Here is my conference review of the JALT CUE ESP Symposium I promoted in another post. The review was published as follows:
Tachino, T. (September, 2024). The 7th CUE ESP Symposium 2024: Conference Review. CUE SIG Newsletter.
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We thank Dr. Tosh Tachino for sharing his thoughts on this year’s 7th CUE SIG ESP Symposium that took place on September 21 in Morioka, co-hosted by the Iwate-Aomori chapter and Iwate University. He highlights the key moments and discussions from the event. We hope all CUE SIG members find his insights valuable.
“The two plenary presentations introduced participants to the field of ESP. The talks were not only insightful and well-grounded but also accessible and practical.
Mellisa Ogasawara and Chris Horne’s presentation emphasized the importance of needs analysis, guiding us through the process of conducting a needs analysis and providing step-by-step instructions on how to construct an ESP class. They also shared their journey of publishing a book based on this experience and encouraged us to consider whether authoring and publishing a textbook is a worthwhile endeavor.
Leigh McDowell’s presentation focused on English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) and covered both research and practical aspects. He walked us through the major developments in the field and recommended Introducing English for Research Publication Purposes by Flowerdew and Habibie (2022) for anyone interested in exploring this area further. Additionally, he provided a brief guide on how to teach an ERPP course in case anyone is suddenly called upon to teach one in the coming semester. For this purpose, he suggested Academic Writing for Graduate Students by Swales and Feak (2012).
McDowell’s slides are available at https://shorturl.at/JxfNB, while Ogasawara and Horne’s slides can be accessed by contacting the presenters directly at m_ogasawara@ms.auhw.ac.jp and h_christopher@ms.auhw.ac.jp.
Some of the poster presentations were directly linked to the plenary sessions. James Emmet Owen’s and Tosh Tachino’s posters extended different aspects of McDowell’s presentation—Owen’s was more practical, while Tachino’s was more theoretical. Nitta’s poster on building a mini-corpus in class served as a concrete example of McDowell’s suggestion to allow students to discover the genre features of their own disciplines. Kazumi Kato’s poster directly related to needs analysis; she had her students interview local ship workers to document their English needs, which also resulted in a textbook, similar to Ogasawara and Horne’s project.
Other posters focused on specific teaching strategies for ESP classrooms. Julia Kimura and Elisabeth Fernandes showcased how to teach affixes to improve vocabulary and reading skills for pharmaceutical and science students among others. Fred Bacala described how he incorporated elements from the game Hospital Tycoon to teach medical vocabulary. Kazumi Takagi’s poster addressed the challenges of motivating business students and the lack of opportunities for them to use English, and she invited participants to discuss potential solutions.
Unlike presentations at larger conferences, the symposium’s smaller size allowed presenters and audience members to engage in extended conversations and delve deeply into specific issues. Despite the generous one-hour slots, some discussions continued into the lunch hour, and people were still exchanging ideas an hour later.
The local Iwate-Aomori Chapter also made a significant effort to create a welcoming atmosphere. At one point, Chris Horne remarked how comfortable it felt to speak to this audience during his plenary session. Homemade treats added a personal touch to the event’s atmosphere, with Kathryn Akasaka deserving special mention for her superb cookies, chocolate cakes, banana bread, and biscotti.
Feedback from participants indicates that many appreciated this collaboration between the CUE SIG and the local chapter to bring a major event to this region. There is a strong desire to see more such collaborations in the future.”