Program Schedule

1:00 PM — Welcome and Greetings (Martin)
1:05 PM — Guest Speaker Introduction (Deborah)
1:10–2:40 PM — Guest Presentation (Marcellus Nealy)
2:40–2:55 PM — Break
2:55–3:30 PM — Business Meeting
3:30–3:40 PM — Break
3:40 PM — Chapter Speaker Introduction
3:40–4:30 PM — Chapter Presentation (Maryna Nekerova)

Guest Presentation
1:10–2:40 PM

Bringing Creativity to the University Classroom
Practical Tips for Making Your Lessons More Engaging

Dr. Marcellus Nealy
Juntendo University

Abstract 

Language learning requires repetition, but repetition can easily become monotonous. Learners need repeated exposure to vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and communicative routines before these skills become familiar and automatic. This talk explores how songs, games, visual art, storytelling, and other creative activities can make repeated practice feel less repetitive. Rather than removing repetition, creative teaching changes how learners experience it by introducing variation, curiosity, emotion, challenge, and play. Drawing on classroom practice, the presentation will examine practical ways teachers can use creativity to sustain engagement while still providing the repeated exposure that language learning requires. The goal is to show how creative approaches can make necessary practice feel more natural, memorable, and enjoyable for learners across a range of classroom contexts.

Bio 

Marcellus Nealy, M.Ed., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of English at Juntendo University in Tokyo. He has taught English and communication in Japan for more than three decades. His interests include creativity, learner engagement, experiential learning, interpersonal communication, and the use of technology, music, games, and performance in education.

Chapter Presentation

3:40–4:30 PM

Verbal Aspect in Japanese: A Comparative Study of Ukrainian Learners and Native Japanese Speakers

Maryna Nekerova
University of Tsukuba

Abstract

This study investigated how Ukrainian native speakers (UNS) and Japanese native speakers (JNS) acquire the -teiru and -ta forms. By comparing Japanese aspect with the Ukrainian Perfective/Imperfective distinction, it also considered why learners find these forms difficult to master.

The analysis suggested that learners acquire the forms in a fixed order across four stages: (1) -ta expressing past events; (2) -teiru expressing ongoing actions; (3) -teiru expressing resultant states; and (4) -teiru corresponding to the perfective aspect.

In Japanese language education, it is therefore important to teach the functional differences between -ta and -teiru while showing how each corresponds to aspect in learners' native language. Such comparisons make abstract distinctions more concrete and help learners avoid incorrect first-language transfer. Clarifying whether the focus lies on "the completion of an action" or "the current resultant state" is thought to promote appropriate usage. Explicit instruction of this kind should be incorporated into classroom practice and teaching materials from the earliest stages.

Bio

University of Tsukuba, PhD Candidate

Former Japanese Language Lecturer, Kyiv National Linguistic University

Current Japanese Language Lecturer, NPO Hands On Tokyo

• Event: 52nd Annual International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning & Educational Materials Exhibition

• Where: WINC Aichi – 4-4-38 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 450-0002, Japan

• When: Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22

• Theme: Beyond the Classroom ~ From Local Voice to Global Impact ~

• For up to date information see our JALT2026 event site.

• Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wR973syaJ2PSivbEA