ELT in Japan (ELT-J)

Issues #1 and 2 of ELT in Japan http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/03/elt-in-japan-issues-1-2.html

ELT in Japan's next two issues This is what will appear in issue #3 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in June.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Some thoughts and suggestions on textbook selection for university EFL classes in Japan 2. Directory of EFL publishers for the Japanese market 3. The Visual Pronunciation Dictionary (VPD): An introductory overview 4. Teaching and learning English /l/s and /r/s 5. Introduction to Truespel--a phonetic alphabet based on the principles of English pronunciation and spelling conventions    This is what will appear in issue #4 of ELT in Japan , which, if published on schedule, ought to appear in August.  The article titles may be revised, but these will give you an idea of what the articles will cover. 1. Phonemic Awareness is an native literacy concept, but does it have applications for EFL? 2. A overview o...

Multi-platform visual pronunciation dictionary description/claims The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070255570, Multi-platform visual pronunciation dictionary. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/794,850, filed Apr. 26, 2006. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]1. Field of the Invention [0003]The present invention relates to a multi-platform visual pronunciation dictionary, i.e., a lexicon, which cross-references words and phrases of a language with synonymous definitions in the same language, or alternatively, cross-references words and phrases of the language with a foreign language translation. A correct translation and/or pronunciation are provided to the user in the form of a multimedia, recorded video presentation by a native speaker of the language. [...

Japanese publishers of EFL books for self-study/ 自習のための言語・英語材料の出版社 Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan Self-study is really a potential growth market for many publishers, including the ones who dominate university textbooks. So there is potential for overlap with the list of publishers of Japanese EFL university textbooks.　More companies will move into self-study materials to try and offset the declining cohorts of young people. Even if university and tertiary enrollment hasn't started to decline yet, it is somewhat stagnant. Perhaps the decline in enrollment has been delayed by the final expansion of the tertiary sector opening up more enrollment slots combined with the fact that more young people stay out of the full-time workforce and in education or training longer.  I have listed here mostly publishers who didn't make it into the previous list of textbook publishers. English-language pages are rare at these websites, although there are some. Sunmark even has...

Japanese publishers of EFL textbooks and materials  Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan Most 'western' publishers do not actually develop and produce textbooks and materials for the EFL market in Japan. Rather, they produce a lot of generic courses and supplementary material that they label 'communicative' and for 'false beginners' and hope EFL teachers here will adopt and adapt them to their classrooms. There are some problems with this approach to mass market publishing. First, many of the western publishers are not very reliable in providing support to the teachers who use their textbooks. For example, many of these publishers are reluctant to provide free teachers' manuals/answer keys and CDs/DVDs (such as for listening courses). Second, if their books are not in stock with the distributors that university bookstores use, it can be a very long time to get the textbooks--and the prices can be quite inflated. Third, using such materials is a bit...

It is my hope that research and analysis on the subject of 'teacher cognition' can provide insights to improve teacher education and development. Here are some suggested readings to get started. Click on the titles to link to the full paper online (also available for download as .pdf at ScienceDIrect) .  1.  Exploring language teachers’ mental lives (book review) Karen E. Johnsona, E-mail The Corresponding Author The Pennsylvania State University, 305 Sparks Building, University Park, PA 16802, United States Intro (except): I cannot count the number of times a graduate student or colleague has asked me for an article or book that provides an overview of the research on language teacher cognition. In fact, these sorts of requests have been so common in recent years that I even toyed with the idea of writing such a book myself. Thank goodness Simon Borg has finally written that book. In Teacher Cognition and Language Education: Research and Practice, Borg provides a ...