Talk:
Oral Proficiency Interview and its Application to Classroom Activities

Professor Osamu Kamada, Nanzan University, Japan
Dr. Noriko Iwasaki, University of London, SOAS

Date: December 4 (Saturday) Time: 11:30 am
Venue: Council Chamber, Meng Wah Complex Building 8/F, HKU
Language: Japanese

Abstract:
In his talk, Professor Kamada will discuss what it means to be orally proficient in Japanese and introduce how to measure and assess oral proficiency by the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). He also demonstrates an OPI with a Japanese learner in Hong Kong. This lecture will be electronically sent to an audience in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies by using Skype.

The talk will be followed by an afternoon workshop during which participants will design practical teaching materials and discuss how to develop teaching methods and techniques to improve learners’ oral proficiency.

About the speakers:
Dr. Osamu Kamada is a Professor of Japanese Educational Linguistics, Nanzan University, Japan, and an OPI Tester-Trainer. His research interests include discourse analysis, second language acquisition, and pedagogy in Japanese as a second language. He has published a number of books such as “Nihongo no inyoo (Reported Speech in Japanese)” 2000 Hituji Shobo and “Proficiency o sodateru (Nurturing Proficiency)” 2008 Bonjinsha.

Dr. Noriko Iwasaki is a Lecturer in Language Pedagogy and Chair of Centre for Language Pedagogy at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK, and an OPI Tester-Trainer. Her research interests include second language acquisition, language pedagogy, and language production. She has authored papers in such journals as Applied Linguistics and Foreign Language Annals.

All are welcome.

Supported by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and The University Alliance for Japanese Studies in Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong Province