12–14 Feb 2026
Sojo University
Asia/Tokyo timezone

Contribution List

27 out of 27 displayed
  1. Takako Yasuta (Fukushima Medical University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This presentation introduces a college-level EFL course that integrates manga creation with AI chatbot assistance to enhance English writing and related academic skills. The approach adopts a Project-Based Learning model and was implemented for health sciences majors, with the goal of providing useful local information for foreign residents and visitors. Through group-based manga creation,...

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  2. Barry Keith (University of the Ryukyus), Dr Adam Murray (University of the Ryukyus)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Language Language teachers frequently use pairwork for pattern practice or discussion. Students in Asian contexts, however, can be exceedingly shy. To extroverts, working with peers comes naturally; they relish the opportunity to meet new people. Introverts, however, may require external guidance to navigate the waters of social interaction. Even choosing a seat in an open classroom is not a...

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  3. Masato Koyashiki (Sojo University)
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    At Sojo University, there is a café space on the first floor of the English Building, but it has not been used for several years. As a student staff member of the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) which we call SALCer, I wanted to make this space lively again. I planned an event called SILC English Café, where students could order drinks in English and talk casually with teachers and other...

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  4. John Bankier (Kanagawa University)
    General
    Poster

    Lacking a consensus on the value of AI usage in language learning,teachers of second language writing may wish to limit its use and identify when it has been used. However, can teachers identify machine-generated text and distinguish it from human-written sentences?

    This poster describes the pilot study comparing the ability of language teachers, AI checkers and large language models (LLMs)...

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  5. Ratchadavan Kongsatt (Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This study examined how artificial intelligence (AI) can be meaningfully integrated into English language instruction. The research aimed to investigate the effects of structured AI-guided pronunciation practice using ChatGPT on Thai undergraduate EFL students’ intonation performance. Employing a quasi-experimental mixed-methods design over a 21-day intervention, the study compared outcomes...

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  6. Shu Ching Liu (National Tsing Hua University), Ms Ho-Chun Yeh (National Tsing Hua University)
    General
    Poster

    STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) has emerged as a prominent educational approach that promotes interdisciplinary learning. Incorporating hands-on activities and authentic contexts within STEAM can support English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in acquiring both English language skills and scientific concepts in a more meaningful and engaging way....

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  7. Heather Yoder
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Many teachers know about extensive reading and how it has been found to benefit English learners in a variety of ways (Mason & Krashen, 1997; Iwahori, 2008; Schmitt, 2000). However, teachers may feel unsure about how to use extensive reading in their classroom, possibly relying on book reports to assess extensive reading. On the other hand, Jacobs & Chau (2021) explain the multiple benefits of...

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  8. Norman Fewell (Meio University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This presentation offers language educators a practical, step-by-step blueprint for adjusting and deploying customized AI Agents to enhance writing instruction and activities across any target language, focusing on giving teachers the ability to modify the AI's function and transforming traditional writing activities into highly efficient, proficiency-based tasks. The core content focuses on...

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  9. Annie Hoang (University of British Columbia)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Online learning can be more than watching slides.

    This session explores how to design virtual learning experiences that are hands-on, collaborative, and measurably impactful, building learners' skills and confidence to solve real-world problems. Grounded in constructivist principles, participants learn by doing; social learning theory emphasizes peer observation and feedback; and Vygotsky’s...

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  10. Dr Brian Birdsell (Hirosaki University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Creative thinking is essential for students to develop, as it is highly valued by employers (WEF, 2025) and contributes to individual well-being (Jean-Berluche, 2024). Yet, creativity research continues to face several persistent challenges. First, its definition is often vague or limited to creative products. Second, its measurement has typically relied on divergent thinking tasks (e.g.,...

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  11. Branden Carl Kirchmeyer (Sojo University), Rachel Matsushita (Sojo University), Alison Koga (Sojo University), Timothy James Hull (Sojo University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This action research project aimed to improve teacher performance using course-final student surveys as key performance indicators (KPIs). A volunteer team of four course instructors formed both a professional learning community (PLC) and a research team. The team members investigated the extent to which student survey data were helpful in setting professional development goals and measuring...

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  12. Mr Adam Jenkins (Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Although the emergence of AI has "revolutionized" education, the ways in which AI is being applied to educational contexts has thus far proven quite limited in scope. In many cases, students are being directed to login to an AI and have some manner of interaction with it, however, these interactions tend to be limited to asking the AI to either provide feedback on student produced content,...

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  13. Mr Harry Carley (Matsuyama University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This presentation will share the experiences of an online company that offers English language instruction. The learners are in Japan while the English-speaking instructors are in the Philippines. Currently, Saibi Senior High School of Matsuyama, Ehime has contracted to SPTR-Japan to conduct occasional dialogue with its students. Saibi offers many different study courses. One is the...

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  14. Kriti Arora
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Crafting meaningful learning experiences often starts with learner autonomy. This presentation reports on a semester-long extensive listening project designed to move beyond passive listening through integration of authentic materials, namely, songs, in the curriculum. In this “Song Journal” project, students selected English songs based on personal interest, engaging in a weekly cycle of...

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  15. Dr Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa Razafindratsimba (Kanda University of International Studies), Ms Liling Kurakane (Kanda University of International Studies)
    General
    Workshop (55 minutes)

    Writing is said to be the hardest language skill to grasp for foreign language learners (Chamot 2005; Richards & Renandya 2002). It is also often considered as a boring skill to learn due to different reasons such as repetitive and uninteresting topics (Solhi et al., 2024), as well as under-challenging or over-challenging tasks (Li et al., 2023), which can result in students’ demotivation in...

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  16. Abram E. Leon (Osaka International University), Owen J. Crowe, Shin-ya Iwasaki (Osaka International University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This presentation takes a close look at the short-term study abroad field trip at our university and shows how effectively it provides students with meaningful experiences. Our study integrates qualitative insights from student surveys with quantitative data derived from the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI), which is an analytical tool for measuring learning outcomes.

    Our...

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  17. Dr Payal Khurana
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Speaking confidence remains one of the most persistent affective challenges for Asian learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), particularly women, who struggle with cultural expectations of accuracy, silence, and self-restraint. To address this, the study proposes a new theoretical framework—the Affective–Cognitive–Intercultural Spiral (ACIS)—which conceptualises confidence growth not...

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  18. Javiera Galaz (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This presentation reports on a classroom activity designed for a group of 24 Japanese first year university students majoring in English (B1 level). As part of a unit on humor, students participated in an online interview with a psychologist who researches humor. The activity aimed to create an authentic communicative experience by enabling students to interact with a non-native...

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  19. Dr Emily Marzin (KUIS)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Linguistic risk-taking is a crucial yet often-avoided component of second language (L2) acquisition, frequently constrained by learner anxiety and low willingness to engage in communication. This presentation reports on a mixed-method study that revisits the “Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport” (MacDonald & Thompson, 2019; Slavkov & Séror, 2019), an intervention designed to scaffold and promote...

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  20. Aya Fukushima (Sojo University), Horai Kayoko (Sojo University)
    General
    Poster

    The Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) at Sojo University has emphasized creating diverse and meaningful learning opportunities through collaboration with English curricula and student-centered initiatives. This means we have continuously revised and developed new activities to meet the evolving needs of students.
    In recent years, we have focused on designing initiatives that align with the...

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  21. Mr Adam Jenkins (Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology)
    General
    Poster

    Until recently, self-hosting a large language model (LLM) required knowledge of the command-line and the setting up of special environments in order to install the AI systems. All this changed with the release of the Ollama app. The Ollama application can be installed to Windows or Mac machines in the same way as any other application. Thereafter, LLMs can be downloaded for use locally on the...

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  22. Dr David Bollen (Sojo University), Dr Ed Rubesch (Sri Pathum University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    Curiosity, divergent thinking, and exploratory reasoning are not soft skills. Instead, they are essential intellectual capacities for navigating the complex, open-ended problems that all individuals will face in their lives and careers. Yet in most university programs, these habits of mind are either absent or confined to stand-alone courses in critical thinking. Despite being widely...

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  23. Donnellan Jonathan (Sojo University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    In this presentation, I describe the conclusions I drew from photographic data of texts gathered over multiple visits to the linguistic landscape (LL) of the ‘International Learning Centre’ of a private STEM university in Japan, and from walking tour interviews with three individuals who had been engaged in creating the LL. Linguistic landscapes are contested spaces where a variety of authors...

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  24. Hikyoung Lee (Korea University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    English Medium Instruction (EMI) courses necessitate a different set of teaching and learning skills compared to courses in the native language, particularly in English as a foreign language contexts. Factors such as English language proficiency tend to influence interactions between the instructor and students and may induce foreign language anxiety. This is often the case in graduate-level...

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  25. Kane Linton (Wayo Women's University), Mr Robert Stevenson (Tamagawa University)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    This study examines the transitory nature of learner archetypes within heterotopic spaces of language learning using a replicated Q-methodology design.

    Building on an earlier investigation that identified three archetypal learner roles within the heterotopic space of the EFL classroom, the present study tests the viability of these roles in a new setting. Participants completed a Q‐sort...

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  26. Alison Koga (Sojo University)
    General
    Poster

    In university classrooms, students should be allowed to draw on their full linguistic repertoires to support comprehension, expression, and confidence—yet classroom policies and teacher beliefs do not always acknowledge these resources. This poster shares findings from my ongoing research on translanguaging practices within advising and classroom interactions, focusing on how the intentional...

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  27. Bill White (Kindai Unversity)
    General
    Presentation (25 minutes)

    After 15 years of teaching EFL and using Moodle extensively, I can't imagine going back to traditional paper-based methods. In this practical session, I'll share why Moodle has transformed my teaching and given me more time to focus on what matters most, actually teaching my students.

    We'll explore how Moodle's reusability features let you build once and use forever, with quick updates that...

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