PAUL WADDEN
Juntendo University, Tokyo
About
Paul Wadden is the author of many books and articles on language teaching and language learning, editor of A Handbook for Teaching English at Japanese Colleges and Universities (Oxford, 1993) and Teaching English at Japanese Universities: A New Handbook (Routledge, 2019). He is a professor in the Faculty of International Liberal Arts at Juntendo University, Tokyo.Sessions
College and University Stimulating student interest and motivation by meeting the author more
Thu, Aug 10, 14:25-15:45 Asia/Tokyo
Students who engage in extensive reading typically experience texts as finished books by remote or even anonymous authors. This presentation recounts a rare “meet-the-author” experience of two university classes who had a highly satisfying Zoom exchange with a writer after reading his series of 10 books. This gave them the opportunity to ask how the author conceived the themes, chose the settings, created the contents, who particular characters were based on, why they acted as they did, and other questions. The presentation explains the preparation necessary for a good exchange, the rationale for the format chosen (brief author presentation followed by questions), the key role a publisher can play, and the positive motivation and learning outcomes indicated by students, who saw reading (and writing) in a new light after the opportunity to speak directly with an author. Presentation will also discuss directions for future research.
College and University Using extensive reading to support content in a university CLIL curriculum more
Wed, Aug 9, 12:15-12:50 Asia/Tokyo
Leaders in the field of extensive reading such as Nation, Waring, Day, Bamford, Robb, and others have emphasized the principle of having students pursue personal interests by freely choosing from a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books. This presentation explores a different approach by explaining—in detail—how extensive reading can also be used to support content in a CLIL curriculum. Juntendo University’s semi-intensive first-year English program of 200 students in Tokyo recently underwent extensive reform and shifted from using a commercial EFL textbook to focused study of liberal arts areas such as natural history, earth science, sociology, and zoology. It subsequently adapted its extensive reading so that about half of the assigned online books are thematically related to particular content topics. This allows students to see target vocabulary in new contexts, re-encounter concepts central to content, while improving reading skills and reading speed. It also resulted in 140% higher one-year ITP TOEFL gains compared to previous years.
