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How do you pronounce "JALT"?
- Don't laugh, it's a common question. It's not said as four separate letters; not "J-A-L-T".
Say it as one word, "Jalt". Rhymes with "salt" and "cobalt".^
- What is JALT's Japanese name?
- Even thought JALT's official name changed a few years ago from "the Japan Association of Language Teachers"
to "the Japan Association for Langauge Teaching", the Japanese name has remained the same:
- Zenkoku Gogaku Kyouiku Gakkai
The new English name hasn't entirely taken hold yet. You can still see the old version on some pre-printed envelopes
and letterheads.^
- Who runs the chapters?
- Each JALT chapter has an executive board, or committee, that makes the local decisions for that chapter during
executive board committee meetings. These meetings usually take place an hour or so before regularly scheduled
meetings. Any JALT member is allowed to sit in on these meetings. Furthermore, the officers of each JALT chapter
certainly welcome feedback and suggestions from the members of their chapter. All chapters fall under the umbrella
of the National Committee.^
- Who can run for office?
- Any JALT member is allowed to run for a position on the local chapter executive board in general elections
in December. If a member wishes to run for a position, he or she should make this known in the fall to the board
of the local chapter so that his or her name can be placed on the ballot
that is sent to all members of that chapter. Statements of position can be printed in the Fukuoka JALT newsletter.
The current board is charged with organizing the program into the following March to assure a smooth change of
hands. Similarly, outgoing executive board members maintain connections with new board members if the new board
members need advice or assistance.^
- What JALT Chapter board positions are open?
- There has been a little confusion over elections. Positions do not "become open" in the sense that
one cannot run for a position that a current board member wishes to keep. Any member is eligible to run for any
position in the general elections. The executive board positions are open to JALT members of all nationalities;
the working language of the Fukuoka Chapter (and most others) is English, although Japanese people do hold executive
board positions in every chapter and on the National level as well.^
- When are the elections?
- Elections for JALT chapters are usually held in December. Contact your
local chapter for specific information.^
- How much are officers paid?
- JALT officers do not get any money. It's a volunteer postition.^
- Why join JALT?
- By becoming a JALT member, these great things will happen:
- You will receive JALT's monthly magazine, The Language Teacher, including feature articles, teaching
tips and lesson plans that work, book reviews, meeting and conference announcements, and job advertisements. This
magazine is also available in bookstores such as Kinokuniya for 900 yen per issue. See The Language Teacher's on-line version, updated monthly with selected articles.
- You will receive the JALT Journal, containing practical and theoretical articles and research
reports. The JALT Journal
has an on-line version with abstracts and a 15-year index. (Also available in bookstores such as Kinokuniya
for 900 yen per issue)
- You will receive discounts on registration fees for the Annual International Conference, as well as advance
conference information
- You can attend local chapter meetings and regional meetings at reduced rates - or sometimes free (most local
chapter meetings are free for members, and cost between 500 yen to 1000 yen for "one day members").
- Becoming a JALT member puts you in touch with hundreds of language teaching professionals. We invite you to
join JALT today! [for information on how to join JALT, see our "how to join
JALT" information page.^
- What's a "one day member"?
- You'll see this phrase on JALT event announcements. As a non-profit organization, JALT isn't allowed under
the current tax structure to charge admission to events. When JALT realized this, some people argued that we therefore
had to close meetings to non-members because it is the fees of the members which underwrite the events. This isn't
a very nice option, though. So, in order to remain accessible to non-JALT members in our communities, we implemented
a "one day membership" idea. Basically, the events are technically closed to non-members, but anyone
who is not a member of JALT can become a member for that day only (a temporary member) in order to attend the meeting.^
- Why are some events free for everyone?
- The most common reason for certain events being free for everyone is because they are underwritten by an AM
(Associate Member), such as a publisher. For these events, the AM pays the fees for the speaker
(transportation, hotel, meals, honorarium), and all the chapter has to pay for is the venue site. Opening the event
to the general public for free is part of the agreement with the AM. However, this doesn't mean that the meetings
are simply one long commercial for a particular textbook. Chapters with experienced program chairs will try their
best to ensure that the event is useful for teachers, regardless of the book they use. Experienced AMs strive
to provide such a presentation. And the presenters themselves (especially the authors) are people who have done
a great deal of thinking about the topic and issues they're discussing, so teachers are bound to benefit.^
- How much does it cost to join JALT?
- The current fees (since April 1, 1997 are:
| CATEGORY |
New Fee
|
| Regular Member |
Y10000
|
Joint
(2 people sharing
the same address) |
Y8500 each
(total Y17,000)
|
Student
(undergraduate only) |
Y5000
|
Group
(at least four people) |
Y6500
|
| Subscription |
Y8000
|
SIGs: 1,500 yen each (open to JALT members) (SIGs are Special Interest Groups in JALT. See
a listing of SIGs for more info.)^
- Who can be a student member?
- Student memberships are for undergraduate students studying full time. We're sorry, but currently this category
is not open to graduate students.
- How can I join JALT?
- See our "How to Join JALT" page (join.html)
for further details. Also, there is a JAPANESE
version: How to Join JALT.
- Who is eligible for "student" memberships?
- Currently, student memberships are only open to undergraduate, full time students.
- Can you tell me more about what JALT is?
- JALT is a professional organization of people interested in promoting excellence in language learning and teaching.
- JALT is nearly 3,500 members in over 40 Chapters across Japan as well as members abroad. (Find the chapter
nearest you on our page of JALT Chapters throughout Japan.
- Many JALT members belonging to one or more Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
- JALT is affiliated with the following organizations:
- IATEFL (Int. Assoc. of Teachers of Eng. as a Foreign Language)
- TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)
- TESOL Korea
- Thai TESOL
- CATESOL (California TESOL)
- TESOL Canada
- The Japan Science Council
- Nihon Eigo Kyoiku Kaizen Kodankai (The Japan Association for Improving English Education)
- AJET (Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching Program)
- JACET (Japan Association of College English Teachers)
^
- RELATED PAGE:
- Our list of Kyushu contacts for other teaching organizations.
- Are Fukuoka and Kitakyushu two different chapters?
- Yes, but we used to be one chapter. Here's basically how it went: Although Fukuoka and Kitakyushu are pretty
far apart for the monthly commute to JALT meetings, there was a group of core members living in Kitakyushu who
made the trek every month. In November of '94, a group of them got together in Kitakyushu because they were interested
in starting a chapter; this was the organizing meeting of Kitakyushu JALT. They began having scheduled JALT meetings,
and everything was done on a volunteer basis, as they had no funding as a JALT chapter. During this time, they
were busy filling out the paperwork, etc., to become a chapter. In June of '95, having proven their abilities with
regular meetings (as well as the organization of the JALT Southwest Regional Conference), they became what we call
an Affiliate Chapter. After a two year period, Affiliate Chapters with good track records become regular Chapters.
Looking at all the great work going on over there, I'm sure they'll have no problems with that. Also, for the record,
even though this caused Fukuoka JALT membership numbers to drop, the Kitakyushu movement to become an independent
chapter was fully supported by the Fukuoka executive board. I'm happy to say that working relationships between
the two chapters is fantastic.^
- Can I put an advertisement on this site?
- Advertising on-line is an attractive, effective way to increase your exposure and to supplement existing marketing.
However, because the server space for this site was generously donated free of charge by the owner of the server,
we don't accept advertising (nor do we "exchange links" for the sake of publicity). However, you could
contact the KyushuNet server directly to advertise
on their site. Furthermore, the JALT National web side does accept
banner ads. Additionally, if you are business which caters to educators, then you've probably joined JALT as an
Associate Member, so why not join our book fair? All participating
companies get listed on this site.^
- What is an Associate Member?
- An Associate Member (AM) is not the same as an individual membership. This category of membership is open to
commercial companies. The membership fees for AMs are much higher than regular membership fees, and it is not an
automatic process; companies which apply and are accepted (at the JALT National level) can become AMs. There is
a lot more to it than this, such as the benefits of becoming an AM, etc., but the process has nothing to do with
local chapters. If interested, contact the JALT Central Office: Urban Edge Building 5F, 1-37-9 Taito, Taito-ku
Tokyo 110 JAPAN; telephone 03-3837--1630; fax 03-3837-1631; jalt@gol.com.
^
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