Paul Mathieson
Nara Medical University / Osaka JALT Publicity Officer
Paul is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical English at Nara Medical University. He is the co-ordinator of the nursing English programme at NMU, and teaches both medical English and nursing English courses. His principal research interests are in vocabulary acquisition, English for specific purposes, and content and language integrated learning.
Sessions
Foreign Language Learning as EFL Teacher Training
This presentation examines the advantages and difficulties of EFL teachers learning beginner level French as a soft approach to teacher development. The presenters are the teacher, a student, and the class administrator. Using student questionnaires and testimonials, they highlight the students’ successes (team bonding, insights into student motivation, and practical teaching ideas), and challenges (time commitment, conflicting schedules, and frustration at the class level). Lastly, they discuss how these challenges may be addressed.