Sessions / Lifelong Language Learning (LLL)
The ability to create compelling narratives that inspire and promote cooperation is the most powerful tool humans possess. How can we apply a narrative structure effectively to language learning? Everyone has a story to tell. Presenters will demonstrate how simple, concrete, original, relatable and comprehensible narratives, critical incidents, or experiences can be easily constructed and shared to help learners develop a deeper understanding of the more abstract and ambiguous aspects of language, culture, and communication.
The engineering research students undertake presentations in international conferences held in and out of Japan and they have no background on idioms which is a natural part of a native speaker's' manner of communication. Hence communication mishaps and other embarrassing and frustrating situations which are inimical to success can be prevented by including the idioms topic from junior high school.The importance of idioms must not be underestimated. It must be a content in language learning.
Supporting teachers with limited technological skills, encouraging students to participate who have anxiety or social withdrawal and generally motivating the connections and communication we take for granted, are at the forefront of online learning management skills. The quarantine situation will pass eventually, however the skills and techniques developed and discussed in this forum will continue to be essential elements of the hybrid English classroom and lifelong language learning, well into the future.
With Taiwan officially becoming an aged society in 2018, intergenerational learning has received increasing attention. We developed and implemented an intergenerational learning program in which 20 dyads of elementary school children and their grandparents learned English alphabet and the words associated with the 26 letters of the alphabet. The target words are representative of Taiwanese culture, for example, b for bubble tea. The program holds considerable promise to foster collaboration, interaction, and exchange between generations.
As students with special learning differences (SpLD) increase in Japanese tertiary education, the need for inclusion and accommodation becomes more crucial. When learners, with or without learning differences, become aware that their language classroom is a community and a place where diversity is celebrated, accommodation becomes shared practice. In this presentation, an empirical study and practical tools for EFL classrooms to empower students towards independence, a sense of belonging, and self-advocacy will be discussed.
The presenter will demonstrate how Japanese self-access center assistants identified how they could be positive role models for their Japanese peers who visited the center. The assistants were asked about their lifelong English learning process, resources for learning English, and their motivation. They reported that studying English evolved from learning for pleasure, studying to pass high-stakes exams, and finally towards autonomous learning, communication with Japanese and international students, and study abroad.