CALL FOR INNOVATIVE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS
Have you ever had your students use English with foreigners? Genuine use of English is essential for language learning/acquisition and is sure to increase motivation for further study, yet most students just do not have the chance. Let us create opportunities for high school students to meet and use English safely via the internet. Talking with high school students abroad, about their own cultures in their own generation, in a shared foreign language will be a fun experience and a great opportunity. We are seeking collaborators to carry out joint classes where high school students meet online and exchange their thoughts and ideas with one another in English. This program is known as a SMILE (Students Meet Internationally through Language Education) project and will literally make all students smile.
Deadline: 30 June 2022
One example of participants from the Japanese side.
Status: A class of 2nd-year high school students (16-17 years old) at a highly competitive private school in Chiba (near Tokyo).
Number and levels: Around 30 students, male and female, CEFR A2-B1
Proposed joint classes: 3 classes, once a week for three consecutive weeks, during the middle of a term (the number of classes and specific details can be adjusted to meet local needs.)
Expense: We expect no specific cost for this collaboration.
Equipment: We need a reliable internet environment.
The implementation of this program has already been approved by the authorities of this high school.
Note: This is a practice of goodwill and scientific research supported by Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan. Data collected through the collaboration may be used to improve the project and for research purposes after confirming consent from participants.
Organizers on the Japan side:
WILL (Workshop Initiatives for Language Learning)
WILL has conducted several programs of this collaborative/cooperative project during the past two years, between Taiwan and Japan, Indonesia and Japan, Thailand and Japan, and Malaysia and Japan, all of which have been highly successful. A selection of outcomes is presented on our webpage https://kotoba-kobo.jp/e
Directors:
Shigenori Wakabayashi (Ph.D., Professor of Applied Linguistics, Chuo University)
Jun Iio (Ph.D., Professor of Information Technology, Chuo University)
Junji Sakurai (President, SEKISAIBO LLC)
The Smile Project inquiry form.(*mandatory field)
If you are interested in joining us in this project, inquiring further about the project, or have questions about the project, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Wakabayashi by email at: swkbys37@tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp.