Around JALT: This Issue's Featured SIG
OLE
(Other Languages Educators' Special Interest Group)

Background and aims of OLE

For the goal of world peace and international understanding it is necessary to allow as many individuals as possible to come in contact with, learn or teach different languages and cultures in the most effective and meaningful ways. Additionally, in the face of the impending restructuring at many universities, it is vital that such teachers and learners, as yet not represented professionally on a nationwide scale, be given the opportunity to share their ideas and views with others with related concerns and interests. The organizational form of a SIG (i.e. Special Interest Group) open to teachers and learners of all other foreign languages within JALT, so far comprising about 3000 teachers and learners of English and Japanese, seems appropriate.

Goals and Activities of this SIG

Our first priority is to enable all interested teachers, learners, researchers, material developers and administrators to exchange ideas through meetings and publications.

Workshops, forums and presentations:

• to show that teaching, learning and research in languages and cultures beyond English and Japanese are dynamic and widespread activities throughout Japan, and that these endeavors are very beneficial to Japanese society.

• to improve the teaching of such languages by devising methods that can be used by all teachers, regardless of background or origin, and to encourage research and sharing of ideas , activities and materials among educators of specific languages.

OLE Newsletter and other publications:

• to gather and disseminate information on all aspects of the teaching and learning of languages and cultures beyond English and Japanese, and especially,

• to help such teachers and learners, by developing a network of friendship and mutual support, to arouse interest in their field and to provide information and material to enable them to optimize the organizational conditions for their study, work and research to the best of their abilities.

Contact address

Rudolf Reinelt, Coordinator

Ehime University, Fac. of Law & Letters, Dept. of Humanities

Bunkyo-cho 3, Matsuyama 790-8577 JAPAN

Tel& Fax (W) -81-89-927-9359
E-mail: reinelt@ll.ehime-u.ac.jp
reinelt@iname.com
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/1456/index.html