The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT), or 特定非営利活動法人全国語学教育学会 (“Specified Nonprofit Corporation – Zenkoku Gogaku Kyoiku Gakkai”) in Japanese, is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

professional organization A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) is a group that usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in ...

for foreign language teachers in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Japan's "largest convocation of language educators", JALT has 2,800 members, many of whom are non-Japanese who have settled in Japan. Each member may belong to a local chapter, and has the option of also belonging to Special Interest Groups (SIGs). JALT holds an annual

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

, and has done so since 1975. JALT produces a bimonthly magazine, a semiannual journal, and an annual conference proceedings.

History

The first beginnings of the association began with a casual get-together (based on an interest in the Silent Way teaching method) organised in 1975 by Sharon Bode, then Chief Instructor at the Kyoto YMCA. A subsequent meeting was held at the National L.L. School in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

in spring 1976, where it was agreed to call the "organization" KALT (Kansai Association of Language Teachers) and the group grew to around 60 members. The group's first event was a KALT-sponsored weekend conference in August 1976 at Kyoto YMCA attended by about 120 people. KALT as a broader organisation came into existence when the Tokai Chapter (representing

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) was formed in 1977, followed in the late 1970s by Chugoku (

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

), Takamatsu (

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

), and Nishi-Nippon (

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

). In 1977 KALT became JALT, and in September that year it became the Official Japan Affiliate of TESOL, and by the end of 1978, membership was around 800, alongside 30 commercial members. JALT was granted NPO status (as a nonprofit organization registered with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government) in 1999.

Chapters

JALT now has Chapters throughout Japan, and each member of JALT may belong to one chapter. Chapters take their names from the geographical area that they serve (usually named for their prefecture), although Nankyu is a created name. Chapters sponsor activities for language teachers in their area, and most chapter events are in English, though some are in Japanese.

Current chapters

* Akita * East

* Fukui *

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

* Gunma *

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

* Ibaraki * Iwate *

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuk ...

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

* Nagano *

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

* NanKyu *

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

* Niigata * Oita *

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

* Okinawa *

* Saitama, Japan *

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

* Shizuoka *

* Tottori, Japan *

Toyohashi is a Cities of Japan, city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefec ...

* West

* Yamagata *

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Special Interest Groups

JALT now has many

Special Interest Group A special interest group (SIG) is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular f ...

s (SIGs) consisting of members who share a professional interest. Members also have the option of joining one or more SIGs. SIGs provide publications, mailing lists, and are involved with conferences.

Current SIGs

* Accessibility in Language Learning * Bilingualism * Business Communication * CEFR and Language Portfolio * College and University Educators * Computer Assisted Language Learning *

Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the process of analyzing available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to make sound conclusions or informed choices. It involves recognizing underlying assumptions, providing justifications for ideas and actions, ...

* Extensive reading * Gender Awareness in Language Education * Global Issues in Language Education * Intercultural Communication in Language Education * Japanese as a Second Language * Learner Development * Lifelong Language Learning * Listening * Literature in Language Teaching * Materials Writers * Mind, Brain, and Education * Mixed, Augmented, and Virtual Realities * Other Language Educators *

Pragmatics In linguistics and the philosophy of language, pragmatics is the study of how Context (linguistics), context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship ...

* School Owners * Speech, Drama, & Debate * Study Abroad * Task Based Learning * Teacher Development * Teachers Helping Teachers * Teaching Younger Learners * Testing and Evaluation *

Vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...

Conference

The full name of JALT's annual conference is ''Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Exhibition''. Conferences consist of

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...

s, featured speaker sessions, and concurrent workshops and presentations. There are about 600 of these, and about 1,600 attendees, and there is a balance between practical presentations and theoretical. The Educational Materials Exhibition (EME) consists of displays of language learning textbooks, reference books and other language education materials.

Publications

JALT's first publication, ''The Newsletter'', began in October 1975, and gradually increased in both size and quality. Its successor, ''The Language Teacher'' (TLT), was first published in April 1984. Originally released monthly, in 2009, a decision was made to begin publishing bimonthly in order to concentrate on offering more content online. It is a refereed publication, meaning that articles are subject to peer review, and is distributed in both paper and electronic (online) form. The first annual

conference proceedings In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings are a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confer ...

publication was called ''TEFL Japan '77: Collected Papers'' whereas the most recent was the 2017 release of the ''JALT Postconference Publication - JALT2016.'' ''The JALT Journal'' is JALT's

applied research Applied science is the application of the scientific method and scientific knowledge to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines, such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted with basic science, ...

journal which was first published in November 1979. It is still published semiannually, in May and November, with an emphasis on linking theory to practice.

Partner organizations

International Partners

* Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA) * English Teaching Association of the Republic of China (ETA-ROC) * Far Eastern English Language Teachers' Association (FEELTA) * The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) * International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) * Linguapax Asia * Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL) * Malaysia English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) * Philippine Association for Language Teaching (PALT) * The Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia (TEFLIN) * TESOL International Association (TESOL) * Thailand TESOL (ThaiTESOL)

Domestic Partners

* Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (AJET) * Japan Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL) * Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) * The United Associations of Language Studies (UALS)

References

External links

* {{Official website Japanese-language education English-language education Professional associations based in Japan Educational organizations based in Japan Language education in Japan