In this short episode the SOJO University team preview the upcoming SUTLF Conference in February 2026.

For more information, listeners can visit https://www.nankyujalt.org/sutlf/sutlf-10-2026

Registration is now open with early-bird pricing closing on February 1st. To register, please visit https://events.jalt.org/event/51/registrations/60/

Today's podcast lineup includes:

Robert Remmerswaal: https://researchmap.jp/remmerswaal

Alison Koga: https://researchmap.jp/alisonkoga

Robert Dykes: https://researchmap.jp/robertd

Branden Kirchmeyer: https://researchmap.jp/kirchmeyer

With our audio technician

Luc Gougeon: https://researchmap.jp/lucgougeon

Key Points about the conference:

Thursday's BYOP event is limited to 20 participants

The university's cafeteria and convenience store are open for lunch during the conference

Please let us know of any dietary restrictions for the Friday networking dinner

See you in Kumamoto or online!

🎙️ Ready to wrap up the year? What's been your favorite podcast moment of 2025? 🤔 Join us as we reflect on an incredible year filled with insightful interviews and inspiring stories! 💡 Don't miss out on our 25 episodes packed with knowledge and fun! What have you learned from our podcast this year? Share your thoughts below! ⬇️ What topics do you want us to explore in 2026?

#PodcastReflections #EndOfYearReview #LearningJourney #PodcastLife #Inspiration #2025Highlights #JALTCALLPodcast #EngageWithUs #PodcastCommunity

The JALTCALL Podcast team reflects on a year filled with engaging conversations, innovative technologies, and meaningful connections. Join us as we delve into the highlights of our podcast journey, celebrating both the milestones and the lessons learned along the way.

We produced an impressive 25 episodes, featuring a mix of studio talks and interviews with our guests who brought invaluable insights to the table. In 2025, we participated in several conferences that showcased the latest trends in education technology. The Spring Symposium was a collaboration between JALTCALL and EuroCALL AI SIG, PanSIG in Chiba, JALTCALL2025 in Tokyo, and JALT International.

The Virtual Exchange Programs discussion also touched on the growing trend of virtual exchange programs inspired by Eric Hagley's IVE project. And finally, looking forward to 2026, we are excited about upcoming events such as the Moodle Moot in February with Adam Jenkins and Bill White, Geoff, Luc, and more.

As we head into the new year, we remain committed to providing insightful content and exploring innovative ideas that can enhance the learning experience. Stay engaged and reach out if you wish to join our discussions. You are all very welcome to join us anytime.

In this episode Brian and Geoff interview Edo Forsythe, who for over 20 years was a Navy Russian Instructor and Translator and served as Program Manager for the Military Cryptologic Continuing Education Program (MCCEP) and various duties as a cryptologic analyst, and his research partner Steven MacWhinnie from Hirosaki Gakuin University. We hear about their backgrounds and beginnings as well as their shared research projects over recent years. They go on to explain about the projects they are working on now, including the intersection of motivation and engagement of students in EFL/ESL. This is our first ever double interview, and we hope that you enjoy the show.

Remember, if you want to come on the show and share your ideas and research, please contact Geoff at [email protected].

In this episode we share viewpoints and summaries of JALTCALL SIG members at the JALT International Conference 2025 which was held between 31 October 2025 and November 2nd, 2025 in Tokyo at the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center / 国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya, Tokyo. JALTCALL SIG Members debated the topic of AI versus Human Creativity in Academic Writing in our first-ever forum debate, which went down a treat with the helpful questions from the audience and our panel members Brian Gallagher, James York, Alex Carroll, Jeanette Dennisson, Bricklin Zeff, Freddie Bacala, and Robert Dykes, We also hear from Geoff and Brian about the podcast workshop that they held and the successes and troubles they encountered, as well as a final overview from Chelanna White, the Director of Program at JALT. Enjoy the show.

Contact us at [email protected]

In this episode Brian Gallagher (Meijo U.) and Robert Remmerswaal (Sojo U.) discuss the JALTCALL events and more that will feature in the upcoming JALT International Conference at National Olympics Memorial Youth Center (国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター), Yoyogi, Tokyo. They explain about the 90-minute JALTCALL Forum on the relevance and application of AI in the classroom, as well as AI ethics and policy, featuring Frederick Bacala, Geoff Carr, Robert Dykes, Bradley Irwin, and perhaps 2 more mystery guests on Saturday, November 1st, from 11am in the large hall. We also learn of the JALTCALL Podcast Workshop on the same day, November 1st, from 2.30pm in room 404. Bring your computer to learn how to record, edit, and produce your own podcast with our team.

We also hear of some other events happening through into 2026.

Enjoy the show.

In this special holiday-weekend episode, Brian interviews Gary Ross, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kanazawa University, where he is Director of English and develops the online ESL program. Gary is a full-stack developer specializing in AI and online learning. He is the creator of J-Talk.com and the superb conference platform Edzilla, which we continue to use as our JALTCALL conference hosting system. We discuss Gary's various Kaken projects, including (1) Speech recognition in medical communication and training using ML with Jeanette Dennison, and (2) the Extensive Reading Artificial Intelligence app in collaboration with Mark Breirley https://gamma.erai.app/dashboard/manuscripts

Check out Gary's J-Talk website for academics working in Japan(ese). https://j-talk.com/convert

and contact us at the podcast using [email protected]

Contact Gary Ross at [email protected] Kaken Researcher Number 10708142

In this September studio talk episode of the JALTCALL podcast, "AI, Publications, and Conferences," the team discusses new AI developments and upcoming events as well as announcing the inaugural edition of the JALTCALL Trends journal is now live, with all 30 articles individually linked and openly accessible. The podcast also covers recent AI research in working papers, especially one from the NBER Working Paper Series, How People Use ChatGPT by Chatterji et al. (2025, Sep) Working Paper 34255

We mention Sesame AI's Miles and Maya from the interview with Gordon Wilson earlier this month. We discuss researching the most commonly used verbs in prompt engineering, focusing on custom commands for LLMs like Gemini and ChatGPT. The discussion highlights that many non-English, LLMs, particularly from China, are non-English models which are also gaining traction, raising questions about data bias and language accessibility. We end the episode with mention of the upcoming JALTCALL Forum and Podcast Workshop at the JALT 2025 International conference in Tokyo, as well as the JALTCALL Symposium in March 2026.

Enjoy the show.

http://www.nber.org/papers/w34255

https://soundcloud.com/jalt-call/gordon-wilson-and-2-ai-conversations-interview-w-brian-g-sept-2025

https://sesame-ai.pro/

In this episode Brian Gallagher interviews Gordon Wilson, Associate Professor at HanNan University in Osaka. Gordon is an amazing advocate for Artificial Intelligence research, and he presented a workshop at JALTCALL 2025 conference on exactly this entitled "Building Our Replacements: An AI-Driven, Personalized, Anytime, Anywhere Language Teaching Expert System"

He talks about inspiration, inclusion, creation, analysis, interaction, knowledge boards, scarcities, and personalization, as well as development and digital companions.

His outlook on AI is incredibly positive and in stark contrast to more cautionary and conservative speakers we may have heard in recent times. His positivity is something that we all need a good dose of to counter the worry that many people have about AI, and he explains well the opportunities that we can have if we can be open to more ideas. In this recording he demonstrates how to harness the benefits of AI as a companion to our lives as an assistive technology with a live walkthrough of interactions with an artificial intelligence that he has been developing through oral conversation. A first for our podcast.

Enjoy the show.

In this episode the team talk about their highlights and personal favourites from the JALTCALL 2025 Conference held at Tokyo University of Science (Katsushika Campus) from July 18th to 20th. This year we had 15 workshops, 26 poster presentations, 129 regular presentations, 2 forums, and 2 keynote speakers. With 286 participants the conference was a very good success, and we thank everyone for coming and sharing their great ideas with the community.

Highlights and favourites included the keynotes by Glenn Stockwell and Mathias Schulze, Gordon Wilson's AI workshop, and posters by Mehrasa Alizadeh, Yan Deng, and Clare Kaneko. And of course presentations by Naomi Fujishima & Junko Otoshi, Paul Daniels, Takako Aikawa, and more.

Stay tuned for the latest interview coming soon with Gordon Wilson and his AI companion demonstration, and our next live events at JALT International, where we will have a workshop on podcasting, as well as an open CALL forum, both on Saturday, November 1st.

Until then, enjoy the show, everyone.

This episode is a collection of short impromptu interviews of participants who attended the JALTCALL 2025 Conference at Tokyo University of Science in July 2025. It includes talks with people during the coffee break at the end of the poster session and continues to the Saturday evening dinner reception, where everyone got a chance to network with new and old acquaintances while enjoying plenty of delicious food and some light beverages.

We thank the folk who kindly shared their thoughts with us and especially the kind words about our podcast platform. Enjoy the show.