Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACKLOOKING BACK | 報告
PanSIG Forum Title - Challenging
Conventions: Opening up New
Spaces in Learner Development

A multi-dimensional, prosocial, creative
experience
Ellen Head - Participant

Tim Cleminson - Facilitator
This forum examined how new learning spaces canhelp learners grow beyond conventional education
environments. There was a range of presentations
that explored holistic and ecological perspectives
on learners’ growth, taking into account multiple
aspects of their experiences, their interactions
with others, and different affordances in diverse
learning environments and spaces.
I would like to thank all the contributors
and participants for their cooperation,
thoughtfulness, and kindness. It was a lovely
atmosphere at the event. A big thank you to thecontributors for presenting so many different
perspectives and insights on language learning. It
was fascinating to hear how practitioners andlearners were thinking outside the box andopening up new spaces for learner development.
Naomi Fujishima - Facilitator
As I was helping Tim with the running of the LD SIG
Forum, it was difficult for me to listen to all of theposter presentations, which was unfortunate forme. I am very grateful, though, for everyone's
flexibility when it came to setting up, timing, etc.
It was really easy to work with all of thepresenters and with Tim. I was impressed with theenthusiasm of the presenters and their dedication
to teaching and learning. I hadn't participated in a
PanSIG conference since 2017 (in Akita), so it wasa breath of fresh air to network, and meet old andnew friends! Thank you for the opportunity.
One thing for the future is that maybe a hybrid
forum is not the best way to have poster
presentations. It was definitely divided between
the F2F presentations and the online ones. If thenext PanSIG is in person, then the forum should be
the same format, in my opinion.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 http://ld-sig.org

Organizing a a hybrid forum and participating in a
hybrid forum as a listener are very, very different.
Sitting quietly in my friend's house in Miyazaki, it
was quite relaxing to let the various presentations
unspool before me and whisk me from one to theother. One of the things that is always good about
forums is the juxtaposition of presentations withthe focus on individuals, like Andy Barfield's studyof a learner as she matured her understanding ofsocial issues in Australia, and the focus on macrolevels, like Isra Wongsanpigoon and Phil Bennet,
who explained the framework for analyzing
Language Learning Beyond the Classroom, drawing
on Benson and Reinders (2011 and 2017). A trend
which was noticeable in the forum was the ideathat language learning is associated with social
responsibility. This was identified in Isra and Phil'stalk, when they quoted from the mission
statement of KUIS that language learning should
be prosocial. Growing social awareness with amoral dimension, was also implied in Andy's studyof a single learner researching indigenous issues,and Michael Kuziwu's exciting account of his
developing identity as a translator and interpreterof Ukrainian. The use of handwritten media(photographed and presented in ppt) was
something I liked in Michael's and Yuri Imamura's
presentations. Incorporating shots of writing andwhiteboards breaks down the boundary between
informal and formal practice, since our jottings
can become the data for research. Kudos to Tim
and the excellent Pan SIG room hosts for steering
us through the forum and enabling remoteparticipation.

29

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK

Online Presentations 11:50 to 12:20
Learner development
beyond the classroom:
framing the project
Phillip A. Bennett andIsra Wongsarnpigoon,
Kanda University ofInternational Studies

Isra - Encountering new insights
This is long overdue, but many thanks fororganizing the online forum. I enjoyed seeingsome familiar faces and hearing about the work
they have been doing. I was also very interested
in accounts from people I was not as familiar
with, such as Michael's presentation. I foundsome parallels with some of my own experiences
which I hadn't been expecting to reflect on in
the forum, and I look forward to learning more
about his work exploring multilingual identity
and social issues. The talks I was able to attend
and some of the useful discussions will help me
at work and also as we move closer to the final
stages of LD Journal 6.
I would have liked to have more of a true
hybrid experience interacting and being able tosee what was going on in the face-to-faceforum, but I suppose there were someconstraints overall based on how JALT organized
the event—these issues applied to the entire
online experience of the weekend. I hope
future events will keep some hybrid aspect,even though we are moving forward into a new"With COVID" phase of life in the pandemic. I
know it's labor-intensive, but as both apresenter and an attendee, I still appreciate theoption to participate from the safe, convenientenvironment of my own home or office.

Negotiating new learningand knowledge spaces in
preparing to study
abroadAndy Barfield, Chuo
University
Having given a poster presentation on the
Saturday afternoon at the conference, thenreturned the same day to Tokyo to take part in
the LD forum online on the Sunday, I was struckby the difference between the highly interactive
discussions that took place face to face the day
before, and the quietly distancing effects oftaking part in the forum via Zoom on the
Sunday. Presenting online also stood in suchgreat contrast to the weekly dialogic sessions
that I had with a second-year politics student,
Arisa (pseudonym), through the spring semester
as she extended her understanding of Indigenous
peoples in Australia in preparation for studying
abroad in 2023. In the LD forum I recounted how
Arisa had engaged with online images,
exhibitions, and texts to do with the Stolen
Generations, listened to video testimonies ofindividual survivors like Rita Wenberg, and comegradually to move beyond official discourses likethe Rudd apology and focus on healing anddecolonisation from the side of Indigenous
peoples themselves.
Along the way, Arisa discovered the art of
Sandra Hill, a member of the Stolen
Generations, and later the rap songs of Dobby
Rapper. Sandra Hill’s art in paintings like “The
Cakemaker” and Dobby Rapper’s songs like “MyMind” let Arisa unlearn her previous
assumptions about “(language) revitalisation”
and brought her to contemplate what healing
might involve, and why it matters so much.
“Initially, I feel Indigenous people strongly feelthat their claims are not enough heard sinceNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG http://ld-sig.org

30

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK
the invasion,“ Arisa reflected.”Even though
they are victims of the whole assimilation, thegovernment has been conducting therevitalization/ reconciliation process from its
own perspective as it ignoring the victim’s
voices. In addition, I just started to question
whether the government or non-indigenous
people should take part in the whole process ornot… .” I could not imagine at the start of ourweekly meetings that Arisa’s (un)learning
outside the classroom would lead to such
perspectives. In this dialogic process I have also
been (un)learning, becoming once again awareof the long struggle that I face in fully
understanding the impacts of colonialism on
individuals, local communities, minorities andIndigenous peoples, and societies, as well ascolonial and decolonial discourses in shaping
what I/we (re-)imagine is and isn’t possible forourselves and our learners in creating a morejust world.

Multilingual journeys
through volunteering: A
dialogic inquiry ofidentity throughUkrainian, Japanese, andEnglishMichael Kuziw,
Jin-Ai University
I have all these thoughts that I want to express,
definitely not enough vocabulary to express it,
but the LD community of practice exists tounderstand how people are maneuvering throughtheir lives as learners.
My big takeaway was from Ellen Head, whogave me the inspiration to add to mypresentation the dynamic between relating
oneself and one's identity (or knowing others'
identities) with the injustices of the world. I'm
more inspired to share my own personal hidden
dimensions for simply helping to spread theword and bring attention to meaningful andtopical issues.

Online Presentations 12:20 to 12:50
Collaborative online English
conversation events in themultilingual turnPresentations Round One 11:50 to
12:20

Yuri Imamura,Tokyo Kasei University

Learning beyond theclassroom in a
Malagasy EFL context two student teachers'
experiences

I enjoyed talking with amazing presenters andhaving my presentation in a safe environment.
Tim and PanSIG organisers, Thank you for yourmassive support on zoom!

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 http://ld-sig.org

Dominique Vola
Ambinintsoa R.,
Kanda University ofInternational Studies
Haingo Fanaperana
Rajaonaritiana,
Ecole Normale
Superieure, University

31

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACKof Antananarivo,
Madagascar
Volatiana Olivia
Rasoanindrina,
Ecole Normale
Superieure, Universityof Antananarivo,
Madagascar

Vola: It is always a pleasure and a privilege forme to talk about anything related to educationin Madagascar, my country. I feel that letting
people know more about the situation in
Madagascar and continuously collaborating withpeople in the field of education in Madagascar
are the best ways for me to contribute to thedevelopment of Madagascar. That presentation
was more special than any other presentations I
have made, as I was with two of my former
students. It is quite rare for Malagasy
undergraduate students to participate in a
conference outside Madagascar. So, I reallyappreciate the opportunity that LD SIG gavethem. Fanaperana and Olivia shared theirlearning beyond the classroom experiences in avery eloquent way, according to the feedback
from the attendees. Though they could not be
there live, the attendees seemed to reallyappreciate what they presented. That was agreat experience, and I am very proud of mytwo students!

me to work with my teacher on an interestingand helpful topic and I do hope the video would
help to improve students'learning.
Fanaperana: I am so much grateful towards myteacher, Ms. Vola, for offering me such a great
advantage by sharing my experience in learning
English beyond the classroom and by being
among the presenters in a conference in Japan.
Recording the video was a bit challenging for me
because at the same time I was alreadyimagining it being watched by the attendees of
the conference, experts in the field of
education. Even though it was a very firstexperience for me, I feel lucky in participatingin the conference as it opens up new advantages
in my future goals.

Volatiana Olivia: Participating in a conference
for the first time is a wonderful but also very
challenging experience for me, especiallyknowing that experts are watching yourvideo. However, it is a big opportunity to
express myself including all my struggles during
my learning process because not everyone isinterested in what you did. It is also a honor for

Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG http://ld-sig.org

32

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACKLD SIG JALTCALL Forum Reflections
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺:
𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿
𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
語学教室における創造的な遊びの探求―
学習者育成のための革新的なアプローチ
Watch the Forum: https://youtu.be/D-Jy8tS7pbI
Tim’s Perspective - Preparation and Process
The LD SIG JALTCALL Forum for 2022 explored how
teachers and students were using creative play inthe language classroom to support learnerdevelopment. Presenters introduced a wide rangeof analog and digital techniques that helped
students interact and be creative with their
linguistic and meta-linguistic skills.
Getting Ready
Presenters at the JALTCALL Forum introduced how
they used creative practice to support learnerdevelopment in the language classroom. There
were four presenters, Cassie Guevara, Ellen Head,
Lee Arnold and me. Presenters explained how theyused video making, drama and visual arts toencourage students to interact and be creativewith English. I introduced the 4 P’s of creativity(People, Place, Process and Product) to facilitate
discussion about the activities the presentersintroduced (Densky, 2016; Rhodes, 1961).
One of the best parts of this process was
getting together before the forum. We met twice
on Zoom to share our progress and our concerns.
One problem was having too much to say! Talking
about creativity in a 10-minute slot is toughbecause there is so much to say. You want to talkabout what you did, how you did it, what thestudents made, how they reacted, and theaffective nature of the work! The list goes on and
on! So, it was great to get feedback and identify
the most compelling aspects of our work topresent.
Sometimes, the meek light of nighttime
Zoom meetings can be really intimate. The right

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

group of people can create a really reflective
space and help me share my inner thoughts. By"Zoom light", we could engage deeply with eachother’s ideas and make insightful comments that
helped us reappraise the value of the work.
Watching Cassie, Ellen, and Lee talk about
their work was a life-affirming experience for me;
it was joyful. Their eyes lit up and their speech
became animated. There was a strong sense of
momentum as they got into the groove and theideas flowed. Listening to them, the thing thatstruck me more than anything was that creative
projects enabled a sense of genuine dialogue
between the students, teachers, and texts. People
opened up through the experience of creation.
People shared parts of themselves and connected,
and this enriched the learning environment. And,of course, it wasn’t all serious and heart-felt soulsearching. It could be, but it didn't have to be. It
was full of personal meaning. But, it was mostoften light-hearted, full of the fun, laughter, andgiddiness of young people playing, pushing theboundaries of learning by making things together.
References
Densky, K. (2016). Conceptualizing creativity andculture in language teaching. In R. Jones & J.
Richards (Eds.), Creativity in language teaching:
Perspectives from research and practice (pp. 4962). Routledge.
Rhodes, M. (1961). An analysis of creativity. The
Phi Delta Kappan, 42, 305-310.

Creative Tasks and Humour in a
Textbook-Based Class
Ellen Head
Tim introduced the “Four P’s” framework forlooking at creativity: person, place, process andproduct. “Place” was a significant element for myclass. All the students were supposed to be doing
study abroad, but were doing it online from Japandue to covid. They were studying with teachers inAustralia, Canada or America in the morning, andtaking a grammar/communication class with me in33

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK
the afternoon twice a week. Since the class had awide range of abilities and the textbook was muchtoo easy for about one-third of them, I wanted tofind some creative tasks in order to let students
express themselves and connect without
depending on their language proficiency. In myconception of study abroad, it offers affordancesfor experiencing mastery even by using very simple
language, because in the study abroad country,
the simplest language can actually get things
done, which gives a wonderful sense of confidence
to the novice language user. How to replicate thiswithout going abroad? Activities which would get
students using English outside the classroom
appealed to me. The coursebook, “Four Corners
English” features unit videos which could be used
as models for students to make their own videos.
In particular, in unit 3, a student interviewer goesout to a park in an American city and interviews
passers by about their clothes and fashion
preferences. Building on this script, I told students
to make their own “walkie talkie video”, in which
they could go anywhere on campus, and stage aninterview about any topic of interest. The time forpreparation was limited to one homework, about
20 minutes group planning time in one lesson, and40 minutes for practice and video creation in thefollowing lesson. The results showed imaginationand creativity in various ways. Some used thespace and imagery in a way that made them look
like Tik Tok stars. One person used a speeded up
soundtrack (because her interview was too long).
The gestures and body language which I hadsuggested, such as holding the (fake) microphone
towards the interlocutor, gave a focus which madestudents excited. Feedback from the students'
learning journals showed that these activities werean opportunity for students to exercise agency inmultiple ways. “The video was good work”, wrote
one. “I could get happiness in a short time. I could
get confidence,” wrote another. The finishedproducts were very simple since the class was not
focused on tech. However, the use of basic techsuch as flipgrid, google slides and moodle, helped
to allow the second project to be completed when
the class suddenly returned to ERT mode. The

second project was “My Seven Wonders of theWorld”, a solo talk introducing seven interesting
places. There was no restriction about whether
they had been to the place or they wanted to go
there. I made my own demonstration video, using
the background feature on flipgrid to show placesin the UK. However I did not teach the tech skills
so some students showed a photo of the place on
their computer screen, while recording the video
on flipgrid. In spite of the lack of tech finesse, theactivity allowed both me and my students to
expand our mental horizons. For the presentation,
I asked students by email and again face-to-face,whether they were willing to share their journals
and screenshots. For the presentation I used a
blurring feature on the pptx which hides theidentity but still reveals the energy and creativityof the students’ performance.
Jones (2020) points out that the use of
space, is a particularly important part oftranslanguaging communication for L2 speakers ofEnglish, and this includes the two-dimensional
portrayal in digital space. It can be seen from theway the students arranged the frames of thevideo, that they were using the spaces in a
conscious and creative way.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18l-MCZEEVRs_8wFHEPEV8i7BB5BKION/view?usp=sharing
So, did working on the forum change myperspective on this episode in my teaching?
Absolutely! I noticed how deeply invested each of
the members were, and I think this has an impact
on our students. In Lee’s case, he is sharing his
own art and humor, which is very personal.
Cassie’s stories also captured my imagination andchallenged me to think about the moral
dimensions of stories. When teachers take a risk toshare things that we like, the focus of the class
shifts from the mechanics of language andcommunication, to making and sharing meaning.
Our presentations were unusual at JALT CALL
because we were not focused on using tech but on
sharing meanings through tech. However it wasrefreshing to be in the CALL environment and pickup some influences through other people’s
presentations too. Among other things, I got very

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

34

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK
excited about the use of the online meeting
software “Gather Town” in the CALL poster
presentation session (not the LD session). But
that’s another story.
Cassie’s Reflections
I am not usually able to travel far for conferences
because of various constraints, so I’m happy andhonored to have had the opportunity to present a
fun activity that I had been doing in my classes
since long before the pandemic. Thank you to
JALTCALL for organizing this forum and holding it
online, and extra thanks to Tim, Ellen, and Lee forhaving me present alongside them!
Although I had started to do more online
presentations since 2020, this was the first time I
was able to share my slides and work through themwith other presenters before the actual
presentation. I’m grateful that Tim organizedthese practice sessions, which motivated me byforcing me to get something prepared before
rehearsal time, so I didn’t completely wing thepresentation on adrenaline as usual.
I was awed and inspired by Tim and Ellen’sknowledge on the theoretical side of creativity, as
I am not so theoretical and more of a hands-on doer. I loved watching Ellen and Lee’s presentations
and seeing the sometimes hilarious creative workof their students, and Lee’s own professionallooking artwork. I could tell that I would love to bein any of their classes if I was a student.
As for my own presentation: I chose this
topic because my students have always enjoyedthis role-playing activity throughout the years,
whether it was face-to-face or online. However, I
wondered how interesting this would be to highly
experienced teachers and researchers. I felt happy
when the others, whom I highly respect andadmire, assured me that I had something worth
saying, and told me how much they enjoyed mypresentation. It was definitely a boost to my
confidence. They also helped me notice otherconcepts and effects on students that I hadn’t
even realized myself.
I hope that JALT continues to grant teachers
who are relatively new at presenting in

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

conferences more opportunities to share what they
enjoy. Thank you so much for the wonderfulexperience!
Lee Arnold
In Tim’s four-point person, place, process andproduct framework, it was initially hard to
pinpoint where my exploration using a comic strip
with learner-generated dialog fit - but it seemed
clear after some thought that person and process
fit best, as it called upon learners to personalize
the task while following the sequence of panels
within the strips as a process, with process shaping
the task to learner personalization. The fact that
this was engaged with online, however, also may
make it a question of place, as the time and spacethat online delivery afforded may have given somelearners more freedom to channel the task in sucha way as to lower affective filters, see it less as an
accuracy task of language and “correctness” andmore as a creative play they could make theirown.
The comic strip at the heart of this task was
my own. The Amazing Zoot & Algy was a private,purely individualized activity that I began a little
over 2 ½ years ago. I have a fine arts backgroundand in what I joke as a minor epiphany, I foundthat I missed this kind of creativity for myself and over time, I have developed this strip into a
continuing series with some story arcs and somestand-alone gags, which I self-publish on
Facebook, Instagram, Tribal, and Ko-fi, a Britishbased self-publisher’s monetization website
similar to Patreon in the U.S. (though I have yet tosee any monetization come!). A story arc involving
a virtual world of fine art the main characters
engage in, however, has just been picked up andpublished in The Quarter Press, a quarterly
digitally-based literally and arts publication basedin the U.S.
Originally I intended to keep the strip, andmy work in TEFL, separate. But as a different way

35

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK
to engage my learners as a semester-ending
activity after final assignments were completed, Idecided to bring a small selection of strips into
two listening and speaking classes with first-year
STEM undergraduates in the science faculty of a
private university in Tokyo at the end of AY 2021. I
felt that introducing them to an activity thatwould be completely different in content fromwhat they had engaged with would be a great way
to wrap the term up, and show them a side ofmyself they would not otherwise have seen or
guessed. Below is a selection of two of the strips I
used:

I selected eight strips previously selfpublished that I removed the dialog from, withlearners free to imagine and then write. I gave norules for accuracy in grammar and made theaccent on fluency to their level of proficiency,
which, for the bulk of both classes, was on theupper elementary-to low intermediate level, orroughly A2 to B1 levels in CEFR, with a few of theNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

36

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 29(2): LOOKING BACK
learners across both classes broaching B2 level.
The strips were uploaded to the university’s LMS
and downloaded by the learners.
Overall engagement I felt to be successful andsurprising to learners, with some intriguing
creativity at play with what the process yieldedand some telling comments in learner feedback.
While Ellen and Cassie’s projects differed interms of content, what linked all of ourpresentations together was in how learners were
freed from the constraints of “correctness.” They
could bring themselves as persons into theprocess, and Ellens’ note from Jones’ (2020)
observation about digital space interests me as her
project was about bringing person and place
together, in that her learners personalized thedigital frame as a place for creativity, while
Cassie’s use of Aesop’s fables as a platform for her
learners to adapt and interpret the lessons of thefables was a way of merging person and process
together.
The takeaway from each of our projects,
however, was the way in which learners could see
how they could locate themselves within an L2
English context similar to how they could do so intheir L1.

Call for for Contribution for Research &reviews / 研究 & レビュー
send to lleditorialteam@gmail.com by
February 29th, 2023

#1: summaries and accounts of new graduate
research (1,200 – 2,500 words) ：大学院での研究内容の要約やその振り返り (約2,400 字-5,000 字）#2: proposals for a joint project/joint research(about 500 to 1,000 words)：
協働プロジェクト・リサーチの提案 (約 2,000 字-4,000 字)#3: reports (of a conference presentation,
research project, particular pedagogic practice,and so on, to do with learner development)(about 500 to 1,000 words)：
レポート（学習者の成長に関する学会発表、研究
プロジェクト、教育実践など）(約 2,000-4,000
字)#4: reports of research in progress (about 500 to
1,000 words)： 研究中間報告(約 2,000 字-4,000
字)#5: book, website, article reviews (about 750 to
1,500 words)：書籍、ウェブサイト、論文の批評(約 3,000 字-6,000 字)

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

37