JALT 2021 – Learner Development SIG Identities

In this LD SIG forum, we present three research projects focused on learner development in different contexts. Sakae Onoda discusses pedagogical interventions related to self-regulation; Aya Hayasaki focuses on the importance of critical reflection in autoethnography and Gareth Barnes describes the impact of social context on development of adult learners investigated through narrative research. The forum, facilitated by Blair Barr will feature timed rounds of interactive narratives highlighting themes such as self-regulation, autonomy, learner identities, and lifelong learning.

Sakae Onoda, Juntendo University

How can learners be assisted in becoming self-regulated?

My presentation will discuss insights from my research on learner development, which was inspired by Learner Development (LD) SIG group members and their own studies. I will explicate the effect of self-regulation on language learning, in particular the effects of self-regulation strategies on L2 listening improvement and their relationship with self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. This work also suggested positive results for self-regulated learners and revealed that such learners mainly use metacognitive and effort regulation strategies and abound in self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. To examine interrelationships between self-regulation strategies, self-efficacy, willingness to communicate, and intrinsic motivation and L2 listening skills improvement, structural equation modelling was performed using quantitative data. Results showed that self-efficacy influences intrinsic motivation and effort regulation strategy use, which predicts metacognitive self-regulation strategy use, which in turn influences L2 listening skills improvement. These interrelationships shed light on how learners can continue to learn L2 listening while being assisted in doing so. However, several factors were shown not to influence self-regulated learning, and pedagogical interventions for promoting self-regulated learning, including how to improve and maintain volition, remain poorly understood. At the suggestion of LD SIG members, I plan to explore pedagogical interventions to equip self-regulated learners with volition and self-efficacy in the new online learning environment.

Keywords: self-regulation, effort regulation, metacognitive self-regulation, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation

Aya Hayasaki, Waseda University

Learner Development Research through Autoethnography: With a Critical Reflection

This presentation takes an autoethnographic approach to explore learning trajectories which I, a female Japanese in her early 30’s, experienced both as a learner and teacher of the English language. Autoethnography allows researchers to take on the “dual identities of academic and personal selves to tell autobiographical stories about aspects of their past and present experience” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000, p. 740). Having spent most of my formal school years in Japanese educational systems, I started my career as a senior high school teacher in Japan, later becoming a master’s student in the UK, a volunteer and corporate member in informal and non-formal education, and currently a PhD student. This study particularly sheds light on the process of shaping my learner, teacher, and researcher identities. I will also discuss the importance of critically reflecting on researcher reflexivity in conducting an autoethnographic study.

Keywords: autoethnography, identity development, beyond the classroom

Gareth Barnes, Macquarie University, Ochanomizu University, Tokai University

Language and its role in learner development

How can 3rd Age language learner ecologies inform our understanding of development throughout the life course?
By adopting a bioecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007), we can see the influence of time and social context on developmental processes. Looking at the narratives (Barkhuizen, Benson, & Chik, 2014) of 8 members of a community learner group, we follow the influences of time, the economy, education, family, and work, to see how language has played and can continue to play a role in development throughout the life course.

Barkhuizen, G., Benson, P., & Chik, A. (2014). Narrative Inquiry in Language Teaching and Learning Research. New York & London: Routledge.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2007). The Bioecological Model of Human Development. Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 793-828). Hoboken, N. J.: John Wiley & Sons.

Keywords: ecology, development, third age