Conference Review

The 5th International IndependentLearning Association ConferenceMark Swanson
Kyoto Notre Dame University
The 2012 Independent Learning Association Conference: “Autonomy in aNetworked World” was held at the Pipitea campus of Victoria University inWellington, New Zealand, from August 30 to September 2. The conference
theme was driven by the question: what is the meaning of learner autonomy
in our technologically and socially integrated world? Conference participants
were asked to share their ideas and research findings to better understand therole of the individual learner in evolving learning environments (InternationalLeadership Association).
The conference was well organized and proceeded smoothly. I attended
all five plenaries and many concurrent presentations. Overall, the quality ofpresentations was quite high. I will share some of the main points from threepresentations I found to be particularly insightful and relevant.
One of the best plenaries was by Peter Gu, who is on faculty at the Victoria
University of Wellington. His talk, entitled “From learning strategies to strategic
learning: A new research agenda,” summarized the recent history of learning
strategies research and sought to offer a new direction for further research.
Professor Gu stated that learning strategies research has lacked imagination,with researchers conducting similar studies that produce predictable results.
Therefore, he encourages researchers to be more exploratory and formulate
entirely new research questions, such as asking how and why strategic learning
makes a difference. Furthermore, he implores researchers to re-conceptualize
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learning strategies as a dynamic concept rather than a static one. According toProfessor Gu, there is a tendency to view learning strategies merely as gimmicky
skills to be acquired. Instead, he advises researchers to focus on each step of the
dynamic strategic learning process and seek to capture strategic learning in action,
dynamic processes such as identifying, evaluating, planning, and reflection.
Moreover, he stated that learning strategies research has typically been limited to
vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and phonology, and has rarely dealt with aspectsof language such as cohesion/coherence, grammar, rhetorical organization, andpragmatic competence.
Damon Brewster of Oberlin University and Kay Irie of Tokai University
gave an excellent talk that felt particularly relevant. They examined the role ofexperiential factors in the emergence of students’ L2 possible selves. Their researchdraws on the work of Zoltan Dörnyei’s L2 motivational self-system (Dörnyei,2009). Brewster and Irie described “experiential capital,” an idea borrowed fromJim Carroll, that life experiences can provide the imagination for motivation andproduce higher levels of self-efficacy and self-determination (Carroll, 2005).
Brewster and Irie conducted a mixed-method multiple-case study and focused
their talk on one student in particular who displayed a high level of motivation
as an English language learner. To improve his English while studying abroad in
America as a first-year student, he refused to speak in Japanese, which angered his
fellow Japanese students. He even travelled to Italy by himself on a high school
graduation trip, something unthinkable for most Japanese his age.
The presenters attributed his high level of English motivation to his
experiential capital. During his early years, he took a family trip to India which
impacted his life. Through that experience abroad, he was able to perceive English
as something worth studying, as having a practical application. The seed wasplanted. Brewster and Irie explained that typical Japanese students have a morenarrow range of life experiences, mainly revolving around school, club activities,
and juku, cram schools that most junior high and high school students attend,with few opportunities to acquire genuine experiential capital. They argued thatwider experience promotes reflection and growth, and that without sufficientexperiential capital it may be difficult for students to perceive the possibilities
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for using English. Therefore, they recommend that teachers capitalize ontechnology to help students forge and maintain social networks abroad. They
mentioned Skype and Facebook as examples of technologies that can be used
to spark student interest in making connections abroad and serve as useful tools
for language development. They pointed out that capitalizing on technology
is especially needed for students of low socio-economic status, who often lack
opportunities to acquire valuable experiential capital.
Paul Nation of Victoria University raised an important question to consider
during his engaging plenary: Is direct vocabulary instruction by the teacher
worth it? No, it’s usually not, argues Nation, as studies have shown that directteaching of vocabulary is inefficient in terms of words acquired per hour ofinstruction. According to Nation, students need to know a minimum of 9,000
words to be able to handle un-simplified texts, and even if the instructor were to
devote the entire class time to direct vocabulary instruction, students would still
not come close to reaching this high number of words. Therefore, Nation advises
instructors to provide students with activities that lead to incidental vocabulary
learning, so that students are able to learn a sufficient number of words on theirown. He contends that direct vocabulary instruction by the instructor in thefront of the class should be done only sparingly to teach essential words. Lastly,
Nation urges instructors to make sure vocabulary learning occurs across the four
strands: meaning-focused input, meaning-focused output, language-focusedlearning, and fluency development (Nation, 2007).
Overall, it was a splendid conference with insightful presentations andfabulous social events. The conference organizers and hosts kept us happy andwell-fed throughout with delicious food during lunch time and snack breaks. As
co-convener, Professor Averil Coxhead’s boundless energy helped the conference
sustain a positive momentum. In review, this conference was outstanding andwell worth my time.

ReferencesCarroll, J. (2005). What’s your “experiential capital?” Retrieved from http://
www.jimcarroll.com/2005/09/whats-your-experiential-capital/70

5th International Independent Learning Association, OnCUE Journal, 7(1), pages 68-71

Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei & E.
Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity, and the L2 self (pp. 9-42).
Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.
Independent Learning Association. 2012 Conference New Zealand.
Conference Proceedings. Retrieved from http://www.independentlearning.
org/proceedings-wellington-2012.html
Nation, I.S.P. (2007). The four strands. Innovation in Language Learning andTeaching, 1(1), 1-12.

Author’s bio

Mark Swanson is a lecturer at Kyoto Notre Dame University. His researchinterests include vocabulary acquisition, motivation, and classroom management.
swansonmark21@gmail.com

Received: May 24, 2013
Accepted: July 2, 201371