Acknowledgements & Foreword
Miki Kohyama <miki.koyama@jcom.home.ne.jp>& Eric Skier <skier@ps.toyaku.ac.jp>
About Miki

The moments I feel happy...
Reading a good book at Starbucks late morning. Buying fresh fruit andvegetables in the local market. Thai massage at Wat Pho. Receiving lettersfrom friends overseas. Practicing yoga. Every day when I learn that I am notliving alone, that thanks to my family, friends, and teachers I can pursue mydreams.

About Eric

Having lived and taught in Tokyo for the past 15 years, I am currently anAssistant Professor of English at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and LifeScience. My duties are centered on EAP and ESP, but my heart will always bein finding new ways to foster autonomy.
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Foreword

This is the second in a series of anthologies on English language education and autonomy
in contexts in Japan. First, we will briefly introduce the purpose of this book referring to its
origins and the collaborative process employed. Also the relevance of this publication and its
contribution to the field of TESOL will be described in light of the literature on autonomy.
Finally, we will explain the structure of the anthology to assist you in both using, and more
importantly, enjoying its contents.
Following the success of Autonomy You Ask (AYA), published in 2003 by the Learner
Development Special Interest Group (LD SIG) of Japan Association for Language Teaching,
the SIG decided a second anthology, More Autonomy You Ask (MAYA), would be a great idea.
In response to a call for papers in January 2005,13 proposals were submitted by 16 authors(three chapters are co-authored). In June 2005, just as was done with AYA, a writers retreat
was held at Momoyama University in western Japan. Poster presentations and subsequent
question and answer sessions helped writers to focus their research and also promoted deepreflection. In addition, the retreat more importantly functioned as a place for MAYA writers
to get acquainted with one another, as the collaborative process can sometimes be daunting.
After the retreat, an online mailing list was established to promote collaboration and dialog
among the co-editors and writers. Also first collaborative partners were assigned, so that eachwriter had a person to correspond with by e-mail to exchange ideas. There were also second
collaborative partners, who were selected based on geographical proximity. Seeing the bigger
picture, we as co-editors felt that it did matter if writers could meet face-to-face. I think we canMore

Autonomy YouAski•v

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Acknowledgements &Foreword

all agree that e-mail has its limitations. As such, we encouraged writers to work together andcorrespond by e-mail or telephone as much as they were willing to, and as you will see in theacknowledgments of a number of the chapters, this even extended to co-workers, spouses, andothers not necessarily "official" members of the project. Thanks everyone!
As the concepts of collaboration and dialog are vital for MAYA, these approaches to writing
were emphasized throughout the writing process, as well as with the critical reader responders.
As you will see, each MAYA chapter, except the foreword and guest chapters, is followed by
two reader responses, one by a MAYA author, the other by an outside reader. We selected
outside readers well known in the field of autonomy, while trying to cover as much culturaland gender diversity as possible. "Autonomy is interpreted differently by different cultures"(Sinclair, 2000, p.12), so we believed that it was essential for teachers and researchers to discuss
implementation of autonomy in different cultural and teaching contexts (Schmenk,2005;Sinclair, 2000). As Schmenk wrote:

Intercultural dialogue on its potential meanings and implications in the field of TESOL...
not only requires reconsidering cultural whereabouts but also reframing autonomy withrespectto specific locallanguage learning environments. Such dialogues may trigger aprocess of glocalizing autonomy, which will enable people to negotiate what an education
for autonomy could mean under specific local conditions and in particular personal,institutional, social, and cultural environments (2005, p.l 16 italics added by the authors).

Referring to the expansion of the capitalist economy and development of computer
technology, Schmenk pointed out that the term, globalization,entails both homogenizationand heteronization. What was termed "glocalization" in the above quote was defined by her as"an increasingly heterogeneousblend of global and localpractices" (Schmenk, 2005, p.l 11).We
hope that MAYA will serve as an example of implementing learner and teacher autonomy, andbecome a basis for more discussion and exchange of opinions among researchers and teachers.
This anthology is divided into three parts, with chapters grouped by similar topics andthemes. As we mentioned above, each chapter is followed by two reader responses to encourage
reflection and discussion. All appendices are available from the MAYA website, which are only
accessiblewith the passwords provided. MAYA also includes chapters by three guest writers. Dr.
Stephen Krashen presents his first work on learner autonomy based on his theory of second
language acquisition. Ms. ChitoseAsaoka provides an overview of MAYA in the middle of thebook. Finally, Dr. Terry Lamb's analysis of how the MAYA process changed teacher autonomyof MAYA writers is placed as the epilogue.
This volume was realized following the great example that was provided by Andy Barfieldand Mike Nix in the AYA project and the support of the LD SIG.Thank you! Our heartfelt
gratitude also goes out to Malcolm Swanson who did the wonderful layout for the SIG again.
We would like to thank our three guest writers, Dr. Stephen D. Krashen, Dr. Terry Lamb, andMs. Chitose Asaoka for their generosity and insightful advice. We would also like to extend
our appreciation to all of the outside critical readers who submitted their responses and added
greatly to the dialogic nature of the project. Our thanks also go out to the MAYA writers fortheir hard work to make it a better and interesting publication. Last, but not least, we would
like to thank our families and friends for their love and patience while we were spending
hours and hours in front of computers during the editing process. As MAYA has been both of
our first experiences to organizeand edit such a project, we haveboth learned and have beentransformed by this experience. I think it is safeto saywe won't be the same after this - in agood sense, of course! We believe that our autonomyas well as that of the other writers hasvery much been developed as a result of engagingin the MAYA project.
—LDSIG

2006

Anthology —•Acknowledgements&Foreword

References

Schmenk, B. (2005). Globalizing learner autonomy. TESOL Quarterly, 39(1), 107-118.
Sinclair, B. (2000). Learner autonomy: The next phase? In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath & T Lamb(Eds.), Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions (pp. 4-14). Harlow, Essex:
Pearson Education.

Introducing the Reader Responders
We would like start More Autonomy You Ask! by introducing the many different individuals
who all contributed to making this Anthology both Japan-focused and internationallygrounded.
Naoko Aoki

Asked what her identitiesare, NaokoAoki would saythat she is an advocate of autonomy of allsorts,
Asian, Japanese-English bilingual,a second language teacher educator,a qualitativeresearcher, atheorist who has a great respect for activists, a feminist, a peace lover, a cook and an ex-party girl.

Kevin Bodwell

I'm originally from California, but I spent 18 years in Japan, mainly teaching at universities.
In 2003,1 started teaching at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. In my view, allstudents are autonomous in that, whatever the teaching method and curriculum, it is students
who ultimately do the cognitive processing required for learning. Understanding and control
over learning processes better enables them to engage the classroom and ultimately the world.
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At nearly 50, I'm still interested in learners and young people, in how learners and teachers
see themselves and each other, and in how that affects learning and teaching. I teach at Konan
Women's University in Kobe, and I'm working on my PhD at the University of Birmingham,exploring learner and teacher perceptions.
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MoreAutonomy YouAsk!

—vim•

ReaderRespondersm. ^mtmM<Dmmiz~D^x®mvT^£toSara Cotterall

At the age of four I began learning French by listening to my mother's friend Danielle speak toher children. Since then, I have learned a number of languages more or less successfully, andhave become convinced of the importance of learners managing their own language learning.
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Sada DaoudI was an "autocratic" teacher (1977-1994). I had the tendency to spoonfeed students, thoughI knew that was not in their interest. When I did my MA and PhD at Warwick University inthe UK (1994-1999) and came to be aware of "learner autonomy," I started to change, but mybelief in the power of autonomy is strongly shaken whenever I experience injustice, occupation,and exploitation. It was someone's unlimited "autonomy" that has destroyed my "home" inLebanon recently.
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Michael Guest

Mike Guest, originally from Vancouver, Canada, is ostensibly an Associate Professor of Englishat Miyazaki University's Medical College. But he is also the only EFLteacher in Japan whomoonlights as a scout for an NHL (National Hockey League) team. He also writes a deliberately
provocative column about teaching EFL in Japan (entitled "Indirectly Speaking") monthly in
the Daily Yomiuri newspaper. He lives in the deep countryside of Southern Miyazaki where hecan escape the rumors and innuendo.
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t , mt'gmm3<n[hmz&/vx^£toDaragh Hayes

Daragh Hayes has been involved with TESOLand/or literacy related work in Canada, Australia
and Japan. His interests include learner autonomy, motivation and cooperative learning. Hewould like to point out that his critical reader response was written on very short notice at analtitude of approximately 34,000 feet somewhere between New Zealand and Japan. Currently
he works as curriculum coordinator for several Tokyo area university courses.

—LDSIG

2006

Anthology —ix

ReaderResponders•*»nfcct**eAi/fcvnrf. aft, ^ ^ © ^ © ^ © ^ u ^ ^ a o - t v * - *JUANITA HEICHAM

Juanita Heigham is director of the Communicative English Program at Sugiyama Jogakuen
University. For nearly 10 years she has been developing her own autonomy as a learner and asa teacher in Asia. Her research interests include learner independence, curriculum design andprofessional development.
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HlROMI ISHIKAWA

Wow! I'm shocked to realize that I've been teaching for more than 20 years now. The moreyears I spend to struggle to have my junior high school students become independent learners,the darker the tunnel seems to be to find the way out. Am I the only one that thinks this way?

June Miliander

I am a teacher educator of modern languages at Karlstad University, Sweden. I have about 40
years of experience of teaching modern languages to students aged 13-18 and approximately
20 years of experience in learner autonomy, which I have practiced in my own classes at upper
secondary school and in initial teacher education at university.
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Mike Nix

I teach English in the Law Faculty at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan. My teaching andresearch focuses on how to help students use English to engage critically, collaboratively, andautonomously, with the academic issues that interest them.
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Reader

Responders

Barbara Sinclair

Barbara Sinclair is Associate Professor in Education (TESOL) in the School of Education,

University of Nottingham, UK, where she directs the MA in English Language Teaching andsupervises research students. She has researched and published in the field of learner autonomy forover 20 years.

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Turid Trebbi

Turid Trebbi is Associate Professor of French language didactics, Romance Institute, Universityof Bergen,Norway. Her research interests include innovative approaches in language teacher
education for developing learner autonomy at university and classroom levels.She is a former
teacher of French at upper secondary level focusing deconstruction and reconstruction ofteaching towards learner autonomy.
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Peter Voller

I have been teaching at Hong Kong University for 15 years, and was in Japan for 10 years
before that. My best book is still New Chatterbox. I am also known by a few for writing aboutautonomy and language advising. It would be great to teach in Japan again before retirement.
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LD

SIG

2006

Anthology —