In this forum, former and current eikaiwa teachers come together to share and discuss their perspectives on private English conversation (eikaiwa) schools and their position within the larger professional community of Japanese ELT. In response to negative stereotypes of the eikaiwa industry prevalent in the English teaching field and society at large, the forum participants will discuss the complex nature of eikaiwa and its legitimate role within English education in Japan. This forum is sponsored by the School Owners SIG.

This workshop will first describe Living Newspaper Readers Theatre (LNRT) -- a performance of a script stitched together by selecting topically-related news articles -- will go through the steps necessary to do the activity, then the participants will create their own LNRT, practice it, and then perform it. The workshop will end with a short discussion, Q&A, and a reflection on the activity and how it relates to critical thinking and community.

This roundtable exchange will provide an overview of and an opportunity to discuss some of the most common perceptions held by teachers about developing and sharing resources, examine some of the ways to overcome commonly-faced obstacles, and consider how sharing materials can help foster a sense of community among teachers.

Communities are built on empathy, flexibility, and the ability to make meaningful connections that bridge individual as well as cultural differences. This roundtable will engage in discussions on raising awareness of relationship building as an important communication tool. A key focus will be discussions on problems of identity, cultural obstacles, and biased expectations involved with intercultural relationships. How can we apply our skills and experiences to help learners use relationship building to become better communicators?

Join the roundtable about how an institution in southwestern Japan conceptualized, developed, and implemented a mobile application for the university teachers and students. Topics will include needs analysis, planning, funding, choosing developers, and rolling out the app on a schedule. The presenters will provide a live, interactive demonstration of the completed application. The roundtable will encourage participants to consider implementing a mobile application at their own institutions and offer guidance with regard to the process.

This roundtable will look at a discussion class intended for nursing students looking to participate in a study abroad program. A flipped classroom format provides weekly discussion topics, vocabulary lists, videos, and other relevant resources leaving class time available for open discussion in a supportive and encouraging environment. Topics covered include vaccinations, gender equality and equity, and cultural awareness in healthcare.

In this roundtable exchange, the presenter will share the process of reverse outlining as a form of peer feedback on a second draft. The reverse outline provides a visual diagram helping students to pinpoint needed revision in their drafts.

This roundtable discussion focuses on listening materials for nursing English. The presenter is collecting 100 patient narratives from English-speaking foreign residents about their experiences receiving medical care in Japan. The presenter will summarize common listening activities in nursing English textbooks, describe the characteristics of the current narrative collection, and introduce the free online listening materials he is developing. Participants are encouraged to talk about their current and desired approaches for teaching listening to nursing students.

The Performance in Education (PIE) SIG forum will feature a panel discussion with a number of PIE practitioners. The focus of this year’s forum is on student motivation, teacher/student feedback, and teacher/student (self- and peer-) evaluation, and how these come together to support communities of teachers and students even in the midst of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Join us for an interactive, enriching, educative and practical panel discussion!