In commemoration of 50th anniversary of its founding ――

 

The 46th National Conference of Shin-Eiken

(New English Teachers’ Association)

(http://www.shin-eiken.com)

 

Conference Theme: Humor, Peace, Language, and We as human beings

(Sub-theme : Provide all children with the joy of learning a foreign language and the strength to carve out a peaceful future.)

 

August 1st (Sat.) thru 3rd  (Mon.),  2009

Seisen University, Tokyo 

 

[Conference Main Schedule]

Date  Time  Contents

1st Day  August 1st (Sat.)

13:30 - 15:45  Symposium on English Education

16:00 - 18:00  Level Focus Seminars (Shin-Eiken Koza)

18:15 - 20:00  Reception, and Block Parties (Regional Chapter Parties)

 

2nd Day  August 2nd (Sun.)  

 9:00 - 12:00   Special Interest Group Sessions (morning)

12:00 - 13:20  “Tokyo Bazaar” 

(Presentation and sales of original teaching materials made by Shin-Eiken teachers)

13:30 - 17:00  Special Interest Group Sessions (afternoon)

17:30 - 18:30  Cultural Event (Kurosaka Masafumi kokarina concert)

18:45 - 20:00  Shin-Eiken’s General Meeting

 

3rd Day  August 3rd (Mon.)

 9:00 - 10:45   Workshops / Thematic Special Interest Group Sessions 

11:00 - 12:30  Special Lecture (by Arthur Binard, American poet and writer)

14:00 - 17:30  Optional Bus Tour

   (Daigo-Fukuryu-Maru Exhibition Hall, and the Tokyo Raid and War Damages Center)

 

[Opening Address]

Create a New Half Century of History

   Yanagisawa Tamio, Shin-Eiken President

   Since its founding in 1959, for 50 years the organization Shin-Eiken has implemented teaching practices based on the principles of enjoyable and understandable classes, and foreign language education that helps students form individuality and character. 

   This year we are facing many new challenges. The new teaching guidelines for elementary education require schools to include “English education activities” in their curriculums. These guidelines, which came into force in March of 2008, are now being enforced. The new teaching guidelines for senior high school, revised in March 2009, request or require that English teachers use English for an entire 50-minute class “in principle.” Teachers in primary and secondary education around the country are facing controversial issues with courage. 

   Shin-Eiken is at the threshold of creating a new half century of history, and we feel that the 2009 national conference will be epochal. We hope that the three-day conference will provide every participant with discussion, exchanges of experience, and dialog on teaching practice that will make the conference not only useful, but inspiring.

 

Every Child Beaming in English Class 

   Ahara Shigemitsu,

   2009 National Conference Organizing Committee Chairman 

   A half century has passed since the start of our effort to establish the theory and practice of student-centered education in English as a foreign language. 

   For five decades we have accumulated countless practical applications and exciting teaching materials related to peace, ecology and human rights. These have led to classes which, because they include self-expression methods, have made every child in the class just beam.

   This experience has taught us that the acquisition of foreign languages is much more than a classroom exercise. Positive language learning experiences lead to a more exciting and larger world for students and the adults they will become. It not only creates added zest for living for the children, but is indispensable to those who will be living in the 21st century as an age of harmonious coexistence. 

   I firmly believe this national conference will empower every participant, and give invigoration and motivation to them for their future careers as professional educators.     

 

[Schedule]

1st Day   Saturday, August 1st

13:30-15:45

Shin-Eiken 50th Anniversary Symposium

   English Education in Japan: Beginnings and the Story for the Future

―On the occasion of the introduction of Elementary School English Activity Programs―

   In this symposium four panelists given below will speak about the origin and future of foreign language education in Japan from their unique viewpoints. 

・ Erikawa Haruo, professor of Wakayama University, a specialist in English education

・ Kathy Matsui, professor of Seisen University, who studies Global Citizenship and Peace Education

・ Shibata Yoshimatsu, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo , and a researcher of Semenovich Vygotsky, founder of cultural-historical pedagogy 

・ Takiguchi Masaru, professor of Shiraume Junior College, and Shin-Eiken member 

 

16:00-18:30

Shin-Eiken Koza: New English Teachers Association Level Focus Seminar

   The ten simultaneous sessions of this seminar are intended to inform participants of the many wonderful and exciting practical applications in English education conducted by Shin-Eiken teachers. Each session focuses on a school level, a grade level or period, or textbook level of difficulty.

   Session IA: the Beginning Period of Junior High School

 　　Araki Yoshie, Tokyo: ‘I was just having fun, but I got something done too!”

   Session IB: the Beginning Period of Junior High School

 　　Fukuda Kaori, Shiga: ‘”Regular” lessons with a happy twist’

   Session IIA: Junior high second and third years

 　　Narita Shigeki, Aomori: ‘All the way to Interviews step by step―it all starts with easy memorization skills!’

   Session IIB Junior High second and third years

 　　Yoo Sunchi, Osaka: ‘Kids connect, kids make connections: Focus on lesson design’

   Session III: High School with easy authorized textbooks

 　　Yoshiura Junji, Osaka: ‘Movies, music and plays: creating positive involvement and using digital materials’

   Session IV A: High school with challenging authorized textbooks

 　　Nakamura Tatsuhiko, Oita: ‘The college prep high school: emotional resonance in the classroom’

  Session IV B: High school with challenging authorized textbooks

 　　Shimazaki Tsuguo, Tokyo: ‘Full use of Unicorn I: the authorized textbook as stimulus for self-expression in speeches, songs and letters’

  Special session IA: English Classes for Elementary School

 　　Kitano Kyoko, Shizuoka: ‘English the code: breathing life into the code and turning it into the children’s own words’

  Special session IB: English Classes for Elementary School

 　　Sakamoto Hitomi, Tokyo (Toyo Gakuen University): ‘Elementary School English as it should be: planting the seeds’

  Special session II English at the University level

 　　Nishino Takako, Tokyo (Kanda University of International Studies): ‘Experiments in reading class: application of oral introduction, multiple reading, Japanese previews’

 

2nd Day Sunday,  August 2nd 

9:00~12:00&13:30~ 17:00

Special Interest Group Sessions

 　　The SIG sessions address themes and issues of concern to English teachers in Japan. 

SIG 1: Government Authorized Textbooks and Original Materials

 　　This SIG provides reports on how to coordinate required textbook materials with enhanced original materials.

 　　Presentation 1 features junior high school teacher Omino Hiroshi of Tokyo: Creating original materials to inspire the students, using the NHK drama Full Swing and other sources. 

 　　Presentation 2 by high school teacher Morishima Yoko of Ibaraki focuses on the goal of making creative lessons.

 

SIG 2:  Reading Between the Lines

 　　This SIG researches techniques on reading English, with the goal of helping students to catch literal meanings of texts and to be moved, changed and stimulated by what they read. 

 　　Presentation 1 gives examples from junior high school and the application of English editions of Japanese works, with a focus on ‘Naita Akaoni’, the red ogre who dreams of making friends with ordinary people. The presenter is Shioya Yasunobu of Yamaguchi. 

 　　In Presentation 2, Nozaki Masaru of Shiga will present how he helped his high school students to learn ‘How to Read Between the Lines.’

 

SIG 3: English Grammar Instruction 

 　　This SIG explores methods to incorporate grammar instruction into the higher goal of self-expression, peace education and student centered instruction. 

 　　Presentation 1 by Toyoda Fumie, a junior high school teacher from Oita, presents  instruction on relative pronouns which she used to help students express more in English. 

 　　Presentation 2, by Kaiki Yukito, a senior high school teacher from Toyama, will give techniques on how to inspire students to express themselves in grammatically correct English using a ‘spell’which he calls ‘Who, What, Where, When....”

 

SIG 4: Oral Methods and Audio Materials.

 　　This SIG concentrates on techniques to make effective use of oral resources and audio materials. The SIG works with pronunciation skills and classroom exercises including reading texts aloud.

 　　The 1st presentation will be how to make oral drills and practice sessions more effective. The presenter is Kubo Takeshi, a junior high school teacher from Nagasaki. 

 　　In Presentation 2 high school teacher Matsui Emiko from Toyama will present techniques on how to help students improve their English through reading aloud.

 

SIG 5: Raising Skill Levels and Evaluation

 　　This SIG concentrates on methods to help students improve overall skills in studying English and techniques of evaluation which fully reflect and encourage student improvement. 

 　　Presentation 1 by Koretsune Masumi, a junior high school teacher from Hiroshima, will explore encouraging students to cooperate in groups, rather than compete. 

 　　Presentation 2 addresses the issue of encouraging students to express their opinions, and will be presented by Yokochi Reiko, a high school teacher from Shizuoka.

 

SIG 6: Cooperative Learning, Learning from Self

 　　This SIG presents reports based on methods of cooperative learning in groups.  This SIG also attempts to relate the group learning experience to learning that occurs as a result of individual student experience and self evaluation.

 　　Presentation 1: Negishi Tsuneo of Saitama will present Cooperative Learning at junior high school; how to improve English classes and reform educational systems. This teacher uses the principle of the Learning Community (manabi no kyodotai), an idea originated by Sato Manabu, professor of Pedagogy at the University of Tokyo.   

 　　Presentation 2: Tokunaga Seiichi of Hokkaido will present a report on Cooperative learning in high school.

 

SIG 7: How to Invigorate and Encourage Slow Learners

 　　This SIG concentrates on the issues related to slow learners in regular classes, and low-level classes, and how to develop teaching materials and techniques to address their needs in English while allowing introduction of self-expression, peace education and student centered learning.

 　　Presentation 1: Sekiguchi Moriyoshi, a junior high school teacher from Tokyo, presents ideas on how to encourage slow learners to express themselves. 

 　　Presentation 2: Night high school teacher Ishiyama Hiroo of Yamanashi will talk about how to encourage students of various skill levels at night high school. 

 

SIG 8: Teaching Methods for Self-expression

 　　This SIG has concentrated on the creation and revival of methods and materials to help students express thoughts, feelings and themselves.

 　　Presentation 1 will focus on how to conduct activity packs (lessons in which students always do certain activities in a certain time frame; obi gakushu).  Morita Yasuhiro, a junior high school teacher from Toyama, has practiced activity packs in his lessons to encourage students to express themselves.

 　　Presentation 2: Nagayama Masako, a higher professional school teacher in Toyama, will present ways to lessen the teachers’workload when checks of English journals or large amounts of student written material require evaluation. 

 　　Presentation 3 looks at methods to teach students expressive skills through activities. The presenter is Kitano Kyoko, an elementary school teacher from Shizuoka.

 

SIG 9: Peace, Environment and Human Rights Education

 　　This SIG seeks to develop methods to prepare materials within national curriculum goals that also educate students about peace issues, environmental problems and human rights. 

 　　Presentation 1 focuses on two examples of peace education materials easily available, and putting them to use in the classroom. Source materials are the story of the Lucky Dragon fishing boat caught in the fallout of an H-bomb test in 1954, and Mutchan, about a girl who lived through the bombing of Oita. The presenter is Otagaki Yasushi, a junior high school teacher from Kyoto.

 　　In Presentation 2, Nagata Suwako, a junior high school teacher in Hyogo, presents how she used a future simulation exercise to introduce environmental issues into her class, in which students used future simulation techniques to envision life and the environment in 2050.

 　　In presentation 3, a senior high school teacher Saito Takako of Saitama, presents original awareness studies which she used for students’required preliminary work for a school trip to Nagasaki, including summer homework and the English II textbook. 

 

SIG 10: Assistant Language Teachers and the English Classroom

 　　This group was begun in the 90s to address issues related to ALTs in the junior and senior high schools. There is a strong emphasis in most of the reports and presentations on the promotion of team teaching, respect of the talents and abilities of the foreign teacher, and encouraging strong human contact with students.

 　　In Presentation 1, Shiro Yumiko, a junior high school teacher, presents effective use of the ALT to conduct activities in the class, including ‘chat’ sessions, skits and group activities.

 　　Presentation 2 will provide suggestions on how to incorporate the ALT in presentation activities such as speeches and group presentations. The presenter will be Kasuya Takako, a senior high school teacher from Shizuoka.

 

3rd day  Monday, August 3rd 

9:00 ~ 10:45

Workshops  

1) Elementary School English 

 　　‘Preparation for Serious English Lessons: Getting the Alphabet Down’.

 　　Ogata Tomoko, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science

 　　Most English teachers have had the experience that students well prepared in the alphabet succeed in making the transition to pronouncing English words more quickly. This is a result of alphabet work in which students unconsciously absorb basic pronunciation of letters, variations, and combinations of letters into syllables. Ogata Tomoko will speak about a systematic instructional program designed for elementary schools in Nagasaki, called ‘Getting the Alphabet Down.’

 

2) Junior High School English

 　　‘Let Every Student Have a Chance to Shine Out’

 　　Hibi Kazuko, Junior High School Teacher, Kanagawa

 　　Students entering junior high school are difficult to group according to English experience and character development. In this environment teachers need to increase their skills and techniques to let individual students have a chance to shine out, within the framework of the English lesson, and at the same time the lesson must benefit all the students. This workshop will allow the participants to experience a variety of activities with the aim of valuing the individual.

 

3) High School English

 　　‘The 4 “R’s” and High School English I lesson development’

 　　Hagiwara Ichiro, high school, Kanagawa

 　　The incorporation of the 4 ‘R’s’ of reading, writing, listening and responding (speaking) into English I lessons requires quite a balancing act. This workshop allows participants to experience the planning stages of English I lessons in which the 4 ‘R’s’ are fully used. The workshop will cover issues such as home instruction, lessons and relating lesson work to mid-term and final tests.

 

4) Songs in the English Lesson

 　　Yonemushi Ken’ichi, high school, Saitama

 　　English songs are frequently featured in original and textbook lessons. But do the students really get the message? There is more to a song than sweet sounds and poetic lyrics. This workshop will suggest ways to get more out of lessons which make use of songs, and provide ways to help students get more out of songs when they are used.

 

5) Making Use of Cooperative Learning Situations -- A beginner’s workshop

 　　Fushino Kumiko, Rikkyo University

 　　Cooperative Learning sessions are used for the obvious benefits for students of mutual encouragement and shared success. However many teachers are faced with creating cooperative learning lessons without guidance on the effective use of this format. This workshop will suggest ways to incorporate cooperative learning into English lessons, and guide participants through a mock planning and lesson session.

 

Thematic Special Interest Group Sessions

1) The Tokyo Air Raid: A Survivor’s Testimony

 　　Motoki Sachiko, survivor of the attack, will talk about her experiences in the Great Tokyo Air Raid, which resulted in the deaths of 100,000 people. The bombers targeted the flammable roofs of civilian dwellings, which should have constituted a war crime. Ms. Motoki will talk about how survivors and other citizens formed the Tokyo Air Raid and War Damage Center. Ahara Shigemitsu, advisor to the Center, will talk about a 21st century without atomic weapons; and the World Peace for Children statue.

 

2) Global Citizens Seminar --- Japan & the Philippines 

 　　Matsui Kathy of Seisen University and Jin Naoko, representative of Bridge for Peace, will talk about the concept of Global Citizenship and the Bridge for Peace, and the process of overcoming conflict and difference and working for peace.

 

3) Shine the Light of Article 9 upon the Whole World!

　　　Nara Katsuyuki of Shiraume Gakuen University and Nagata Suwako, a junior high school teacher from Hyogo, will talk about the importance of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, and conveying it to the world; this will lead to peace studies in the classroom, the song ‘Negai’, and building schools in Kenya.

 

4) Ecology and Culture―Everyone, Let’s Be a Namakemono (Sloth)!

　　　Baba Naoko, President of the NGO Namakemono Club, will present “Slow Lifestyles and Candle Nights.” How can these citizens’ movements change how we think about the ecology and our society? Baba Naoko, president of the Sloth Club NGO, will talk about the group’s activities and how their work links to English classes about the ecology, cultural change and world peace.

 

5) English Classes in Korea ----KETG (Korean English Teachers Group)

 　　KETG has been conducting fruitful exchanges with Shin-Eiken for the past 9 years. This presentation, led by Hong Wan Ki, a high school teacher in Seoul, will present KETG and introduce the issues and activities they are involved with, many of which are similar to the challenges faced by Shin-Eiken, including elementary school English education and the government policy of English classes to be conducted in English.

 

Events

Reception, and Block Parties (Regional Chapter Parties) 

August 1st (Sat.)    18:15 to 20:00　￥4,000

     The National Conference of Shin-Eiken is usually held at a single venue. This year the hotel facilities and the conference venue are separate, so this reception is being sponsored for conference participants to enjoy a dinner reception, and then join separate get-togethers according to region, and deepen acquaintance with old friends and meet new ones. This is your chance to get to know Shin-Eiken members from all over the country, and then in the smaller parties, from the different regions.

 

Tokyo Bazaar  August 2nd (Sun.)   12:00 to 13:20

Bazaar of Ideas and Dreams: Presentation and sales of original teaching materials

 　　Shin-Eiken is packed with member teachers who come up with wonderful original ideas for lessons, which are also practical and well tested for usefulness and applicability to classrooms in Japan. Many Shin-Eiken teachers have made teaching materials to supplement published or authorized texts. Their inspiration comes from many sources and educational theories.Here you will find the print collections, short presentations of games and listening materials, and in-school student newsletters and feedback, presented for sale by their original producers, all in one hall of ideas and dreams. This is your chance to view and purchase some of the most original, accessible and inspiring teaching materials around. You won’t find them in bookstores!

 

Kurosaka Masafumi Kokarina Concert  August 2nd  (Sun.)   17:30 to 18:30　

 　　Kurosaka (b. 1949 in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture) became a lyricist, songwriter and folk singer after graduating from university. He has composed numerous popular songs and theme music, including the Shin-Eiken theme song We Can Stand. A friend gave him a Hungarian Kokarina in 1995. The Kokarina, a wooden instrument similar to an Ocarina, captivated Kurosaka, and he is now the foremost Japanese artist on this instrument.He makes Kokarinas using trees of significance and history. For the Nagano Olympics he made a series of Kokarinas from the wood of the trees that had to be felled to make way for the new facilities, and played them with local children at the awards ceremonies. In 2001 he performed for the International Peace Symposium in Hiroshima on a Kokarina made from the wood of a hackberry tree which had stood in the garden of the Army Hospital in the city center, which had survived the atomic bombing only to fall to a typhoon in 1984.

 

Special Lecture  August 3rd (Mon.)  11:00 to 12:30

 　　Arthur Binard  (American poet and writer) 

 　　Born in 1967 in Michigan, Arthur Binard graduated in English literature from Colgate University in 1990. A deep curiosity about the Japanese writing system led him to Japan in 1990, where he now writes poetry and prose in both English and Japanese. In 2001 he was awarded the Nakahara Chuya Prize for his work “Tsuriagete wa (Catch and Release).” Some of his other works are “Nihongo Pokori-Pokori,” and “Home is Here ? Ben Shahn’s Lucky Drago.”  He gave a lecture at Shin-Eiken’s 2007 national conference held in Osaka. 

 

Optional Bus Tour  August 3rd  (Mon.) 14:00 to 17:30　￥3,000

     Daigo-Fukuryu-Maru Exhibition Hall (http://www.d5f.org/top.htm), and the Tokyo Raid and War Damages Center (http://www.tokyo-sensai.net/)Both institutions are officially closed on Monday, and are opening their doors by special request for this tour. The Tokyo Air Raid and War Damages Center was established by citizens and survivors of the firebombing of Tokyo in 1945, and contains displays and keeps archives of war related material. The Daigo-Fukuryu-Maru Exhibition Hall houses the fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru, Lucky Dragon Number Five. This boat was caught up in a nuclear weapons test, and its crew members suffered fatal exposure to nuclear radiation. Both institutions were created to perpetuate the memory of war and nuclear weapons, to present the memories and experiences of ordinary citizens, and to promote Peace.The tour bus leaves the conference venue at 14:00, and the tour will finish at Tokyo Station around 17:30. All entrance fees for the museum and the center will be paid by the participants. The 3,000 yen covers the cost of the tour bus.

*                                 *                              *

What is Shin-Eiken all about?

   Shin-Eiken is the short form of Shin Eigo Kyoiku Kenkyu Kai, which translates as the New English Education Research Association. However the founders of Shin-Eiken preferred to emphasize the human element in education, and used the English designation of “New English Teachers’ Association.”

   Shin-Eiken is a nationwide organization of Japanese teachers of foreign languages aiming to create  democratic and scientific teaching methods. This year 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of Shin-Eiken, founded in 1959.  The main aims of Shin-Eiken from its founding have been to educate teachers about student-centered educational methods with priority given to student self-expression, and to develop peace education techniques including peace message activities. Teachers associated with Shin-Eiken help and encourage every student to achieve English skills not only for exams or future careers, but in order to become citizens who can think globally and who can act locally and internationally.

   Since the 1950s, members have published authorized textbooks for senior high school as well as side readers and other materials for junior and senior high school, focusing on peace education and great people who have contributed to world peace, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa.  

   These publishing activities have had a great effect on many English teachers and publishers in Japan. Peace education has become a recurrent theme which appears in almost all authorized textbooks for junior high and high school students.  Among the authorized textbooks published by Shin-Eiken are the Cosmos, and the World English series. These books are composed and designed entirely by Shin-Eiken member teachers, and are published by Sanyusha, a company founded by Hironaga Masaya, a Shin-Eiken founding member.  Sanyusha publishes the Shin-Eiken monthly magazine Shin Eigo Kyoiku ( New English Education) called New English Classroom.

 

Fee and Application

Fee: Conference fee

(three days): Teacher ￥9,000   Non teacher ￥4,000   Student ￥3,000

(one day)   :  Teacher ￥2,000   Non teacher ￥2,000   Student ￥1,000

 

(Note: Fees are payable at the venue reception before attending the program.)

 

 For further details, please contact: Nara Katsuyuki, 

 E-mail:  ever.onward.nara@aroma.ocn.ne.jp

 

Registration

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Home Phone Number ____________________________________________________

 

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Work E mail address_____________________________________________________

 

[Access to the venue]

The nearest JR station to the venue is Gotanda on the Yamanote Loop Line, which is 5 minutes from Shinagawa, 7 minutes from Shibuya, and 15 minutes from Tokyo. Seisen University is only 10 minutes’ walk from Gotanda Station.