The Language Teacher

edited by joyce cunningham miyao mariko

In this new column, JALT Chapters are invited to weave their own special, fascinating stories. The co-editors welcome 900-950 word reports (in English and/or Japanese) outlining challenges, experiences, and achievements. This month, Roger Pattimore of JALT Ibaraki describes his chapter's special project.

Our "Global Teacher International Exchange Scheme" (Global TIES) is a new project underway in the Ibaraki Chapter of JALT. We are firmly committed to increasing contact with the rest of Asia by sponsoring one teacher from outside Japan each year as our guest for several days and as a presenter at the annual JALT International Conference. Suchada Nimmannit will be with us in Ibaraki this November and will speak at JALT98 in Omiya. Currently an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, she is Head of the business English programs there. For the Ibaraki Chapter, Suchada's visit is of special significance for, as our first Global TIES guest, she will represent the culmination of a year's planning and effort. The following profile was developed from two e-mail interviews.

"I always tell the students that my job is similar to that of a dentist: to get the students to willingly open their mouths." writes Suchada Nimmannit. Similar to teachers in Japan, she finds that Asian students are often " modest and conformist in their nature [and] they do not like to be different," which, in the English classroom, translates into not wanting to speak. In her own teaching, she tries hard to reduce these affective filters. In her business English program, one of the most successful methods has been the incorporation of authentic materials from business magazines, journals, and newspapers, thus showing English as an important language for global communication. Suchada believes that teachers should help their students grow into responsible adults. She describes herself as a big sister and friend to many. Moreover, in her role as a teacher trainer, she is in contact with many former students now teaching in rural areas. For these, Suchada serves as both mentor and friend, consequently, her office is always open.

Suchada was born in Bangkok to a large family of nine children. Her father is a photojournalist for a leading Thai and Chinese newspaper. She writes modestly that all of her family seemed to do "quite alright at school," and that most studied overseas. Like many of us, Suchada's decision to become a teacher came later in life. As a girl, learning languages was her passion, especially English and French. She always admired people who could express themselves well in these languages and wanted to achieve this goal someday. After studying languages at university, she wanted to put her language skills to good use, so she applied to study language education. However, it was not until after her first teaching practicum that she knew she wanted to become an English teacher. Her first job was teaching Oral Communication at Chulalongkorn University. It was a challenge not being a native speaker, but she felt that, as a result, students were less threatened. Since that time, she has specialized in effective teaching methods for shy or weak students.

After her first teaching experiences, Suchada's life reads much like a travelogue. She received her Master's degree from Pennsylvania State University, paying for many expenses by working part time. Subsequently, she did advanced RSA training for teaching English to adults in Edinburgh and, later, returned to the U.K. for coursework in Creative Teaching in Canterbury. Since then, she has attended conferences and seminars in Japan, Canada, Australia, China, Vietnam and, most recently, the TESOL Conference in Seattle. At present, she is very active organizing next year's ThaiTESOL conference.

Not surprisingly, Suchada's passion is traveling, which has, in turn, nurtured an interest in cross-cultural relations. She writes that, even though she comes from an upper middle-class family, everyone in Thailand is currently concerned about making ends meet. Even in better economic times, she rarely made trips solely for pleasure. She feels lucky to have been invited abroad as much as she has, and is thrilled to be returning to Japan this year.

One gets a sense that Suchada, amidst a busy and successful academic life, still brings care and compassion to her teaching. We here at JALT Ibaraki are all looking forward to this exchange and we invite readers to meet with Suchada at JALT98. Suchada Nimmannit will make the following presentations at JALT98:

• Maximizing Students' Talk in an Asian Context, Sunday, November 22,1:30-2:15
• Final Forum: Shared Viewpoints, Different Directions, Monday, November 23, 2:30-4:00

For updates on Ms. Nimmannit's visit, check out the Global TIES website: <http://www.kasei.ac.jp/JALT/ TIES.html>.

Global TIES Committee members are: Cecilia Ikeguchi; t: 0298-58-4811; <ww4s-ikgc@ahinet.or.jp>, Roger Pattimore; t: 0298-97-1927; <pattimor@hotmail.com>, Kobayashi Kunihiko; t: 0292-53-2469; <kunihiko@globe.ingjapan.ne.jp>, Joyce Cunningham; t: 0292-28-8455; <doycie@mito.ipc.ibaraki.ac.jp>, and Miyao Mariko; t: 0298-58-4811; <mariko@cs.kasei.ac.jp>