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JALT 1999 Asian Scholar Tour Speaker Christianty Nur Sekola Tinggi Bahasa Asing Prayoga Padang University, Indonesia Material Designs and Development for Indonesian Learners September 29 - October 7, 1999 [photo here] Prior to her appearance at the JALT '99 Conference, C. Nur will tour Kyushu and Shizuoka to explain the challenge designing English textbooks suitable for local students in present day Indonesia SCHEDULE Nagasaki JALT - Sept 29 (Wed) Kumamoto JALT - Oct 1 (Fri) Miyazaki JALT - Oct 3 (Sun) Kitakyushu JALT - Oct 5 (Tue) Shizuoka JALT - Oct 7 (Thu) ABSTRACT TOUR SCHEDULE PAGE RELATED ARTICLE Thanks to the sponsors! The official sponsor for international travel is The Japan Foundation Travel Grants Invitation Program for International Conferences. Transportation funding within Japan for this tour was provided through generous donations from Intercom Press, a publisher of textbooks by teachers, for teachers, based in Fukuoka; Tuttle Publishing; and ELT News, a one-stop news service for the ELT profession in Japan. The Language Institute of Japan (LIOJ) donated their time and energy in securing the paperwork necessary for an international tour. Prior to her appearance at JALT '99, C. Nur will visit 5 Kyushu Chapters and Shizuoka Chapter to explain the challenge designing English textbooks suitable for local students in present day Indonesia. This presentation explores the need for teachers in Indonesia proposing to write and publish their own textbooks to first conduct a needs to find out what kinds of books should be written. The national curriculum recently encouraged the replacement of grammar-focused approaches with more communicative ones, and since most textbooks are written by local writers and published by local publishers these groups must reconsider how they approach the tasks. On the other hand, college and universities plan and decide their own curriculum and use books written by major foreign publishers, some of which do not meet the requirements of local students. Participation is free for all JALT members; one-day membership costs will vary according to locality. See the schedule page for details on the workshop in your area. Read a closely related article by the speaker for more details on this talk. For more information on the JALT 1999 Conference (October 8 - 11 in Gumna Prefecture), see the JALT 99 Conference internet site. It's well worth the trip! For more information on other events in the Kyushu area, see the Kyushu ELT Events Calendar. (This page is part of the Kyushu ELT Events Calendar.)