Events

Updated 20 May 2021

Learner Development SIG-related Events 2021

 

Learner Development SIG Forums in 2021

The Learner Development (LD) SIG’s programming team will be holding forums at three JALT conferences in 2021. We hope that you will enjoy the chance to learn, discuss, and reflect on the themes with us. We will also be following up with reflections on the forum for the SIG newsletter, Learning Learning.

 

(1) JALTCALL 2021 (June 4-6, 2021)

Online Conference

Reimagining Learning Communities Online

Saturday, June 5, 16:16-17:30 JST

https://jaltcall2021.eventzil.la/session/1386

Connecting with the theme of the last year of emergency remote teaching, presenters explore the development of language learning communities during online classes. In the spring of 2020, we were all suddenly faced with the obstacle of bringing our institutions of learning to a fully online environment. This undoubtedly challenged the way we interacted, worked, and learned. How did learners and teachers first respond to the emergency? What problems and questions were encountered? How did learning evolve into a “new normal”? What aspects of this new normal will affect the ways the community will return to classroom learning? In this Learner Development SIG Forum at JALTCALL 2021, we will hear both teacher and student narratives into the social constructs that developed with online learning. Digital presentations will explore the evolution of communities in synchronous online learning platforms. In addition, the attitudes of learners and teachers to both their devices, learning management systems, and even particular game-based learning applications will be discussed. Presenters and participants will have time to share both the rewards and barriers that they encountered in this period of online teaching. We will also explore how these experiences could challenge future directions to learning and learner development.

See https://ld-sig.org/ld-sig-forums/ for detailed abstracts.

 

(2) JALT 2021 (November 12-15)
Grandship, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture

Learner Development SIG Identities

Time and Date TBD

Connecting with the theme of the JALT 2021 conference, Reflections and New Perspectives, we would like to use the forum as an opportunity to look at who we are as a special interest group. What learner development means to us, and what brought us to be a part of the group? Why did we join? What experiences have we valued? What research have we embarked on as individuals or as members of a group? In addition, where are we going as a SIG? How is our interpretation of learner development evolving? What will the future of learner development mean to you or the larger community? A wide range of presentations on learner development will be discussed. Individual narratives highlighting current research and other themes are considering for the future. The forum will feature timed rounds of interactive presentations followed by reflective writing and discussion. Presenters and participants will also be invited to contribute writing and related multimedia resources to the LD SIG’s newsletter, Learning Learning.

 

Completed

(1) PanSIG 2021 (May 15-16, 2021)

Online Conference

Challenges in Multilingual Learner Development

Saturday, May 15, 18:00-19:30 JST | Zoom 6

https://pansig2021.eventzil.la/session/1231

Connecting with the conference theme of “Local and Global Perspectives: Plurilingualism and Multilingualism,” this forum will feature presentations that explore the development of linguistic diversity in learners’ lives and environments, whether within formal education or in the wider world. What affordances and constraints do learners face in developing their linguistic repertoires beyond a simple binary of first and second language? What challenges do they face as multilingual learners and users in participating in different communities and in becoming more autonomous? What peculiar trajectories do learners’ language biographies take, and what dilemmas, questions, or puzzles do they have? Why? In this Learner Development SIG Forum at PanSIG 2021, we would like to explore the challenges and benefits of learning and using multiple languages from diverse perspectives. The forum will feature timed rounds of interactive presentations followed by reflective writing and discussion. Presenters and participants will also be invited to contribute writing and related multimedia resources to the LD SIG’s newsletter, Learning Learning

See https://ld-sig.org/ld-sig-forums/ for detailed abstracts.