech Assessment’. The Speech Assessment quiz-type makes use of either the Google Speech Engine or the Amazon Transcribe engine to transcribe student speech into text which is then automatically scored using a phoneme-based algorithm. In this session, participants will be provided with a demo Moodle course and user account, and the process of designing custom speaking activities using text, images, audio and video prompts will be outlined by the presenter using Zoom’s screen sharing function, and a shared Moodle course that all participants will have access to. Participants will be able to create their own auto-scored speaking task in the demo Moodle course as they follow along with the presenter’s screen share. Both close-ended and open-ended speaking tasks will be introduced along with suggestions on best practices for deploying online speaking practice and assessment activities.

  • Jun 4th • 18:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room F

    Performance Assisted Learning (PAL) is a teaching method that can yield great benefits—such as personal growth—all the while accomplishing immediate syllabus objectives. PAL is inspired by approaches to learning such as communicative language teaching (CLT). Kindred to CLT, PAL activities sometimes ask learners to extend themselves (for their ultimate benefit) beyond their habitual comfort zones. Without due diligence though, such activities can be difficult to evaluate and document to everyone’s satisfaction—learners, teachers, and administrators… Spreadsheets can help remedy this quandary. Unfortunately, they are an under-employed (dare I say mystery?) resource for many classroom practioners. Basic spreadsheet usage is not difficult, and teachers can use them to facilitate and actualize a realm of CLT/PIE possibilities. This Show & Tell presentation will demonstrate spreadsheet use for (a) enabling latitudes of choice for learners, (b) guiding and mentoring learners in online or face to face conditions, and (c) rapidly conveying feedback to students about their efforts.

  • Jun 4th • 19:30 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Keynote Speaker • - • Plenary / Keynote Presentation @ Main Room

    Like any other learning subjects, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound, significant effect on language learning. Remote teaching is now common, and both teachers and students are getting used to learning via technology. This presentation has two parts. The first summarizes language learning before the pandemic and since it began and proposes things that do and do not change. Those that do not change include (1) the significance of design, (2) increased student input and output, (3) practice of the four skills, and (4) in-class and outside-of-class learning activities. The things that do change include (1) lesson series designed to include synchronous and asynchronous learning activities, (2) new input and output methods, (3) four skills training that uses control of information and media, (4) more learner-centered learning, and (5) a balance of data-driven and knowledge (theory)-driven approaches. One of the biggest differences between the traditional and the new hybrid era is that data collection has become easier and the types of data available are more varied. These learning data can enable our teaching to include more evidence-based interventions and just-in-time facilitations. The presentation’s second part focuses on the larger vision of technology-enhanced language learning. Technological advancements enable us to be more creative and innovative as instructional designers and teachers. The presentation discusses the further development of recent technologies and proposes their potential applications in the near future. Let’s imagine and discuss the possible directions of future language learning and some strategies for overcoming concerns.

  • Friday Night Social Event #1641

    Jun 4th • 21:00 • 1h • Enter virtual here • Conference Events • - • - @ Lounge

    Join other attendees for socializing and networking after the first Keynote session by Dr. Yoshiko Goda.

  • Lounge #1647

    Jun 5th • 09:00 • 10h • Enter virtual here • - • - • - @ Lounge

    A space for continuing conversations from presentations or just socializing. There will be self-selecting breakout rooms available, so feel free to enter one, relax, and see if anyone stops by to 'sit at your table'.

  • Jun 5th • 09:30 • 15m • Enter virtual here • Conference Events • - • - @ Main Room

    Welcome to JALTCALL2021! Let's kick off this event together, please join us for our opening ceremony on Saturday!

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 30m • Enter virtual here • Paper Presentation • - • Regular Presentation @ Room F

    The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted teaching, learning and testing. Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) are no longer assessed through the measurement of achievement in regular (on campus) exams. Research in this field has been so far oriented towards the online teaching methods and assessment but little has been done so far on the review of the SLO measurement methods. The traditional approach to the measurement of learning outcomes has mainly been based on the test-based measures including grades to assess the achievement of generic skills or disciplinary skills and competencies. A review of SLO measurement methods has become a necessity in order to ensure accuracy and efficiency. Taking into account insights from research on online teaching and assessment, we propose an alternative SLO measurement model that unites self-reported measures such as surveys with test-based measures (grades) to ensures more accuracy and efficiency in the measurement of student learning outcomes of online classes. We discuss the implications of this new approach to online teaching and assessment and illustrate how this combined approach might be implemented in the measurement of on line classes SLOs.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 30m • Enter virtual here • Paper Presentation • - • Regular Presentation @ Room A

    Teaching students the skills to become confident independent learners has emerged as a requisite ability to assure success in online and mobile learning. Many students lack the training, experience and knowledge to learn autonomously and know surprisingly little about the language-learning resources available to autonomous language learners. Furthermore, learner autonomy is a concept many students are uncomfortable with as they are dependent on face-to-face learning with the guidance and supervision of an instructor. This has limited student success in the remote learning that has been forced upon them in the past year. Consequently, it has become imperative that students have the knowledge and skills to learn independently. In this presentation, learner autonomy is presented as a teachable concept in the classroom that will help students learn better on their own away from teacher guidance and a skill they can use for lifelong learning. Such topics as learning to learn autonomously, degrees of learner autonomy, types of learners and learning styles, defining teacher-student roles related to autonomy and cultural expectations in the classroom will be discussed. Key elements of learner autonomy will be introduced as well as empirical research that assessed the effectiveness of teaching students to become more capable independent online and mobile learners. Participants will come away with a better understanding of how to empower student independence, practical examples of how students have become better autonomous learners, sites and applications for independent online and mobile learning and how remote and mobile learning will inform teaching in the future.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 30m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Regular Presentation @ Room G

    During the 2020 academic year, the spread of COVID-19 made a systematic approach to teaching and learning almost impossible. Teachers and students faced a year of uncertainty about how classes were to be conducted, either in person, on demand or a variation thereof. At the presenters’ institution, a small private university in Western Japan, many teachers spent the entire year cobbling together an effective learning environment, while students coped with varying degrees of success. Given the upheaval experienced, and armed with lessons learned, the presenters sought to provide specific training for new and veteran students on how to tackle university learning with more success in 2021. In this ‘show and tell’ presentation, six principles for effective online learning will be introduced. These include: having the right technology, preparing a study space, making a learning plan, planning for self care, collaborating with classmates, and communicating with teachers. Each topic was introduced to students in a short video, and learners were invited to document their individual approaches to creating an effective learning environment in a video/ written portfolio. The topics were revisited over the course of the Spring semester to help students build autonomy by encouraging them to solidify and maintain their goals longitudinally. The presenters will report on the progress of the project and share student perspectives. While the ideas presented in this talk center on online learning environments, they are also applicable to a variety of teaching situations making this talk relevant to all educators.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 30m • Enter virtual here • Paper Presentation • - • Regular Presentation @ Room H

    Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, Japanese higher education has had to come to terms with finding optimal online solutions for providing and continuing the education of university students. One of the facilities naturally caught up in this has been self-access learning centres (SALCs). With language learning advising being a key service such centres offer, it has been requisite for those working in them to make the transition from face-to-face to some kind of online distance support for students. Moreover, as non-teaching staff are said to be most vulnerable to position reductions given possible financial cuts arising from tuition fee cancellations or student enrolment reductions, there has been increased pressure to justify what they do as critical to the continuity of learning (UNESCO, 2020). These circumstances have indeed had a direct impact on how such self-access staff advise learners and inevitably changed the nature of their work. Consequently, this presentation reports on a qualitative exploratory study undertaken with one self-access manager at a Japanese university who was purposively selected to examine this issue. Semi-structured interviews and subsequent thematic analysis showed that making the transition to online language learning advising has been challenging for this individual with continuous pressure to demonstrate innovation and the necessity of his position.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 30m • Enter virtual here • Paper Presentation • - • Regular Presentation @ Room E

    The purpose of this presentation is to share findings related to the use of podcasts to build vocabulary retention and production skills while promoting speaking confidence in English language learners. First, studies on previous applications of podcasting in language acquisition and the effects of such uses on the development of students’ skills are explored. The presenter will then detail the way podcasts are used in each lesson to maximize retention of the vocabulary phrases and their use by providing a sample of the flow of each lesson. There will be a demonstration of how to use the mobile podcasting app to allow collaboration during remote teaching. In addition, participants will hear a sample of an episode from the student-produced weekly podcast, which is based on conversation topics presented through a teacher-selected ESL podcast. In each student-produced episode, students summarize the contents of that week’s podcast and then personalize the material by sharing their opinions or experiences pertaining to the situations presented in each episode. Subsequently, the affective measure of confidence and the increased use of new vocabulary phrases are investigated by analyzing student podcast content and sharing questionnaire results. Participants are members of an advanced Conversation & Listening class as part of a 14-week academic Continuing Education IEP (Intensive English Program). They are part of 2 intact classes of 13 students total, whose ages range from 22 to 48 with a median age of 35. The class is comprised of 10 females and 3 males, and the majority of them have studied English for 2 years or less. However about 20% of them have studied English for 5 to 7 years. They are currently studying at the highest level at Long Island University in the US, which is B2 and C1. Attendees will come away with a solid methodology for using podcasts as a main teaching tool in their classrooms, including a worksheet sample and suggestions for appropriate podcasts for English Language Learners. They will also understand how to use a particular podcasting app.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Show & Tell Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room C

    As educators turned to online tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, many adopted Zoom as their remote teaching platform. One feature of Zoom is the ability for teachers to share slides with their students synchronously during the lesson. Although this feature was essential for teaching, the teacher's face became separate from the slides. This disconnect is less than ideal for communication, especially for language learners. So, Zoom added a new feature in the Fall which allows the speaker to use a slide deck as a virtual background, allowing the speaker to appear inside of their own slides. In this workshop, participants will learn how to use this function and how to optimize slides according to design and pedagogical principles. The presenter will also demonstrate how to use this feature to record video content for students to view on demand. Workshop participants will be encouraged to interact with questions and suggestions.

  • Jun 5th • 10:00 • 1h15m • Enter virtual here • Sponsored Presentation • - • Workshop Presentation @ Room I

    Learning English essay writing as an EFL student can be challenging especially if the conventions of essay writing in the student’s native language, such as Japanese are different. EssayJack’s smart writing templates provide structure and delineate the conventions for English academic essay writing with options for educators to customise the templates to provide varying levels of writing guidance and instructions including choice of transition sentences, tips, interrogative prompts, video, and audio files according to student writing proficiency. Studies of students who have used the platform show that it increased writing confidence and reduced writing anxiety as it demystifies how to organise and what to write for an essay in English.