THE LEARNER DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
学習者ディベロップメント研究部会誌
ISSN: 2433-5401
https://ldjournal.ld-sig.org

The Learner Development Journal Issue 7:
Challenging the Conventions of Learner Development Research
Authors: Ellen Head, Aya Hayasaki, & Ryo Moriya
Title: Introduction to The Learner Development Journal Issue 7: Challenging the Conventions ofLearner Development Research
Date of publication online: 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.LDJ7-1
Author contact: <ehead(at)sky(dot)miyazaki-mic(dot)ac(dot)jp>, <hayasakiaya(at)gmail(dot)com>, <ryo(dot)m6bell(dot)a(at)gmail(dot)com>
Published by the Japan Association for Language Teaching
Learner Development Special Interest Group, Tokyo
https://ld-sig.org/
Copyright 2023 each respective author
This article can be cited as:
Head, E., Hayasaki, A., & Moriya, R. (2023). Introduction to The Learner Development
Journal issue 7: Challenging the conventions of learner development research. The Learner
Development Journal, 7, 2–10. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.LDJ7-1

This article is part of a collection of practitioner research on the theme of “Challenging theConventions in Learner Development Research” for Issue 7 of the Learner Development
Journal (LDJ7), edited by Ellen Head, Aya Hayasaki, and Ryo Moriya. Published once a year,
each issue of the Learner Development Journal follows a Community of Practices approachover a period of approximately 18 months in which contributors work together, under theguidance of the editors, to share, respond to, and develop their research and writing.
Articles are published in the Learner Development Journal under a Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY), of which CC BY 4.0 is the most recent version. Under this agreement, authors
grant users the right to unrestricted dissemination and re-use of the work. They ask only thatproper attribution is given to the work.

INTRODUCTION
Introduction to The Learner Development Journal
Issue 7: Challenging the Conventions ofLearner Development Research
Ellen Head, Miyazaki International College, Japan<ehead(at)sky(dot)miyazaki-mic(dot)ac(dot)jp>
Aya Hayasaki, Waseda University, Japan<hayasakiaya(at)gmail(dot)com>
Ryo Moriya, Waseda University, Japan<ryo(dot)m6bell(dot)a(at)gmail(dot)com>
Why “Challenging the Conventions”?

Ellen: The shared global story of 2020-23 challenged many assumptions about teaching
and learning, as the pandemic forced us to embrace online teaching under emergency
remote conditions, study abroad was cancelled, Brexit, the Black Lives Matter protests,
and the January 6 assault on the Capitol all acted together to undermine the pristine
image of hegemonic English-speaking countries. Meanwhile, AI resources for translationand text creation were developing in ways that would change students’ perceived needs
and profoundly impact the way we do teaching and learning. Back in 2020, it felt, for me
at least, as if the era was challenging us. In ELT, there have been numerous attempts
to identify trends such as “the multilingual turn” or “the narrative turn,” but it was very
hard to say which way things would turn at the time in November 2020 when I first met
Aya in a Learner Development SIG forum online. Recently I’ve been jokingly referring tothis as the “Everything-Everywhere-All-At-Once Turn” (after the 2022 movie by Daniel
Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) to express something of the confusion and complexityof that moment, when we could see “everything” online, but we could not actually go
anywhere nor predict when that moment would be over. Now in December 2023, it
might seem to be business as usual in many contexts, but it’s probably true to say thatthe experience of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) has affectedteaching and learning in profound ways, even if we don’t fully realise it yet.

How we met each other and discovered the theme for LDJ7

Ellen: When I heard Aya’s presentation about dilemmas and trajectories in adolescents’language learning, at the Learner Development Forum at JALT2020, I was fascinated by
the new questions she was asking and her lightning-quick way of making connections
between theory and practice. So in the summer of 2021, I approached her to ask if
she would be interested in putting forward a proposal for Issue 7 of The Learner
Development Journal (LDJ7). Aya asked Ryo Moriya to join us, as Ryo was also curious
about emotions, life trajectories, and research methods which attempt to capture boththe subtleties of individual experience and the connection to a larger picture. All of us
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Ellen Head, Aya Hayasaki, & Ryo Moriya

had written for LDJ at different times, and enjoyed the engagement with writing for asmall audience, sharing multiple drafts, and continuing to work on the same piece overan extended time period. We started talking about themes and the idea of “challenging
the conventions” emerged.

Previous conventions challenged and room for further exploration

Aya: In my view, one of the most important previous studies in our field that “challenged
the conventions” is Firth & Wagner (1997). The authors overturned the hidden assumptionthat many people might have had as second language teachers/learners, namely thenative speaker ideology. I myself, as an L2 English user, felt empowered by theirargument that we should reconsider the conception that non-native speakers/second
language learners are a “deficit” model. They also touched on the issue of what
constitutes success, arguing that we should learn not only from failures but also fromsuccesses in language learning and use. What is considered deficit from one theoreticallens can be considered full of resources and potentials from another. Another important
example that “challenged the conventions” would be how positive psychology was
introduced to general psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), and eventuallyto psychology of language learners (Mercer & MacIntyre, 2014). Positive psychology
has challenged conventional psychology by shifting the focus from what is wrong towhat is right in human life. While psychology has generally aimed to study and treat
problems, positive psychology seeks ways to understand and enhance the positive
aspects of human functioning such as wellbeing and strengths, as well as embrace andharness negativity.
While Firth & Wagner’s arguments and positive psychology developed from completely
different histories of research, these perspectives have commonality in that they bothbrought fresh insights into learner development research. For instance, in my ongoing
PhD research, I am exploring the potential role of English learning experience in the(trans)formation of career perspectives in women from rural Japan; I try to revisit thisseemingly resource-limited context from both critical and hopeful perspectives bytaking a transdisciplinary approach (Douglas Fir Group, 2016; see also Edsall et al., 2023,
this issue). My suggestion here is not just to look at the bright side; we need to lookat both sides, or multiple sides of learners–multiple and complex emotions, identities,
and contexts within each individual (see also Ryo’s story below). Of course, this kind ofholistic approach is not new in itself. However, what both fascinates and challenges meis the dilemmas, ambivalence, and contradictions in individuals’ lived experience, andthese still seem to leave a lot of room for further exploration.
Looking back, I feel this room for exploration was what brought us LDJ7 editors andcontributors together as well. We (Ellen, Aya, and Ryo) started by sharing what it meant
to challenge conventions in our respective studies, which naturally made us curious
about how practitioners and researchers in other contexts and from more diverse
backgrounds might, could, and should be looking at learner development from new
angles, and how we could learn from one another. Distanced from our normal lives
because of the pandemic, we were somehow given more time and space than ever torethink what we have done and what we have taken for granted in language education.
One positive outcome of the pandemic, if any, was that it allowed us to explore suchroom for exploration and discussion together without being in the same room physically.

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Introduction to The Learner Development Journal Issue 7

Historia: From person-in-context to context-in-person?

Ryo: Regarding “challenging the conventions,” I am working on sociocultural theory(hereafter SCT) based on Vygotsky’s ideas. Specifically, I am interested in praxis (thefusion of theory and practice), combining SCT and advising in language learning, tolongitudinally investigate perezhivanie (a Russian term that represents the dialecticalunity of both “cognition and emotion” and “individual agent and environment”) inadvising settings that encourage learners to be autonomous/agentive and provide
individualized and optimal support (e.g., Moriya, 2022, 2023). One of Vygotsky’s ideasthat greatly impacted my thinking about my research L2 topics was that learning cannot
be achieved only by individuals or certain targeted variables, but, in reality, involves amyriad of mediating interactants (including artifacts and interlocutors).
Vygotsky critically examined the dualism (e.g., subjective or behavioral psychology),
common in psychology at the time, and theorized anew about the relationship between
childhood development and education (see Vygotsky, 1997). Although he did not directly
mention L2 learning, sociocultural theorists have incorporated his ideas into L2 learning/teaching as praxis (Lantolf & Poehner, 2014), and we can identify glimpses of them inmany of the LDJ7 articles. For example, the analysis of peer interaction in Kawasaki’s
paper (Kawasaki, 2023) owes much to Vygotsky’s ideas. In this issue, too,the idea of
linguistic abilities growing through interaction with a whole group emerges in Takagi,
Tanaka and Minami’s study of an autonomy-fostering teacher (Takagi et al., 2023). It
might not be an exaggeration to say that none of the LDJ7 articles would be written inquite the same way without the influence of Vygotsky, albeit indirectly. Among the SCTrelated terms (e.g., sociocultural interaction, mediation, and longitudinal development),
one of the well-known concepts in the theory Vygotsky systematized is the Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD is a concept he created because of his dialectical viewof relationships with others beyond the individual. It may sound paradoxical, but the
ZPD reflects his idea that it is not enough to look only at the individual in order to face
the individual. That is why the futuristic and collective aspect of what we will be able to dois crucial in the ZPD.
Vygotsky also incorporated dialectical materialism into his theory and emphasizedhistoria (i.e., four different geneses; see Lantolf et al., 2018). In English, story and history
are different words, but etymologically, historia is the Latin word for both. In fact, past
events can be described as stories about something/someone. Like the ZPD, anotherparadox is at work: to understand the future, we need to face more about the pastrather than only the future. Vygotskian sociocultural theorists have long stressed theimportance of context since the 1980s, or rather, it has been a fundamental premise of
their works (e.g., Frawley & Lantolf, 1985). There is no denying that looking at contextin-person is essential now in exploring learner development. Context-in-person truly
represents a person’s historia (or history-in-person, according to Holland & Lave, 2001).
Just as Vygotsky challenged the conventions of his time with dialectical ideas, we hope
the works of LDJ7 contributors who have faced learner/teacher historia will become
cornerstones for the reader’s future, which will be your historia afterward.

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Developing LDJ7

Ellen: During the process of talking with writers and reading their early drafts, it became
clear that as learners, teachers, and practitioner researchers, we need conventions
as a place to start from, even if we do decide to challenge them. In this context,“conventions” mean both ways of writing, and awareness of what others have done in
the past – practices they did and the theories that they had.
As each issue of the LDJ has a two-year gestation period, LDJ7 writers and editors had
a unique opportunity to work with an audience with whom they had a social relationship,
to track our own and each other’s changes, and notice when and how these show up
in writing. During the meetings which we had online with contributors, there was an
atmosphere of discovery and challenge as authors and editors asked questions andsometimes prodded each other to discover new aspects of the historia represented.
As a result, LDJ7 authors took up a variety of inter/transdisciplinary approaches to gain
fresh insights into the dynamic nature of learner development. In this issue, our authors
focused particularly on the minutiae of relationships, emotions, and events related tolearning at the most intimate level.
Such richness of interaction leads to tough decisions for the editors, as we have thetask of setting boundaries which inevitably result in losses - of the evanescent insights
in a marginal comment or a Zoom discussion, and of brilliant ideas that inadvertently
spiralled away from the main theme. Along with setting boundaries, we also had thegreat pleasure of walking alongside the authors as they developed and explicated theirresearch, as well as situated their stories in relation to their lived experiences of teaching
and learning.

Challenging the Convention of Linear Reading

To provide an overview of this issue, the following map offers a visual representation ofsome of the themes which connect the articles in LDJ7. The three large circles correspondto the themes of the three groups which the LDJ7 contributors were divided into for the
purpose of discussing their nascent research projects, sharing their developing drafts, andoffering feedback on each others’ work. One group focused on learner’s emotions andidentities, the second group on classroom practice for developing learner autonomy.
The third group were drawn together by an interest in exploring the nature of writing asa practitioner-researcher, in terms of genre. In the map, we have labelled their focus as“reflecting on life-trajectories as teachers and learners” in order to bring out the themes
they have in common with the other groups.
For those who prefer a linear outline, we have arranged the articles by starting withthe focus on a single learner, broadening out to look at learner’s emotions in groups,
classrooms and finally teachers’ life trajectories. However, we hope you will discover
many resonances between the articles. Ideally, we would make this map into a threedimensional, interactive game in which you, the reader, could move various articles
around in accordance with the resonances that you notice.

Learner Development Journal • Issue 7 • December 2023

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Introduction to The Learner Development Journal Issue 7

Y axis: Making sense with narrative approaches

LDJ7: Challenging the Conventions of Learner Development Research: Thematic Connections
Each colored circle represents one article, with author name(s) and a short summary. The
map can be imagined as a three-dimensional, interactive game in which you, the reader,can jump from place to place and also move various articles around in accordance with theresonances that you notice.

Reflecting onlife-trajectories asteachers (and learners)
Barfield, Andy &Nakayama, Akiko:
Collegial story sharing &Harrison, Marlen:
discussion about teacher
autonomy, PBL, andA teacher reflecting
meaningful engaged
on their use oflearning
autoethnography in
Reflecting on
exploring self and as aclassroom practicegenre for students towrite
Takagi, Akiko,
Tanaka Takeo &Minami, Yuki:
Three researchers
Yarwood, Amelia:interviewing a teacher about
A learning advisor
his classroom practicefinding out about
and practitioner
Morioka,a learner’s identity
research
Takaaki:through analysing his
A teacher’s classroom
stories
Kawasaki,research: Did writing
Misako:reflections about
A teacher’s survey ofgroup work improvestudents’ emotions in the
Ratna, Yunita:
participation inclassroom and how they
A teacher’s analysis
group work?
learn to regulate theirof the autonomy
emotions in groupdevelopment of twowork by working
university students
with peers
over a year

Focusing on learners’
identities
X axis: Investigating learner development by using surveys, models, analytical approaches

More about this mind map: Articles which are closer to the bottom part of the pageused more quantitative and analytic approaches. Articles closer to the left hand side of
the page used qualitative approaches. The larger circles represent thematic connections
between articles.
Figure 1. Thematic connections across LDJ7
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Ellen Head, Aya Hayasaki, & Ryo Moriya

Amelia Yarwood, “Tracing Emotion in the (Re)Construction of an EFL
Identity During a Self-Directed Learning Module: A Short Story Approach”
Amelia Yarwood’s exploration of the emotions and learner identity of a single language
learner reveals the dramatic shifts the learner experienced while he was studying on a selfdirected learning course. The author analyses the stories which he told in interviews sometime after the course had ended when he had had time to reflect. Amelia combines threedifferent analytical methods – a short story analysis, using Barkhuizen (2016), together withemotional qualities analysis and identity analysis using narrative re-writing – resulting in astudy which challenges the conventions of learner development research in terms of detail,priority given to emotions, and learner-centeredness.

Ratna Yunita, “Investigating Learner Autonomy Development Through aComplex Dynamic Systems Theory View: An Indonesian Context”

Ratna Yunita looks at the development of learner autonomy in Indonesia in a longitudinal
study focusing on two students. She contextualizes her research by looking at her own
story of autonomy and Indonesian educational policy. Her in-depth study then focuseson the dynamic fluctuations of autonomy development experienced by her students
during 2020-21. Carrying out retrospective interviews, Ratna identifies four factors which
operate as part of a complex, dynamic system, including the learners’ affect, behaviouralchange, restrictions, and external push and support. The compelling interplay between
these factors over time provides valuable insights into how students may be supported in
becoming more autonomous in different local contexts.

Misako Kawasaki, “The Influence of Peer Interaction on Emotion Regulationin the English Classroom”
Misako Kawasaki describes a semester-long study of the emotion regulation which developed
between peers in her class. Initially, she surveyed the students about the emotions which
they experienced in class. Repeating the survey in the middle and at the end of the semester,Misako provided opportunities for the students to reflect and share reflection on the strategies
they used to regulate emotions in negative situations. Peer interaction had a significant effecton their emotion regulation, generally promoting positive emotions. This innovative study
suggests that classroom teachers can help students improve emotion regulation by specificallyintroducing discussion of emotions in the language learning classroom.

Akiko Takagi, Takeo Tanaka, & Yuki Minami, “The Role of Practitioner
Research in Exploring Learner Autonomy for in-Service Teachers: A
Retrospective Case Study”

Akiko Takagi, Takeo Tanaka, and Yuki Minami collaborate with a junior high school teacher,
Naoya Miyazaki, to find out more about the development of autonomous learning in theclassroom. The three authors wanted to learn more about how Naoya did this throughpractitioner research over a two-year period. Interviewing him retrospectively about anarticle that he had written and that included teacher journal reflections on his practices,
Akiko, Takeo, and Minami analysed themes from the multiple sources of data to build up a
more sophisticated understanding of Naoya’s learner autonomy-fostering perspectives inthis multi-layered study.
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Introduction to The Learner Development Journal Issue 7

Takaaki Morioka, “Exploring the Impact of Mandatory Reflection Activities
on Students’ Perceptions of Group Work”

Takaaki Morioka reports on the effect of mandatory reflection as a follow-up to grouplearning activities with first-year students aged 15 to 16 at a technical college in Japan. He
carried out a comparative study in which one group participated in cooperative learning
activities and wrote regular reflections, while the other group participated in cooperative
learning without writing any reflections. All the students were somewhat positive aboutgroup learning, but the group which wrote reflections were not as positive about theirlearning experiences. The study thus leads Takaaki to challenge his assumption thatreflection would result in enhanced learner engagement.

Marlen Harrison, “Why I Utilize Autoethnography to Promote Learner
Development: A Reflexive Narrative of English Teacher Development”

Marlen Harrison argues for the practice of autoethnography as a mode of self-development
which can bring insight to both teachers and learners. He describes his own innovativeuse of autoethnography for self-exploration and his experiments with autoethnography
as an assignment for students in university English writing classrooms in Japan, Finland,
and the USA. Reflecting on his journey as an autoethnography instructor, Marlen makes
original connections between identity, self-awareness, and autonomy, as well as provides
practical suggestions for using autoethnography with learners.

Andy Barfield & Akiko Nakayama, “Collegially Exploring Engaged Meaningful
Learning: Stories, Perspectives, Dialogue, and Issues”

Andy Barfield and Akiko Nakayama’s piece challenges conventions in multiple ways,
building up a patchwork of parallel stories and reflexive dialogue, ranging over themes
which include teacher socialization, learner and teacher autonomy, project-based learning(PBL), and other non-conventional approaches to learning. Akiko and Andy’s article,
co-written in a process which included regular collaborative meetings on Zoom, captures
the flavour of collegial dialogue, and as such it stands to remind us of the special, dialogic
nature of LDJ.

Dominic Edsall, with Ellen Head & Aya Hayasaki, “Towards Complexity in
Challenging Learner Autonomy Research Conventions: A Wider View on
Learner Development”

We (Ellen, Aya, and Ryo) asked Dominic to write a piece for LDJ7 which would provide
a theoretical underpinning and rationale for our intuitive feeling that both qualitativeand quantitative research could have a place side by side in LDJ. In this paper, Dominic
focuses on making connections between various different research perspectives, drawing
on the work of Bhaskar, a critical realist philosopher, and the Douglas Fir group, to ask
directly “What are the conventions of learner autonomy research, and why should they
be challenged?” The writing was further enriched by continuous dialogue and questioning
by Aya and Ellen with Dominic; however, the authorial voice, knowledge, and overall
perspective remain Dominic’s.

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Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa, “Concluding Commentary: Reflect, Write, and Share”
Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa offers a thoughtful critique of each article, together witha strong endorsement of reflective writing as practitioner research. In this concluding
piece, Vola exhorts us to engage in reflective writing and collegial sharing, reminding us
how close the process of writing is to reading. If you would like more orientation before
jumping into LDJ7, then this commentary might be the best place to start. But you arewarmly invited to find your own route.

Acknowledgements

The editors express our heart-felt thanks to each and every contributor for creating andsharing these journeys of discovery together with us. We would also like to say a giant
thank you to the reviewers and, above all, to the steering group for their tireless work andattention to detail without which LDJ7 could not be produced at all. Their hard work has
resulted in the illusion that the issue came together effortlessly, when in fact much of thework was done behind the scenes by the STG. We also want to offer our sincere thanks toIvan Lombardi for working on the layout of LDJ7 with amazing speed, insight, and goodhumoured replies to our demanding requests. In the beginning stages, Gareth Barnes andTakaaki Morioka joined us and contributed their ideas to the Call for Proposals, helping toshape our thinking and collaboration. It is a great privilege to be part of LDJ and, although
all three of us started out intending to “give back” to the LDJ community, it is probably true
to say that we have received more than we have given, many times over.
— Ellen Head, Aya Hayasaki, & Ryo Moriya

December 2023

References

Barkhuizen, G. (2016). Narrative approaches to exploring language, identity and power in language
teacher education. RELC Journal, 47(1), 25–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688216631222
Douglas Fir Group. (2016). A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world.
The Modern Language Journal, 100(S1), 19-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12301
Edsall, D. G., with Head, E., & Hayasaki, A. (2023). Towards complexity in challenging
learner autonomy research conventions: A wider view on learner development. The
Learner Development Journal, 7, 157–179. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.LDJ7-9
Firth, A., & Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental
concepts in SLA research. Modern Language Journal, 81(3), 285–300. https://doi.
org/10.2307/329302
Frawley, W., & Lantolf, J. P. (1985). Second language discourse: A Vygotskian perspective.
Applied Linguistics, 6(1), 19–44. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/6.1.19
Holland, D., & Lave, J. (2001). History in person: Enduring struggles, contentious practice,intimate identities. School for Advanced Research Press.
Kawasaki, M. (2023). The influence of peer interaction on emotion regulation in the English
classroom. The Learner Development Journal, 7, 59–77. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.
LDJ7-4
Lantolf, J. P., & Poehner, M. E. (2014). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative in
L2 education: Vygotskian praxis and the research/practice divide. Routledge. https://doi.
org/10.4324/9780203813850
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Lantolf, J. P., Poehner, M., & Swain, M. (Eds.) (2018). The Routledge handbook of sociocultural theory
and second language development. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315624747
Mercer, S., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). Introducing positive psychology to SLA. Studies in Second
Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 153-172. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.2.2
Moriya, R. (2022). Exploring the collective aspects of perezhivanie through classroombased peer advising sessions. JASAL Journal, 3(2), 42–65. https://jasalorg.com/
exploring-the-collective-aspects-of-perezhivanie-through-classroom-based-peeradvising-sessions/
Moriya, R. (2023). Learner perezhivanie and mutual advisor-advisee development throughadvising: A longitudinal case study of JSL learner. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal,
14(3), 287–305. https://doi.org/10.37237/140304
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction.
American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5
Takagi, A., Tanaka, T., & Minami, Y. (2023). Role of practitioner research in exploring learnerautonomy for in-service teachers: A retrospective case study. The Learner Development
Journal, 7, 78–95. https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTSIG.LDJ7-5
Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The historical meaning of the crisis of psychology. In R. W. Rieber& J. Wollock (Eds.), The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol. 3: Problems of the theory andhistory of psychology (pp. 233–344). Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-46155893-4

LDJ7 Reviewers

Paul Collett, Shimonoseki City University, Japan
Nathan Ducker, Miyazaki Municipal University, Japan
Dominic Edsall, University College London, Institute of Education, UK, & Kyoto Prefectural
University of Medicine, Japan
Tomoko Hashimoto, Tokyo Future University, Japan
Shu Hua Kao, Chihlee University of Technology, Taiwan
Jo Mynard, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
Colin Rundle, Soka University, Japan
Saki Suemori, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Katherine Thornton, Otemon Gakuin University, Japan
Stacey Vye, Saitama University, JapanLDJ Steering Group, May 2021 to December 2023

Tim Ashwell, Komazawa University, Japan (January 2015 to November 2021)
Andy Barfield, Chuo University, Japan (from December 2021)
Oana Cusen, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan (May 2022 to May 2023)
Dominic Edsall, University College London, Institute of Education, UK, & Kyoto Prefectural
University of Medicine, Japan (November 2019 to April 2022)
Yuri Imamura, Shukutoku University, Japan (from June 2023)
Tanya McCarthy, Kyoto University, Japan (from December 2020, LDJ7 liaison)

Layout and Design

Ivan Lombardi, University of Fukui, Japan
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