Event

Gender Awareness in Language Education: An Evening with GALE SIG

Saturday, November 27th, 2021, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Speaker: Quenby Hoffman Aoki (Seikei University), Eucharia Donnery (Soka University), Sue Sullivan, Anna Walker (University of Nottingham), Brent Simmonds (Nandan University), and Carey Finn-Maeda (Tamagawa Academy High School)

As the GALE SIG Website states: "GALE works toward building a supportive community of educators and researchers interested in raising awareness and researching the ways in which gender plays a role in language education and professional interaction" (www.gale-sig.org) The SIG has a fourfold mission statement:

• to promote research in the relationship of gender to language learning and teaching
• to develop and improve inclusive teaching practices and materials
• to raise awareness of workplace and classroom issues related to gender
• to provide networking opportunities for language-teaching professionals interested in gender and its intersections with other identities such as race, social class, and ability/disability

In addition to collaborative events with other JALT Chapters and SIGS, GALE publishes the GALE Newsletter and the scholarly, peer-reviewed GALE Journal, both available on the SIG website above.

This event will showcase the work of GALE SIG's members and officers to highlight the relevance of gender issues and gender-related research within JALT and the language teaching field. Important connections will also be drawn between gender and other issues including racism, native-speakerism, and the current environmental crisis. First, SIG Coordinator Quenby Hoffman Aoki will discuss the role GALE plays within JALT and reflect upon the significance of GALE in her professional and personal life. Next, Eucharia Donnery, Membership Chair and Treasurer, will share details of her long involvement with the SIG. Assistant Journal Editor Sue Sullivan will talk about GALE SIG publications. Anna Walker, Publicity Chair, and a relatively new member of the JALT community, will then describe her experiences of "stepping up and jumping in" when new energy was needed in GALE SIG, and of getting started as a researcher in gender-related issues. Two GALE members will then present their research. Brent Simmonds, former Membership Chair, current Member-at-Large and 2020 PanSIG Forum speaker, and Carey Finn-Maeda, JALT2021 Forum Speaker, will describe classroom activities which demonstrate the relationships between gender, race, and the current climate crisis. Carey Finn-Maeda will then share her professional narrative of returning to work in the ELT field in the midst of a pandemic, including the adjustment to teaching online. This event will be interactive, and reflection and discussion will be encouraged.

The Zoom details will be available on fukuokajalt.org on the day of the event. We will start the Zoom an hour early (5 PM) for an hour of informal discussion and networking.

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

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 500 yen

Venue: Online: The Zoom link will be posted on the Fukuoka JALT website the day before

Location: Online, Online Events, Online Event

Contact Fukuoka JALT

Trevor Holster