The Language Teacher
August 1999
The Jr/Sr High School SIG
Barry Mateer
The Junior/Senior High School Special Interest Group was founded in 1993 as the Team Teaching N-SIG. Its main mission was to instigate research into team teaching and JET Program-related issues and to promote the professional development of those involved. In l995, the name was changed to reflect the broader concerns of the membership and to encourage long-term junior and senior high school teachers in Japan to take a more active role within the SIG. At present, the main mission of the Jr./Sr. High SIG is to provide a focus in JALT for increased discussion and research of issues related to the development of foreign language education in Japanese secondary schools. We aim to involve as many of our members as possible in Jr./Sr. High SIG activities. We are a diverse group with a variety of different skills, interests and backgrounds. Our membership of around 130 includes 27% Japanese teachers of English. Other members are assistant language teachers (ALTs), teachers from overseas, representatives of publishers, overseas members, and teachers at university.
Speakers at Conferences and Chapter Events
The Jr./Sr. High SIG invites JALT chapters or others to contact us when looking for speakers in the area of Jr./ Sr. High foreign language education. We have presented at JALT chapter events and JALT Regional Conferences, including the Hokkaido JALT Book Fair, Kobe JALT Spring Conference, Tokyo JALT Mini-Conference, JALT N-SIG Symposium, and JALT Kansai Mini-conference. Michael Reber, editor-in-chief of the SIG sponsored publication, Holistic Student-Centered Language Learning Handbook, has given workshops at three JALT chapter meetings. If interested in this free workshop, please contact him at 076-294-5761 (h); reber@neptune.kanazawa-it.ac.jp. In addition, the Jr./Sr. High SIG has organized a wide range of colloquiums and forums in JALT International Conferences: Team teaching, Making the classroom student-centered, Managing learning: Transitions in classroom roles, and Silent voices in the classroom: Gender and sexual identity issues. JALT99 will see our Forum on "The great change.....What are we waiting for?" Four speakers will examine steps to help teachers pave the way for change in their own classroom as well as in the school program itself.
Upcoming Event:
JALT Tokyo Metro Mini-Conference
On December 5, JALT Tokyo Metro chapters are sponsoring a mini-conference at Komazawa University in Tokyo with the theme of "Classroom practice: Forging new directions." The Jr./Sr. High and Teaching Children SIGs will sponsor a mini-conference within this mini-conference. Our SIGÕs featured strand will be "Reading: An overview." Several major publishers will have extensive displays of graded readers, books, and other materials for young readers. Four rooms are reserved for simultaneous presentations on reading throughout the day, including commercial presentations by the publishers. It will be a great opportunity to see a wide range of reading material and to learn how it is used.
Publications
Our newsletter, The School House, is published three times a year. Feature articles, including research in progress, are 1,000 to 1,500 words in length. My Share articles are up to 1,000 words on a successful teaching technique or lesson plan. Activity File submissions can be up to 500 words concerning an activity or game. School Close-Up articles introduce a school and its program. Looking Ahead informs our readers of up-coming events. Our website is at www.esl.sakuragaoka.ac.jp/tsh. Back issues of The School House may be requested from the SIG coordinator. Our other publications include Studies in Team Teaching, Kenkyusha,1994; Japanese Schools: Reflections and Insights, Yamaguchi Shoten, 1994; and Holistic Student-Centered Language Learning Handbook for Japanese Secondary Foreign Language Education, 1997.
Coming Soon-Email Support Groups
The Jr./Sr. High SIG is setting up a list serve group so our members can exchange peer support from within the SIG, reducing the difficulties of isolation and lack of dialogue about our teaching.
Invitation
The focus is constantly changing within the Jr./Sr. High SIG according to the interests of our members. You are invited to join us and let your concerns take the Jr./Sr. High SIG into the next century. Barry Mateer, Coordinator; 1-12-5-101 Shukugawara, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 214-0021.
This column celebrates JALT's many varied and vibrant chapters and SIGs. The co-editors, Joyce Cunningham and Miyao Mariko, encourage 800-850 word reports (in English, Japanese, or a combination of both).
All materials on this site are copyright © by JALT and their respective authors.
For more information on JALT, visit the JALT National Website