Conversations in Class A2_book1

Introduction

Testing as a way to motivate and guide students

have basic but authentic conversations on topics of their daily lives. Class activities have evolved across the four editions with the simple aim of making them ever sim pler and more effective.

The role of testing can be a contentious issue. But we encourage you to test your students in class, as early as possible and on as many aspects of the target language as possible. When done consistently and correctly, conversation testing is extremely effective in language classrooms in Japan. This is because in this culture, the pressures that inhibit speaking in class come largely from the group. Although it might seem like a paradox, being assessed and graded individually is actually libera ting for many students.

Conversations: real-time and scripted

There are two basic ways of getting students to produce conversations in class: • Get them to prepare and perform a written conversation This gives students more time to think and the possi bility to make longer, richer sentences and to create conversations that flow well. It also gives them time to think about cultural codes and to actually incorpo rate them into their dialogs. • Have them conduct unscripted, real-time conver sations Students are pleasantly surprised when they realize that a little focussed practice can allow them to have an actual exchange in English, and get them a little reward in the form of a mark. Depending on the size and level of the class, it is possible to use both of these approaches, most effectively with written conversations done before real-time ones. On the Conversation in Class A2 Teacher’s Website you will find resources to make your life easier: • Digital versions of the textbook, to project in the classroom or in online classes • Teaching advice for each lesson and topic • Answers to the Listening and Variations exercises, and example sentences for the Expression sections • Audio tracks (also available on the Student Website) • Japanese translations of textbook content (also avai lable on the Student Website, on password-protected pages) Online content

TEACHER TRAINING COURSE

Teaching Speaking Skills in Japanese Classrooms

&ertificates

Content

Advanced &ertificate To receive this certificate you must: • Participate in all four 90-minute Zoom workshops • Prepare with 30 minutes of reading before each workshop • Complete a simple task after each workshop • Write a two-page report based on the post-workshop tasks %asic &ertificate To receive this certificate you must: • Participate in all four 90-minute Zoom workshops • Prepare with 30 minutes of reading before each workshop • Complete a simple task after each workshop

5000 yen (tax included)

You will learn how to : • Get all students talking • Easily manage pair work • Motivate students by giving them a sense of responsibility • Continuously and easily assess your students • Lighten your workload

%asic certificate John Smith Teaching Speaking Skills in Japanese Classrooms

15,000 yen (tax included)

Advanced certificate John Smith

Teaching Speaking Skills in Japanese Classrooms

Schedule

Registration

The workshops will be conducted online on Friday evenings (19:30-21:00).

Workshop 1 A Magic Wand for the EFL teacher in Japan

February 2nd, 2024

Workshop 2 How to test spoken responses in a speaking class February 16th, 2024

Workshop 3 How to test and evaluate a conversation

March 8th, 2024

info@almalang.com

Workshop 4 How to get students to study between classes March 22nd, 2024

Trainers

Stephen Richmond Bukkyo University lecturer

Bruno Vannieu Six-time Kobe University Best Teacher Award recipient Author of Teaching Speaking Skills in Japan (Enseigner l’oral au Japon)

Co-author of Conversations in Class and Over the Wall of Silence - How to overcome cultural barriers when teaching communication in Japan

Thank you so much for your patience in preparing the necessary videos and materials! It has been a great help in preparing my courses for the coming year.

Well-designed training materials, numerous videos, dynamic and practical Zoom sessions- in short, it was great! Thank you so much!

This training course has enabled me to take stock of my past and present teaching. I came to understand how I could help students pro gress through regular testing without creating stress, boredom or extra pressure.

I enjoyed the group discussions, discovering new techniques and seeing how they relate to students.

Izumi Mizuno Doshisha Joshi University

Benedicte Mehl Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya High school

Julien Bogaers Osaka University

Chloe Bellec Tohoku University

This approach has been tried and tested in foreign language classrooms in Japan for over twenty years. It’s called the "Immediate Method" (IM for short), even though it is more of a classroom framework than a method per se. The IM suggests that regularly testing students during class helps to motivate and guide their learning. With judicious use of tests and clear goals, it’s possible to create a positive classroom dynamic, regardless of the initial motivation and size of the class. We now offer an Immediate Method Certification Tea cher Training Course, in which we share practical proce dures on how to: • test on the fly during class, thanks to a simple tool called the Progress Sheet; • conduct tests that are fair, that have a positive wash back effect, and that are simple and economical to carry out. • save your energy for what really makes a difference. Tests can be used to motivate students to learn basic vocabulary ahead of class, to review after class, but also to do pair speaking practice seriously. They can provide formative assessment aligned with the target of every class: having conversations. Of course not. Although we believe the IM is a very effective way of ensuring good classroom dynamics, this textbook works with a wide range of approaches, since it was created around a simple goal: helping students to Do I need to practice the Immediate Method to use this textbook?

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