Newsletter2021_EN

An n u al N e w sl et ter ALMA PUBLISHING

November 2021

with experience of living in a foreign culture shared their thoughts and experiences. But Ibunka! is first and foremost a foreign language textbook, created with a clear two-step progression, interactive activities, and ample language scaffolding. We believe that it will be a valuable addition to a variety of EFL contexts, including general English, communica- tion, and content-based classes. Please feel free to pe- ruse the inspection copy that you received with this newsletter, and consider whether it might be a useful addition to your teaching toolkit. ■ International Conference: JALT2021: Reflections and New Perspectives Practice-Oriented Short Workshop Ibunka! A New Textbook for Teaching Intercultural Communication in Language Classes (Presentation #665) Presenter: Stephen Richmond - Kyoto University of Advanced Science Saturday, November 13th 10:45 AM - 11:10 AM (25 minutes)

Editorial We hope this newsletter finds you well. This year, Alma Pub- lishing has broken new ground in two areas - publishing a new kind of communication text- book, and starting a new type of training course for teachers. We have been conducting teacher training events for the past 20 years. The annual Au- tumn Workshop continues in its traditional role as a space to

share ideas and fine-tune teaching practices. And now for the first time, we are offering a professional course over five weekly sessions: “Teaching Foreign Language Communication in Japan; Face-to-face and Online.” We hope that this certified course will be a worthwhile addi- tion to any teacher’s CV. The first iteration of this course, in French, will kick off online on November 19th, while the English version of the course is slated to begin in autumn 2022. ■

Ibunka! Alma is proud to announce the publication of our new text- book Ibunka! “Ibunka” means “(a) different culture” in Ja- panese, and is used when talk- ing about “intercultural com- munication.” The goal of this textbook is to introduce the basics of intercultural aware- ness, while fostering interme- diate-level skills in ESL reading, discussion, notetaking and ex- pression. Rather than throw stu- dents into the deep end by

Conversations in Class Conversations in Class has found a niche in university English communi- cation classes across Japan.The third edition was published in 2015. We are now looking at ways to improve on it and update it to a fourth edition. We would be delighted to know what users think about the textbook- the sections and functions that you find useful, and features or content you would like to see in the future edi- tions. If you are willing to share your insights with us, please let us know. We’ll contact you and suggest a range of possible ways to give feed- back (online form, online discussion, over the phone, etc.). ■

• 96 pages • 2500 yen + tax

bombarding them with abstract concepts, Ibunka! walks them through some examples of cultural tendencies and differences, using a syllabus based on everyday topics such as classroom habits, asking favors, and sleep. The source material is based on responses to The Ibunka Project- an online survey in which many people

Alma’s Kyoto Staff Our Kyoto team con- sists of Yoko Noritake (photo left), who takes care of the day-to-day office work and text- book distribution, and Mariko Nagano (right), who is busy creating websi tes for future textbooks and the databases needed to support their production. This photo shows the team meeting with Bruno Vannieu in the co-working space of Impact Hub Kyoto, where Alma has just moved into a new office space. ■

Program 15:00 - 15:10 Opening of the Autumn Workshop 15:10 - 16:10 Jerry Talandis Jr

and Theron Muller University of Toyama Student Self-Evaluation in Speaking Classes

A common challenge is the classroom time required to evaluate student oral production. To address this, we developed a system for students to self-evaluate their speaking through recording and transcription. Students observed that this focused self-assessment helped them better understand and implement the conversation strategies we use in class. The tech- niques featured are compatible with both online and face-to-face instruction. 16:20 - 17:20 Stephen Richmond Introducing some basic ideas about cultural ten- dencies and differences into EFL classes is worthw- hile and surprisingly doable. There are a number of strategies we can use to help make these topics engaging, accessible, and fun. In this workshop I will demonstrate ways that help intermediate-level stu- dents to connect with sometimes-arcane topics, and express themselves in the target language with refi- nement and respect. 17:30 - Online Socializing Enjoy a spot of socialization with fellow teachers and researchers, from the comfort of your own home. Prepare your own drinks and snacks, and have a kanpai with us! Kyoto University of Advanced Science Intercultural Communication Basics in Language Classes

Distribution We are ceasing the di s t r ibut ion of our t ex t books t h rough Amazon, preferring to work with people who support local educa- tion and independent publishers, rather than with those who send billionaires into space. From this month, only

our Teacher Development books will remain available from the Amazon platform. For all individual textbook orders, please visit the website of our distributor Nellie's (which already handles orders from co-ops and book- stores). They can be found online at: https://nellies-bs.com/shop/ Thank you in advance for sharing this information with your students in case they need to place an individual order! ■ 19thAnnual AutumnWorkshop Sunday 28th November 2021, to be held online (via Zoom) → Registration: https://form.jotform.com/almalang/aw-2021

Teacher Development series How can foreign language communication be taught efficiently in the Japanese classroom? Veteran teachers share their experience.