(February 2019) Message from the Coordinator 

Dear MW SIG Members,

The latest issue of Between the Keys is now online. If you are interested in making a submission for an upcoming issue, please see the Submissions Guidelines and Information on the SIG’s website: How to Submit to Between the Keys

Presentation opportunities

First, we are pleased to announce that we will be co-sponsoring the 2019 OKINAWA JALT Summer Language Teaching Symposium held in Naha from June 21-23. In addition, we will be sponsoring Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto as a featured speaker. The conference committee is currently accepting proposals for poster presentations, short presentations, and workshops. The deadline for submissions is March 15, so submit your proposals soon.  For more details about the symposium, please visit the conference website www.tinyurl.com/okinawa2019 and check out the advertisement on the final page of this issue of Between the Keys.

Second, many of you are probably already aware of the theme for JALT 2019: Teacher Efficacy, Learner Agency. The former involves a collective vision for and confidence in student progress. The latter entails allowing students to take charge of their own learning. These two concepts should inform the process of creating teaching materials, but how?

We would love to hear our SIG members’ take on these issues in our SIG Forum at JALT 2019. We especially welcome contributions that relate to topics such as: collaboration in creating materials, materials that encourage students to take ownership of their learning, materials that promote critical thinking, fostering a mindset of efficacy in teachers through materials, involving students in creating materials, involving other teachers in creating materials, understanding the needs and goals of local schools and publishers, etc.

All SIG members are welcome to participate. This is a great opportunity to share your knowledge and work with a wider audience and gain valuable presenting experience. If you are interested in participating in the Forum, please send an email to wells@mejiro.ac.jp by April 1.

Call for reviews (from the Language Teacher)

The Language Teacher is always looking for people to submit book reviews, and she thought that many of our SIG members might be interested in that. In addition, if any of our SIG members have published materials and would like to submit them for review, they can do that by contacting Julie Kimura. The contact information is listed in The Language Teacher as follows:

Email for submitting book reviews (column editors: Robert Taferner & Stephen Case): reviews@jalt-publications.org

Website regarding TLT book reviews: http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/departments/book-reviews

Email for inquiries regarding available books to review or submitting books for review: pub-review@jalt-publications.org

Address for submitting materials for review:

Julie Kimura
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,Mukogawa Women's University, 11-68 Koshien
Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8179,
JAPAN