Dear JACET ESP Kanto members,

I hope this message finds you well. It is my pleasure to announce that our next meeting will be held on October 29, Saturday, 2022, on ZOOM. Please refer to the following for the detailed meeting ZOOM setup, program, title, abstract, and the bio of the speaker.

ESP Kanto October Zoom Meeting

時間: 2022年10月29日 03:00 PM 大阪、札幌、東京

Zoomミーティングに参加する

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84375474250?pwd=TmoyWEJybUJheUhUMDNwZHd6M0FJQT09

ミーティングID: 843 7547 4250

パスコード: 766250

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Program:

15:00-15:45 Research Presentation & Discussion

15:45-17:00 Business Meeting

Presentation

Title: Lifelong motivation: Small steps for students’ STEM English

Presenter: Joseph Falout, associate professor at College of Science and Technology, Nihon University

Abstract

The path to attaining professional English communication skills is long, especially for students of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). By college, many of them face roadblocks in: (a) motivating themselves to continue learning English, (b) understanding the future realities of professional communication needs, and (c) practicing these productive language skills when course offerings are lacking or class sizes are large. How can language teachers reach out to each student under such constraints and make a difference? Through scaffolded layers of small steps in teacher and student interactions, large strides can be made toward building students’ STEM English. This means envisioning and simulating realistic, professional-based interactions. It includes incorporating into lessons multimodal communicative forms and off-script opportunities to communicate spontaneously and effectively about scientific definitions, descriptions, and relationships. This presentation will highlight concrete examples of small steps the teacher and students can take to increase their confidence in asking, reasoning, teaching, and learning about STEM-related topics using English. These small steps can be adapted for other teaching contexts to build student autonomy, voice, and lifelong motivation.

Bio of the presenter

Joseph Falout, associate professor at College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, has been teaching ESP for over 20 years to graduate and undergraduate students. He authored or co-authored 60-plus academic works on psychology in language learning and teaching, notably on: (1) demotivation-to-remotivation processes, (2) classroom group dynamics with Ideal Classmates Priming, and (3) teaching and researching with Critical Participatory Looping. Recently, along with Glen Hill and Matthew Apple, he has been editing a compilation of chapters for a book on teaching and researching: STEM English in Japan: Education, Innovation, and Motivation (Palgrave Macmillan, in press).