JALT National Conference 2003 (first day)

Description: Press release:
(Tokyo) The Japan Association for Language Teaching (NPO) announces its plenary speakers for its 29th annual convention for language professionals, which will be held at Granship Convention Center in Shizuoka city on Nov. 21-24. JALT's annual convention attracts thousands of language educators annually. The plenary speakers for this year's convention are Jack Richards, Simon Greenall and Dave Willis.

Jack Richards
Quite possibly one of the most well known figures in English language teaching (ELT), Dr. Richards continues to contribute to the field and expand his well-deserved recognition. Born in New Zealand, Dr. Richards obtained a Master of Arts degree with first class honors in English from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand in 1966. He obtained his PhD in Applied Linguistics from Laval University (a French-Language University) in Quebec City, Canada in 1972. He has worked in many parts of the world, including New Zealand, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States. Since 1999 he has been based in Singapore at the Regional Language Centre where he is adjunct professor. He is also an adjunct professor at Macquarie University and gives guest lectures there when he is in Australia. He has written over 60 articles and 20 books. Among his well-known reference books are Curriculum Development in Language Teaching and Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. His classroom textbooks are also widely used. These include Springboard, New Person to Person, Tactics for Listening, and the best-selling series New Interchange.

Simon Greenall
Simon Greenall completed an MA in Modern Languages at the University of Oxford and taught extensively in England and France before becoming an author in 1982. He has since published over twenty coursebook series and CD Rom/Internet materials. He has acted as a consultant on a number of projects for publishers, examination boards and the BBC. He was also President of IATEFL from 1997-1999, and has given teacher-training sessions in 40 countries. One of his best-known publications is the popular Move Up series. His recent work involves socio-cultural awareness and cognitive training and includes secondary courses for Poland, Greece and Turkey, and China, as well as a textbook series called People Like Us, which explores cultural values, attitudes, beliefs, customs and traditions around the world.

Dave Willis
Dave Willis has worked in the field of English language teaching for almost forty years. He worked as a teacher and teacher trainer in Ghana, Cyprus, Iran and Singapore as well as the UK. He recently retired from his job as a Senior Lecturer working on MA TEFL/TESL programs at Birmingham University, but continues to be active writing and running workshops and consultancies. He has written widely on discourse analysis, task-based learning and pedagogic language description. His latest book: Rules, Patterns and Words: Grammar and Lexis in English Language Teaching is to be published later this year.

JALT's annual convention is host to hundreds of presentations and workshops. In addition, one can find a large exhibition of educational materials and services. Exhibitors and sponsors include Oxford University Press, Macmillan Language House, Cambridge University Press, and Longman. One can even find a job center here with job postings. The three-day event includes a big party and an International food fair. This is an ideal event for language teachers who want to expand their knowledge and to keep up with teaching trends. This year's theme is "Keeping Current in Language Teaching."

JALT is a nonprofit organization (NPO) dedicated to the improvement of language learning and teaching in Japan. Formed in 1976, it has an international membership of some 3,000. There are currently 39 JALT chapters and 1 affiliate chapter. JALT is an affiliate of International TESOL (Teachers of English Speakers of Other Languages) and a branch of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). For more information on JALT, visit www.jalt.org. For information on JALT2003, visit http://jalt.org/jalt2003.