Open Lecture by Professor Hossein Nassaji

Miyagi University of Education
Primary School English Education Research Center
Noguya Itagaki

The Miyagi University of Education Primary School English Education Research Center is proud to announce that Professor Hossein Nassaji of University of Victoria, Canada, will be holding a special lecture titled as How to focus on grammar in task-based instruction: Issues and options for the general public on the below date.

Date:         April 19 (Sunday), 14:00 ~ 16:00
Venue:        Miyagi University of Education Building 2 Room 230
Audience:    Anyone interested in English education.
Cost:        Free of charge
Reservations:    To reserve a seat at one of the lecture, please send your name,
address, phone number, and e-mail address by e-mail
to: Wataru Suzuki (watarusuzuki@gmail.com)
Deadline:        Please make your reservations by April 12th, 2015.
About the speaker:
Professor Nassaji is a worldwide leading researcher in second language acquisition. His research interests include corrective feedback, form-focused instruction, task-based language teaching, L2 reading processes, and vocabulary acquisition. He has published several books including Form-focused instruction and teacher education: Studies in Honour of Rod Ellis (Oxford University Press), Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context (Routdlege), and Interactional feedback Dimension in in instructed second language learning (Bloomsbury Publishing). He has also published numeral articles in leading journals in applied linguistics such as Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, Language Learning, Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Reading Research Quarterly, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, and Language Teaching Research. He is the winner of the Twenty-First Annual Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize of Modern Language Association of America with Gordon Wells of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2001.

Abstract:
Ample theory and research in the field of second language acquisition suggest that communicative interaction is fundamental for successful second language learning. However, SLA research also suggests that teaching approaches that are purely communicative in nature or those that focus only on message are not adequate for the development of language competence. Thus, in addition to having opportunities for using language for communicative purposes, learners also need to have opportunities for noticing and attention to linguistic forms. A major challenge in L2 instruction, however, has always been how to do so. The dilemma has been how to focus on linguistic forms without scarifying opportunities for meaning-focused communication or how to focus on grammar without returning to the traditional models of grammar teaching that are often found to be ineffective. The goal of this presentation is to address this issue. To this end, the presentation will begin with briefly reviewing task-based instruction as an important way of providing opportunities for meaning-focused interaction in the classroom. Issues with a task-based approach will then be considered. I will then show how a focus on form can be incorporated into classroom tasks. Drawing on recent theory and research, different strategies for doing so will be discussed. I will also present the various characteristics and rationales of these strategies and provide examples of how they can assist learners.ホセイン・ナサジ教授　公開講演会のお知らせ

宮城教育大学附属
小学校英語教育研究センター
センター長　板垣　信哉

カナダのビクトリア大学教授、ホセイン・ナサジ氏による下記の講演会を一般に 公開いたします。ナサジ教授は第二言語習得研究の第一人者で数々の著作や論文 があります。当日は「How to focus on grammar in task-based instruction: Issues and options」というタイトルで講演会が行われます（講演会の内容の詳 細は下記をご覧ください）。

1. 日程：
4月19日（日） 14:00 ～ 16:00

2. 場所：
宮城教育大学 （仙台市青葉区荒巻字青葉149番地）2号館230教室

3. 対象者：
小・中・高等学校及び大学の英語教育に関心をお持ちの方。

4. 参加費：
無料

5. 申込方法及びお問い合わせ先：
お名前、ご所属、お電話番号（差し支えなければ携帯番号）、E-mailアドレスを ご記入いただき、鈴木渉（watarusuzuki@gmail.com）までご連絡をお願いいたし ます。

6. 申込締め切り：平成27年4月13（月）必着

7. 講演者：
ナサジ教授は第二言語習得研究分野で世界的な権威である。研究分野は、フィー ドバック、タスク、読解、語彙習得など多岐に渡る。『Form-focused instruction and teacher education: Studies in Honour of Rod Ellis』、 『Teaching grammar in second language classrooms: Integrating form-focused instruction in communicative context』、『Interactional feedback Dimension in in instructed second language learning』などの著書 や、Applied Linguistics, Language Learning, Modern Language Journal, Applied Psycholinguistics, Reading Research Quarterlyなど世界的な国際雑 誌に論文を出版している。

8. 講演内容：
Ample theory and research in the field of second language acquisition suggest that communicative interaction is fundamental for successful second language learning. However, SLA research also suggests that teaching approaches that are purely communicative in nature or those that focus only on message are not adequate for the development of language competence. Thus, in addition to having opportunities for using language for communicative purposes, learners also need to have opportunities for noticing and attention to linguistic forms. A major challenge in L2 instruction, however, has always been how to do so. The dilemma has been how to focus on linguistic forms without scarifying opportunities for meaning-focused communication or how to focus on grammar without returning to the traditional models of grammar teaching that are often found to be ineffective. The goal of this presentation is to address this issue. To this end, the presentation will begin with briefly reviewing task-based instruction as an important way of providing opportunities for meaning-focused interaction in the classroom. Issues with a task-based approach will then be considered. I will then show how a focus on form can be incorporated into classroom tasks. Drawing on recent theory and research, different strategies for doing so will be discussed. I will also present the various characteristics and rationales of these strategies and provide examples of how they can assist learners.