The Language Teacher
05 - 2004

LIOJ & JALT

Jim Kahny

The Language Institute of Japan (LIOJ)

Perspectives

. . . with Joyce Cunningham & Mariko Miyao perspectives@jalt-publications.org

This month, Jim Kahny, the previous director of the Language Institute of Japan (LIOJ), updates JALT members on LIOJ activities and gives insight into the important role LIOJ has played in JALT for so many years. The co-editors warmly encourage 750-word reports of interest to JALT members in English, Japanese, or both.

LIOJ & JALT

At the JALT national conference last November, I was asked, "What exactly is the relationship between LIOJ and JALT?" This article will answer that question. The Language Institute of Japan, a non-profit institute, is an associate member of JALT. Founded in 1968, LIOJ's original program was a residential course designed to prepare high school and college students for study in the US. Over the years, LIOJ has evolved, and today offers English classes for local residents; as well as residential programs, including camps for high school students, courses for business professionals, and an annual summer workshop for teachers of English. Our faculty also teaches at nearby public elementary and junior high schools. The histories of LIOJ and JALT are intertwined. In fact, the origin of JALT can be traced back to LIOJ. In 1975, LIOJ director, Bill Harshbarger, organized a TEFL conference in Odawara that resulted in the formation of JALT a year later. Harshbarger (2003) recently reminisced about events at LIOJ that led to the establishment of JALT:

One of the most significant events during my time at LIOJ was our attempt to host a TESOL-like conference for English teachers in Japan. At that time, there were an estimated 10,000 foreign English teachers in Japan, but there was no way for them to effectively communicate with each other. I approached [MRA Foundation executive director Masahide] Shibusawa with the idea of holding a language teaching conference at LIOJ. The response was an underwhelming twelve responses. I was crestfallen and reported the bad news to Mr. Shibusawa. He suggested that we invite the twelve people who responded to come anyway at LIOJ expense for a couple days to see if we might do better at some future time. Most of them came and this meeting at LIOJ became the germ of what then formed into the Kansai Association of Language Teachers (KALT) because several of the people who came to our meeting were from the Kansai, including Sharon Bode and Tom Pendergast. KALT eventually became JALT and through additional machinations involving me trying to infiltrate another organization of mostly retired missionaries, JALT became the Japanese affiliate of TESOL.

Although there's no plaque on the wall in our office, LIOJ takes pride in being a catalyst, leading to the formation of what is today a dynamic English teaching association with over 3,000 members.

It has long been school policy to keep the yearly calendar clear for the JALT national conference and to support teachers who would like to attend JALT events. From the late 1970s to the present, scores of LIOJ teachers have participated in JALT activities. Donald Freeman, Kathleen Graves, Lance Knowles, Bob Ruud, Don Maybin, Barbara Hoskins, Sherri Arbogast, Steve Cornwell, Jaimie Scanlon, Stephen Shrader, and others have conducted presentations at JALT chapter meetings and conferences or contributed to JALT publications as representatives of LIOJ. Through the early nineties, the LIOJ-published journal, Cross Currents, was a fixture at conferences, offering discounts to JALT members.

Every June, Yokohama JALT teams up with us to host a meeting in Odawara. Chapter president, Yoshio Mochimaru, begins the annual meeting reminding all of JALT's roots at LIOJ. In 2003, LIOJ and YoJALT—along with ETJ Odawar—organized a successful mini-conference reminiscent of the LIOJ/JALT Open Houses of the eighties.

JALT has been the source for finding talented speakers within Japan for LIOJ's own annual International Workshop for Teachers of English. Kip Cates, David Paul, Marc Helgesen, Tim Murphey, Brenda Harris, Eton Churchill, Sonia Yositake, Ian Nakamura, Boyce Watkins, Kathleen Kitao, Kenji Kitao, Tony Cominos, Donna Fujimoto, and Rob Waring are some of the JALT members who have presented at LIOJ workshops in recent years.

LIOJ and JALT have mutual friends: We maintain good relations with JALT's Pan-Asian partners, Thailand TESOL, Korea TESOL, and FEELTA (as well as MELTA and Lao TESOL), and have lent support to JALT's 4-Corners Tour of Asian Scholars. We also back the Asian Youth Forum.

Like JALT, LIOJ continues to evolve in anticipation of the changing needs of teachers and learners of English in Japan. Through its partnership with JALT, LIOJ aims to meet these needs in appropriate and imaginative ways. For more information on LIOJ programs, please contact Kazumi Masuda at lioj@basil.ocn.ne.jp.

Reported by Jim Kahny

Reference

Harshbarger, B. (2003). Bill Harshbarger. In J. Kahny, K. Masuda, & S. Shrader (Eds.), [CD-ROM]. LIOJ 35th anniversary. Odawara: Language Institute of Japan.

The Language Teacher05 - 2004

LIOJ & JALT

Jim Kahny

The Language Institute of Japan (LIOJ)

Perspectives

LIOJ & JALT

Reference

The Language Teacher
05 - 2004