Getting your amazing classroom materials published as a textbook is an achievement that has the potential to transform not only your professional life, but also – more importantly – the learning experiences of students. This presentation draws from the journey of an author/co-author of more than a dozen commercially published textbooks. It provides (at least) 10 tips that cover various stages of the development and publication process, tips that could help to enhance success at every stage of the book-birthing process, from conception to delivery – getting your foot in the door; finding your ‘gap’; establishing your principles; designing a scope and sequence; understanding your market; the best ways to fail; ensuring quality – and (if you’re lucky!), the final push; money matters, and post-publication promotion.

During the past 30 years Stephen Krashen’s major hypotheses have been largely discredited, especially his assertion that conscious learning does not lead to real language acquisition. Nevertheless, the Natural Approach continues to endure in the field of second language acquisition. This paper will argue that new research in neurobiology supports many of the claims of the Natural Approach. Whereas previously language was thought to be a function of the left hemisphere of the brain, new research shows that language involves both hemispheres and learning language is more akin to learning music and is embodied much like music. It will be argued that this and related research supports the fundamental assumptions of the Natural Approach.

Subtitles can be useful resources for researchers and instructors, especially in corpus linguistics and translation studies. However, with a wide variety of types and combinations, as well as the inherent problems that come with acquiring and implementing them, such as OCR misreadings and inaccuracy to the spoken dialogue, the barrier to entry for using them can seem steep. This presentation will lower that barrier by discussing how subtitles can be useful for language acquisition followed by a practical guide regarding how to obtain, prepare, and utilize them for research or teaching.

In EFL teaching, the main goal for learners is to be able to communicate with many people. Tragant et al. (2020) and Ozaki (2010, 2011) argue that many learners have limited opportunities to use English outside of the classroom. According to Hagley (2020), “EFL often became an academic activity with few chances to use English in real-world communicative events”. To address this problem, this study examined whether two different types of social network communications have the potential to promote “real-world communication” in a university context. The results indicated that online interaction can contribute not only to improving students’ language skills but also to promote authentic language use outside EFL classrooms.

Most textbooks that focus on intercultural communication tend to emphasize learning about the ‘other’ or ‘foreign’ culture. But intercultural communication is a two-way street and the importance of understanding and explaining our own culture is often overlooked. Language learners hoping to make international friends, to take part in homestay programmes, or to work in an international environment need to understand their own culture, and be able to explain it. This presentation introduces engaging and practical communication activities from This is Japan, a textbook that develops learners’ abilities to explain their own culture and lifestyle.

The shift to online learning necessitated by COVID-19 compels instructors to think creatively and strategically about how to scaffold instruction to maximize student participation and output. Navigating online platforms places significant cognitive and linguistic demands on second and foreign language learners. As compared to face-to-face settings, teaching online requires an even greater degree of scaffolding to facilitate meaningful learner participation. This presentation demonstrates how the structured conversational format QSSSA (Question-Signal-Stem-Share-Assess)—which synthesizes cognitive, procedural, and verbal scaffolding—can be adapted to an online format to increase student output through collaborative learning. The presenter also considers how the QSSSA format can be differentiated based on the learners' level.

This presentation reports on the implementation of an e-book platform to support remote learning and encourage extensive reading activities at a technical college in Japan. Even though the college requires students to read graded readers in the library during class time, books are rarely checked out for out-of-class reading. Because classes were conducted remotely for much of 2020, an e-book platform was introduced in 2021 as students had no access to the campus library. Over one semester of operation, results of student surveys revealed that while they acknowledge some of the merits of e-books, such as convenience, most students did not read them. This presentation will discuss some of the findings and challenges of the e-book library.