Tohoku Six Prefectures English Education Convention
The Tohoku Six Prefectures English Education Convention (東北六県英語教育研究大会; Tōhoku Rokken Eigo Kyōiku Kenkyū Taikai) is an all-day event held annually in late October or early November where English teachers from all over the Tohoku region convene and engage in a variety of events geared towards improving English education. The duty of host prefecture rotates every year among the six prefectures of the Tohoku region (Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi, Fukushima).
In some years the Tohoku Six Prefectures convention also doubles as the All-Japan English Education Convention (全国英語教育研究大会; Zenkoku Eigo Kyōiku Kenkyū Taikai), the All-Japan Convention of the Federation of English Education Organizations (全国英語教育研究団体連合会総会; Zenkoku Eigo Kyōiku Kenkyū Dantai Rengōkai Sōkai), or other such large-scale events. In these cases the length of the convention is often extended to multiple days.
The day following the convention is the Tohoku Six Prefectures JHS Recitation and SHS Speech Contest (東北六県中学校英語暗証・高等学校英語弁論大会; Tōhoku Rokken Chūgakkō Eigo Anshō / Kōtōgakkō Eigo Benron Taikai). Although separate, their organization and operation are linked.
Rotation
The host prefecture rotates annually.
| Year | Host Prefecture |
English Education Convention | JHS Recitation / SHS Speech Contest | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Date | Venue | No. | Date | Venue | ||
| 1994 | Yamagata | 44th | Oct 6 | Yonezawa City Kojokan SHS | 42nd | Oct 7 | Yonezawa City Cultural Center |
| 1995 ~ 2004 |
? | ||||||
| 2005 | Akita | 55th | Oct 27 | Akita Kita SHS | 53rd | Oct 28 | Akita City Cultural Center |
| 2006 | Yamagata | 56th | Oct 19 | Tsuruoka Chuo SHS | 54th | ? | |
| 2007 | Fukushima | 57th | Nov 9-10 | Koriyama City Cultural Center (day 1) & Big Palette Fukushima (day 2) |
55th | ||
| 2008 | Miyagi | 58th | Oct 23 | Furukawa Gakuen SHS | 56th | ||
| 2009 | ? | ||||||
| 2010 | Aomori | 60th | Nov 10 | Hirosaki Cultural Center | 58th | Nov 11 | Hirosaki Cultural Center |
| 2011 | Yamagata | 61st | Nov 8 | Nagai City Cultural Center & TAS Park Hotel |
59th | Nov 9 | Nagai City Cultural Center |
| 2012 | Fukushima | 62nd | Oct 25 | Fukushima Terusa | 60th | ? | |
| 2013 | Miyagi | 63rd | Nov 7 | Sendai Community Center | 61st | Nov 8 | Sendai Community Center |
| 2014 | Akita | 64th | Nov 7-8 | Akita Prefectural Community Center (day 1) & Akita International University (day 2) |
62nd | ? | |
| 2015 | ? | ||||||
| 2016 | Aomori | 66th | Nov 4 | Link Station Hall Aomori | 64th | Nov 5 | Aomori Prefectural School Education Center |
| 2017 | Yamagata | 67th | Nov 9 | Shinjo City | 65th | Nov 10 | Shinjo City |
| 2018 | Fukushima | 68th | Nov 8 | Alios Iwaki Performing Arts Center | 66th | Nov 9 | Iwaki City |
| 2019 | Miyagi | 69th | Nov 14 | TOHKnet Hall, Sendai City | 67th | Nov 15 | TOHKnet Hall, Sendai City |
| 2020 | Akita | 70th | (cancelled due to COVID-19) | 68th | (cancelled due to COVID-19) | ||
| 2021 | Yamagata | 71st | Nov 19-20 | Yamagata University | 69th | Nov 5 | Yamagata Terrsa Applause (Yamagata City) |
| 2022 | Iwate | 72nd | Nov 1 | いわて県民情報交流センター (Morioka) | 70th | Nov 2 | Malios (Morioka) |
| 2023 | Aomori | 73rd | Nov 1 | Hachinohe | 71st | Nov 2 | Hachinohe City Community Center |
| 2024 | Fukushima | 74th | Oct 31 | Aoi SHS (Aizu Wakamatsu City) | 72nd | Nov 1 | 会津風雅堂 (Aizu Wakamatsu City) |
| 2025 | Akita | 75th | Nov 6 | Hokushika Rokumei Hall, Odate | 73rd | Nov 7 | Hokushika Rokumei Hall, Odate |
| 2026 | Yamagata | 76th | Oct 29 | ? | 74th | Oct 30 | ? |
Announcement documents
Official convention announcement documents in PDF format. This document is called the 第二次案内 (dainiji annai; "second announcement") in Japanese; the second announcement is the one that goes out to the general public.
Day 1: Convention
An example schedule of what to expect at this convention. The exact details, and their order, may vary year-to-year.
Demonstration lessons
Students and teachers are brought to the convention venue and conduct demonstration lessons (公開授業; kōkai jugyō) on site. Lessons are held sequetially and all convention participants typically observe all lessons, one per school level:
- Elementary school English lesson
- Junior high school English lesson
- Senior high school English lesson
Following the demonstration lessons, a joint review session (授業合評会; jugyō gappyōkai) is held:
- Joint review session
The joint review session will typically begin with brief comments from all teachers reflecting on the lessons. Afterward a Q&A session is held where participants can ask questions about the lessons. Finally, a high-profile English instructor (a teachers' consultant from a prefectural board of education, a university professor, etc.) will offer comments and advice for the three lessons both individually and overall.
Research workshops
Several workshops (分科会; bunkakai) are held simultaneously. Each workshop typically consists of two short research presentations, a Q&A session, and advisor's comments on the research. A different theme will be set for each of the workshops, and some are conducted in English. An example offering of workshops might look like the following:
- Workshop 1: JHS (conducted in English)
- Workshop 2: JHS
- Workshop 3: JHS
- Workshop 4: SHS (conducted in English)
- Workshop 5: SHS
- Workshop 6: SHS
- Workshop 7: ES
Guest speaker
A guest speaker is invited to give a lecture (講演; kōen) on a topic related to English education.
A list of previous guest speakers:
| Year | Guest speaker | Lecture title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | ||
| 1994 | Kiichi Matsuhata | Professor, Okayama U. | 異文化間コミュニケーション能力を育てる英語教育 ("English education that develops cross-culrual communication ability") |
| 1995 ~ 2004 |
? | ||
| 2005 | Gregory Clark | Vice Chancellor, AIU | The Secrets for Acquiring a Foreign Language |
| 2006 | Masayuki Sano | Professor, Teikyo U. | ? |
| 2007 | ? | ||
| 2008 | Ken Kanatani | Professor, Tokyo Gakugei U. | 中高の英語授業に望むこと ("What is to be desired from JHS/SHS English lessons") |
| 2009 | ? | ||
| 2010 | Kenji Yamaoka | Professor, Ritsumeikan U. | 骨太のコミュニケーション能力を伸ばす英語指導 ("English instruction to develop solid communication skills") |
| 2011 | Tetsuhito Shizuka | Professor, Saitama U. | ? |
| 2012 | Koichi Ano | Professor, Bunkyo U. | ? |
| 2013 | Shien Sakai | Professor, Chiba College of Commerce | どの生徒にも必要なグローバル意識、そして自律を促すCAN-DOリスト ("The global mindset necessary for any student, and CAN-DO lists that promote autonomy") |
| 2014 | Kumiko Torikai | Specially Appointed Professor, Rikkyo U. | グローバル時代の英語コミュニケーション：国際共通語、異文化理解、アイデンティティ |
| 2015 | ? | ||
| 2016 | Tetsuo Baba | Professor, Tokyo Gakugei U. | Principles and Techniques for the Development of Basic Skills in English |
| 2017 | ? | ||
| 2018 | Goro Tajiri | ? | |
| 2019 | Peter Barakan | Radio Broadcaster | 多様性のすすめ ("Recommendations for diversity") |
| 2020 | (cancelled due to COVID-19) | ||
| 2021 | ? | ||
| 2022 | Takeo Tanaka | Professor, Yamanashi U. | 英語授業における発問づくり：教科書本文をもとにした教師と児童生徒の英語でのやり取り ("Question generation in English lessons: Interaction in English between students and teachers based on textbooks") |
| 2023 | Koichi Ano | Professor, Bunkyo U. | 英語好きで英語力のある児童生徒を育てるための指導と評価―学習指導要領の趣旨を実現するための英語の授業づくり ("Instruction and evaluation to develop students who like and are good at English - Lesson-making to realize the aims of the Course of Study") |
| 2024 | Kei Okuzumi | Associate Professor, Saitama U. | 総合的なコミュニケーション能力を育成するための英語授業デザイン ("English lesson design to develop comprehensive communication skills") |
| 2025 | Hiroto Onishi | Professor, Toyo Gakuen U. | RULE-GOVERNED APPROACH TO ENGLISH -単純な規則に基づく英語学習- ("RULE-GOVERNED APPROACH TO ENGLISH -English learning based on simple rules-") |
| 2026 | ? | ||
Day 2: Speech contest
Eligibility
The top winners of each of the six JHS Prefectural Recitation Contests (6 total) and the top two winners from each of the six SHS Prefectural Speech Contests (12 total) are eligible to participate in this contest.
Other eligibility criteria follow those set out for their respective national contests (JHS: the All Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest / SHS: the All Japan SHS Speech Contest (全国高等学校英語スピーチコンテスト))
Divisions
There are two divisions at this contest.
- JHS Recitation Division
- Six contestants compete by each giving one recitation (暗唱; anshō) selected from a MEXT-approved JHS textbook.
- SHS Speech Division
- The SHS speech division is further divided into a 1st and a 2nd division; twelve contestants total compete with each other across both divisions.
- SHS Speech 1st Division
- Students each prepare an original speech (弁論; benron) and present it.
- SHS Speech 2nd Division
- In addition to the above, each student also answers a few questions (three) from the judges on topics related to their speech.
Awards
- The top three JHS recitation students and the top three SHS speech students (regardless of division) all receive awards
- The top two SHS speech students advance to the All Japan SHS Speech Contest
- The Tohoku block will select at least one representative to the SHS Speech 1st Divison of the All Japan Contest
Grading
| Content | Pronunciation | Delivery | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recitation | - | 60 | 40 | 100 |
| Speech | 50 | 30 | 20 | 100* |
*Furthermore, in accordance with the guidelines set out for the All Japan SHS Contest, any students participating in the SHS Speech 2nd Division will also be evaluated on "Questions & Answers (Interaction=「やり取り」)"; how well they answer questions asked by the judges about their speeches. This criteria is out of 20, for a total of 120 for such students.
Guest speaker
A guest speaker is typically invited to give a 60-minute lecture (講演; kōen) after the students' performances but before the judges announce the results. The lecture is intended to give time to the judges for deliberation. Typically different guest speakers are invited for day 1 and day 2.
A list of previous guest speakers:
| Year | Guest speaker | Lecture title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | ||
| 1994 | Daniel Kahl | CEO, IDS Inter Trade | 国際交流の狭間で ("In the gaps between international communication") |
| 1995 ~ 2004 |
? | ||
| 2005 | Tim Ernst | Manga artist | Cross-cultural Funnies |
| 2006 | ? | ||
| 2007 | |||
| 2008 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2010 | V. L. Carpenter | Professor, Hirosaki U. | Living and Working in Japan: 30 years of Mangling the Japanese language |
| 2011 | Simon Reeves | Associate Professor, Tohoku Bunkyo U. | ? |
| 2012 | Sean Mahoney? | Assistant Professor, Fukushima U. | Creating environments for English input and output |
| 2013 | Marc Helgesen | Professor, Miyagi Gakuin Women's U. | Learning English - 5 Hints |
| 2014 | ? | ||
| 2015 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2017 | |||
| 2018 | |||
| 2019 | Adrian Leis | Associate Professor, Miyagi U. of Education | The Right Mindset to Growing Your English |
| 2020 | (cancelled due to COVID-19) | ||
| 2021 | ? | ||
| 2022 | Adrian Leis | Associate Professor, Miyagi U. of Education | You 2.0: Going to the next level |
| 2023 | Cheyenietrise "Cheyenne" Duncan | ALT, Aomori Prefectural School Education Center | The Importance of Communication |
| 2024 | Joanne Hyejo Jang | CIR, Fukushima Prefecture | グローバルな共生：カナダの多文化社会からの学び ("Global coexistence: Learning from Canada's multicultural society") |
| 2025 | Sean Corrigan & Owen Cunningham |
ALT Coordinator, Kitaakita City BoE & NET, Kamikoani ES/JHS |
An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology Through Disney ディズニーの楽曲を通した音声学と音韻論の紹介 |
| 2026 | ? | ||
See also
- Junior high school speech contest
- JHS Prefectural Speech Contest
- All Japan Inter-Middle School English Oratorical Contest
- Conferences
