BOLT SEMINAR 2015

CONFERENCE & SEMINAR

BOLT SEMINAR 2015

Updated: 2019/08/28

 
 
 
Presentation
Presenter
Institute
Nationality
Plenary: The Relationship between Use of Authentic Material Generated from Web Browsers and and Productive Language Learners
Peter John Wanner, Ph.D.
 
Tohoku University
American
1) Mapping of IELTS and TOEFL to CEFR for Setting Language Ability Requirements of Institutions!
Peter John Wanner, Ph.D.
Tohoku University
American
2) Essays in Large Classroom use of Grammar Check Functions: Teacher Error Correction Variables
Shirley Magnolia Wanner, MBA.
Balsamo Outreach for Learning and Teaching
Filipino

3) A Multi-Step Course Design for Effective Critical Thinking Instruction
David Gann, MA. 
Tokyo University of Science
American
4) Using role play simulations in English language classes
Le Thi Giao Chi, PhD.
 
University of Foreign Language Studies, UD
Vietnamese
5) Introduction to Concerto and Classroom Scenarios
Jessie Wanner Kawahara, MA.
Tohoku University
Japanese
 
 
 
The Relationship between Use of Authentic Material Generated from
Web Browsers and Productive Language Learners
 
 
Peter John Wanner, Ph.D.
Applied Linguistics Department, Graduate School of International Cultural
Studies
Tohoku University
 
 
This presentation will discuss the use of authentic material of English gathered by first- and second-year English as Foreign Language (EFL) students in comparison to students learning English with greater emphasis on grammar and sets of vocabulary items.   This presentation will provide evidence that students preparing for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) at Tohoku University who generate data for producing written essays on general themes as well as discussing them strongly enhance and enrich themselves because their productive vocabulary is greater than students who are assigned specific lists of grammar rules and vocabulary lists.     Use of authentic material increases long term memory.   It is highly important for students to develop a large productive English vocabulary.   This presentation will introduce how some EFL courses at Tohoku University use the web browser in and out of class to generate long term vocabulary maintenance evident in active student language production.
 
 
Many native EFL instructors of English courses at Tohoku University foster active student participation and emphasize that the teacher provides assistance only when necessary in EFL students developing written essays for the first- and second-year English language courses toward also increasing their productive language use. However, many non-native speaking language teachers of English at Tohoku University place more emphasis on increasing vocabulary production through emphasis on grammar points and learning vocabulary lists to increase their productive language use.   The productive language use of all first- and second-year students is measured through their performance on the TOEFL. This presentation will show that students taking courses that emphasize Communicative   Language   Learning   through   implementation   of   student generated authentic material from the internet provided a strong correlation with better scores on the TOEFL.
 
 
Mapping of IELTS and TOEFL to CEFR for Setting Language Ability Requirements of Institutions!
Peter John Wanner, Ph.D.
Tohoku University
 
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) with basically six reference levels (A1-C2) is currently referred to as a basis for a framework of developing similar frameworks of other countries that also use other language ability setting examinations to determine students’ English levels such as IELTS and TOEFL.  There are different standards depending on the specific country, such as the CEFR-J, the Japanese version of the CEFR.  The CEFR-J started in 2008 with the six basic levels of CEFR, but now it has 12 levels as of 2012.  The use of 12 levels makes it easier for institutions to place students at levels of English language ability.  The Linguists and educators have suggested that other Asian countries such as Vietnam should also create a Vietnamese version of the CEFR for languages.  In 2014, the Vietnamese six-level framework of reference was set up by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in Vietnam.  This could be used as a set of standards for further level classification in the future in Vietnam with up to 12 levels to better place students’ English language abilities.  This presentation will discuss how the goals of English language teaching seem to have a strong influence from the CEFR framework and how they might be implemented in Vietnam to help determine student’s performance levels.  Furthermore, it will discuss what inferences we can make in regard to the relationship of the IELTS and TOEFL tests in relation to the CEFR.
 
Bio data
 
Peter John Wanner Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University in the Applied Linguistics Department.  He has worked in this graduate school for the past ten years and is strongly involved with teaching and presenting at EFL/ESL conferences, seminars and workshops throughout Asia.  Dr. Wanner has been teaching EFL courses in Japan for over 27 years.
 
 
Essays in Large Classroom use of Grammar Check Functions: TeacherError Correction Variables
 
 
Wanner, Magnolia
Balsamo Outreach for Learning and Teaching
 
 
Explicit  instruction  through  indirect  grammar  hints  greatly  improves  student writing and eventually student speaking skills.   First, this presentation will show a guideline for providing error correction to students on written essays in EFL courses. Second, it will review the importance of using Grammar Check functions and Fluency Levels using various programs such as the FLESH Reading Level Programs that will be discussed in this presentation. This technique is applied to instruction of classes between 25-100 students.
 
 
Bio Data
 
Magnolia has organized workshops teaching students and management personal how to effectively present proposals and ideas in class and in the workplace.   She has a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and works has worked closely with BOLT presenting in Vietnam and the Philippines in this area of specialization.
 
 
Text Box:
 
STUDENTS AS GLOBAL CITIZENS – THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
Dr. Le Thi Giao Chi
University of Foreign Language Studies
 

– The University of DanangIn the context of increasing globalization and international as well as regional integration, more than ever before, students as young intellectuals and as hosts of the nation state are put to the fore with exhortation for compounding important pillars for knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be able to fit in a highly dynamic and thriving global economy.

 
Universities and colleges around the world should not exclude themselves from this trend. As ‘knowledge enterprises’ universities and colleges around the world should embrace a highly-regarded model of business, integrating their social responsibility or rather social conscience into their everyday operations so that they can become responsible educational institutions.
 
The presentation is of a more interactive one. It seeks to provide participants with a forum for sharing knowledge and understanding of the issues of their concerns. The key message underlying the presentation is the triple bottom line expected of the students of the new age – academic excellence, social awareness, and environmental responsibility.
 
Participants will be encouraged to voice their perceptions on what constitutes an image of students of the twenty-first century, and what social awareness and environmental responsibility mean to them. They will engage in discussions, making plans for their actions. They will team up their own task force, identifying their particular interest, specifying objectives, and course of actions. It is recommended that universities and colleges as incubators for knowledge and competencies for students of the twenty-first century act as catalysts and provide them necessary grounds so that they can take initiatives to realize their dreams becoming global citizens with academic excellence, social awareness, and environmental responsibility. 
 
 
Biodata
 
LE THI GIAO CHI, M.A., M.Ed., PhD
 
Senior Lecturer, Vice-Dean of the English Department
University of Foreign Language Studies
University of Danang, Vietnam
Telephone:
Home
(+84) (511) 3612550
 
Work
(+84) (511) 3699693
 
Mobile
(+84) 905 157 325
 
 
Dr. Le Thi Giao Chi is currently a senior lecturer, and a Vice-Dean of the English Department, University of Foreign Language Studies – University of Danang, Vietnam. She got her Bachelor of English Teaching at Danang Teachers’ Training College – Vietnam in 1990, and her Master in English Linguistics at Hanoi National University  –  Vietnam  in  1996.  Her  Master  in Educational  Leadership  as  well  as  her Graduate Certificate in Education (University Teaching) was awarded at the University of  Queensland,  Australia  in  2003.  And  she  was  her  PhD  in  applied  linguistics  at University of the West of England, UK in 2014.
 
Dr. Le Thi Giao Chi has engaged with several teacher training programs initiated by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). She received training as an oral and writing examiner in CEFR in December 2012 offered by SEAMEO Retrac and MOET. She was among a few lecturers to be selected for textbook writing delivered by Pearson in Hongkong in October 2013, and participated in a number of ToT workshops in ICTs and ELTeach organized by SEAMEO RETRAC, Cengate, and Danang University of Foreign Language Studies in 2014.
 
Dr Le Thi Giao Chi has been teaching English to students of English and to adult learners at different levels of English proficiency. She is senior in teaching the four language skills, and especially specializes in translation and interpretation, and English and American life and literature. She is among the pioneers in using non-traditional teaching techniques and widely adopts role-play and project-based learning as tools to advance student learning and experience. She gave a presentation on using role-play simulation in teaching university undergraduates, and focuses her talk on the delivery of interpreting sessions at the 3rdInternational Conference in TESOL “English Learning: A Focus    on    English    Use”,    jointly    conducted    by SEAMEO RETRAC,    TESOL-HCMC Association, Curtin University and Da Nang University of Foreign Language Studiesin August 2012. She was among the key speakers at the TESOL International Conference held in Danang in July 2015 where she conducted a workshop on Project-based Learning from a realistic approach.
 
She has encouraged her peer lecturers to conduct project-based instruction in many English classrooms at the university and elsewhere in Central and Southern Vietnam. She has a number of papers presented at the local and national workshops, and her publications are mainly found in the areas of the theory and practice of translation, role- play and simulation in teaching interpretation, project-based learning in a local context, promoting self-regulated and collaborative learning through changing the assessment methods, corpus linguistics and functional grammar.
 
 
Introduction to Concerto and Classroom Scenarios
Jessie Wanner Kawahara, MA.
Tohoku University
 
Abstract
 
Designing, administering, and grading examinations has always been a challenge for teachers of English as a second language. Format and the degree of difficulty of a test are only a few of the many elements that must be taken into consideration in designing and administering a successful examination. The testing format of traditional paper tests are rarely engaging to test takers, and it is impossible to dynamically adjust the level of the exam questions to the individual test taker’s ability.
 
Preparing students for lessons is also a challenge for teachers of English as a second language. Checking if students have completed their assignments is tedious work, and in some cases, it turns out that several students didn’t even touch their assignment.
 
Concerto is a revolutionary open-source testing environment with the potential to make exams and surveys engaging and adaptive for students. With some simple coding using HTML and R, teachers can create engaging test or survey templates with the look and feel of standard websites. Furthermore, teachers can employ computerized adaptive testing with ease, selecting test items for each examinee based on his/her performance.
 
This presentation will provide an example of how Concerto can be used inside and outside of the classroom as a tool to prepare students for lessons as well as a tool for examinations.
 
Biodata
 
Jessie WannerKawahara is completing his final year at Tohoku University, Japan for a Master’s degree in Language Science. He also teaches English part-time at Miyagi Prefecture Agricultural College.  He  holds  an  Associate  degree  in  Engineering  from  Sendai  National  College  of Technology, Japan, and a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Computing from Ming Chuan University, Taiwan. His current research interests are pragmatics, however, he is also keen to explore new methods of language education.
 
A Multi-Step Course Design for Effective Critical Thinking Instruction
David Gann, MA.
Tokyo University of Science
 
 
Abstract
 
The presenter will report on the first in his multi-step course design for aiding students in the development of critical thinking competence and dialectical discourse. These steps include (1) intake of explicit instruction in argument analysis delivered via podcast; (2) completion of two types of online text reconstruction exercises specially designed to facilitate noticing of (a) salient textual features associated with various premise-conclusion constructions; and (b) dialectical discourse items used in professional, academic and civil discourse; (3) online discussion threads concerning either (a) issues raised in the textbook during Freshman English; or (b) problem solving, hypothesis testing and data interpretation during subsequent Integrated Skills courses; and collaborative writing via online documents; (4) speaking tests, during which students draw upon their recent discussion thread communications; and (5) assessment based on the use of the aforementioned language items, followed by meaningful feedback. The presenter will explain the rationale behind the various steps; pedagogical considerations that informed various technological aspects of production and delivery; how the podcast material was connected to in-class activity; and how well the course design was received by our students.
 
 
Biodata
 
Originally from the U.S., David Gann moved to Japan and began teaching in 1996, after earning an M.A. in English literature. In 2010, he began co-producing Critically Minded Podcast. That same year he also co-founded JALT Critical Thinking SIG, in which he currently serves as SIG Coordinator. Since 2012, he has taught as Assistant Professor at Tokyo University of Science, where he has continued to develop materials for critical thinking instruction. In 2013, he completed a second M.A. in Educational Technologies and TESOL at the University of Manchester, and recently, he completed a pre-doctoral course at Open University in Milton Keynes, where he plans to continue studying, via distance learning, in 2016. His main interests include critical thinking instruction, CALL and learner autonomy.