Learning Learning『学習の学習』 23 (1): Members’ Voices

LD SIG Members’ Voices
LD SIG メンバーの声

Thinking about language learning
語学についてNat Carney
カーニー・ナトcarney@mail.kobe-c.ac.jp
My name is Nat Carney and I currently teach at
Kobe College in Nishinomiya. I teach listening,speaking, reading, and writing classes for firstand second year English majors. When I signed
up for the LD SIG the last time I renewed myJALT membership, I did not expect much. Mymembership in SIGs in the past usually has
meant receiving a publication now and then. I
quickly learned that the Learner Development
SIG actively contacts new members. I havebeen contacted a number of times withwelcomes of various forms, including the lastof which was the invitation to write in
Learning Learning along with other new SIG
members. I enjoyed reading others’
introductions, and I am happy to contribute
my own.
I have been teaching in Japan for about

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

ten years now. Like many other foreignteachers I have met in Japan, I did not expect
to be here for so long. I began teaching in theUnited States, first as a Spanish teacher foruniversity students and later as a Spanish/ESL
teacher at the same university. Later, I taught
EFL in Korea for one year, and then after a few
years back in the United States, I came toJapan to teach – first to Kyoto where I worked
part-time at a number of universities, then to
Sanda where I worked at Kwansei Gakuin
University’s School of Science and Technology,
and finally to Nishinomiya. I have had a very
positive teaching experience in Japan, and I
have enjoyed working with students here.
Especially where I currently work, many of mystudents are interested in foreign languages
and learning about other countries. As well,
the students at my school work hard and are apleasure to work with.
From a learner development
perspective, I am interested especially inlearners’ metacognitive strategies – how they
think about what they are doing. There has
been a good deal of research on how language
learners use metacognition when listening, andL2 listening is one of my main researchinterests. I especially am interested in theinteraction between top-down and bottom-up
processing during listening and how listeners
try to use these processes to understand whenlistening. I am also interested in sociocultural
theory and its alternative focus on thelanguage learning process. I received mymaster’s degree from Penn State University
where sociocultural theory is emphasized, yet
when I came to Japan, it seemed very fringe. I10

Learning Learning『学習の学習』 23 (1): Members’ Voices

think at least having an understanding ofsociocultural theory (SCT) and the SCT
perspective on language development is worth
many teachers’ time. Last year, I reviewed thebook Sociocultural Theory and the Pedagogical
Imperative in L2 Education: Vygotskian Praxis
and the Research/Practice Divide. It is notalways an easy read, but for those curious
about sociocultural theory, the book details
SCT’s perspective on learning and tells how it
is being applied for teaching and research.
Overall, though I like statistics very much and I
think large-scale quantitative studies have an
important place in SLA research, I haverecently become in interested in individual
approaches learners take to acquiring English
and in how situational factors can influencelearners’ progress and perception of what theyare doing. I have not done much research inthis area, but it interests me.
My own language learning has taught methat things are “learned” and forgotten, andsome things are more difficult to acquire thanothers. Some reasons for this certain might becognitive, but without question there areaffective and sociocultural factors at work as
well. Whether through diligent research or lessformal interactions with learners, I hope to besensitive to the non-linear paths some of us
take when learning new languages. As amember of this SIG, I look forward to learningfrom others interested in learnerdevelopment.
Reference
Carney, N. (2015). J. P. Lantolf and M. E.
Poehner: Sociocultural Theory and thePedagogical Imperative in L2 Education:
Vygotskian Praxis and the Research/Practice
Divide [Review of the book Socioculturaltheory and the pedagogical imperative in l2
education: Vygotskian praxis and theresearch/practice divide by J. P. Lantolf &M. E. Poehner]. Applied Linguistics 36,
143-6. doi: 10.1093/applin/amu073

The Learner Development
Journal: Call for Editors forIssue 2
With the first issue of The Learner
Development Journal on Visualizing
Learner Development well underway
under the skillful editorship of Darren
Elliott and Hugh Nicoll and heading for
publication in 2017, we would like toinvite proposals for the second issue ofthe journal due for publication in 2018.
If you are interested in editing an issue(with one or more others) and can bring
together a group of contributors with ashared interest in exploring any theme
relating to learner development, wewould love to hear from you by June
15th.
For further details about the aim, scopeand policy of the Learner Development
Journal, please see http://ld-sig.org/ldjournal-concept/
If you have any questions or would liketo check any details with us, please do
feel free to contact us.
Alison Stewart(stewart1411@gmail.com)
Tim Ashwell(tashwell@komazawa-u.ac.jp)
Andy Barfield(barfield.andy@gmail.com)
Learner Development Journal Steering
Team

Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <ld-sig.org/>

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