The Language Teacher
September 2003

Naturally Evolving In Nagasaki!

Tim Allan

Nagasaki JALT




Perspectives

. . . with Joyce Cunningham & Mariko Miyao perspectives@jalt-publications.org

This month, Tim Allan tells us how his chapter, Nagasaki JALT, is faring. Please enjoy! The coeditors invite articles of interest to JALT members in English, Japanese, or a combination of both.

Every time we have a Nagasaki JALT meeting, I am reminded anew of exactly why I started finding my way to this group in the first place, and why the chapter continues to exert such a peculiar and persistent hold on me, despite inevitable frustrations and difficulties. The main reason is the incredible diversity and dedication of our participants, members and nonmembers alike. On a recent Sunday afternoon, you might have found me saying hello to the teacher from Sasebo who traveled 2 hours by train to come and hear our guest speaker, Roger Barnard of Waikato University, speak about the status of Maori and other languages. (I discovered that the train-weary teacher was, in fact, Maori herself!) As I helped set up the room, I would have been introducing an assistant professor at my own college to an eikawa owner and an ALT from the JET programme. You would have seen three teachers of young children come in, followed in turn by a lifetime Francophile who always comes out of personal curiosity about the fantastic presenters that have consistently made it worthwhile to attend our meetings over the course of many years.

How many years? Our local chapter history dates from about 1980, not too long after the establishment of JALT as a national entity. We have been lucky to have had a long succession of very able executive members over that time, including the late Brian Moss. Two high-water marks were undoubtedly the Rainbow mini-conferences held in 1988 and 1995, but there have also been many other memorable moments since then. Over the past 4 years, for example, we have had about 40 meetings, several parties, seen our email newsletter flourish beyond all expectations, secured a beautiful new meeting site, tried hard to maintain our member base (about 30 currently), and expanded our presence in cyberspace.

We have certainly had our difficulties. Our budget allocations have been cut again and again like everywhere else, and it has been hard to expand our membership when so many people have moved out of the prefecture over the years. Others have seen their personal or institutional wallets shrink, and they have had to make completely understandable, difficult decisions about priorities. Some have opted for the buffet approach: picking and choosing several meetings to come to as one-day members, receiving our newsletter, and looking through The Language Teacher or JALT Journal at their local school libraries. Despite these stresses, we have managed to survive and prosper due to a judicious balance of local presenters, commercially sponsored presenters, and occasional special guests. The latter have included such Four Corners Tour luminaries as Chris Nur, David Little, Leni Dam, Anne Burns, Jane Willis, and our guest-to-be in 2003, Simon Greenall. In addition to these nationally-organized tours, we have had some nice examples of regional cooperation over the years, including shared management of a tour by Charles LeBeau, a visit to our chapter by the Kitakyushu JALT Roadshow folks, and more.

Our meetings tend to be 2-hour demonstrations or workshops in English, with the parameters determined by consensus and annual feedback surveys. Our average turnout is 15 to 20 people, a very gratifying number given our status as a small chapter. For many people here, the raison d'etre of JALT is the visceral, interactive experience of actual meetings, followed by the chance to read publications and join SIGs. We do have a healthy number of people attending and/or presenting at the annual conferences, but given constraints of distance, time, and money, the annual conference probably ranks about third in a list of what people consider to be JALT's identifying traits.

The glass is definitely half full, not half empty! Our great new meeting site is the prefecture-run Volunteer Centre across from Nagasaki JR and Amu Plaza, especially appreciated for its many free services and wonderful staff. We have nine meetings slated in 2003, are planning now for 2004, and have 200 email addresses signed up for our free monthly newsletter. Our publicity efforts have been immeasurably supported by bookstores such as Kinokuniya, Metro Books, and Kobundo; by international centres such as Chikyukan, the Nagasaki International Association, and Brick Hall's Chikyushiminhiroba; and by the talents of Bill Pellowe in Fukuoka, who designed both our home page at kyushu.com/jalt/nagasaki.html and our newsletter signup site at kyushu.com/jalt/nagamail.php3. We hope you can join our vibrant little group here in Nagasaki as we evolve in the days ahead.

Tim Allan
Kwassui Women's College, Nagasaki
President/Program Chair, Nagasaki JALT; allan@kwassui.ac.jp



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