Newsletter2021_EN

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.