Event

Cultural codes and the Immediate Method

Saturday, January 13th, 2007, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Speaker: Bruno Vannieu

1. How to break the barrier of silence in class

We all know that Japanese culture is not conducive to free, spontaneous expression in conversation classes. While it is helpful to know that general cultural factors are at play, this doesn't help teachers when it comes to actually conducting a class. Action must be based on more precise descriptions of cultural processes and simple, easily executable guidelines. The presenter will share the results of his research in this area:

--how to break the barrier of silence

--how to integrate pragmatic competence in our students' learning, helping them to sound natural in English (in effect, to respect the cultural codes that govern oral expression in English).

2. The Immediate Method at the university level

The Immediate Method is a simple and powerful conversation teaching method that was created in Japan in response to a challenging situation: (1) large classes; (2) low levels, (3) cultural classroom behavior style of Japanese learners. Its sole objective is to have the students learn to speak in a two-way, real-time communication: in short, to take part in conversations. Born in the context of French university conversation classes, it has been successfully applied to the context of English conversation teaching at the university level.

The presenter will explain the fundamentals of the method, show a class video, and introduce Conversations in Class, a new textbook based on the Immediate Method.

The presentation will be interactive, with as much time as possible devoted to questions and answers, and debate.

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

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

Venue: Kitakyushu International Conference Center, room 31 (a 5-minute walk from the Kokura train station for shinkansen, JR train)

Location: Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Contact Kitakyushu JALT

KQ JALT Publicity