Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices

LD SIG Members' Voices
LD SIG メンバーの声
LD SIG Members' Voices offers spaces for SIG members to introduce themselves to other members of
the SIG in a variety of accessible and personalised text formats and lengths:• a short personal profile of yourself as a learner and teacher (100-200 words or so)• a short critical reflection on your history as a (language) learner at (a) particular stage(s) in yourlife (around 200-500 words)• a story of your ongoing interest in, and engagement with, particular learner development (and/or learner autonomy) issues (around 500-800 words)• a short profile of your learner development research interests and how you hope to develop yourresearch (around 500-800 words)• a short profile of your working context and the focus on learner development that a particularinstitution where you work takes and/or is trying to develop (about 800-1200 words)• some other piece of writing that you would like to contribute and that is related to learnerdevelopment.
Many thanks to the following SIG members—all new members of the Learner Development SIG
from July 2013 to February 2014—for sharing their voices with readers of Learning Learning. We
hope other SIG members will also contribute their voice to the next issue of Learning Learning. If
you are interested in doing so, please contact the Members' Voices coordinator, Andy Barfield, at<barfield.andy@gmail.com>.
“ＬＤＳＩＧメンバーの声”は、ＳＩＧ会員の皆様が他会員の皆さんに向けて多様な形式・文体・長さで、ご自身の考えや活動をご紹介していただくためのスペースです。例えば、以下のような様々な声を歓迎しています：• ご自身の学習者および教育者としてのプロフィールを短く紹介したもの。（約100-200語）• ご自身の（語学）学習者としての経験で、特定の場における逸話を批判的に考察したもの。（約200-500語）• ご自身が現在取り組まれている、もしくは関心を寄せていることで特に学習者ディベロプメント（または学習者の自律）に関する問題についてのもの。（約500-800語）• 学習者ディベロプメントに関するご自身の研究についての短い概要と、今後どのようにその研究を展開していきたいと考えているか紹介するもの。（約500-800語）• ご自身の勤務環境の短い概要と、勤務される特定機関で学習者ディベロプメントに関し注目している、または取り組
もうとしていることについて。（約800-1200語）• その他、学習者ディベロプメントに関する内容のもの。
２０１３年度下半期に学習者ディベロプメント研究部会に新たに参加され、今号で「学習の学習」の読者の皆様と様々な声を共有いただくSIG会員の皆様に、感謝申し上げます。

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices

Learning and Growing in the Youngchange in some ways, and easily bored andLearner Classroom

unpredictable in other ways at the same time. An
activity they once loved will randomly fall apartanother time and become unbearable without
explanation! As a teacher of young learners, I
Kathleen Cahill
Email:<cahillks@yahoo.com>

therefore believe it is important to be flexible,
spontaneous, creative, and willing to compromisewith learners about what activities they enjoy.
!
In some ways I feel that teaching is similar
to creating in the fact that both are very process
oriented. In creating, I enjoy discovering new

My name is Kathleen Cahill and I teach young
learners in Eikaiwa lessons in Gifu City, Gifu. I wasan artist in the States before I came to teach English
for a year, five years ago. Now I am studying to get
my MA in TEFL/TESL from Birmingham
University.
!
While I have been teaching for five years, I
must admit that I taught my ‘first year’ for three
years, and it wasn't until a little less than two years
ago that I began to feel more inclined to develop
my teaching skills. Shortly thereafter, I joined JALTand my interest in professional and personal
development through teaching and volunteering
grew. It is through the connections I have madefrom being a member of JALT that my eyes havebeen opened to new ways of teaching and viewing
learning, and not simply language learning!
!

As a teacher of young learners, autonomy issomething I struggle with at times. I havediscovered some useful activities that I believe
foster autonomy; however as a relatively newteacher, the concept still remains somewhat
illusive. This is perhaps because I have always
associated autonomy with adult learners, and canrelate to issues of autonomy through my own
experience of learning Japanese. Young learners,
especially Japanese young learners, are especiallytricky because they cannot be expected to behave
in ways you’d expect. They are shy and sensitive totechniques for working a material. I try to work thematerial, usually glass or metal, in a way that
disguises it within itself, making the viewer
question what he or she is seeing. In many ways I
have to do the same thing with my students. I haveto disguise educational material in to a game oractivity for them to accept it, and they are a
brutally honest audience. If they don’t like or want
to do something, they will quickly vocalize theirdiscontent with little regard to how much effort it
took to come up with the idea or make thematerials. So sometimes you fail. But teaching, likecreating, is an organic process with good and badexperiences that one should never take personally.
A good teacher, like any good artist, learns fromboth kinds of experiences and takes back to theclassroom/studio a heightened awareness and new
perspectives of how to teach and create.
!

I feel as though it is my responsibility tocreate an environment in which my students canfeel comfortable and have fun and be challenged. I
don’t want to put a lot of pressure on them toproduce perfect language, but instead try to create
situations where they have to use English in order
for a game or activity to work. Hopefully thosestrategies will be transferred to language use inother ‘real life’ situations. I want them to grow up
and remember English as something that was
enjoyable so that perhaps they will be inspired toNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <ld-sig.org/>

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
continue studying into adulthood and becometeacher, as it is about exploring ways to better

competent users of English.

foster learning among my students. Teacher!
I’m looking forward to growing as a teacher
and learning from my peers. I’m always excited todevelopment in joining a positive community ofpractice, the LD SIG, where I have alreadytalk about activities and talk to other teachers

identified several near-peer role models, mentors,

about how they teach and what they do in theand teachers I want to learn from and share ideas

classroom. Being a member of JALT provides mewith regarding teacher and learner pathways andwith so many opportunities to engage in andinteract with my local educational community.

identities. The longer I teach, the more I see that'learner development is teacher development is learner

Hopefully in the future I will be able to inspiredevelopment', both being fluid, complementary

someone in the way that so many around me haveconcepts rather than independent processes; we areinspired and influenced me to further develop bothall 'co-learners in the classroom space' (thank you, Timpersonally and professionally.

Murphey).
!
Currently, I am transitioning between jobs,

Teacher development is an essential partof learner development

which makes me reflective, looking back andlooking forwards. I am finishing five rich andvaried years at Meisei University’s International
Studies Department, and I will move to Wayo
Women's University in the spring. For the last two

Jenny Morgan
Wayo Women's University
Email:

jennyromain@yahoo.com

years, I worked as a program coordinatorresponsible for the management and support of the
40-plus part-time foreign teachers of compulsory
English (Eigo classes). I spent this February, classes
over, cruisily working with, learning from, andtraining the ‘new guy’ (thanks Martin Mullen); avery satisfying time in handing over systems,

Hello, I'm Jenny Morgan and have recently joined
the Learner Development SIG after hearing fromseveral colleagues about how pro-active, diverse
and relevant the LD SIG is.
!

As a teacher, it goes without saying that a

primary focus of my work day, my lesson
planning, and my bigger-picture vision for ahealthy classroom learning environment would belearner development -- the development of(language) learning skills in my students. And,overlapping those activities is my own teacher
development. Joining LD SIG is as much about
understanding and improving my practices as a

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

concepts and templates to someone who willundoubtedly consolidate and improve the present
systems. Now, I mull over the questions of what I’ll
take through to the next job at a smaller university,where I will be returning to full-time teaching
again, meeting new co-learners in new classroom
spaces...
!
Lately, I've been thinking about andquestioning the often dichotomous positioning ofpart-time and full-time teachers; compulsory Eigo
students/classes and English communication
major students/classes; supposedly motivated anddemotivated learners; so-called native speaker and35

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
non-native speaker teachers (of English); and,without the professional luxuries I have of anlearner development and teacher development.

office, a computer and printer, an academic budget

Part-time and full-time: After firstly teachingfor stationery, conferences, research trips andmembership subscriptions to different professional

English full-time to International Communication

organisations. Above all, many teachers working

major students for three years at Meisei, I was thenthis 'part-time' system teach without the benefit ofoffered an amazing opportunity to work in theactual colleagues, office mates, friendly teacher-

new two-year position at Meisei as a program
coordinator of the compulsory Eigo classes. This

faces down the hall to shout ideas at, to offload
about a dud class, to get support and feedback

was a new position in our university, with no job

from.

description or precedent, a lot of potential!

autonomy regarding textbook selection,privilege and pleasure to work with during thecurriculum and assessment design, and teacher
development, but with constant gate-keeping by

past two years at my university have by and large
been every bit as professional, engaged andseveral local faculty members. After working in a

inspirational to their students as the full-time

non-Japanese bubble in the International Studies

teachers I also work with. On talking with the part-

Centre as a full-time, confident classroom teacher, I

timers, many however do not have any of thewas thrown into the General Education
Department and felt like a rank beginner-learner

teacher development opportunities I've had for avariety of reasons - lack of time, money,

again.

opportunity or self- identification as non-!

I had to learn about the finer machinations

The part-time teachers that I have had theresearchers, etc. After consulting with variousof my university from the part-time teachers'

teacher-mentors (thanks Hana Craig), and with theperspective. I was forced to communicate more
directly and cooperatively with General Affairs

cooperation of the teacher supply companies(hakken gaisha), I instigated classroom observations(kyoumuka) staff who coordinate the Eigo

and peer feedback sessions with the transparent

timetables and administration issues, and withgoals of teacher development and support. This aspect

Japanese English department faculty whoof teacher training and development was

ultimately head the compulsory Eigo program. My
first year was a steep learning curve, with a bit ofconsciously carried out using the same skill-set an
effective teacher uses in the classroom (thank you,treading on toes, and a few intercultural clashes

Paul Nation) e.g., scaffolding (methodology

with the department members, as I started to create

concepts) by providing heaps of models anda positive community of practice amongst the so-

graded language, eliciting rather than telling, and,called part-time English teachers. I say "so-called"because on talking to these teachers I saw what

above all, heaps of positive feedback andencouragement to get the best out of teachers who

hardcore FULL-time teachers they all are...they

were struggling to get their students to participate

rush into Meisei, and to their other four or fivein English learning.

universities throughout the week to teach several!

koma, and later they rush off to teach their eveningclasses, or to start their long commute back toresources folders, and compiled a regular in-house
Professional Development (PD) newsletter to

Saitama and beyond. These teachers do all thisdocument and share best practices and successful

Additionally, I collated lesson-share

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

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
student-centred classroom activities amongst theand to participate very successfully, in theirpart-timers. These initiatives have been welcomed(English) learning."by the Eigo teachers who see these activities as key
to supporting them to help their students better

Native speaker and non-native speaker teachers: I

learn English, to increase their job satisfaction, andhave been lucky to discover and participate

raise their academic status within Meisei. Part-time

regularly in teacher skill-sharing trips to Manila

teachers who previously felt their work was

and Vietnam with Teachers Helping Teachers

undervalued hopefully now feel recognised fortheir contribution to the English program at Meisei;(THT) SIG (see http://www.tht-japan.org/) andBalsamo Outreach for Learning and Teachingfull-time teachers (some new to Japanese(BOLT) NGO - see http://balsamo-outreach.org/

classrooms) also benefited from these rounds ofaboutbolt.html. This has also helped me become

classroom observations, peer feedback and PD

more aware of the connections between learner

newsletters. Several part-time teachers submitted
academic papers to the university’s researchdevelopment and teacher development.
!
Preparing very practical and relevant skill-journal, or gave presentations at our in-house PD

sharing workshops to share with local English

forum late last year (this was a first). Finally, there

teachers in the Philippines and Vietnam has been

is growing mutual respect and professional

enriching and challenging. It has forced me tounderstanding among all of us who are involved in
the compulsory Eigo program.

really unpack what it is I do in my own classrooms.
I have had to think about what can truly be usefulfor teachers in a different context, teaching

Motivated or not: Part-timers report that they feellanguage to large numbers of students, with fewer

empowered and better-equipped when there areresources, and in different socio-educational

consistent and repeated models and statements
about best practices coming from within their own

classroom cultures.
!
The local teachers I talked with during THT

community of practice. In the absence of a set

trips are hungry for teacher development

curriculum at Meisei, we are trying to ‘push’ aopportunities in order to better foster learner

teacher’s basic skill-set that fosters learnerdevelopment. They understand that their students

motivation for English. Many teachers I meet in
Japan complain about DE-motivated Eigo students;- like my students - are more likely to thrive if they
are given lots of opportunities to recycle andthese teachers struggle with summoning their own

review language, to personalize their

enthusiasm for teaching such courses incommunicative practice, to reflect about andcomparison with the positive regard they have forestablish their own learning goals. Together, wetheir supposedly more highly motivated students
in English major courses. Due to space limitations,experience and ‘do’ various activities and languagetasks, and as colleagues we critically reflect on and

all I can say is what I continually repeat to the full

discuss what ideas/approaches would realisticallyand part-time teachers I work with: “When we takework given their teaching-learning constraints.

an asset view of what our learners can do in any

Interacting with these multi-lingual teachers of

our English classes (rather than a deficit view), we
will be pleasantly surprised that all/most learners

English, discussions often turn to English as a
Lingua France (ELF), World Englishes, and thesein any class can be motivated to learn something,local teachers being the best language role models

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
for their students. Again, the message is the same

From learner to educator- start a newfrom me to them to me – develop a basic, best

journey through learner development

practice skill-set, a student-centred teachinglearning space, and bags of enthusiasm.
Concluding thoughts: In the very distant past, I

Kie Yamamoto

was both a sempai and a kohai in dojo far, far away

Temple University Japan

from Japan. I taught self-defence to children andwomen for 10 years in schools, offices and police

Email:kie.yamamoto1109@gmail.com

departments. Then, I learnt and taught about thepower of language to shape minds and bodies. I
became a carpenter’s apprentice learning to build
houses at 32 with bosses and skilful teachers 10
years my junior. I have learnt half a dozen foreign

Hello, everyone! My name is Kie Yamamoto. It’s
been two years since I started my Master’s degree

languages quite poorly, and enjoyed them all. Now,

in TESOL, and I am pleased to be a member ofas an English teacher and a sometimes researcher, I

JALT, as well as the Learner Development SIG. My

am extremely fortunate to have a community(s) ofinterest in English teaching was originally rooted

practice, Japanese and non-Japanese colleagues
who have pushed me to reflect on my teaching andin my experiences as a learner. I was born in asmall town in Shizuoka, went through typicalon my students, to continuously improve, adapt

grammar-translation style English education, andand diversify my classroom skills. Colleagues

somehow, I decided to study in England, which I

above and beside me have invited me to move

believe, is a milestone of my life as an English

beyond classroom teaching and lesson planning, towrite papers, carry out research, and present at

speaker. Although it was only a one-year-studyabroad experience, I managed to reach the level

conferences. These are all things I wouldn't havethat enabled me to work at a charity shop,

had the confidence or skills to do by myself.

surrounded by local Nottinghamians. It is not hard!

to imagine that an English-only environment was

I see clearly that dichotomies are limiting

and usually not the reality; fluid complementary
pairings, or indeed multi-dimensional

certainly one of the most influential factors in myEnglish development, but at the same time, there isconceptualizations, are more useful to me. All

certainly an affective complex consisting ofthese experiences of learning-teaching-working are

motivation, anxiety, self-determination, or otherwhat I take forward to my new job to foster thoseunknown feelings that pushed me toward an

students' development as language and life-longlearners. I very much look forward to meeting LD“ideal L2 self”. Since I started learning about
various language teaching and learning theories in

SIG members, continuing these discussions, andgraduate school, I have encountered the field of

sharing more about the myriad learner-teacher

learner development, including motivation, learner

pathways that we can explore together.

autonomy, and learner beliefs. These studies
sparked memories of my learning experiences andencouraged me to become engaged in learnerdevelopment.

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

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices!

My current job role also enhances myinterest in learner development. I am an academic
advisor in the Undergraduate Program at Temple
University Japan. Academic advising, which may
not be widely used in Japanese universities, isdefined as “a developmental process which assists
students in the clarification of their life/careergoals and in the development of educational plans
for the realization of these goals” (Winston, Enders& Miller, 1983). Every advising session that I havewith students is a discovery of new perspectives on
their goals; by talking with them, I often find areas
that, with encouragement, students may possibly
get motivated to develop but which are normallydismissed by the students themselves. Hence, I
believe the role advisors play have a huge impact
in having students “realize their maximum
educational potential” (Crockett, 1987). In addition
to fostering students’ motivation, academic
advising also triggers students’ active involvement

References
Angelo, T. (1993) “A teacher’s dozen”: Fourteen
general, research-based principles for improving
higher learning in our classrooms. American
Association for Higher Education (AAHE) Bulletin,
45(8), 3-7, 13. Available at http://www.csuchico.edu/~lsederberg/ceeoc/teachers_dozen.pdf
Crockett, S.D. (Ed.) (1987). Advising skills, techniques
and resources: A compilation of materials related to theorganization and delivery of advising services. Iowa
City, Iowa: ACT Corporation.
Reynolds, M.M. (2013). Learning-centered advising.
In J.K. Drake, P. Jordan, & A.M. Miller (Eds.),
Academic advising approaches: Strategies that teachstudents to make the most of college (pp. 33-43). San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Winston Jr., R.B., Enders, S.C., & Miller, T.K. (Eds.)(1982, March). Academic advising as student
development. New Directions for Student Services,17, 3-18.

in their learning. Rather than giving them

My English Learning History and Learner

unilateral instructions, I proactively try to include

Development

open-ended questions (e.g. “What would you liketo do after graduation and what do you need to

Tomoko Imamura

learn in order to accomplish your goal?”) so that

Yamanashi Gakuin University Elementary School

students reflect on their own thoughts on their

Email: sunny.in.yamanashi@gmail.com

future study plans. This active engagementcertainly articulates “meaningful, long-lastingchanges” (Angelo, 1993) in their attitude toward

My interest in learner development firstly andlearning. These developmental aspects of advising

about language learning history as a researchshould also apply to English learning, and I am

method while I was doing an MA TESOL course in
England. I happened to come across Exploringhoping to integrate my advising experiences into

clearly started to take shape when I got to know

learner development in English education in thenear future.

Learning Volume 5 (Murphey, 2006), which explored!

as part of their course. This was intended to give

I look forward to gaining lively ideas fromhis university students’ language learning histories

specialized area will also help you in yourthe students an opportunity to share theirexperiences of learning and to find near peer role

educational context.

models for their further language learning. I foundyou and I hope that the knowledge in myout the importance of learning about learning
processes as part of language development, and I

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
also realized my further needs to research on thisthemselves as a learner and also developing "...

issue in my own teaching contexts. Since then, I

increasing willingness and ability to manage one’s

have been fascinated with this approach. Language
learning histories enable us to be close to language

own learning" (Sheerin, 1997). From my own
learning history, understanding and development,

learners that we research, and to their learners’

I have learned how these three components -development process in language learning overlearning awareness, willingness, and ability to

time.

manage my own learning - enhance language!
In my own case, when I recall my English
learning, it was a long combat-like quest withlearning. This is why I would like to find out aboutsome practical steps that assist and enhance

English grammar. My first English learninglearners in language learning. I am looking

experience was when I was in elementary school atforward to seeing all the SIG members at get-a so-called Eikaiwa school or English conversation

togethers and conferences and to sharing ideas andschool. I liked going there every week since theactivities were just like fun games and I had many

experiences on any issues about learnerdevelopment with you.

friends close in age to me. At home, my parents
played English song-and-story tapes (there were
no CDs back then) every night as lullabies. I guess
this strategy of my parents worked on me in someways. So I somehow grew up to be a junior highstudent who believed ‘How are you?’ was a longsingle word. Later, I thought that my unbalanced
English competence development in listening andgrammar led to my feeling for a long time lessmotivated through my high school days. I justReferences
Murphey, T. (2006). Exploring Learning Volume 5.
Dokkyo: Kitakai Press.
Sheerin, S., 1997. An exploration of the relationshipbetween self-access and independent learning. In
P. Benson & P. Voller (Eds.), Autonomy andindependence in language learning (pp. 54-65). London:
Longman.

could not enjoy some of my high school grammarclasses such as the teacher lecturing about 30
idioms in one lesson. Naturally I found myself tobe a real false beginner by the time my university
life started. Looking back on those days now, I kept
studying English little by little though probably I
was using unsuitable strategies for situations I
faced as I kept failing to remotivate myself. After
this, a number of great opportunities luckily
helped me in recovering my learning motivation.
Somehow I obtained teaching positions at English
schools and have taught English for about eight
years now. Exploring teaching and being withstudents is still full of enjoyment for me.
!
When a language learner develops theirown learning, a learner is increasing awareness ofNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <ld-sig.org/>

40

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices“Language is the most human”

at school!
!

Maria Gabriela Schmidt
University of Tsukuba, Foreign
Language Center
Email: schmidt.maria.gt@u.tsukuba.ac.jp

At university I did not follow our families’

tradition of becoming engineers; rather I chose
Philosophy for my Master’s, and Comparative
Linguistics for my Ph.D. Maybe around that time I
really started to love languages, and my beliefs
grew for that reason. Language is the most humanpart of us, language in a very broad sense. And
living now in East Asia (South Korea, Okinawa,
Kanto-Japan) for more than 20 years, I will add
that language is culture, and culture is language.

I never wanted to become a language teacher at all,!

especially not a teacher of German, my mothertongue. I hated English because of the way my

Foreign Language Teaching and to teach German
as a Foreign Language as I do now. Learning toEnglish teacher taught English. I cannot remember

teach is not done in a few days. My fields ofwords easily by heart. I hate vocab tests. Theyinterests in FLT are holistic, so-called alternative

really turned me off. I have to use expressions inteaching methods, learning with all senses, notorder to remember them, so with French it wasdifferent. Living in a small town in southernteaching but supporting the learning process, theteacher as a counselor, facilitator (in German

Germany, we had sister cities in Belgium and“Lernberatung”), setting up group interaction in

France, and with many exchange activities, thisclassroom, and often wondering why group-work

was fun. Learning by doing, meeting people – pure

does not have the benefits it could have in ainteraction: French was never a problem for me.
Reflecting on this with my linguistic knowledge

country which seems to be a group-related culture.
My more linguistic interests are to do with thefrom today, it might be obvious why I am trying

phonetic part, with pronunciation, prosodic

hard to continuously improve as a teacher, andpatterns, listening comprehension, as well as

searching for many different ways to teach, seeking

extensive listening, or how to visualize grammar,

to understand the anxiety and the challenge ofstudying a language. Teaching German is the best

making written or spoken instructions fit different
learning types. And recently I’ve been reflecting

way to learn it, even for me as a native speaker.

more on the cultural impact of language learning.

The questions I get from my students are fabulous,

On the one hand we have our individual style ofa challenge to find an adequate answer - and evenlearning as learners, and our own style of teaching

more challenging to include the answers in myteaching. And now I am using English toas teachers. On the other hand, our individual styleis embedded in our culture and we are constantly

communicate with my colleagues, exchange ideas,

exposed to styles of other cultures. Our students do

and write this article to reach out to the lovely,

not study only English. They study otheropen-minded people of JALT and the LD SIG.

languages too, like German, French, Chinese,

Something I would not have been able to imagine
40 years ago. In some way then I am grateful today

among others. Can we work together? How canthese efforts bring a synergetic effect for theirthat I had some instruction in English when I was

foreign languages and their own mother tongue?

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

It took me quite some effort to study

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices!

Last but not least, I am hooked on theup the localisation of expat roles. I’m sure my

Common European Framework of Reference

success in both of these languages is down to(CEFR), with classroom diaries, can do’s andlearner autonomy, and questions to do with thespending a vast amount of time working andsocialising with locals. It has been incrediblytransparency of teaching and learning. The reason

rewarding for me to be able to use both of these

why I joined the Learner Development SIG was thelanguages. It has given me the opportunity tomini-conference at Gakushuin-University inspeak to members of hill tribes, Communist

November 2013, LD20. This was an amazing set ofcontributions, and it showed the wide range thatgovernment employees, soldiers, police, elderlycountry folk, and all sorts of other characters aboutteaching really can have in reaching out totheir lives and experiences. One woman told me

students. I had a very good time there, and the LD

how terrified she’d been when she was confronted

SIG worked for me immediately. I am reallyby a tiger in the jungle when she was a little girl.

looking forward, developing through teaching anddeveloping my learning, by being part of this SIG

Another told me of her experiences collecting frogs
to eat while studying in the Ukraine and receivingwith you.

strange looks from the locals on the bus homebecause her plastic bag was ‘croaking’.
!

Immersion Please!

In contrast to the success and enjoyment I

have had with Thai and Lao, I studied French at
school and university in the UK for nine years.
Paul Anthony Marshall
UK Plus English School,
NagoyaEmail:
paulanthony.marshall@gmail.com

My experiences of language learning are eclectic. I
am from the UK and have lived in six foreigncountries throughout my life, starting at the age ofnine. Altogether, I have learnt or attempted to learn
French, German, Greek, Spanish, Thai, Lao, andJapanese.
!
I am fluent in both Thai and Lao without
ever having studied them at all. I lived in Thailand
for five years from 2003 to 2008, mostly teachingfor the British Council in Chiang Mai. I lived andworked in Laos for four years from 2009 to 2013,teaching English to Laotian employees of anAustralian-run mining company in order to speed

After all that time I still struggled to hold down abasic conversation in the boulangerie (= baker’s). I
always felt ill at ease when trying to pronouncewords with a French accent and I was lacking inmotivation, perhaps because France was just nextdoor and I wanted to go to more exotic places.
These days I have lost almost all of my French‘ability’, but at least it allows me to understandsome of what MC Solaar is rapping about.
!
Luckily, I think knowing any language of
Latin origin helps towards learning a second
Romance language. I learnt Spanish in Caracas in
the classroom and by being immersed in theculture. After Thai, it seemed amazingly familiar; I
could understand a large amount of words before I
even began studying. I am far from fluent, but am
happy with my level considering the short amountof time I spent on it. I only lived and taught inVenezuela for one mind-blowing year of dirty,
dangerous cities contrasted by the most awesome
natural beauty I have ever seen in a country.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
Venezuela has two thousand miles of Caribbean!

coastline, the Andes range, Amazon-type tribes

Learner Development SIG. I hope to gain and also

living near tributaries of the Orinoco River, andtabletop mountains which give birth to some of thecontribute practical ideas and techniques to help
the development of autonomous learning with mymost spectacular waterfalls in the world.

students.

!

Thank you for welcoming me into the

Out of all of these languages, I found Greek

to be the most difficult to pick up. I worked for ten
months with Greek Cypriots (on a Royal Air Forcebase during the Iraq War in 2003 but that’s anotherstory) and despite my efforts to learn some basic

My journey towards joining the Learner
Development SIG

conversation, I came away knowing only about ten
words. I think this was largely due to the fact that
Ben Rowlett
Tokai University
Email:
benedictrowlett@me.com

the Cypriots spoke English and liked the fact thatthey could communicate in a way that I was
unable to understand.
!

One of the most notable conclusions that I

have drawn from my experiences (and somewhat
contrary to my career as an English teacher) is thatfor me personally, immersion is everything. I
wouldn’t want to attempt to learn a language

I have been working as a teacher in Japan forwithout being surrounded by it. The effect this has

almost 15 years in a variety of settings, from classes

on my teaching is that I attempt to make myin an English conversation school, teaching injunior and senior high school, and now in mylessons as communicative as possible andencourage students to seek opportunities to get as

current position in the Foreign Language Center atmuch input and interaction practice as they can

Tokai University. Throughout my teaching career I

both inside and outside the classroom. My mosthave often felt frustration with many of thesuccessful learners are those whose aim is toinstitutional and curricular demands placed on mystudents in their particular classroom-based

communicate meaning in English. For those who
aim to produce perfect language every time, thelearning situations. These demands often seemed

topic of conversation often moves on, leaving themto negatively affect their motivation, attitudes andstill trying to decide what to say.

beliefs as language learners. As a result, I began to!

feel strongly drawn to issues of autonomy andlearner development, in order to discover ways in

I am currently studying Japanese. A cheeky

technique that I am utilising, and which was usefulfor me in learning Spanish verb conjugations, is towhich I could help my students fulfill theirwrite out new vocabulary onto a sheet of A4 paper,

potential as language learners.

and stick it on the wall in front of the toilet. This!

way, despite my busy schedule, I still look at the

exploration of these issues came when I joined theAviation Department at J.F. Oberlin University as awords I am trying to memorise at least a couple oftimes a day. My students always giggle when I
recommend this method to them!

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>

Perhaps the turning point in myteacher of academic English to pilot trainees on the
Flight Operations Program. As a requirement of43

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
beginning their flight training in New Zealand, allstudents have to attain a high score on the TOEFL
test. However, due to the significant pressures ofthis high stakes test, the teachers of the coursebegan to realize that many students were not able

References
Cookson, S., Marchand, T., & Rowlett, B. (2011).
English Language Training For Students On The
Flight Operations Programme. Obirin Today: 教育の現場から, 11, 189-205

to effectively combine the skills needed to pass thetest with the more general skills that would benefit
their development as language learners and usersof English. We perceived these skills as being ofequal importance, so that our students would be

Viewing low motivation and competence
through a learner-development
framework

able to work effectively in an overseas training
environment. We therefore began to place much
more emphasis on developing study skills andpersonal learning preferences in collaboration with

Stephen Paton

the students, resulting in a flexible curriculum thathome@stevepaton.com

Email:

encompasses much more than a solitary focus on
test-taking instruction (Cookson, Marchand &Rowlett, 2011).
!
I have since had the opportunity meet anddiscuss much about autonomy and learnerOver the last couple ofyears I’ve become aware

development with experienced members of theof just how necessary it is for us as teachers to beable to help our students become better learners.

Learner Development SIG and I have started toThis is particularly true for teachers who, like me,

gain a clearer understanding of how other teachers
approach these issues in their classes. Following on

spend a lot of time with low-proficiency low-from these discussions, I decided to join the SIG
and take part in the 20th anniversary conference inimportant aspects of learner development over thelast few years has given me a much-needed

November last year with a poster session aboutframework through which to understand mycollaborative learning in an English movie class.
Talking with like-minded people at the conference

students better, and, I think, to make classroom

really made me feel that I had arrived at a place
where I could develop both professionally anddevelopment as learners.
!
I’m from Sydney, Australia, and before

personally. My only regret is that I didn’t join the

coming to Japan in 2008 I’d been teaching English

SIG sooner! Although I am planning to be awayfrom the classroom for the next few years as I

to international students for several years already.

pursue my PhD studies overseas, I hope to remain
an active member of the SIG and look forward to

mid-20s, after deciding I’d spent long enoughteaching kids to whack drums, I set out, B.A. inmeeting, or possibly collaborating with, many

English and Cultural Studies in hand, to get amore members in the future.

proper job. Straight out of my Cambridge CELTA

motivation students. Becoming familiar with a few

time more meaningful and valuable for their

My background had been in music, and in mycourse in 2004, I somehow managed to land myfirst teaching job at the University of Western

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
Sydney, where I taught students from Thailand,

begun teaching English in Asia or Europe, and had

China, Japan, Korea, and South America who weretaken their skills back to Australia. I did it inpreparing for undergraduate courses in English. I
had a real admiration for those students, who had

reverse, finding myself with skills, experience, andqualifications (by that time, including an almost-travelled so far and committed so strongly to acompleted M.Ed in TESOL) that were valuable

really high ambition. It’s no small deal to decide toaround the world. I decided, at 30, to pack up myundertake university study in a foreign country, letlife and head out into the unknown, and after somealone in a language in which you’re less thanproficient, so my students had clear goals that

deliberation, settled on Japan. Avoiding the bigger
cities, I came to Fukuoka, where I’ve lived now forrequired a real dedication.

six years.

!

!

After the university unfortunately

My experience and qualifications got me aamalgamated their two language centres onto apart-time position at a university within a year of

campus far from where I lived, my next job was in
an ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses

arriving. But wow - to call my first year of
university teaching in Japan a “shock to thefor Overseas Students) college, again teachingsystem” would be an enormous understatement.

highly motivated and committed international

After all, I’d been teaching Japanese university

students in complete English immersion forstudents back in Sydney for years! I knew what I

twenty-odd classroom hours a week. The students,
mostly in their early 20s, were from all over thewas doing! I headed off to the classroom withloads of good communicative activities, ready toworld, and had come to Sydney to spend anything

meet the students, get to know them a little,

from a fortnight to a year studying the language,

answer all of their questions, and help themfor various reasons; some for a ‘gap year’ or

improve their fluency.

working holiday, some for credit towards theirstudies in their home country, some to acquire!
So why were these students so utterly
unwilling to participate? Why did they appear

English for their future careers, some even to begin

stunned and embarrassed when I asked them basic

the process of migration.

conversational questions? Where was the six years!

of vocabulary that I was meant to be building on?

During those years, the challenge for me

as a teacher was meeting the students’ expectationsof rapid progress and the speedy development of

Why did their homework, if they turned any in,
represent little more than an attempt to discoverreal-world abilities with the language. You would

how little effort they could get away with? Why

have had a hard time convincing me that “student

weren’t they retaining what we’d covered inmotivation” was something that was such aprevious weeks’ classes? And WHY, at the end ofproblem area for our profession - unmotivatedlanguage learners just didn’t exist in my world!

the year, did they seem so blithely unconcernedthat their English had barely improved despite theStudents were hungry for opportunities to usetime and effort of 30 classes? I urgently needed atheir language skills, and class time often spilled

practical understanding of my students, theirover into weekend parties and hangouts. It was abackgrounds and their actual motivations, if I was

great time for me, and many students from those
years remain friends today.

to have a hope of bringing anything of value tothem each week.

!

!

Many of my colleagues in Sydney had

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <ld-sig.org/>Over the years, the answers to these sorts

45

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voicesof questions have come, to a large extent, from2013. I’d produced a video demonstration ofreading up on a few key areas of the literature

myself using word cards to learn Japaneserelevant to learner development: firstly, selfefficacy theory, and secondly, language learning

vocabulary, and I needed an understanding of why
it had had such a remarkably positive impact on

strategies/strategies-based instruction. Coming

my students’ confidence and enthusiasm, way

across these has been like turning on the lights in abeyond what I’d hoped. It turned out that I’ddark room, and has dramatically changed myunwittingly carried out some effective language

understanding of my students, made me more
empathetic to their challenges and needs, andlearning strategy instruction, right in line with thebest recommendations in the literature going backgiven me an angle on how to make their time inseveral decades! In doing so, I’d stumbled across

my classes valuable and rewarding.

yet another framework for understanding my!

students and how best to help them! Looking at

For example - a few years ago I noticed

that a lot of my students seemed convinced thatthey were irredeemably inept at learning

my students’ behaviours in terms of language
learning strategies, or frankly lack thereof,

vocabulary, and this low estimation of their own

immediately answered a lot of questions. Of course

abilities seemed to be exactly what was preventing

I knew that low-competence, low-motivation

them from putting effort into vocabulary study: astudents aren’t necessarily bad or inept students;

classic vicious cycle of ‘failure’ breeding failure. To
see if the cycle could be broken, I carried out abut reading about the strategies that are
fundamental to language study, and noticing that

research project that first had them establish their

many of my students were hopelessly unversed inself-efficacy in the area, and then over the course ofthem, gave me another angle on understanding

a semester of learning, testing, and reflecting,and helping them. For example, many students

hopefully would lead to them adjusting that
estimation upwards. The project was arguably

arrive in my classroom with seemingly noknowledge of how to create mnemonic linkages,

effective; confidence levels actually did rise, and it

how to review well, how to plan and set goals forreally got me interested in the theory and inlearning, or how compensate for knowledge gaps,

figuring out how I could apply it beyond

let alone note-taking, summarising, or highlighting

vocabulary learning. Reading about decades ofother teachers’ and researchers’ successes, and theabilities. Whether or not it should after so muchschool language study, it falls to me to help them inchanges in autonomy and learning outcomes thatthese areas if I want to have an impact. Low

can come about when self-efficacy and confidence

motivation, something that our field is almost

problems are properly addressed, gave meobsessively concerned about (probably rightly),

something to focus on in the classroom beyond
simply language-based content. Trying to teachbegins to make sense in light of an understandingthat our students have never been taught strategies

over the top of low self-efficacy is a recipe for stressfor learning effectively. Their disengagement can

and frustration, but developing self-efficacy withcome to be seen as a logical result of their lack ofawareness is an opportunity for potentially life-

strategy knowledge and success, something we canchanging teaching.
!
My second area of research interest was

get a handle on; and, potential solutions start toshow up when we have an understanding of whatpiqued while reading for a project I carried out infundamental skills our students need to learn most.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices!

I’ve actually become excited to think about

Learning From My Own Children

what might happen in future classes if I caneffectively teach good strategies along with actual
language content. Seeing the vast literature and all

Emiko Matsui

the research that’s been done in the area has set out

Email:

a game that I might actually be able to win, on aemi1214ato@gmail.com

playing field that I finally understand - and given
me a research focus that I’m enthusiastic about
following up. In the coming academic year, I’minterested to see how effectively I can include some
useful strategy instruction in every lesson, and I
won’t miss a chance to help students re-think any

I just joined Learner Development SIG at the end of

low self-efficacy estimations they might have.
!
Becoming aware of what’s going on inlast year. This is because both of my children
started going to elementary school and I thoughtthese few areas of theory and research has reallythat I could spend a little more time for myself.

made me view my role differently, has helped me

Also since I finished obtaining my MA TESOL lastunderstand how to help my students become

year and started teaching again, I thought that I

better learners, and given me a direction on how topossibly overcome those problems that seemed soshould learn more about teaching and learning
through joining this SIG. Before becoming a

insurmountable when I first came across them amother I had been teaching at a private junior andfew years ago.

senior high school after I had worked at a trading
company for a few years. After I had my first child,

References
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-eﬃcacy in cognitive
development and functioning. Educational
Psychologist, 28, 117-148.
Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What
Every Teacher Should Know. New York: Newbury
House.
Paton, S. M. (2013). Enhancing self-eﬃcacy invocabulary learning and testing: A pilot study.
Kyushu Sangyo University Language Education andResearch Center Journal, 8, 26-34.

I decided to take the MA TESOL at Teachers
College Columbia University. However since I had
another child, I wanted to focus on raising my own
children and therefore I finished my Master’s lastyear. Though it took about 10 years to finish it, I
experienced a lot from my children and also cameto think of my students from other perspectives.
!

Here is one of my episodes I recently had

with my daughter. I think most of you haveexperienced this kind of situation in yourclassrooms. Teaching English also includes not
only teaching but also collecting notebooks orchecking vocabulary tests and other things. I am
rather strict about due dates for submissions. I
always tell my students “Don’t forget to submit
your notebooks by the due date.” In fact, a few
students don’t hand in by the due date. So, I tellthem “Be sure to bring it tomorrow.” One reason

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 21 (1): LD SIG Member Voices
why I am a bit strict with my learners is that I also
want my students to manage their time when they
study. At the same time, as the proverb says,”Practice makes perfect”. Though being just a little
thing for the students, I believe each of theseprocesses leads to their being successful with theirgoals.
!
One day, I was talking about this to mydaughter because I wanted her to know theimportance of being on time and also of managing
her own schedule. Now this is what my daughter
said to me. ”Mom, don’t be too strict with yourstudents about the due date. Maybe, though she
knew the schedule, she couldn’t do it because she
had to do other things that she really had to do. Or,
she was too sleepy and tired that day that she
didn’t have time to do it.” Her words made me
realize that I was considering too much about thelesson plans and the curriculum from my teacher’s
point of view and I had forgotten about being
generous to my students and about trying torespect students’ autonomous learning. Maybe, I
did not have the room for flexibility to think of thestudents’ different situations. Even though mydaughter is just a child, the ones really close to me
can take an objective view of the mother. I really
thank my children for being little teachers for me
and helping me to pursue my career as a teacher
and of course as a mother.

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