Event

Using Whole Discourse Tasks for Language Teaching

Saturday, May 20th, 2006, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Speaker: Dr. Deryn P. Verity, Osaka Jogakuin College

Please note: There are two Fukuoka JALT events today, and they are at different locations. The afternoon presentation will be on the main campus of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin in Osa, Minami-ku and the evening presentation will be held later the same day at the Satellite branch of Fukuoka Jo Gakuin in Tenjin.

The word 'context' is used everywhere in the field of language teaching and learning, but what does it really mean? Whole Discourse Tasks require a learner to operate within several types of context at once; even low-proficiency learners can be helped to create contexts for their utterances. This seminar will introduce 3 different ways of looking at the importance of context in language teaching: discourse context, social context and psycholinguistic context. The focus will be on tasks that ask students to move beyond the word and sentence level of structure into levels of discourse, social setting and pragmatic function. Some practical examples of such tasks will be introduced, and seminar participants will be asked to create the outline of a whole discourse task as well. A very basic introduction to the Vygotskyan-oriented theory of language acquisition will be provided as a basis for the discussion of the importance of context in language use.

Bio: Deryn Verity has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Delaware. Currently teaching at Osaka Jogakuin College, she has also taught English and graduate courses in teacher education at Osaka University and other institutions in the United States, Thailand, Poland and Japan. For the past two years, she has traveled to Morocco and Jordan to participate in a series of teacher-education conferences, sponsored by the US State Department and Fulbright Commission. Her primary interests in the field of teacher education lie in language awareness for teachers, activity theory, and pedagogy.

Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Fukuoka JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 1,000 yen

Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi map

Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Contact Fukuoka JALT

Trevor Holster