Upcoming Fukuoka JALT events:
Overview (details below):
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Calls for Conference Presentation Proposals:What's happening around JALT? |
June 14, 2025
Art in the Language Classroom - Why and How?
Will Tiley

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"
Pablo Picasso
The idea of incorporating art into language lessons does, at first, seem quite unusual. Why do this? What educational benefits could this possibly offer? This presentation will aim to introduce some reasons behind arts integration in language education - not as decorative filler, but as a tool for building language skills, developing confidence and encouraging creative and critical expression. The first half will look at the theoretical basis for arts integration, including its alignment with existing educational theories and practices and some of the unique opportunities that art can bring to language learning contexts. The second half will then focus on practical methods to incorporate arts activities into your own classes, including creative activities and frameworks to help students engage with works of art effectively.
Will Tiley is a lecturer at Kyushu Institute of Technology (Iizuka Campus). He has been exploring the role of art in language learning contexts for a few years now, and is continuing this line of inquiry on the DProf TESOL doctorate program at St Andrews University in the UK. His other research interests include language teachers as language learners, and communicative approaches to vocabulary acquisition. He has no painting or drawing skills whatsoever, but occasionally moonlights as a bass guitarist when he needs to let off some steam.
Pablo Picasso
The idea of incorporating art into language lessons does, at first, seem quite unusual. Why do this? What educational benefits could this possibly offer? This presentation will aim to introduce some reasons behind arts integration in language education - not as decorative filler, but as a tool for building language skills, developing confidence and encouraging creative and critical expression. The first half will look at the theoretical basis for arts integration, including its alignment with existing educational theories and practices and some of the unique opportunities that art can bring to language learning contexts. The second half will then focus on practical methods to incorporate arts activities into your own classes, including creative activities and frameworks to help students engage with works of art effectively.
Will Tiley is a lecturer at Kyushu Institute of Technology (Iizuka Campus). He has been exploring the role of art in language learning contexts for a few years now, and is continuing this line of inquiry on the DProf TESOL doctorate program at St Andrews University in the UK. His other research interests include language teachers as language learners, and communicative approaches to vocabulary acquisition. He has no painting or drawing skills whatsoever, but occasionally moonlights as a bass guitarist when he needs to let off some steam.
Fee: 1,000 yen for non-JALT members. Free for JALT members.
Location: Elgala (Daimaru East) Building, Tenjin (6 F, Kurume University Satellite Campus room; go in the back entrance shown on the map). From Hakata, take the Nanakuma Subway Line to Tenjin-Minami Station, exit 4. If you haven't been to this location before, please note that the entrance is NOT through the department store, it is around the back from the department store entrances, here: https://goo.gl/maps/hj8VXmpfjAykeXBV9 (You'll find this by Googling エルガーラ オフィス棟). Click here to watch a video showing the venue location.
Location: Elgala (Daimaru East) Building, Tenjin (6 F, Kurume University Satellite Campus room; go in the back entrance shown on the map). From Hakata, take the Nanakuma Subway Line to Tenjin-Minami Station, exit 4. If you haven't been to this location before, please note that the entrance is NOT through the department store, it is around the back from the department store entrances, here: https://goo.gl/maps/hj8VXmpfjAykeXBV9 (You'll find this by Googling エルガーラ オフィス棟). Click here to watch a video showing the venue location.
July 19, 2025
Developing Metapragmatic Awareness in English Courses at TGUP Global Traction Universities in Japan
Dylan Brown
18:00-20:00 (6PM-8PM)

Most English teachers don't have the time or inclination to go into pragmatics, and given the fact that we live in a world where global Englishes and English as a lingua franca increasingly predominate over native-speaker norms, it may be of questionable worth anyway. But because of this very likelihood that students will encounter Englishes other than the textbook variety if they travel, it makes sense to raise their awareness about pragmatics. This presentation will explore ways of preparing our students to navigate ELF and foreign English immersion scenarios through the development of metapragmatic awareness.
Dylan Lawson Brown is from South Africa. His various stints on JET, eikaiwa and presently dispatch for Fukuoka BOE add up to a total of fifteen years of teaching in Japan. He has recently completed a MEd (TESOL) with the University of Dundee and this presentation is based on his dissertation
Dylan Lawson Brown is from South Africa. His various stints on JET, eikaiwa and presently dispatch for Fukuoka BOE add up to a total of fifteen years of teaching in Japan. He has recently completed a MEd (TESOL) with the University of Dundee and this presentation is based on his dissertation