MEMBERS’ VOICESMembers’ Voicesْ٤‫ס٭ف‬㚜

Nicolas Emerson
LD SIG Website Manager
nemersonld@gmail.com
I have always enjoyed the social aspect oflearning. I love exploring ideas with others anddeveloping understanding through discourse.
I am fascinated by technology, and how it canbe used to facilitate language learning. The
role of the teacher is changing, and I feel thateducators need to foster learner autonomy andequip students with the capabilities necessary
to thrive as twenty-first-century learners.
In 2004, I graduated from Falmouth University
in the UK with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
I returned to education in 2009, enrolling on a
1-year PGCE to train as a creative media teacher.
My course tutor had just stepped down ashead teacher of a famously progressive local
secondary school, and I feel fortunate to havelearned under his wise tutelage. He introduced
my cohort and me to the work of educational
theorist Professor Guy Claxton, the Building
Learning Power movement, and the concept of‘learning to learn,’ which significantly impacted
my early pedagogical beliefs.
Following my PGCE, I worked as a supply teacher
in various educational settings, leading to aterm-long placement in a secondary school as
an English and media teacher. Subsequently, I
secured a role lecturing print media and film at a
local FE college. During this period, I completed amaster’s degree in education. My thesis explored
where learning to learn could best be situatedwithin the institution. I piloted a learning skills
program in my classes, guiding students to set
goals and reflect on their learning.
In 2013, I relocated to Japan to embark on a
new chapter in my learning story as an EFL
teacher. With no formal foreign language
teaching qualifications, it took a while for me
to find my feet. My first role in Japan was as anelementary school ALT in an idyllic rural town
in southern Fukuoka. It was a fortuitously softlanding.
I’ve worked my way up through junior highschools, high schools, eikaiwa, junior colleges,
to my current role as a university lecturer andresearcher. In a serendipitous circle of events,
one of my former elementary school students
from my first year in Japan was a student in oneof my high-ability English classes last year. It wasa delightful reminder of my journey as a teacher
in Japan and how far I have come.
Now that I’ve gained nearly ten years ofexperience working as a language teacher, I feelready to re-engage with my academic pursuits.
In an echo of my previous study in the UK, I’mcurrently researching online goal setting andself-evaluation, attempting to understand how
EFL teachers can utilize technology to facilitate
learner reflection. My next project will centeraround collaborative story writing using a web
application that my wife and I are in the processof making. I intend to continue down thisresearch thread, exploring how technology can
support the development of learner reflection,creativity and autonomy.

Ethel Natalia
Revello Barovero
Universidad Nacional de Tierradel Fuego, Antártida e Islas delAtlántico Sur
erevello@untdf.edu.ar

Knocking on the doors of different
cultures to learn English: Kickstarting
multiculturalism projects in the 21stCentury Classroom

Hello everyone, I’m Ethel. I’m from Argentina
and I was born in Córdoba – it is the second
largest city of Argentina and it lies to the west ofBuenos Aires. In 2010 I moved to Ushuaia -thecapital city of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islasdel Atlántico Sur province –, three thousand

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LEARNING LEARNING『学習の学習』30(1)kilometers south from my hometown for working
reasons – I was told that English teachers wereneeded. I have been working as an English
teacher and professor for more than 20 years
now. Although this is a small city in Argentina,
I had to cope with the weather – quite colder
from the rest of the country; I had to learn more
about living here – as a consequence of thesnow and the slopes, there are particular driving
rules I had to learn; and I had to learn about
the different cultures that coexist in this city –people from different parts of the country, andeven from other countries such as Chile, Bolivia
and Dominican Republic, live here. Ushuaia
is surrounded by an awesome landscape andit is promoted as an exotic resort place; it is1000 thousand kilometers far from Antarctica
Peninsula and it is also called the End of theWorld.
I am an online English primary school teacher,too. I teach English to students in the onlyAntarctic school in Base Antártica Conjunta
Esperanza: Escuela 38: Presidente Raúl Ricardo
Alfonsín. “This school has a central role in thesocial and recreational activities (…) they work
collaboratively to fulfill their needs” (RevelloBarovero et al., 2021). I share some of theteaching videos in my YouTube channel.
I have been working in the Universidad Nacionalde Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas delAtlántico Sur since it was created. People fromother regions of the country come to study andlive here. I still feel like I am a tourist in this cityand there are still unknown places to visit andtake pictures. At university, I’m eager to develop
cultural competency to help my students
become open-minded, empathetic and inclusive
professionals. In my own practice, I have tried
to develop a positive attitude towards students
with disabilities because I strongly believe thateverybody should have the opportunity to fulfill
their dreams and achieve their goals. There isstill so much to explore in terms of democratic
educational lesson planning, syllabuses andcurricula. Personally, I am fascinated by thinking
about people meeting different cultures
because it fosters creativity, empathy andcollaboration. I am sure this is the first step
towards world peace.

In my teaching, I explore teamwork skills
with informal networks, such as the online
programme CONNECT – a project thatencourages meaningful international virtual
exchanges for students who would never havethe opportunity to interact with each other. I
believe that positive interactions with people
from different cultures improves motivation,
develops confidence and it helps to give senseto their own traditions and customs. Includinginternational interactions in the syllabuses
and teaching design lessons ensures thebuilding up of a society based on peace andmulticulturalism -a humanizing force that gives
a sense of respect, encouraging participationand growth, and allowing students to gain
valuable communication skills, and learn global
citizenship.
I focus my research on English academic literacy
and democratic education. I guess Raeywen
Connell and Paula Carlino are my educational
heroes. Their deep belief in democratic
education and the way they explain it hit a chordwith me. “Education is about creating capacities
for practice – capacities that are both individualand social.” (Connell, n.d.)This notion of education as a right, and thateverybody should have access to it, mademe realize that English learning is a right andthat learning a language means learning aculture; but this does not mean that I have to
get students involved in a different culture.
Learning a language implies learning our own
culture: learning to talk and write about our own
lifestyle. This provides students with autonomy
and spontaneity. If we take into account thatthrough reading we can have a broader visionof the world, learn about other realities, develop
creativity and critical reflection; learning toread is equivalent to learning to learn, that is,acquiring autonomy in the generation of ourown learning (Revello Barovero, 2021). I believethat teaching English is a means of learning
about our place, history and traditions; thisdepends on what the purpose of teaching isand the values teachers foster in their lessons.
The appreciation of learning how to read, write,
listen and speak in a foreign language helps
students to build a world of active citizenship

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MEMBERS’ VOICES

through intercultural dialogue and learning
through people from all over the world.
Teaching English from a regional perspectivewith a global vision encourages sustainableeducation. Not only does it include anappreciation of climate and environment issues,
but also biodiversity, sustainable consumptions
and other topics. I include local geography
and environment issues in English lessons,and make students think about their naturalenvironment and how to take care of it. I also
ask them to read about indigenous peoples,
and the way they live nowadays in our society;
it is a way of making them visible -a lot ofpeople think that there are no more indigenous
peoples in our society. In tourism, students
are asked to prepare a speech about a local
winter resort or a local trekking route and makedescriptions. In the past, students were able
to choose any city from any province or evenfrom any country. Making global issues related
to regional ones is a challenge. It demands a
lot of time for lesson planning. “As teachers, it
must be taken into account that a conflict is anopportunity to grow since it allows the parties
to learn about differences and to cope withthem” (Rojas Carrillo et al., 2021). Sustainableeducation brings about conflict between
economy and equity; between economic growthand environmental protection. Creating our own
local material for teaching is time consuming
and builds conflict between publishing houses
and teachers. This is also an opportunity to think
about new ways of teaching and learning.
Taking into account the multiculturalism of theFuegian society, and the roots of the university– glocal sustainable education –, I believethat democratic education helps people tobecome responsible citizens, to develop theircapabilities, and to realize their intellectualpotential. In order to accomplish the mission of
the university, I think that the design of English
courses based on different cultural perspectives
and environmental issues can reflect changes
in society and lessons are more attractive.
I concur with Kochoska that changes in theenvironment affect the shifting interests, needs,
the behaviour of students, and their readinessto accept or reject certain ways of learning ormodels of communication (Kochoska, 2007).

REFERENCES

Connell, R. (n.d.) Education. http://www.
raewynconnell.net/p/education_23.html
Kochoska, J. (2007). Civic education and theclassroom climate. Bitola: Faculty of Pedagogy.
Revello Barovero, E.N., Colloca, C.B. (2022).
Academic English Literacy in Geology andBiology Syllabuses. Actas del VI Congresode Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovaciónde la Universidad Internacional de Ciencia yTecnología. https://doi.org/10.47300/978-9962738-04-6
Revello Barovero, E., Ibarra, M.C. & Navarro
Salazar, V.H. (2021). Una educación práctica,prosocial y creativa en la comunidad fueguinade la Base Esperanza. I Jornadas de Ciencias
Sociales y Humanidades Antárticas JoCSHA(pp. 65-66).
Rojas Carrillo, N. I., Castiblanco Rodriguez, C.
(2022). Conflict Mediators form Early Childhood,a Social Transformation that is Sustained ina Presential and Virtual Education. Actas delVI Congreso de Investigación, Desarrollo eInnovación de la Universidad Internacionalde Ciencia y Tecnología. https://doi.
org/10.47300/978-9962-738-04-6
Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego,Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur. (2022). Todo
Noticias. 25 de junio de 2022. La Escuela deIdiomas apuesta a la internacionalización delcurrículum a través de programas de formación
transnacionales en lenguas extranjeras. https://untdf.edu.ar/noticias/2179

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LEARNING LEARNING『学習の学習』30(1)Noelia Bustos
Universidad Nacional de Tierradel Fuego, Antártida e Islas delAtlántico Sur

Paula Ferreyro
Universidad Nacional de Tierradel Fuego, Antártida e Islas delAtlántico Sur
We are studying biology at Universidad
Nacional de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islasdel Atlántico Sur (UNTDF). This university is
located in Ushuaia – the capital city of thebiggest province of Argentina – and English isneeded to become a regular student, although
it is not a requirement. English is the languageof science. Knowing English before taking up
biology is a must. Reading English papers is anactivity included in many subjects and books
written in English about different topics are partof the syllabus of many compulsory subjects. In
our opinion, Academic English has to be taught
at university. As this is not the real situation,students have to learn on their own. We decided
to take up an optional English Academic course
to learn how to deliver a speech at a conferenceor how to prepare an informal oral presentation.
We have participated in the international
programme “CONNECT”, in which students fromdifferent countries introduced themselves andtalked about culture: food, music, traditions,celebrations, and history. In the programme
we were students from 14 countries and in mygroup we were five students from different
nationalities. It was an interesting experience
because we learnt about celebrations in Ivory
Coast, Mexico, Thailand. And we got to knowthat a country changed its name! Turkey is now
known as Türkiye.
Noelia: I believe that texting messages,
preparing audio messages and reading
messages everyday is a good opportunity topractice and learn English. Studying a foreign

language in isolation is very difficult. Thispossibility helped me to keep in contact withthe language and forced me to learn new
vocabulary, think about how to make sentences;
how to learn new strategies to acquire fluency.
I strongly believe that reflective learning is
an important tool to learn and the help of ateacher is needed. Thinking about the way I
read or write takes time. At times I thought it
was a waste of time. The same happens whenpracticing pronunciation. But after a couple ofmonths I realized that it helped me do somebetter productions. I discovered new ways oflearning new vocabulary and its pronunciationor new sentence patterns. I get really excitedwhen I remember new words, and I can use
them when talking.
Paula: These new experiences provide us withnew tools to learn English. I think that taking
up meetings with people from other countries
and cultures helps the student learn English.
The fact that we participated in the CONNECT
programme helped us too: writing messages,
speaking during the meetings while we learned
about different cultures and practicing ourEnglish was an enriching experience for all thestudents. Definitely, learning and studying ingroups using different tools helps in the path oflearning a new language.

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