PanSIG 2023 Conference Report (Japan Association of Language Teachers Special Interest Groups)

Kyoto Conference highlights for the JALT PanSIG 2023 Conference.

This conference began for me a year ago as I featured on the planning committee as the JALTCALLSIG liaison. My job was to advise on the planning and successful facilitating of the conference. This involved 25 online meetings mentoring and coaching organizers through the process and troubleshooting issues that arose. Finally, the first day arrives with a bullet train ride from Nagoya to Kyoto and then a convenient subway ride to Kokusai center, before embarking on a short bus ride to Kyoto Sangyo University campus nestled in the cloudy hills of Northern Kyoto. A beautiful campus with a multitude of stairs and escalators. First up was registration and a coffee before the welcome speech and opening ceremony, then the first presentation at 9:30am QoL Naratives with Tim Clemenson. 10am Write IELTS style questions using no more than 50 words rm 505. Followed by Rm 404 at 10:40am MEXT pre-entry programs highlighting that nobody is clear on what are the exacts wants or needs to continue this program or close it out or expand it up. Rm 503 debate basics with Singh which covered very basic ideas. McGettigan Student Debates: Scaffolding for Success in Task-based Learning 2023-05-13, 10:40–11:05 (Asia/Tokyo), S503 CT TBL The benefits of task based language teaching (TBLT) for second language acquisition are well supported by the literature (Bryfonski & McKay, 2019). However, implementing this methodology in a Japanese context is viewed by many as challenging (Harris, 2018). Through the use of copious preparation time and careful scaffolding to boost student confidence, students in two university classes (total N32) worked in pairs to prepare for debates with other pairs on a range of topics. The support offered included the chance for students to practice with pre-written arguments on more simple topics, as well as plenty of time to plan and receive teacher feedback on their own arguments. In addition, students were encouraged to try to predict their opponents arguments, and prepare accordingly. Incidental focus on form was given throughout in the form of corrective feedback from the teacher. Between their first attempts and their final debates, students showed a great deal of improvement in terms of confidence, fluency, and accuracy. It is hoped that this presentation will inspire other teachers to try a similar approach, as well as eliciting feedback to enable the presenter to improve his future implementation of similar tasks. 12pm AI speech recognition with Gary Ross and Jeanette Dennisson (Associate Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University) in their nursing contexts proved a conference winner for best content in a presentation. Packed with ideas, this poster was well attended and very well received by those who engaged. A room full of people bursting with questions after seeing this revelatory technology and their implementations. Gary Ross offered to work with collaborators in their specific contexts upon request. Speech Recognition and ChatGPT in the ESP classroom 2023-05-13, 12:00–12:25 (Asia/Tokyo), S505 CALL MAVR Japanese university students often face challenges when learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) due to specialized vocabulary and complex sentence structures, as well as lack of speaking confidence. To address these challenges, this conference proposal aims to demonstrate the potential use of Speech Recognition and ChatGPT technology in the ESP classroom. This study focused on ESP in the medical context with a sample of students who are non-native English speakers. The students participated in tasks that incorporated the use of Speech Recognition technology for an English for medical purposes course. We also tested the use of ChatGPT to assist with spoken tasks that require specific medical vocabulary and sentence structures. Speech Recognition technology was used to provide students with immediate feedback on their pronunciation and speaking skills. The results of the study will provide insight into the effectiveness of these technologies and how they can be applied for a variety of contexts in ESP curriculum. My poster presentation was on Effective Whiteboard Strategies. Available here This digital poster presentation showcased many highly effective whiteboard ideas to aid teachers whether they used their boards exclusively or blended into their digital lesson materials. The JALTCALL forum on Saturday evening was hoping to cover many ideas and issues with tech in classes and designs of digital materials but the conversation was overrun with ChatGPT and Open AI. Fortunately a useful game or two lightened the atmosphere and we contributed to a padlet of links and a promise by Robert Swier to reboot the homepage for our SIG and to invest some time to superbify the experience. Saturday ended with a packed keynote speech on Coil projects(video pen pals) before the Kyoto nantokakantoka university buildings dinner and networking reception. Back again the next morning for more presentations and a visit to the Sponsors tables for some free educational materials, graded readers, and a few pens and ideas for implementing new books and materials into courses.