Read more about it at this link. You can see the article upon which the discussion is based at this link. You can join the Yahoo group free, and you don’t have to be a member of IATEFL to join in on this discussion. People from around the world take part!

Included in that link is another link to a 2008 blurb on an earlier conference, reported in The Japan Times.

What’s more, as editor for the CUE journal, I see a lot of submissions that are below par on one simple matter: following instructions from the CUE guidelines. Heads up, people everywhere. Journals often have such guidelines, and they are there for a reason. Since around 1999, JALT has had its own peer support group for writers, too, and this should be sought out if one is unsure of how to prepare an article or if one has been rejected for substandard writing.

What is more interesting is the author’s suggestion on how students can practice speaking. He mentions a Skype-like tool called The Mixxer. Actually, it uses Skype, but with selected categories for speakers around the world to give opportunities to people wanting to learn their languages. You can also register to be a host teacher for such conversations.

See if you think it’s for you or your students.

You might also want to review David Barker’s 2004 article, “Encouraging students to take their language learning outside the classroom“.

Children who started kindergarten already proficient in English—regardless of the language they spoke at home—scored better as 8th graders on reading, math, and science tests than language-minority peers who didn’t gain proficiency until after starting kindergarten.

That point alone is not very surprising for the reading scores, in my opinion, as long as the children continue to be exposed to English (which these were, because they lived in the U.S.). And, on the surface, it’s more ammunition in favor of starting English at a young age in Japan, despite claims by some that it will hamper their overall learning (or at least their Japanese language learning). However, the headline points out another thing in the study that is a bit awkward for us as teachers to influence: how mothers can get better education so that their kids will do better. To quote the EW article:

Regardless of home language or English proficiency, the analysis showed those who had the most highly educated mothers generally had the highest scores in all three subjects, while those with the least educated mothers generally had the lowest scores.

Also, this report seems to project results from data that you can choose to accept or ignore. It’s mostly about Hispanic children, for one, not Japanese. It’s in the U.S., not Japan. And, although the study “tracked the educational outcomes of a nationally representative sample of students who entered kindergarten in the 1998-99 school year”, they never came right out and said how many students that involved. Moreover, how many other variables are involved in the period between kindergarten and eighth grade.

To be fair, the “NCES analysis also looked at how poverty status and mothers’ education levels affected language-minority students’ 8th grade scores.” Also, the report on Education Week declared “the NCES findings are yet another reminder of how race and ethnicity, poverty, and parental educational levels can shape a child’s academic outcomes.” You be the judge.

Couple that PDF with an older blog posting “Living in Hokkaido: What to know before you go“, and you should be as prepared as anyone.