ld-sig.org/lablog

"A Moveable Feast" — co-sponsorded by the Teacher Education SIG, Osaka chapter, and the LD-SIG, will be held at Osaka Gakuin University on Sunday, 17 October. For more information, please see the Call for Participation.

Andy Barfield posted the following report on the 6 March Tokyo Get-together on the DIscussion mailing list this morning. Andy's summary includes details of our planning ideas for the Nakasendo 2010 conference.

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Yesterday at a Learner Development SIG Get-together in Tokyo, we talked about different ideas for Nakasendo and other LD events in 2010. For Nakasendo, we would like to have some kind of multi-session (different presentations, posters and discussions happening at the same time in one room).

Two areas of focus seemed to offer some really interesting possibilities – (i) teachers bringing along examples of their learners' self-assessment in action (eg short video clips of students doing self-assessment, written examples of students’ self-assessment/reflection about learning) and using these as a springboard for discussion;

(ii) teachers looking at the story/stories of how the /their learners have tried to develop self-assessment – the time perspective could be in the last while, over the last year, over the last few years; again the idea would be for those interested to bring along some kind of object to discuss - a poster, a flipchart, a video clip or a written reflection/story about developing self-assessment.

Please contact Andy Barfield if you are interested in doing something like this for the LD multisession at Nakasendo 2010. Thanks.

You can find the Call for Papers for the LD SIG and FLP SIG here Learner Development aims to focus on self-assessment issues in the classroom (and/or in self-access, virtual learning and other types of extra-mural learning), while Framework and Language Portfolio intends to look at learner training for self-assessment. Teacher Ed will be soon adding its own Call for Papers to its new website, including self-assessment of one's teaching, and the role of reflection in developing as a teacher-learners.

The theme for the 2010 Nakasendo Conference is "Teachers as Learners, Learners as Teachers." The conference will be held Sunday June 20th 2010, and the deadline for proposals is Sunday March 28th.

For more details, see the Nakasendo 2010 page. To download the complete Call for Papers for LD SIG and FLP SIG members, click on the links for the Microsoft Word format or in PDF format.

Cem Balcikanli has contributed "Teacher Autonomy: A qualitative research study with student teachers," an article based on his experiences with student teachers in Turkey.

John Fanselow's take on the Tokyo Area SIG Gatherings he's participated in this year. To comment, please click on the "(No) Comments" link, then add your contribution to the discussion.

Satoshi Nagaba reports on conceptions of language learning among Japanese high school EFL students. To post a comment, please click the "(No) Comments" link, then add your contribution to the discussion.

The latest issue of Learning Learning, our pre-JALT2009 conference issue, is almost ready for its launch party in cyberspace. Please watch your mailbox for the announcement and download link.

I am about to post links for posting responses to this months feature articles by Satoshi Nagaba, John Fanselow, and Cem Balcikanli. There are some fascinating looking reviews in this issue as well, and an update from Steve Davies: the adventures of the mysterious Magenta M continue.

Happy reading and all the best as we lurch into autumn here in Japan.

Hugh

Several SIG members including Andy Barfield and Phil Brown will be presenting at the Tokyo ETJ Bookfair and Exposition at Toyo Gakuen Daigaku this coming weekend (31 October and 1 November). There will be two talks by Paul Nation as well. Check out the access map and the registration page.

Darren Elliott was a participant in the ETJ Nagoya meeting, and has posted two video interviews to his new blog, "the lives of teachers."

His posts from the Nagoya meeting include interviews with Paul Nation and Barbara Hoskins-Sakamoto. Good stuff!

Update: Particpant reflections have now been uploaded to the Community section of the web site, or you can download it in MS Word format.

Date & Time: September 13th, 2pm-5pm
Place: Teachers College Columbia University
Address: Leaf Square Suidobashi Bldg.4F, 2-21-2 Misaki-cho,
             Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0061 JAPAN
             Phone: +81-3-3221-9771 - Fax: +81-3221-9773
(Note: TC building has changed its name from Seimei Bldg to Leaf Square Suidobashi Bldg.).

Topic : Using Narratives in Second Language Learning Research

Reading Materials:

1) Bell, S. (2002) "Narrative inquiry: More than just telling a story". TESOL Quarterly Vol.36 (2), 207-212.
Download Bell article


2) Pavlenko, A. (2002). "Narrative study: Whose story is it , anyway?" TESOL Quarterly Vol.36 (2), 212-220.
Download Pavlenko article

Disclaimer: The Tweets (summaries in 140 characters or less) are my own thoughts on the presentations I attended and have not been validated with the presenters.

Wednesday Sessions

David Little (Keynote speaker), Ireland
Learner autonomy, self-assessment and language tests: towards a new assessment culture:

In a learner-centred curriculum learners are involved in self-assessment. Reflection is crucial and should be done in the target language.

Hebe Wong, Hong Kong
Enhancing self-access learning in an online editing programme:

Guarantees 72 hr turnaround on feedback, logs common errors, offers timely workshops and links errors to dictionaries and collocation sites.

Stella Hurd, UK
Investigating emotions in independent language learning: issues and research methods:

Emotions affect learning, but are difficult to research. Think aloud protocol useful for uncovering positive, negative and neutral emotions.

Christophe Hafner and Jean Young, Hong Kong
Reflection assessed: Supporting a process or modeling a product?

Reflection: essential part of autonomy. Teachers can identify a
“good reflection” but cannot explain why it is good. Should we measure it?

Phil Benson (invited speaker), Hong Kong
Language learning and autonomy in the age of new literacies:

Educators make assumptions that learners never use English. It is likely that they are using English to interact with others on the Internet.

Thursday presentations

Jo Mynard, Japan
Benefits and challenges of computer-based resources for self-access:

Not all CALL activities have the same pedagogic function, but all have a place in a SAC if supported and packaged appropriately.

Sara Cotterall, Australia
Border crossings: Identity and learner autonomy in an Australian university:

Linguistic, academic and cultural challenges face overseas graduate students in Australia. Sharing learners’ stories may offer support.

Midori Sasaki, Gerald Williams and Jonathan Aliponga, Japan
Activities at the self-access centre connected to the curriculum:

Autocratic approach aiming to build community and inclusiveness. Students without homework kicked out of class and sent to the SAC to do it.

Shu Hua (Vivien) Kao, Taiwan
Developing learner autonomy through peer teaching:

Peer tutors felt a sense of responsibility and motivation for learning, developed confidence and learned more collaboratively

Cynthia White (invited speaker), New Zealand
Inside independent learning: Old and new perspectives:

Important to understand communities and how individuals adapt within them. Need to develop lifelong and life-wide learning skills

Linda Murphy, UK
I’m not giving up! Motivation maintenance in independent language learning:

What keeps distance learners going? A combination of social, self-motivation, affective, volitional strategies and intrinsic motivation.

Friday Presentations

Maria Chávez Sánchez and David Gardner, Mexico / Hong Kong:
The validation of self-access centres

Developing a system (a kind of professional accreditation) which evaluates and certifies SACs with reference to their own goals and context.

Leena Karlsson, Finland
A narrative of learning and teaching EFL:

Experiental narrative as pedagogic text. Auto/biography (with slash) in an analytic term for both research and practice

Chen-Yu Lin (and Rebecca Oxford who was not present), USA
Autonomous learners in the digital realm: Exploring digital language learning strategies from multiple theoretical perspectives:

Digital natives able to use technology, but this does not mean that they know how to use technology to learn. Need to develop strategies.

Marina Mozzon-McPherson (invited speaker), UK
Advising / Counselling in practice:

Advisers provide a supportive environment. Enables learner to achieve goals + more resourceful, effective, fulfilling learning experience.

Lindsay Miller and David Gardner, Hong Kong
Uncovering SAC managers’ attitudes and approaches to autonomous language learning:

SAC management is influenced by managers’ beliefs about self-access learning

A number of LD SIG members made the journey to Hong Kong last week for the two-yearly conference of the Independent Learning Association Conference, but for those who didn’t, here’s a very partial and subjective account.

Having decided (in retrospect, perhaps rather unwisely) that I needn’t cancel my Wednesday classes, I arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday night and rolled up at HKPU on Thursday when the conference was already in full swing. I know I missed a great tour of self-access facilities at three Hong Kong Universities on Tuesday, and an amazing line-up of presentations on Wednesday. Perhaps other LD-ers who were there can fill this gap…?

First up on Thursday morning was keynote speaker, Claire Ellen Weinstein from the University of Texas at Austin. A professor of Educational Psychology, she gave us an overview of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) the assessment instrument she has developed that is now widely used in the US and elsewhere to support struggling and at-risk students, and a triangular Model of Strategic Learning incorporating skill, will and self-regulation. The key point she made (or that I grasped) was that this is a gestalt model, in other words, it is the interaction of skill, will and self-regulation that makes the difference for learners, rather than a focus on any one element. Applying this to my own work situation, this reminds me that I need to try and strike a balance, providing models and opportunities for my students to develop their language and critical thinking skills, and at the same time, giving them ways and means to enhance their motivation and take control of their learning.

Computers are clearly an indispensable tool for autonomy learning and are at the heart of self-access language centers. Jo Mynard’s presentation on the benefits and challenges of computer-based resources for self-access drew on three different metaphors for thinking about computers: the computer as a tutor (for example, language courses or resources designed as computer-based language learning materials), the computer as a tool (authentic materials which can be exploited by learners for language development), and computer as “mindtools” (interactive CALL). This may not have been the intention of the presentation, but my take on this was that there was some hierarchy of preference implied, with the “mindtools” image the most ideal, because it offers a way for learners to interact and to practice “knowledge representation” in the target language.

Again, applying this to my situation, I have always thought of my classroom as a language learning “environment”, where learners practice knowledge representation with each other, as well as discuss with each other the problems they encounter in doing this. I do expect my students to use computers as tutors (for example, Purdue University’s OWL site does a far better job of teaching bibliographic conventions than I can) and as tools (Pitt University’s database of folk tales from around the world, or the news media for a news story project). I also ask my students to email me their assignments and to write nice polite cover messages when they do so ;-) But I realize that I could do a whole lot more with computers, and the only reason I don’t is that I tend to use what I’m familiar with and what has worked before. I do try new things each year, but I hesitate to do more for fear of being overwhelmed. That’s one of the reasons I enjoy going to conferences so much - they give me the motivation and confidence to push myself outside my comfort zone.

A lot of the people I met and presentations I went to were concerned with the use of computers. Fiona Henderson from the University of Victoria reported on the development of computer-based materials aimed at engaging and empowering learners, particularly those in the university’s off-shore campus in China. The academic literacy program that they have devised draws on popular media (manga) and culture (Chairman Mao plays table tennis with Arnie Schwarzenegger) in order to hook learners and provide a bridge into academic discourse. What struck me most was the amount of time and money spent (though the presenter complained that this was barely enough and decreasing) on developing this resource and the commitment of the institution to finding new and creative ways to attract and keep its student base in an increasingly competitive market.

By contrast, Kerstin Dofs’ presentation right afterward showed the other side of the coin: Reporting on the somewhat mixed results of the first year of self-access in a language teaching program in New Zealand, it seemed clear that for the institution involved, self-access was regarded as just a supplement to a more orthodox curriculum. Students had “self-access” hour once a week when they used a small room with computer terminals where they were encouraged to work through language learning programs, consult web sites and contribute to blogs. Learning facilitators, who were proficient language learners, were drafted in to help out and give advice, but the regular teachers were not paid anything for any work they did on the Self Access Center and, consequently, had little or no interest in it.

Later, I was talking to Joe Falout who described the inadequate resources for self-access at his university, and I realised that at my own university self-access is limited to a small guided readers library (which apparently took years of lobbying by my foreign language department colleagues to implement). Lucy Cooker, who set up the Self Access Learning Centre at Kanda University of Foreign Studies, and who now acts as a roving consultant while working on her PhD at Nottingham, agreed that Self-access requires a huge degree of commitment in terms of human and financial resources, as well as a paradigm shift on the part of the institution that goes down that route.

Probably many of us LD-ers in Japan work in universities or schools or language schools that haven’t (yet) made that paradigm shift. The places where I have taught have seemed to place their priority on the individual teacher over any idea of a curriculum. Learner development is assumed without any further inquiry; learner autonomy meets with raised eyebrows, and a suspicion that the teacher is not doing her job. Nanci Graves and Stacey Vye gave a presentation whose title, “More learner autonomy with less frustration”, expressed exactly this key conflict that I feel I face. Nanci and Stacey have loads of creative and practical ideas for teachers who don’t have the support of colleagues or an institution behind them, some of which I’ve heard in previous presentations and some of which I’ve incorporated into my own practice. The “frustration” in the title led me to expect that Nanci and Stacey would be addressing some of those institutional and ideological obstacles. The fact that they didn’t - or at least, didn’t in a way that I expected - has left me with more questions now than I had before. Which is a good thing :-) because Nanci and Stacey have a proposal with a remarkably similar title for an article in the new LD SIG book “Developing autonomy practices”. So I’m really looking forward to getting back to those questions when we meet again at the Writers’ Retreat on the 4th and 5th July in Tokyo (plug).

The last presentation I hit was, appropriately enough for a blog entry on the LD SIG website, Andy Barfield’s presentation on…. the LD SIG. Andy has been in the SIG since its first year and has been closely involved with it up until about a couple of years ago. Just before he left for his sabbatical year in the UK last spring, he interviewed four pseudonymous (!) SIG members about their reasons for joining the SIG and what they get out of it. In the presentation, Andy handed out pages of extracts from the interviews with each of the participants in his study with the aim of having us discuss what they meant and also to consider whether an Activity System model was helpful to understanding learner development in the LD SIG (I think). To tell the truth, I’m not a big fan of models. Give me a good story anytime. It always makes more sense to me than lines and arrows. Despite my small misgiving about the point of the model, Andy’s presentation was particularly thought-provoking to me as - let me confess it here and now - one of the participants in the study. Being interviewed was in itself a great opportunity to reflect on and articulate my expectations of the SIG, but being able to read other members’ stories showed me that the diversity of views and experiences within the SIG membership is a mighty asset both for each of us as individuals, and for the LD SIG as a whole.

Presentations mentioned

Claire Ellen Weinstein, “Strategic and self-regulated learning for the 21st century: the merging of skill, will and self-regulation”

Jo Mynard, “Benefits and challenges of computer-based resources for self-access”

Fiona Henderson, “Academic literacy: Modeling and empowering students for independent learning”

Kerstin Dofs, “Embedded self-study time in English as an Additional Language (EAL) programmes

Nanci Graves & Stacey Vye, “More learner autonomy with less frustration”

Andy Barfield, “Problematizing learning learner development”

PDF files of articles from the journal can be downloaded for your reading & research pleasures, courtesy of our friends at the University of Warwick.

About the journal -- from the website:

English Language Teacher Education and Development (ELTED) - ISSN 1365-3741 - is an annual peer-reviewed journal for the worldwide ELT community which is produced by the Teacher Education and Development Research Group of the Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick. It seeks to provide a medium for the exchange of ideas and information on theoretical and applied issues pertaining to English language teacher education. The journal is targeted at all those involved in English language teacher education and development worldwide, for whom, at present, there are few published journals dealing specifically with English language teacher education and development.

Posted by Hugh Nicoll at 06:17 PM. Filed under: Teaching & Learning

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Steve Davies of Miyazaki International College continues his wacky, wild and wonderful science fiction yarn in episode 3 of The Adventures of Magenta M.

In "Pedagogy for Autonomy and Educational Success – What Relation? A Multi-Disciplinary School Project" Isabel Barbosa of the University of Minho in Portugal reports on a collaborative multi-disciplinary project for developing learner autonomy in a secondary school setting.

Atsushi Iida's "An analysis of learner strategies and learner autonomy in Japanese books for English study" investigates learner autonomy in the Japanese context through a survey of Japanese books for English self-study.