The Language Teacher
November 1999
A Chapter in Your Life
Hiroshima Chapter
Nelson Einwaechter
It would be difficult to give a profile and history of the Hiroshima Chapter without citing several names. Indeed, despite being a medium-sized chapter, far away from Tokyo, many of its members have been involved as national officers, editors of The Language Teacher and JALT Journal, JALT Conference committee members, SIG coordinators and volunteers. However, the fear of omitting someone will prevent this article from being a "Who's Who of the Hiroshima Chapter." Nevertheless, one name has to be mentioned -- that of our "founder,"Marie Tsuruda.
Marie started the Chugoku Chapter in February of 1978; it became the Hiroshima chapter after other areas such as Okayama and Yamaguchi formed their own chapters. According to Marie, 60 participants at the very first meeting joined on the spot and membership has held steady at around 80-90 throughout the years. As with other chapters outside the Kanto & Kansai regions, membership spiked (150) in the year of our conference -- JALT96.
JALT96 was truly a team effort owing its success to the multitude of volunteers who helped out. The theme, "Crossing Borders," reflected the genuine international participation of presenters from around the world, including the speakers from UNESCO/Linguapax. It was rewarding for those of us on the Conference Site Committee to receive so many compliments from participants on our organization, facilities, and city.
The Hiroshima chapter faces the same challenges that other chapters face: how to maintain/increase membership and how to offer its members valuable services on a tight budget. The solutions that have worked for this chapter include communication, variety of programs, and utilization of local talent.
In order to remind members and non-members of upcoming presentations and keep them informed of job opportunities, a bilingual email list has worked very well. It is not only quick and efficient, but it's far more economical than using the postal service. (If anyone would like to be added to this list, please send an email to: capper@suzugamine.ac.jp or phone Mark Zeid at 082-231-4008.) In addition, residents and visitors to this region can find information about upcoming meetings at our website at http://litcal.yasuda-u.ac.jp/student/jalthiroshima.html with links to JALT National and to our newly created bulletin board. We would like to encourage all to visit this page and participate in discussions on the bulletin board.
Periodic questionnaires sent to our members also allow us to obtain feedback on preferences such as meeting times, presentation topics, and types of activities. To illustrate the variety of programs slated for this year: teaching TOEIC/ TOEFL, teaching children, classroom stress, composition, grammar-translation, JHS & HS issues, storytelling, NLP, using Japanese in the classroom, computer software and reading and vocabulary games.
Although we were able to attract such famous speakers this year as Carolyn Graham and Mario Rinvolucri, we are also fortunate to have many talented, local presenters with modest transportation expenses. This combination gives us a good variety without putting too much strain on our budget. To satisfy members' demand for different topics, our meetings sometimes feature two or three speakers giving mini-presentations and workshops. Members take advantage of the coffee breaks during regular meetings to network and share information. When renowned speakers visit, we sometimes have dinner parties, giving attendees the opportunity to speak directly to them.
In addition to regular monthly meetings, we also hold annual events such as a spring picnic, a potluck bonenkai, and a book fair. The picnic is usually held near the Hiroshima castle and the bonenkai gives members a chance to exchange recipes as well as ideas in an informal atmosphere. The book fair (January 23, 2000) gives members and non-members unable to travel to the national conference the opportunity to choose textbooks and materials for the following academic year.
Currently our "home" is the Hiroshima International Center in the Crystal Plaza across from the ANA Hotel in downtown Hiroshima City. Meetings are usually held there once a month on Sundays from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Occasionally, meetings take place at the International Conference Center (site of JALT96) near the Peace Park museum. Please check out our website for upcoming meetings and events. We hope to see you soon!
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