Dear JALT Sendai Community Members,

I hope this message finds each of you well. Many of you have already
finished teaching your winter classes, while those of us in primary and
secondary schools are still slugging it out. Hope the academic yearend goes smoothly for us all!
The deadline for submissions to present at JALT 2014 in Tsukuba is just
around the corner. If you plan to submit, please make sure you
complete the process before the Tuesday February 11 deadline. It
is very early this year. One hint that might help- the organizers have
said that they can accept almost limitless poster presentation
proposals, which qualify as presentations at a conference and allow
you to submit to the Conference Proceedings for publication.
We are looking for participants in our annual My Share event
in March on motivation. Please see below for more
information.
Following this message you will find a wide range of information
including:
1. February meeting notice
2. March meeting- CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
3. JALT Sendai Invite a Friend campaign information
4. JALT Sendai Event Calendar
You can always find the most current information for JALT Sendai on
our website: www.jaltsendai.org and for a complete listing of ELT
events throughout Japan and Asia please visit the ELT Calendar at:
www.eltcalendar.com
I look forward to seeing you sometime soon,

Cory Koby- JALT Sendai President

February Meeting Notice
Date: Sunday February 23
Time: 2pm - 5pm (14:00 ~ 17:00)

OUR USUAL MEETING PLACE

Venue: Sendai Shimin Activity Support Center, Seminar Hall 6F
Location: Ichibancho 4-1-3, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0811
North side of Hirose Dori, just west of Higashi Nibancho Dori
MAP
Fee: Free for JALT members, 500 yen for students, 1000 yen for
visitors
Title: Why are Japanese entrance examinations different from
all other language tests?
Speaker: Melodie Cook- University of Niigata Prefecture
Abstract: Based on a Japan-wide survey of expatriate ELT university
faculty, Melodie Cook attempts to answer the eternal 4 questions
about English on Japanese entrance examinations: Who creates these
tests and what assumptions do they bring to the test development
process? What is the purpose of entrance examinations? Why do we
hold certain beliefs about good tests? And how and when can we
change tests in order to improve them?

March Meeting Preview

Date: Sunday March 30
Time: 2pm - 5pm (14:00 ~ 17:00)
OUR USUAL MEETING PLACE
Venue: Sendai Shimin Activity Support Center, Seminar Hall 6F
Location: Ichibancho 4-1-3, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0811
North side of Hirose Dori, just west of Higashi Nibancho Dori
MAP
Fee: Free for JALT members, 500 yen for students, 1000 yen for
visitors

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: My Share: Motivation What

Motivates You? What Motivates your Students?
We are looking for people to contribute to this annual My Share
event. This year we are focusing on motivation, and invite you, your
colleagues, and your students to get involved in this cooperative
event. Presentations length and contents are flexible. Please contact
Joanne Sato: jaltsenprog@gmail.com for more information.

April Meeting Preview

Greetings JALT Sendai members!
I am very much looking forward to a visit to your chapter at
the end of April and am always delighted to find a group of language
teachers interested in hearing about statistics. Not to worry, I will
work hard to make it both practical, accessible, and fun!
In this professional development project, teachers will be
guided through a set of readings and activities from an excellent
(readable) quantitative methods textbook and then independently
conduct a study on writing fluency in their own classrooms.
Throughout the process, we will stay connected, ask questions, and
share experiences using a Moodle-based online coordination site.
Along with some valuable knowledge and skills to be gained, there
should be some nice connections developed and a tangible product in
the form of a publishable manuscript at the end of the experience.
Hope to see you soon!
Greg Sholdt
Kobe University

Invite a Friend Campaign

JALT Sendai is asking YOU to help spread the word about our group
and the professional development events we host. Please visit our
website, or ask your colleagues and friends to visit our website to

download a coupon for free admission (first-time only) to any of our

regular monthly meetings (special events excluded). Simply visit our
homepage www.jaltsendai.org and click on the free coupon. Either
print it out, or show an electronic copy at our event sign-in desk.

Upcoming JALT Sendai Events

February 23: Why are Japanese entrance examinations different
from all other language tests? Dr Melodie Cook, Associate
Professor, University of Niigata
March 30: My Share: Motivation What Motivates You? What
Motivates your Students?
April 27: Professional Development through Collaboration on
Quantitative Research; Gregory Sholdt- Kobe University
May 25: Title TBD- Full day event; Kim Horne
July 6: Title TBD; Dr. Paul Kei Matsuda- Director of Second Language
Writing-Arizona State University, President-elect American Association
for Applied Linguistics

EOM