Sessions

Forms and Functions of Community in Education

For educators, communities serve a variety of purposes, from creating and retaining the collective knowledge on fundamental tenets like best practices in teaching to collegial camaraderie, among others. Learners also belong to a variety of communities that influence everything about their academic experience, from learning motivation to groups made sanctioned by the instructor to facilitate language learning. The presenters will discuss effective creation and management of these communities is essential for a positive learning experience.

Writers’ PSG: Improving Writing for Publication

The presenters will detail the training and services currently available to JALT members through the Writers’ Peer Support Group (PSG), which pairs writers aiming for publication with volunteer peer readers. Current PSG members, those interested in becoming PSG members or more effective peer readers/reviewers, novices writing for publication, and researchers interested in peer-to-peer models would benefit from this session. Our annual general meeting follows immediately, and is open to anyone who is interested.

Student Experiences in a Language Table Community

This presentation describes first-year university students’ (n = 89) experiences in a new language table community in Japan. Students were assigned to attend an English language table session for at least 30 minutes per quarter. Their 300-word post-visit reports were analyzed and coded for common themes. The results show that the assignment worked as an introduction to language tables, the community, using English in non-classroom settings, and built positive affective feelings.