Welcome to my website. My name is Brent Allen Jones and I have been working and living in Japan since 1989. I am currently the Director of Language Programs at Konan University, Hirao School of Management and earned my doctoral degree at the University of Reading, Institute of Education. I am attempting to archive here some of my past work. Some of my other endeavors can be found at waei.com and wordhunters.com.
Teaching
I began my teaching career in Hawaii over thirty-five years ago and my first classrooms were the beaches and coastline off the island of Maui where I taught windsurfing, surfing, and sailing. More recently, my teaching has been mostly indoors, in the Economics Department of Kobe Gakuin University (2005-2009) and in the Hirao School of Management (CUBE) at Konan University (2009-present). Some of the core content-focused English courses that I have taught at CUBE are Global Challenges, American Studies, European Studies, Japan Studies, Business Communication, Speech and Discussion, and Discussion and Debate. I have also taught Academic Foundations I and II, which are part of our new CUBE Accelerated Language and Academics (CALA) program. Finally, the curriculum at CUBE has a strong emphasis on Project-Based Learning (PBL) and fieldwork. Course outlines for some of my projects and fieldwork can be found HERE.
Research
My research interests are mostly related to education and learning. Second-language learning motivation and broader affective issues continue to intrigue me both as an area of research and as it relates to my own teaching and training endeavors. In recent years, I concentrated more on service-learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning and content-focused language learning. Often, this ties back into the topics of motivation and affect. I have included here separate pages for my presentations and publications. I will post a list of more recent presentations and publications in my blog.
Activities
In this section of my portfolio, I introduce some of my volunteer activities and other outside endeavors. I joined the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) in the late 1990s, and have served in various officer positions in Kobe JALT, including programs chair, publicity chair, and president. Currently, I am a member-at-large. I began participating in Teachers Helping Teachers (THT) workshops and seminars in 2006, including programs in Laos, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In addition to various officer positions with THT since they became a Special Interest Group (SIG) of JALT in the late 2000s, I also started a program in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2009, and am currently the SIG Coordinator.
On a personal note, other pursuits that I enjoy away from work are homebrewing, surfing (longboarding), skiing, snowboarding and golf.