Conference Reports

The conference reports reflect both the variety of presentations
at the JALT conference at Waseda last year and the
variety of situations in which we all teach. Ratliff reports
on his research and teaching of intercultural communication
at a university, and includes timely reminders about nonjudgmental
approaches (always hard to achieve) to learning
about other cultures. Shiozawa and Rives report on a discussion
of the problems that both foreign teachers in junior
and senior high schools and their Japanese colleagues have
in their dealings with one another. For high school students
and near-beginner students in general, Royal-Dawson explains
the value of fairy-stories and suggests ways in which they
might best be exploited. Thomas and Austin, who work with
adult students in an evening institute, show the value of fourhour
mini-projects, explain one in detail, and give a useful
list of other mini-projects that can be used with students of
different levels.