Sessions /
Moving Beyond McEnglish: Recognizing Eikaiwa as a Legitimate Professional Community #263

I am a professor in the department of Global Communications. I hold a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Aston University. I have written articles on methodology, teacher development, and motivation. I am author or co-author of a number of textbooks and graded readers including Research & Write, Discover Conversation, Inspire, Writing for fluency and accuracy, Pocket Readers - Business series, and the 10 Ways to series.

I've been the owner and head teacher of an eikaiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture for twenty one years. My profession incorporates things I love doing on a daily basis: developing and implementing curriculum, teaching and learning together with children and adults, exchanging teacher talk with my colleagues, engaging in continual professional development and reflection, polishing my storytelling skills, singing and dancing, rearranging furniture, and organizing flash cards. I'm an avid reader of both fiction and nonfiction. I'm a walker, not a driver, and I need a bit of yoga and a bit of nature every day to stay sane.

Lesley Ito is a well-known teacher, teacher trainer, school owner (BIG BOW English Lab), and award-winning materials writer based in Nagoya. She has taught in Japan for over twenty-five years, won “Best of JALT” in 2011, and has presented professionally throughout Japan, and at the ER World Congress in Dubai, UAE. Winner of the 2015 LLL Award in the Young Learner Category, her ELT writing credits include teacher’s guides, workbooks, graded readers, and e-books, as well as other materials.

LD-SIG member University of Birmingham GSS coordinator Eikaiwa session participant Also interested in academic writing, study abroad, global issues and language and identity

Daniel Hooper is a lecturer in the English Language Institute at Kanda University of International Studies. He has taught in Japan for 14 years, predominantly in secondary education and the English conversation school industry. He completed his MA in TESOL at Kanda University of International Studies. He has published books on the eikaiwa industry and social learning spaces as well as a number of articles in journals such as Language Teaching Research, Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, and Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research. His research interests include learner and teacher identity, reflective practice, communities of practice, and the eikaiwa industry.

Ewen MacDonald is a lecturer in the English Language Institute at Kanda University of International Studies where he also completed his MA TESOL degree. He previously taught at a junior/senior high school, on an English program at a cram school, as well as teaching eikaiwa classes to adults. His research interests include pragmatics, teacher cognition, learner autonomy and corrective feedback.

Owner of MY English School, a small chain of English schools mostly in Yamagata, and coordinator of the School Owners' SIG. Have an MA in TEFL/TESL from University of Birmingham and MAT from Willamette Univesity along with Oregon State teacher certification for JHS and HS. Have lived in Japan for 22 years.

Associate Professor (TWCU); Ph.D. Applied Linguistics/Education (Temple University)