The Language Teacher
01 - 2001

The Four Corners Tour: A Collaborative Chapter Event

Robin Nagano

National Four Corners Tour Coordinator

In this month's issue, Robin Nagano, National Four Corners Tour Coordinator, reports on this special pre-conference activity. Our thanks to Robin, Joy Jarman-Walsh, and Tim Allan (and Tuttle Publishing) for organizing this tour. Please consider this for your chapter next autumn.

As many members may know, for the past several years, main conference speakers from overseas and Asian Scholarship Award winners have been invited to participate in a pre-conference visit to JALT chapters around the country. Speakers find it an experience that greatly enhances their visit to Japan, allowing them to come in contact with teachers at the local chapter level and learn more about JALT members and their activities.

This year, chapters welcomed Anne Burns (plenary speaker) and JALT2000 Asian Scholar In Lee, from South Korea, during the Four Corners Tour. While they did not make it to every corner of Japan, they gave presentations at nine chapters (Chiba, Hiroshima, Iwate, Kagoshima, Kitakyushu, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Nagoya, and Niigata) before moving on to Shizuoka for the conference itself.

From The Speakers' Perspective

At the chapter presentations and workshops, speakers reported enthusiastic audiences with interesting comments and questions. Dr. Burns particularly mentioned gaining valuable feedback on how teaching ideas she presented could be used in the Japanese context. She also treasured the opportunity to meet people who would not be attending the conference.

While the chapter presentations were the highlight of each stay, the speakers were also kept busy with other activities. For instance, Dr. Lee was given the opportunity to visit several institutions in the Nagoya area. In addition, Dr. Lee, who works at Chonju National University of Education as a teacher trainer for English teachers in elementary schools, was invited to observe team-taught classes at elementary schools in the Nagoya area. He commented that these pilot programs, with volunteer teachers, were well prepared, that the overall procedures were very good, and said, "I think the Japanese people have already started a good program."

Meanwhile, the speakers were also getting some exposure to Japanese lifestyles. Both were generously invited to stay in members' homes along the way, and found their homestay hosts to be extremely hospitable. Dr. Burns found that futon were more comfortable than she had expected, and was impressed by the deep bathtubs and high-tech equipment found in Japanese bathrooms. She enjoyed wandering around a fish market in Niigata, spent an afternoon in an onsen on Sakurajima, and had an encounter with a typhoon in Miyazaki. Dr. Lee commented on the number of shrines to be found, having even come across one on the roof of a building.

Making The Tour Happen

Naturally, arranging this tour involves a lot of people. Preparation begins months in advance, as soon as the speakers accept the invitation to participate. First, information on the speakers and their topics is provided to chapters. Once chapters express an interest, a tentative itinerary is proposed. Recent years have aimed for a regional approach, to cut down on travel and encourage longer stays in a location. Then come the details, from train times to telephone numbers, handouts to host families. As the process moves towards the later stages, more and more people become involved.

The pyramid is topped by the National Program Chair (Joyce Cunningham for the 2000 tour), who makes the initial contact. However, the tour is, essentially, a chapter event, and the bulk of the planning is done by chapters. Chapters also cover the local expenses of speakers (accommodation, meals, etc.). There is an overall tour coordinator (in 2000, Robin Nagano), who works with a further coordinator for each tour being planned, who in turn is in direct touch with chapter officers. This year, Tim Allan of Nagasaki deserves special mention for capably coordinating Dr. Burns' 10-day tour, with assistance from Joy Jarman-Walsh of Hiroshima, while Rich Porter's Nagoya team arranged a multitude of activities for Dr. Lee during his stay there.

Once the show is on the road, people are needed to meet the speakers at stations or airports, and escort them to their accommodations, to the chapter meeting, on school visits or perhaps for a bit of sightseeing. It takes the wholehearted collaboration of dozens of hardworking people to make the Four Corners Tour successful!

The support of sponsors is invaluable in making this an affordable venture for chapters. Tuttle Publishing, Inc., once again generously sponsored Japan Railway passes for both speakers, and also provided prizes for a raffle at each chapter meeting.

A Few Words From The Speakers

In Lee: "Thank you so much to the JALT officers, staff, chapter members, and volunteers." Anne Burns: "Because I went to Kitakyushu, I was able to get a sneak preview of where PAC3 will be held next year. It's a really nice conference site and I'm sure it will be a great success. I'm planning to be at the conference, which means I will be able to continue working/discussing with some of the people I met this year on the Four Corners Tour."

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