Sessions

The Quarter Speaks Out: Women in Japanese Academia

Out of the 5,351 foreign full-time university teachers in Japan, only 967 are women (Huang, 2018). This eight-women panel addresses personal and professional issues influencing the careers of women teaching English in Japanese universities. These issues include career-building, balancing personal and professional lives, being in the minority, workplace harassment, and membership in professional communities. In addition to providing mentorship and inspiration, the panelists will invite the audience to be active participants in this innovative forum.

Teacher Efficacy in a Self-Access Lounge

The presenters’ university’s self-access lounge offers an opportunity for intercultural community-building and English-speaking practice outside the classroom. English Chat Time (ECT) sessions are supervised by full-time teachers, but mainly conducted by international teaching assistants (TAs), who are not required to be from English-speaking countries. This presentation analyzes the ECT program from the perspectives of the teachers who are contractually required to oversee the sessions, suggesting ways to improve teacher efficacy in other self-access conversation lounges.

Raising Awareness Through Discussion

The Code of Conduct (CoC) and Diversity and Equity Practices (DEP) Committees aim to broaden JALT’s appeal to a wider community of participants. They will host a roundtable where participants are invited to share experiences in topics including native-speakerism in Japanese ELT; professional development assistance for working mothers and single parents; enhancing solidarity among teachers across employment, gender, and ethnicity; and developing effective classroom activities to teach issues within the contexts of diversity and conduct.

GALE SIG Annual General Meeting

This is the Annual General Meeting of the Gender Awareness in Language Education (GALE) SIG. All members and prospective members interested in gender issues and awareness are welcome!