On Sunday, February 22nd, I attended the Kyushu ELT Convention at Seinan Gakuin University Fukuoka. I attended partly for professional development, but also to establish new connections in the area following my recent move to Fukuoka. This year was particularly notable as Fukuoka JALT hosted a room at the convention for the first time. The JALT team were friendly and professional throughout the day, and as an unexpected bonus, presenters received a refunded entry fee and lunch, which was very much appreciated.

I began the day by kicking off the JALT-hosted sessions with a short talk on educational podcasting. The session focused on practical reasons for starting a podcast and some technical considerations when launching one. There were several questions afterwards, so hopefully a few attendees may feel encouraged to try podcasting themselves.

The following session was delivered by Andrew McMahon (Fukuoka University), who discussed his experiences using the GELT-informed coursebook Global Activator. Drawing primarily on Rose and Galloway’s work (2019), he evaluated how well the textbook aligns with Global Englishes Language Teaching principles. His overall conclusion was positive, although he noted the need for greater representation of lexicogrammatical variation and less emphasis on static cultural groupings.

After lunch, Samuel Taylor (Kyushu Sangyo University) presented research on learner beliefs and classroom practice. His studies suggested that while students value English, many report low confidence—particularly in speaking tasks such as debates and presentations. The findings led him to propose four curriculum design principles, each of which he fleshed out with concrete classroom activity examples. He also outlined several possible future research avenues to investigate whether these design principles are effective in practice.

Next, Ayumi Shindo (ULU International) presented on creating connections beyond the classroom through nature-based learning with young learners. Although my main teaching context is tertiary education, it was interesting to see how she fosters motivation and creativity through non-competitive, outdoor-focused activities. The session prompted lively audience discussion about children’s play and screen use.

Ian Dagnall (Kyushu Sangyo University) then looked at the analysis of an e-learning vocabulary test. He noted that courses are often designed first, with the assessment effectively tacked on at the end and not always revisited. Instead, he argued for a more reflective approach where test data feeds back into needs analysis and course development. Using examples from his institution, he showed how statistical analysis can help evaluate test effectiveness and track student progress. Overall, it was a helpful reminder that assessment should play an ongoing role in course design rather than being a one-and-done component.

Following this, Robinson Fritz explored motivation in the language classroom using the metaphor of crossing a river with shifting currents. He framed motivation as dynamic and emotionally complex, introducing a linguacultural perspective and suggesting the use of a motivation profiler to track learner engagement over time. The session highlighted how learners can experience both positive and negative pulls simultaneously, and it prompted useful reflection on how we interpret changing motivation in our classrooms.

The final presentation, by William Pellowe, introduced ways to create listening materials using AI tools, particularly Typecast.ai. He demonstrated how text-to-speech voices and AI-generated dialogues can support listening materials development, especially for lower-level learners. As someone who has experimented with similar tools such as murf.ai, I found it useful to see an alternative platform in action.

Overall, it was a worthwhile day for connecting with the local ELT community in Fukuoka and hearing a range of perspectives on teaching and learning. Many thanks to the organisers and to Fukuoka JALT for hosting the room.