(1) Dealing with student plagiarism; (2) Preparing students for the new TOEIC

Speaker: Terry Fellner, Saga University

Date: Saturday, May 17th, 2008

Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Location: Fukuoka

Venue: Fukuoka Jo Gakuin Tenjin Satellite Campus (9F), Tenjin 2-8-38, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka map:http://www.fukujo.ac.jp/tenjin/access.html

Description: Two Presentations by Terry Fellner, Saga University

Presentation 1: Dealing with student plagiarism, a processed-based portfolio approach to academic writing
A concern among foreign language instructors is that of student plagiarism. The ease of finding materials online and copying portions of text without citations makes this problem particularly relevant today. The presenter first examines difficulties instructors have in defining plagiarism and consequently dealing with student plagiarism. The presentation then offers an alternative definition that neatly defines plagiarism for the modern web 2.0 world. The presenter will also illustrate how prevalent plagiarism may be in Japan based upon the results of surveys he has administered to his students and then discuss eight common reasons why students plagiarize university writing assignments. The presentation concludes by stating that a process-based portfolio approach to writing which makes use of legitimate writing strategies, such as Rebecca Howard's (1995) "patch writing", can greatly reduce the reasons students plagiarize and instead motivate them to develop a sense of identity in their academic writing.

Presentation 2: Preparing students for the new TOEIC Speaking and writing test
Two years ago Educational Testing Services (ETS) began offering the new TOEIC Speaking and Writing test in Korea. This new test is meant to be a complement to the traditional reading and writing TOEIC test and when taken together will provide test takers, universities and companies a much better indication of test takers overall English ability. This presentation will examine the new speaking and writing test and discuss what communication skills are actually being evaluated. The presenter will then illustrate how this new form of TOEIC poses particularly difficult challenges to Japanese students as it necessitates that they be not only much more active – as opposed to passive – in their language learning but also in their language use. The presentation will require audience participation as it concludes by demonstrating some activities that can benefit students who are studying English in a regular university environment.

About the speaker: Terry Fellner is an Associate Professor at Saga University in Japan. He has been a language teacher and teacher trainer for over 15 years in North America, Africa and Asia. His current interests lie in the areas of CALL, Outdoor Language Learning, academic writing, and curriculum and materials design.

Cost for JALT members: free

Cost for JALT non-members: 1,000 yen

Organization: Fukuoka Chapter, Japan Association for Language Teaching

This URL: http://www.eltcalendar.com/events/details/4070

Contact Fukuoka JALT Chapter:

URL: http://www.kyushuelt.com/jalt/fukuoka.html

Jack Brajcich:

jack_brajcich@hotmail.com

Other Past Events (Archive) for Fukuoka JALT Chapter

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Shaping Teaching to fit Theories of Learning

Time: 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM