Day one is over. I got there very early Saturday morning to avoid line ups and to have enough time to look through the program guide in order to choose my first presentation. This year I was watching the presentations with more of a critical eye since I am teaching a presentation skills class. It was interesting to note that the first presentation I saw was a textbook example of what not to do. The final one I attended, on the other hand, was a textbook example of how to conduct a presentation. Wish I had a camcorder available during both of those so my students could see them.

I won’t bore you with the first presentation as it was not what was advertised and presented incredibly poorly on top of that. At 10:00 there were two presentations on graded readers; one commercial and one by a teacher discussing her experience. I attended that one as I am using graded readers and have submitted a proposal to teach an extensive reading course in the Spring. The presenter was very dynamic and used readers in a way which I hadn’t considered, but will think about more if my proposal is accepted.

11:00 was the opening ceremonies which is a waste of time to attend so I had lunch and came back to see the plenary speaker, Jack C. Richards. Richards spoke on listening and top down processing versus bottom up processing. He also talked about a new area that he is interested in regarding listening for learning vs listening comprehension. It was quite interesting and I wish I could have taken notes, but the theatre was dark. I tried looking for a contact email address as I would like to get a copy of his slides or lecture notes but couldn’t find an email address anywhere. This is important to me as I am in the middle of writing a chapter on listening for the book I am working on and need more and better information than I currently have. If anyone knows how to contact Jack Richards please pass on the information and I would be eternally grateful.

at 12:30 I attended a presentation that was quite different than I expected. I learned some things but nothing helpful for the classroom. Unfortunately it isn’t always possible to pick winners. At least this presentation was only 30 minutes. I skipped the 1:00 presentations as there was nothing of interest to me at that time. I used that time to browse the books. I picked up Second Language Listening: Theory and Practice by Flowerdew and Miller to help with the research for the book chapter I am writing. I additionally hit up the kind folks at OUP for some resources related to extensive reading. I didn’t even have to fill out the request form and wait. I recieved Teachers handbooks for oxford bookworms level 4-6 and worksheets for levels 3-4. THey didn’t have level 5-6 for the worksheets or level 3 for the handbooks. I figure I will only be using books from levels 3 and up based on the average level of my students. Once the course I’ve proposed is approved I’ll approach the publisher for the missing books.

Featured speakers were next. There were three to choose from; Susan Barduhn, Marc Helgesen, and Ritsuko Nakata. It was easy to elimate Nakata as her presentation was geared towards young learners. I’ve seen Helgesen speak before and he is an excellent presenter but his topic seemed a little new age to me “The Science of Happiness”. I found out from friends that it wasn’t new age at and was worth attending.

Barduhn’s presentation was about why teachers keep being teachers and why they work on professional development. It also touched out on teacher dropout and burnout. It was very fascinating to watch and I kept nodding to myself as I could see aspects of my own personality and beliefs in her presentation. Interestingly I found out afterwards that she will be presenting at my university on Thursday this coming week. I’m not sure what her topic is but I am looking forward to it.

The 3:00 presentation was on Examining Korean University Students Expectations of Native Speaker English Teachers. The presenter, Tim Thompson, was as mentioned above excellent. Tims presentation was based on data he collected for his masters thesis. Much of it confirmed what I believed but had no empirical evidence for. He also offered to provide the student survey he used so teachers could conduct it themselves. I’ve already sent him an email and will use it with all four of my classes this semester and see if my students are similar to his.

I skipped the remainder of the presentations again due to not being interested in the topics. I met several people I know, but rarely see and it was definitely a pleasure. Interestingly this year I know several presenters but have been unable to attend their presentations. I’m sorry guys, maybe next time.

I also noted on page 219 of the program there is an plug for next years conference. One of my favorite authors and who has significantly influenced my early teaching has been invited. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing H. Douglas Brown next October.

Interestingly the tech problems that plagued the last years conference, and resulted in me deciding to not present at KOTESOL again, were largely absent. Hopefully things continue to improve.