The oral presentation I made was about language learning anxiety (See details). This was with two other research partners, and we got some good reactions and questions from the audience that underscored our theory that language learning anxiety is a significant, wide-spread psychological phenomenon that instructors of EFL/ESL working with many different types of students from different cultural backgrounds are struggling to deal with. Several audience members commented how they agree with the importance of understanding factors of anxiety and solutions using qualitative interview-based methodology as we did. Another interesting discussion we had was regarding the balance between positive, encouraging feedback from the instructor to the student, or among peers, and ha certain degree of strictness, authoritarianism, and constructive criticism to challenge students.
We also made a poster presentation about Japanese students' academic performance in university in relation to that in the United States (See details) and how efforts to reform university education in each country (or the lack thereof) should take into consideration an international perspective of what is effective and what may be misguided. The points in the poster led to very active discussion with attendees from several countries about their own country's student performance and reform efforts in various levels of education. There was much interest in how Japanese industry developed successfully in the 20th century in spite of a very lenient university academic culture that does not demand much engagement in terms of attendance or coursework, and how that model may or may not need to change if Japan wishes to remain competitive in the future.
Both papers have been published in the proceedings and are available for those interested.
Attending oral and poster sessions at the conference was also beneficial. I focused my attention on university language instruction-related sessions, and got some useful insights on helping students deepen their ability to conduct research while avoiding plagiarism. The Center for Academic Integrity was cited by many professors from various countries as being a very helpful resource--which may be a good addition to what we share with students at ICU. I also attended sessions on blended learning with a few good tips for using Moodle and Blackboard more effectively for research paper instruction. Another emphasis of the conference was "m-learning" or e-learning using mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, and it was interesting to see how many institutions are introducing m-learning tools for in-class and homework assignments.
Some other things I enjoyed were:
1) Seeing a very smoothly run international conference. As a member of JACET's convention steering committee, I have participated in conference administration for the past few years, and it was instructive to see how the IATED / INTED organization enhanced the conference experience with a) highly capable room staff--I wonder if they were free volunteers or paid staff--they were very much in charge and very helpful to the presenters and facilitators, and b) a comfortable schedule for mingling and getting to know people--coffee time twice a day and an attractive lunch where I met people from many countries and learned a lot about the issues various countries and institutions are facing--possibly even more than in the presentation sessions.
2) Listening to many different varieties of English interacting with each other. As a presenter, I was asked questions in many different accents, and as an audience member watched interactions between presenters and listeners of various cultures. Some speakers were intelligible and effective communicators, while others really struggled to get through. In all cases, it was interesting to watch the communication strategies that were used, including asking others in the room for help to interpret what somebody was trying to say, and asking for repetitions, rephrasing and even just bluntly "Your question is too complex. Please ask me an easier question."
3) Being in Valencia and trying to get around in a city that is not particularly English-visitor friendly. Knowing very little Spanish, it was interesting to have to navigate subways, buses, and street signs for getting from the airport to the conference and around the city to restaurants and order food etc. You notice a lot of things about where signs should be, how they should be consistent, when English should be added, and how a country that depends on tourism for a large part of its GDP should work a bit harder on making the city easier to navigate. These are good lessons for Tokyo and other cities in Japan as well.
Finally, a few amateur photos of Valencia from my camera.
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| From the tower of the Cathedral overlooking the city center |
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| The cobble-stoned city center of Valencia |
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| A little paella and beer with my research partners to celebrate a job well done |
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