Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 25 (2):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATES

Learning Learning『学習の学習』
Newsletter of the Learner Development SIG
Spring/Summer 2019

LL 26(1)ISSN 1882-1103

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

1

GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATES | 挨拶と近況報告

3

In This Issue 本号について … Learning Learning editorial teamNews Update 近況報告 .... Koki Tomita & Yoshio Nakai
GETTING CONNECTED | つながりを求めて

9Tokyo Get-together Report ..... Ian Hurrell, Ken Ikeda, and James Underwood

MEMBERS’ VOICES | メンバーの声

10

Ways to Encourage Elementary School Learners’ Autonomy ..... Sandy Chong
How Can Self Access Learning Centers Facilitate English Use among Students ..... Sina Takada

SHORT REFLECTIVE ARTICLES | 小論

14

What Qualities Autonomous Teachers Should Nurture to Promote Learner Autonomy ..... Kyoko Gruendel
Learning Journey to Be a Confident English User ..... Yuri Kawasato
Sharing my Volunteering and Study Abroad Experiences with My Classmates ..... Megumi Tokuda
LD SIG GRANT AWARDEE REPORTS | LD SIG 研究助成金受賞者の報告

27

A Conversation with Judith O’Loughlin ..... Gretchen Clark

LOOKING BACK | 振り返

32

Short Reflections on Creating Community and Learning Together 4 ..... Aki Kubota & Dexter Da Silva
Haruka Shintaku & Nick Kasparek, Rob Moreau & Jim Ronald
SIG MATTERS | インフォメーション
Learner Development SIG Financial Report November 2018 to April 2019..... Patrick Kiernan
Writing for Learning Learning『学習の学習』応募規定
Learning Learning editorial Team39

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATESIn this issue | 本号について
Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2019 issueof Learning Learning, the Learner
Development SIG’s (LD SIG) biannual online
newsletter. We hope this issue, which contains
articles written through the lenses of teachers
and learners, can support teacher and learnerdevelopment in your classrooms.
This issue begins with Greetings from the
SIG coordinators, Koki Tomita and Yoshio
Nakai, reporting on the latest developments
for the Learner Development SIG. They
provide an overview of officer changes in thelast year, recap LD forums at conferences lastyear, before briefly outlining the state of the
SIG's finances. In the Tokyo Get-together
Report that follows it, Ian Hurrell, Ken Ikeda
and myself report on what has happened in
the get-togethers that were held this year aswell as their future plans for them.
In Members' Voices Sandy Chong criticallyreflects how she has been able to encouragelearner development in elementary schools
through action research. Then Sina Takada
gives a unique perspective through his eyes asboth a former student and now a teacher on
how self-access learning centres can facilitate
English use among learners.
Following on is a collection of Short
Reflective Articles by Kyoko Greundel,
Megumi Tokuda and Yuri Kawasato. Kyoko
Gruendel takes a reflective look at her
journey of becoming an autonomous English
teacher before reporting on what qualities
teachers should nurture in their students toenable them to become more autonomous.
Megumi Tokuda reflects on her volunteeringand study abroad experiences that led to her
deciding to continue her studies in graduate

school. Yuri Kawasato explores the criticalincidents in each year of her university lifethat led to her becoming a confident English
user.
In the Grant Awardees Essays, Gretchen
Clark shares insights from her interview with
Judith O'Loughlin at the JALT conference lastyear. In this piece, they discuss how to
encourage resilience and community building
with learners and offer many activities thatcan be easily applied to our classrooms.
In Looking Back, three pieces reflect on
the successful Creating Community Learning
Together 4 informal afternoon conference thatwas held last December. These reflections
were collaboratively written by participants
who first made a poster at the end that
documented their experiences of attending,which they then formally wrote up.
The issue closes with the Financial Report,
written by the new SIG treasurer Patrick
Kiernan, and the updated information forcontributors.
Many thanks to the hardworking Learning
Learning team for their tireless efforts inworking together with the contributors to gettheir writing ready for publication:
Andy Barfield, Chika Hayashi, Tokiko Hori,
Daniel Hougham, Ken Ikeda, Fumiko Murase,
Yoshio Nakai, Hugh Nicoll, Sean Toland, andKoki Tomita.
We hope you enjoy reading it and that itgives you ideas for encouraging learnerdevelopment this semester and beyond.
James Underwood, lead editor, 2019 Spring/
Summer issue, Learning Learning editorial
team <LLeditorialteam@googlegroups.com>

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

3

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATES『学習の学習』2019年春·夏号へようこて英語を使えるようになるまでに大学生活で起そ。『学習の学習』はLearner Development

きた様々な出来事について振り返ってくれまし

SIGニュースレター(年二回発行)です。本号た。

も、教師と学習者双方の視点から書かれた記事

Grant Awardees Essaysは、Gretchenの数々が、教育現場における学習者の成長と教Clarkが昨年のJALT国際大会で行ったJudith

師の皆さんのお役に立てることを願っていま

O’Loughlinとのインタビューに関するものす。

で、両氏はレジリエンスと学習者とのコミュニ

冒頭には、SIGコーディネーターのKoki
TomitaとYoshio Nakaiからの挨拶があります。二人からは、昨年に行われたSIG役員交代·LDフォーラムの様子の他、SIGの財政などが報告されています。「東京get-together」
では、Ian HurrellとKen Ikedaとともに、今年度行われたget-togetherおよび今後の計画について報告しております。
「メンバーの声」では、アクションリサーチ

ティー形成を勧め、教室で応用できる様々な活動を紹介しています。
「Looking Back」では、昨年１２月に盛会に終わったCreating Community Learning
Together 4 (CCLT4)の研究会に関する省察が３つあります。これらの省察はポスター発表を行った参加者たちが協働的に執筆し、発表直後にまとめた自身の経験を本号のために推敲したものです。

を通じて、小学校における学習者の成長を促す
ことがどうやって可能になったのかについて、Sandy Chongが振り返ります。また、Sina
Takadaは、元学習者と現役の教師という両方の視点から、どうすればセルフアクセスセン
ターが学習者間での英語の使用を促進することができるかについて独自の論を展開します。
続いては、Kyoko Greundel、Megumi
Tokuda、 Yuri Kawasatoによる「小論」です。Kyoko Gruendelは、自身が自律的英語教師となっていった道のりを顧みた後、受け持つ生徒をより自律的学習者にするために、教師は、どのような資質を育むべきかについて省察しています。Megumi Tokudaは、大学院で勉強を続けようと決意するきっかけとなったボラ
ンティア活動と留学経験について語ってくれて

本号の締め括りは、今年度より本研究会の財務局担当となったPatrick Kiernanの財務報告です。
以下の『学習の学習』編集チームの皆様に感謝申し上げます。
Andy Barfield, Chika Hayashi, Tokiko Hori,
Daniel Hougham, Ken Ikeda, Fumiko Murase,
Yoshio Nakai, Hugh Nicoll, Sean Toland, andKoki Tomita.
皆様が本号より、学習者の発達に関するアイ
ディアをさらに膨らませることができますように。
James Underwood, lead editor, 2019 Spring/
Summer issue, Learning Learning editorial
team <LLeditorialteam@googlegroups.com>

います。また、Yuri Kawasatoは、自信をもっ
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org/>

4

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATESNews Update 近況報告告Welcome to the first issue of Learning
Learning in the Reiwa Era! We hope that it will
give you many opportunities to reflect on new
perspectives on learner development andsecond language education.
First, we would like to extend ourappreciation to all the members who
participated in and made LD activities exciting
in 2018. With a new academic year beginning,the LD SIG will offer SIG members more
opportunities to share experiences and ideas
on learner development. Yoshi and I hope that2019 will also be a fulfilling year for all themembers in the SIG.
Our special thanks also go to thededication of SIG officers who stepped downfrom their positions in 2018 and to those who
became officers recently for their newjourneys in the LD SIG. Huw Davies, who
contributed to the LD SIG as a treasurer for along time, passed the torch to Patrick Kiernan.
The treasury job is one of the important
positions for every SIG to keep their activities
in a healthy financial condition. In particular,
the treasurer works with the Grants team andhelps grant awardees to make eachtransaction go smoothly. We are very thankful
to both Huw and Patrick for taking their timeon dealing with the monthly tasks.
For the last few years, Jenny Morgan
supported the Grants Team with an extended
amount of energy and passion, but with a newjob starting, she felt it was time to take off
one of the many hats that she has beenwearing in the LD SIG. With the departure of
Jenny, we welcome Kio Iwai, a new officer tothe Grants Team. Kio has been one of theactive members in Tokyo get-togethers, andwe are looking forward to working with her inthe committee.
After Andy Barfield and Hugh Nicoll each
took turns as the lead editor for Learning
Learning in 2018, we have come to the launchof this spring/summer issue under the lead ofJames Underwood. The editorial team isalways looking forward to working with new
editors and contributors. If you are interested,
please contact the team at<LLeditorialteam@googlegroups.com>. We also
send our big thanks to the contributors andthree editors (Chika Hayashi, Masuko
Miyahara, and Patrick Kiernan) who worked
hard to launch the second issue of The Learner
Development Journal. It includes seveninformative papers which discuss and analyze
qualitative research into learner developmentfrom theoretical and practical points of view.
When you have a moment to spare, please
dive into this work here: <https://ldjournalsite.wordpress.com>
We would like to introduce Gretchen Clark
as the new publicity chair for LD after Nicole
Gallagher farewelled from the team in 2018.
Gretchen has been sharing new perspectives
among the committee members and exploring
ways to reach out to current and nonmembers of LD SIG by using her experience ofworking in the JALT Kyoto Chapter.
We are thankful to Jim Ronald, Agnes
Patko, Andy Barfield and Jenny Morgan forbeing wonderful organizers for our local GetTogethers in Hiroshima, Kansai, and Tokyo.
While the Hiroshima and Kansai get-togethers
have paused for the moment, Ian Hurrell has

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

5

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATES
come back to the Tokyo get-togethers in 2019
to help to organize them along with Ken Ikeda
and James Underwood. At the end of 2018,
the Tokyo get-togethers team delivered
another amazing Creating Community:
Learning Together (CCLT) conference which
offered opportunities for presentations to 40
students and 10 teachers. We are hoping tocarry the momentum forward and create great
vibes for CCLT5 in 2019.
We also must thank Robert Morell and Blair
Bar for their commitment to be involved inand organize forums at major JALT
conferences. We have certainly had asuccessful LD forum during the Pan SIG
conference held on May 18-19 at Konan
University, Hyogo. We are hoping you willattend the LD Forums at JALT CALL (Aoyama
Gakuin University, Tokyo, May 31 to June 2)
and the 2019 JALT International Conference(WINC AICHI, Nagoya, November 1-4).
We take some space here to congratulate
LD members on their successful participationin the 2018 JALT International conference in
Shizuoka. At the LD Forum on “Bringing
Learners Together,” Lee Arnold, Tim Ashwell,
Andy Barfield, Nicole Gallagher, Hideo Kojima,
Sakae Onoda, Jenny Morgan, Jim Ronald, andJavier Salazar & Roxana Sandu shared theirpractical teaching practices and researchexperiences on helping to interact andconnect with others both inside and out of theclassroom. In addition, one of our grantrecipients, Gretchen Clark, did an insightfulinterview with Judy O'Loughlin, a plenary
speaker of the conference, which she reports
on in this issue of Learning Learning. At JALT2018 we had another successful AGM reviewing
the year, deciding on officer positions,approving financial decisions, and making

plans together for 2019. Unfortunately,
neither Yoshi nor I could attend, so we arelooking forward to joining the AGM and sharing
a good time with you at the 2019 conference.
In case you missed the 2018 AGM, you canaccess the minutes here <http://ld-sig.org/
welcome-to-the-jalt-ld-sig/annual-reports/>
As 2019 rolled in, Patrick Kiernan worked
together with the two of us to compile theaudit of the SIG’s financial activities in the
2018-2019 fiscal year. As we did in 2017, wewould say that we had a relatively healthyfinancial activity in 2018. For more detailed
information, please refer to Patrick’s Financial
Report in this issue of Learning Learning.
For the publication of this current issue,
contributors and our LL editorial team worked
closely and collaboratively together. We thankall the contributors and the editorial team
who invested so much time and effort to makethe publication of this issue successful. We
close our greetings by wishing that eachreader will encounter new perspectives onlearner development as they read through. We
are looking forward to seeing yourcontributions in the autumn issue and tomeeting you hopefully in the rest of 2019.
Koki Tomita (for Koki Tomita and Yoshio
Nakai)LD SIG co-coordinators

令和最初の学習の学習をご覧いただきありがとうございます。今号も学習者ディベロップ
メントと第二言語教育における新しい見解について考える機会をお届けします。
初めに、2018年度のLDのSIG活動を盛り上げてくださった参加者の方々にお礼を申し上

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

6

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATES
げたいと思います。新年度もLD SIGは学習者ます。ご関心のある方はディベロップメントに関する経験や知識を共有

LLeditorialteam@googlegroups.comまでごできる、より多くの機会をご提供したいと思い

連絡ください。また、 Learner

ます。私もYoshiも2019年度がLD SIGのメン

Development Journalの第2号が刊行されまし

バーにとって実りのある一年になるように期待

たが、こちらの編集をされたChika Hayashi、

しております。

Masuko Miyahara、Patrick Kiernanの3名のそして、今年度も役員の移動がありました

編集者にも感謝の意を表したいと思います。第が、2018年で退任されたSIGの役員と、20192号では学習者ディベロップメントに関する分

年に新たにお迎えすることができた役員の方々

析や議論を理論、実践の両面から行った7つのにもお礼を申し上げたいと思います。役員の中質的研究が掲載されています。詳細は以下のでも会計はSIGの健全な運営を維持するために

ウェブサイトをご覧ください。https://

欠かせない重要な役職ですが、この会計の役割

ldjournalsite.wordpress.com

を長年務めてくださったHuw Daviesが昨年度

次に、新しい役員を紹介したいと思いまで退任され、今年度からはPatrick Kiernanがす。LDの広報担当を担当していたNicole

引き継いでくださることになりました。会計はGallagherの後任になったGretchen Clarkで特にGrants teamや受賞者とのやり取りが多す。GretchenはJALTの京都チャプターでの経

く、毎月ある業務を円滑に進めてくださったこ

験を活かし、LD SIGに所属しているメンバーとに感謝を申し上げたいと思います。

だけではなく、新たなSIGメンバーを発掘する

また、Grants teamに関して言えば、ここための広報活動を模索してくださっています。

数年、Jenny Morganが大きな熱意をもって地域別の活動に関しては、Jiim Ronald,

SIG活動を支えてくださっていましたが、新しAgnes Patko, Andy Barfield and Jenny

い本務のため、LD SIGで関わってくださってMorganが広島、関西、東京のGet-Together

いた多くの業務の一つから退かれることになりをまとめてくださいました。現在、広島と関西ました。Jennyの退任を受け、Grants teamののGet-Togetherは活動を休止していますが、新しいofficerとしてKio Iwaiをお迎えすること

東京のGet-TogetherはIan Hurrellが2019年となりました。KioはTokyo Get-Togethersでに戻ってこられ、Ken IkedaとJames

ご活躍中のメンバーで、我々も役員として一緒

Underwoodとともに運営されています。

に働けることを嬉しく思っています。

2018年の終わりには、東京Get-Togetherは一方で、2018年からHugh NicollとAndy
Barfieldが編集長となった学習の学習ですが、James Underwoodの編集のもと、この度の春·夏号を刊行することができました。編集チームでは投稿はもちろん編集者も募っており第4回目のCreating Community: Learning
Together (CCLT)を開催し、40名の学生と10名の教員が発表されましたが、この熱気が2019年のCCLT５へとつながることを期待しています。

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

7

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):GREETINGS AND NEWS UPDATESJALTの大会においてLD SIGのフォーラムを

度はYoshiも私も参加することができなかった

まとめてくださったRobert MorellとBlair Barのですが、2019年度は二人そろって参加しにも感謝しなければなりません。LDフォーラ

LD SIGの活動についてご報告させていただき

ムは、5月18日-19日に兵庫県の甲南大学でのたいと思っております。

Pan SIG conference、さらにはJALT CALL

2019年に入ってからはPatrick Kiernanが（青山学院大学、東京、5月31日-6月2日）に

2018年度のSIGの会計監査を行いましたが、おいて開催されており、盛会に終えることがで

2017年同様、2018年も問題なく終えることきました。今後の、LDフォーラムの今後の予ができました。Patrickによる会計報告につい定としましては、2019年のJALT国際大会ては本号のLearning Learningに記載しており（WINC 愛知、11月1日 - 4日）において開かますので、そちらをご覧ください。

れることになっています。みなさまふるってご
参加ください。
ここで、2018年度に静岡のJALT国際大会

今号の刊行にあたっては、執筆者や編集チームが緊密な連携をとって作業を進めてこられました。執筆者と編集チームのすべての方々で行われたLDフォーラムについてもご紹介しに刊行に至るまでのご尽力に感謝申し上げまておきます。“Bringing Learners

す。さらに、今号の読者のみなさまには学習者

Together”というテーマで行われたLDフォー

ディベロップメントに関する新たな発見があり

ラムには、LDのメンバーであるLee Arnold,

ますよう期待しております。最後になりました

Tim Ashwell, Andy Barfield, Nicole

が、2019年の後半、秋号で皆様の成果にお目

Gallagher, Hideo Kojima, Sakae Onoda,にかかれること、そして大会でお会いできるこ

Jenny Morgan, Jim Ronald, and Javierとを楽しみにしております。

Salazar & Roxana Sanduが参加され、教室の内と外をつなぐ交流に関する教育実践や経験について共有してくださいました。それに加えて、Grantの受賞者であるGretchen Clarkが中井好男、冨田浩起
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会

カンファレンスの主題発表者であったJudy

コーディネーター

O'Loughlinに、非常に洞察に満ちたインタ
ビューを行いました（詳細は今号の学習の学習をご覧ください）。また本年次会で開かれた
AGMでは役員の人事や、予算など2019年に向けた計画が検討され、承認されました。その内容については以下のURLをご参照ください（<http://ld-sig.org/welcome-to-the-jalt-ldsig/annual-reports/>）。残念ながら2018年
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org/>

8

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Getting Connected

Getting Connected: つながりを求めて：東京
Tokyo Get-together Report
Ian Hurrell, Ken Ikeda, and James Underwood
For 2019 we aim to build on the momentum of
2018. As we have noticed a considerable drop
in attendance, we have been trying to raise
this by publicising the get-togethers on
Facebook and Twitter. Many thanks to
Gretchen for doing this and Hugh for updating
the website. In the emails that we have sentout this year, we asked those attending toshare a poster advertising the event withinterested colleagues. We have also
encouraged LD SIG members who arepresenting this year at the many conferences
to share their presentations informally.
Another idea that was raised is to recruit agroup of get-together core members. This idea
is very tentative but as a core member, they
will commit to join every get together, spreadthe word about upcoming events andencourage others to join and also bring issues
to discuss. If you are interested in sharing yourideas, please get in contact!
So far three get-togethers have been held
this year. In the first get-together that took
place on January 21st, 4 people attended (Ian
Hurrell, James Underwood, Ken Ikeda, Kio Iwai
and Koki Tomita). For this we worked out theschedule for the get-togethers andbrainstormed ways to increase participation.
In the second get-together that was held on
April 21st, 9 people attended (Blair Barr, Ian
Hurrell, Colin Rundle, James Underwood, Ken
Ikeda, Kio Iwai, Rob Morel, Sandy Chong (herfirst), and Tim Ashwell,) and we spent the firsthalf catching up with members as well as
sharing our interests related to learnerdevelopment in small groups. Then Blair Barr
introduced "Active Learning" as the theme forthe LD SIG forum at the JALT national
conference. Following on from that, in thesecond half of the get-together, we focused on"Active Learning" as a whole group anddiscussed the relationship between it andlearner development. In the third get-together
that was held on May 26th, 4 people attended(Ian Hurrell, Ken Ikeda, Kio Iwai, and Natacha
Sakamoto) and we shared each of our concernson how to enable our students to develop as
learners by expressing their opinions throughtheir values, peer editing, communicativeskills and helping students to develop theirown Englishes.
In the next get-together that will be heldon June 23rd, we will plan to hold a workshop
on Active Learning in the second half of the
get-together. In this hands-on workshop, we
aim to first familiarise attendees with the key
concepts of active learning before exploring
the connections between it and learnerdevelopment and offering various activities
that can be applied to our classrooms.
Following on from this, there will be three
more get-togethers that will be held on
September 29th, October 27th and November
24th. In addition to these, we may hold thenext Creating Community: Learning Together
conference in December depending on thelevels of attendance in the coming gettogethers.

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

9

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Members’ Voices

MEMBERS’ VOICES | メンバーの声
Ways to Encourage
Elementary School
Learners’ Autonomy
Inside and Outside
the Classroom
Sandy Chong,Freelance<sandywchong@gmail.com>

My name is Sandy Chong. I have beenteaching freelance in Tokyo, Japan for morethan eight years. Like many, I started mycareer as an eikaiwa instructor. I, then,gradually narrowed my work down to teaching
children. I found great passion in teaching
children because by experience, I realizedthat the skills used to teach them, such asscaffolding and designing fun activities, can becustomized to teach adults. However, theskills used to teach adults may not be
modified to teach children due to excessive
explanations and minimal fun activities. I am
fascinated by the thought that being a
successful teacher for children can lead tosuccess in teaching adults. Therefore, I
decided to earn a Master of Education degree
while practicing onsite. Yet, I still practice theart of scaffolding everyday teaching atelementary schools.
After completing my studies last year, I
joined the Japan Association for Language
Teaching, in hopes of continuing to enhance
my skills through learning from experienced
educators. I decided to join the Learner
Development SIG because I hoped that I could

gain and contribute ideas on learnerautonomy.
As an educator for children for more than
two years now, I have been engaging myself inongoing action research to explore what isbest for young Japanese learners. Conducting
action research is an excellent way to help
bolster my focus on developing the bestteaching methods for children. For one of myaction research projects, I exploredappropriate activities for children to help
develop their autonomy outside of class time.
For example, I found that the English sectionin the library is not as popular as any othersections. Therefore, I started hanging aroundthe English books section to see what would
happen. At first, a few children who know me
would approach me and I would start readinga book to them. That attracted many morechildren and they would listen to thestorytelling until the school bell rang. Later,according to the librarians, some children had
asked when I would be there again forstorytelling and more children have started
borrowing English books. My next step is to try
storytelling at the beginning of each class tosee if that will encourage the children to
become more interested in reading English
books on their own in the library.
Another action research project that I havebeen conducting is finding out what studying
English means to young Japanese learners. In
my classes with fourth graders, I asked them
why they think it is necessary to learn English
at this age. Out of 170 students,
approximately 30% of them raised their hands.
The answers I collected from them include toNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

10

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
be able to enter a good school in the future,
to prepare them for future English classes, tocommunicate with foreigners, and to look fora good occupation when they grow up. They
seem to be aware of the logic behind learning
English as an investment for their future.
While they specify the reason to learning
English is to interact with foreigners, I am
more interested in how the process of learning
English would help them to ‘communicate’
better in general.
Although I do not possess any concrete data
to share at the moment, I recognize that the
majority of my students reacted to the word‘communicate’. As an experiment, with thehelp of the Japanese homeroom teachers, I
explained to the classes that I believe‘communication’ is not only to share
information in words, but to be able topresent oneself to another and toacknowledge one another. When I mentioned
the keyword, even with my limited
observation due to a large number of students
in each class, I could see that this word rang abell with attentive students, put an
indifferent look on quiet and distant students,
and caused a queasy face on students who are
suffering from autism. It seems to me that, if
there is one, the barrier for these children inlearning English in the first place was theirfear of facing disapproval and failure ofutilizing English. If I were to reposition English
from just a subject to a useful tool to face
their fear to communicate with foreigners,
perhaps that may change their attitude
towards it. I am convinced because after I had
explained it in every class, my students are
more willing to take part and speak up. My
ongoing engagement in this matter is toexperiment with ways to help these young

learners develop their own ways ofcommunicating effectively as a whole in our
English classes.
As a passionate educator for children, I am
excited to dedicate time to experiment withways to help children’s learning. I hope myideas of teaching can influence children as
well as other inexperienced teachers. to takeparts to speak up. My ongoing engagement inthis matter is to experiment ways to help
these young learners develop their own waysof communicating effectively as a whole in our
English classes.

How can a self-accesslearning center
facilitate English use
among students?
Sina Takada 高田シーナ
Kanda University ofInternational Studies<sinaka10024@gmail.com>
Hello everyone!

My name is Sina Takada. I am currently a
student in the MA TESOL program at Kanda
University of International Studies (KUIS) andmy academic interest is in learner autonomy,
learning strategy, phonetics, and pragmatics. I
also did my undergraduate studies at KUIS,
graduating in 2018 with a BA in English. While I
was at KUIS, I worked as a TOEFL tutor, and it
was this first experience of teaching Englishthat made me interested in EFL and ESL. After
graduating, I enrolled in the MA program andstarted working as a part-time English teacher
at a local cram school. Later that year, I
started teaching adult learners English
conversation, and got a position as a Learning

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

11

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Members’ Voices
Advisor for junior and senior high school
students.
When I was an undergraduate student at
KUIS, I used to use the SALC (Self Access
Learning Center) almost every day. The SALC
was a fascinating place to me, because it
provides students opportunities to use English
outside of class where students can use avariety of resources for learning English,
including CDs, textbooks, magazines, PCs,
teachers, advisors, and other students. The
most significant part of the SALC was that we
speak English there. In order to improve
conversational proficiency, I spent much time
chatting or playing games with other people
that involved a lot of unplanned speeches. In
the third year, I became a leader of a SALC
community called a Study Group, where
members gather at the SALC and study English
together. Through those experiences ofinteracting with other students, I was always
interested in how students’ interaction canfoster SALC use and language learning. Indeed
I have done some research about how themembers of the Study Group affect eachother’s motivation. I conducted interviews
with active members of the Study Group withsuch questions as why they joined a Study
Group and whether they feel motivated ordemotivated. Through the interviews, I
learned that they are most likely motivated to
study hard by peer pressure. For example, one
answered that when he sees other members
studying hard, he also feels like he wishes tostudy hard to catch up with them. While thiswas a motivation to some students, it turned
out that some can be stressed and rather
demotivated. In addition to this externalmotivation, members are also intrinsicallymotivated to gather at SALC, for example,

casually meeting in lunch time chatting in
English.
For my next research project about
students’ interaction, I am interested inlearning about language use at the SALC. As I
mentioned, the SALC is an English speaking
area but its language policy has been
controversial. I personally liked the strict
restriction of using Japanese in the area,
because it pushes students to use English.
However, some students can be so intimidated
by the strict policy that they lose confidence
and give up coming to the SALC. In addition,using Japanese is occasionally useful, such asasking how to say a Japanese word in English.
For those pros and cons of English-only policy,
it is hard to define legitimate rules oflanguage use. Instead of defining sets of rules,
I feel that it will be more important to think
about how to motivate students to use English
rather than forcing them to do so.
Now that I am working at K-SALC (the SALC
at Kanda Jogakuen Junior & Senior HighSchool), I am experiencing the same issue of
language use that the SALC at KUIS has.
Although K-SALC is intended to be an Englishonly, or recommended, space, I have seenquite a few students speaking Japanese to
their friends and even to their teachers
sometimes. I have seen a similar situation at
the SALC in KUIS too. First, it seemed to me
that students resort to using Japanese due tolack of proficiency or confidence, but I havecome to notice another possible reason. I
highly suspect that students cannot codeswitch to English due to the strong
relationship they have already developed witheach other outside the SALC. As I noticed therelationship between the students andteachers outside of K-SALC, I came to suspect

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

12

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
that many students don’t see K-SALC as a‘special’ place where students have to codeswitch to English, which means that being in
the SALC means nothing different for themfrom being any other places. I imagine thatspeaking English to someone with whom you
don't usually talk in English is not an easy
action, because it can be uncomfortable orembarrassing to change language tocommunicate with close friends. For example,
when I did an English conversation session
with a pair of students, they tried speaking
English to me. However, they tended to speak
much more Japanese to each other.
I suppose that once people develop aparticular relationship with each other using
languages in a particular way for that
relationship, they also develop such rules as
how to call each other, whether or not to use
honorifics, and what language to use. Most
students usually develop their relationships
with each other outside of K-SALC. It is
moreover likely that the students know thatsome of the English teachers can speak
Japanese, which, if true, explains why somestudents also speak to them in Japanese.
Indeed, when I was chatting with a student,
she revealed that she does not feel any
difference between being in K-SALC and otherfacilities. As she speaks to her friends andEnglish teachers in Japanese outside of KSALC, so does she in there too. I found her
opinion important for thinking about what KSALC means to the students. This has made me
decide it would be worth researching whether
or not many students feel similarly to her. If
so, they will need some stimuli that motivatethem to use English, and take them beyond
their pre-existing outside-SALC relationship.

Teachers keep emphasizing English use at
K-SALC, but teachers pushing students to use
English may not be the best kind of motivation
because it is highly extrinsic and students
might not value using English themselves. I
suppose that students need more
“subconscious” pressure that makes them feelthat they want to use English spontaneously.
For example, constantly playing TV shows orradio in English in K-SALC is one of the ways tomake the area more English abundant anddifferent from the outside world, hence
facilitating English use. These ideas are still
hypothetical, but I wish to explore how
students are feeling about language use in KSALC. At the same time, it will be useful to
ask them directly what can help them use
English. By making some changes in K-SALC
after listening to students’ feelings andopinions and observing their behavior, we will
be able to understand better how students canbe motivated to use English spontaneously.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

13

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles

SHORT ARTICLES | 小論
What Qualities Autonomous Teachers Should
Nurture to Promote Learner Autonomy
Kyoko Gruendel
Kanda University of International Studies<5161112@kuis.ac.jp>
During my later years in elementary school, I remember my homeroom teacher calling me
stupid. I responded to her, smiling at the same time, “Yep. You are right. I am stupid.” However,deep down, now when I think about it, I am not sure whether I really liked it or not. It was years
and years ago, but I might have been hurt, and I might have put on a facade of not caring. As my
motivation was always low, and I was the kind of student who always got bad grades, most of myteachers continued to look down on me until I was a second grader in junior high school. One day,my social studies teacher said to me, “You really ought to study hard, otherwise you won’t be able
to go to high school.” His comments really hit home. I decided to start sitting at my desk toreview the pages I had learned within that day. I continued to study like that until I got into
university.
By the time I was a university student, I decided to become an English teacher. Because of mypast experiences at junior high school, I was determined to become an English teacher who is nonjudgemental. That is, I do not want to judge my students based on how they look and talk. If they
study hard enough, they can achieve anything. Although I worked for foreign-affiliated andJapanese companies for 10 years before I finally became an English teacher, my thinking about
this didn’t change in the slightest and still remains the same today. I learned from my experiencesthat I will tell my learners if I can do it, they can do it. I would like to interact with my learners
with that in my mind and with respect. In a nutshell, if I am not motivated, how can my learners
be motivated?
After 10 years of working in business, I started teaching. I then began asking myself questions
such as “What does teaching really mean and how should I really teach? or “Is the way I teach mylearners OK? Shortly afterwards I learned that there is a TESOL Master’s program at Kanda
University of International Studies, and decided to apply. I started doing my Master’s in 2016, andsince then I have felt joy about learning every minute I study, even a sense of accomplishment
when I submit my term papers after a course is over. For some reason, I seem to have always
known that teachers need to be autonomous at a subconscious level if they expect their students
to be autonomous.
After taking a course in Learner Autonomy as part of my MA studies, my belief that teachers
need to be autonomous before they can expect their students to be so grew even stronger thanNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

14

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
before. To foster students’ autonomous language learning, Benson (2011) observed “teachers
themselves must display a degree of autonomy in their approaches to teaching and learning” (p.
185). I have also come to question how any learners could develop their own autonomy unlesstheir teachers themselves are autonomous. Little (1995) stated that “…since learning arises frominteraction, an interaction is characterized by interdependence, the development of autonomy inlearner presupposes the development of autonomy in teachers” (p. 175). Teachers interact with
their students in their classroom, and hence, naturally, teachers influence their own students intheir learning and teaching. In my case, for example, I use “near-peer role models” (Murphey,1998) during my class. Although age-wise my learners are much younger than I am, talking to mylearners in English as much and successfully as possible “increases my learners’ motivation andstrategy-choice while challenging limiting beliefs” (Murphey, 1998, p. 201). A few students
actually have come to me during breaks asking me how they could improve their English skills, or
telling me that they want to be able to speak English like I do. Although the number of students
who have talked with me like that is just a handful, there is a possibility that I might actually have
had some influence on other students as well. For reasons like this, teachers being autonomous isessentially prerequisite for students to foster their own autonomy. In the second half of this shortreflective article, I would like to share my opinions and views regarding what qualities
autonomous teachers should nurture in order to promote their students’ autonomy.
Dialogue and inquiry: Teachers might want to take some time to talk to or ask their students
questions regarding lessons activity contents to improve their teaching skills and approaches.
When I was a high school student and university student, I often asked my teachers questions. I
still ask my students many questions. In this sense, my students are my teachers. I believeautonomous teachers keep asking themselves and their own learners about how they can foster
autonomous learning for their own learners.
Dialogue and reflection: As a teacher seriously interested in teacher autonomy, I reflect before,
during, and after lessons. This is also why I ask my students and myself more questions related
to my teaching. In this sense, I’m a learner myself. In addition, I often write a reflective journal
in regard to what I teach and how I teach. I can try to improve my own teaching skills as well as
what steps I need to take for my learners’ language learning related to my teaching.
Positive attitude: I believe that autonomous teachers tend to have a positive attitude about
students having the capacity to learn autonomously. I started having a positive attitude toward
my students’ capacity to be able to learn more autonomously in and outside the classroom. By
this I mean that teachers should be equipped with their belief in their students’ capacity tolearn autonomously if we want to promote learners’ autonomy.
Continuous support: Based on my experience, autonomous teachers are more likely to continue
assisting their students until they can reach their goals every step of the way. Language learning
is to some extent a time investment and requires an interactive process with others. Hence,teachers’ continuous support related to their performance and interaction can lead to theirlearners becoming autonomous.
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

15

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
Proactive, continuous development of teacher autonomy: Teachers need to be open tocontinuous improvement and development of their skills and knowledge. “This is a sign ofteacher autonomy and itself further develops teacher autonomy” (Gruendel, 2018, p. 144). As
Little (1995) puts it, “...language teachers are more likely to succeed in promoting learnerautonomy if their own education has encouraged them to be autonomous” (p. 180). In my own
case, for example, I started educating myself more by attending lectures, and taking classes at
my graduate school related to teaching. By doing so, I learnt new ideas about teaching andhave applied some of these to my own teaching context and put them into practice.
Awareness raising: Autonomous teachers can raise students’ awareness to be more responsible forwhat they study and how they study because they were once learners who raised consciousnessof their own language learning. According to Kohonen (1992), “Raising the awareness of one’s
own learning and gaining an understanding of the process involved is thus an important key tothe development of autonomous learning” (as cited in Benson, 2011, p. 107). By becoming moreaware of their language learning, learners will learn to realize how important it is to study theirtarget language with their own clear and specific purposes.
Motivation: According to Dörnyei (2001), motivation is one of the key factors in learning alanguage. As Spratt, Humphreys, and Chan (2002) put it, it is motivation that precedes
autonomy. Without motivation, autonomy does not arise in students’ language learning.
Teachers play a significant role in fostering and encouraging students' motivation. If teachers
are not motivated, how would they know how to motivate their own students? Autonomousteachers can profoundly understand the value of motivation and how they can utilize it toencourage their learners to be autonomous in their learning and teaching. With this value,autonomous teachers can direct their learners into the right path for them to acquire theirsecond language and take greater control of their learning.
Encouraging learner control: If students are given opportunities to take control of their own
learning (Benson, 2011) and their learning is positive with teachers’ sufficient support, students
can assume their control of their own learning, and hence, take more responsibility for theirown learning. For instance, teachers can encourage peer-teaching and decision-making in theirlesson contents. Furthermore, having students choose their own homework, for example, fromavailable resources can enhance their decision-making for homework assignments tasks. Thisway, students can feel like they have more control over their learning and take more
responsibility for what they do and how they study.
Up until now, there has been some research done regarding this field (e.g., Smith & Erdoğan,2008; Mello, Dutra, & Jorge, 2008; Tehrani & Mansor, 2012). The eight elements that I haveproposed autonomous teachers should attend to in order to foster learner autonomy are based on
my subjective experiences and reflection in a second language teaching and learning classroom.
There are perhaps more elements to be nurtured to become an autonomous teacher. For example,
Little (1995) viewed an autonomous teacher as “... having a strong sense of personal responsibility
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

16

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
for their teaching, exercising via continuous reflection and analysis the highest possible degree ofaffective and cognitive control of the teaching process, and exploiting the freedom that thisconfers” (p. 179). Benson (2011) moreover mentions that the idea of teacher autonomy can beviewed as “...a professional capacity connected, on one hand, to the ability to control theprocesses involved in teaching and, on the other, to the ability to control one’s own development
as a teacher” (p. 189). However, there are also institutional settings to consider. Benson (2011)
adds that learner autonomy arises and progresses in school settings mainly through the transfer ofcontrol from teachers to students, many teachers work in conditions where the control they exert
is normally constrained by school rules and conventions. We also need to think about otherconstraining factors such as stakeholders including parents, other teachers, and administrators.
Benson goes on to say teachers’ willingness to go against the conventional wisdom of educational
systems and make efforts to create spaces within their working environments for students to takemore control over their learning is an important aspect of teacher autonomy.
I myself am still searching for more ways to show my autonomous aspects to my learners at
school. As Barfield et al. (2002) argue in the Shizuoka definition of teacher autonomy, theautonomous teacher is one who can understand different constraints on teaching and learning attheir own institution. In addition, they are willing to “confront institutional barriers in sociallyappropriate ways” and to change those constraints into affordances. I would like to keep
searching for better ways to be an autonomous teacher, while, at the same time, as Barfield et al.
(2002) put it, taking responsibility for my teaching and learning by first confronting whateverdifficulty might arise, secondly reflecting on my teacher role and teaching process and who canchange it in a socially acceptable manner, and finally committing myself to promoting learnerautonomy as my lifelong learning engagement at school into the foreseeable future.
References
Barfield, A., Ashwell, T., Carroll, M., Collins, K., Cowie, N., Critchley, M., Head, E., Nix, M.,
Obermeier, A., & Robertson, M. C. (2001). Exploring and defining teacher autonomy: Acollaborative discussion. In A. S. Mackenzie & E. McCafferty (Eds.), Developing Autonomy,
Proceedings of the College and University Educators’ 2001 Conference, Shizuoka, Japan (pp.
217-22). Tokyo: The Japan Association for Language Teaching.
Benson, P. (2011). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. Harlow, UK: Pearson.
Dörnyei, Z. (2001). Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Gruendel, K. (2018). The interrelationships between learner autonomy and teacher autonomy.
Relay Journal, 1(1), 142-46.
Little, D. (1995). Learning as dialogue: The dependence of learner autonomy on teacher
autonomy. System, 23(2), 175-81.
Mello, H., Dutra, D. P., & Jorge, M. (2008). Action research as a tool for teacher autonomy. DELTA:
Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada, 24, 512-528. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_issuetoc&pid=0102-445020080003&lng=en&nrm=iso
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

17

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
Murphey, T. (1998). Motivating with near peer role models. In B. Visgatis (Ed.), On JALT ’97: Trends
and transitions (pp. 205-209). Tokyo: The Japan Association for Language Teaching.
Smith, R., & Erdoğan, S. (2008). Teacher-learner autonomy: Programme goals and student-teacher
constructs. In T. Lamb & H. Reinders (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy: Concepts, realities,
and responses (pp. 83-103). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Spratt, M., Humphreys, G., & Chan, V. (2002). ‘Autonomy and motivation: Which comes first?’
Language Teaching Research, 6(3), 245-56.
Tehrani, I. A., & Mansor, W.F.A.W. (2012). The influence of ‘teacher autonomy in obtaining
knowledge’ on ‘class practice’. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 66, 544-54.

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

18

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles

My Learning Journey to Be a Confident English User
Yuri Kawasako
Kanda University of International Studies<yr918.ksep@gmail.com>
Introduction
I graduated from Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) in March 2019 and now work
as a business person. One day I thought that looking back on my four years’ experience at KUIS
and writing up my reflection is necessary for me as the last thing to do before starting a newchapter in my life. Therefore, I decided to share what I have done since I enrolled at university,
what I have learned throughout my experience, and also how it will benefit me in the future. Most
importantly, I hope that reading this essay encourages you, the reader, to have confidence inyourself.
First of all, I will explain why I spent time studying English and describe what I have learned
from it separating each year below. When I was a high school student, I wanted to be a hotel
receptionist and thought I could improve my English skill if I went to a university like KUIS. At thetime, English was my least favorite subject so that I got akaten, less than 30 points out of 100, in
a midterm exam. I was not motivated to learn English; that is, I felt I had to study English for myfuture job.
Freshman year
On the very first day of the required English class in KUIS, I heard a lot of my classmates hadstudied abroad, traveled overseas, or taken global courses that offer many English classes in theirhigh schools. Then, I realized I was the only one who had never had any of those experiences
before, and I was embarrassed about my English speaking ability that I could only say “My name is
Yuri. Nice to meet you.” I felt anxious about the huge difference between me and others. In
addition to this, I am very competitive so I could not stand the situation where I was and I did notwant them to be ahead of me. These feelings made me motivated to study English hard. The moretime passed, the more I got to like English and had a little fun in classes. I was able to talk with
my classmates a little bit better and even ask them simple questions, and give opinions using easy
words. Additionally, my score on the TOEIC test jumped up 170 points compared with the one I
took before entering KUIS. These positive experiences made me notice that my English skill had
been developing. On the other hand, talking to my teachers and classmates in English outside ofclasses was difficult for me because I did not still have confidence when people heard my wrong
English, especially my pronunciation. By the time the first year was over, I enjoyed studying andlearning English a little bit more. I felt like I overcame my weakness and the fact that I did not
like English. This year was just the first small step towards a big change that happened to me
later.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

19

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
Sophomore year
In the spring semester of the second year, I set a goal which was to get 650 on TOEIC in order
to meet graduation requirements. I took a required class for achieving the target score. At thetime, I belonged to the school festival committee which is a volunteer group for managing aschool festival, and I expected that I would be much busier in the fall semester. One of my friends
who was also in the committee took the same TOEIC class, and we decided to get 650 in the TOEIC
test together within the spring semester, and it made us study much harder. Though finding study
time was challenging, I used my commuting time for memorizing vocabulary and reading short
English articles for the TOEIC study. Whenever we met in the class, we always shared our progressor difficulties of what we learned and asked some vocabulary questions to each other. I had
thought that studying with others would distract me, but it did not. It actually made me havemotivation by competing with a classmate. Thanks to studying with him, I passed the requirementby the time the spring semester was over. In the fall semester, because preparation for the school
festival was much busier than I anticipated, I did not have any spare time for studying English. The
top priority at the moment was the festival. After the fall semester, I joined the sophomore wintercamp where students could look back on what we did regarding English for two years with otherstudents and teachers. I talked with Mr. Sakai, the former KUIS President, and each of theparticipants set a goal for our language learning. He encouraged me to challenge myself more,
and his suggestion made me notice that I had never done anything for my English studies by myself
when I looked back on the past two years. I had studied for the TOEIC for the university
requirement, not for myself.
Junior year
In this year, I tried a lot of things, and each of them was unforgettable for me. It was the mostmeaningful year I have ever had. In the first semester, I took a class using the Massive Open Online
Course (MOOC) model. I was taking Basic First Aid: How To Be an Everyday Hero and learned how
to manage emergencies. Most 4th-year students and transfer students from our sister college werepassionate about improving their English skills, and I got inspired by them. This feeling was exactly
the same as when I was a freshman student surrounded by enthusiastic students. The obvious
difference compared with my first year was that I had got more confidence thanks to what I had
done in English classes for the past two years. I realized the meaning of English to me hadcompletely changed. I had studied English because it was a requirement until I became a junior.
By reading online articles, writing reflections, and discussing with classmates, English became atool to learn new things and verbalize my thoughts with others. I got to be able to enjoy giving
opinions and comments in English. At the time, I remember it felt fun communicating using
English. I was taking a module which helps students’ self-directed learning as language learners in
the first semester as well because I wanted to force myself to study harder until studying became
my habit. It gave me more opportunities to use English outside of classes. Because of taking the
MOOC course and the module, I had become more interested in self-directed learning. That was
why I took another self-directed learning class in the fall semester. I studied for the TOEIC reading
in a small group in the class, and all of the group members were so much better at English than I
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

20

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
was. I wanted to catch up with them and not give up on this situation. Having such feelings andstudying together with competitors, peer learning worked really well for me. I was always excitedabout going to class and solving problems with my classmates. I realized my English ability had
greatly improved throughout this year.
Internship in Malaysia
I joined an internship program in Malaysia over the summer break in my third year. One of thereasons why I started thinking about joining the overseas internship was I had never been abroad
before, and I thought I did not need to study abroad for practicing English, but it was the time togo outside of Japan to have some experiences using my English ability. I think the first semester of
my junior year was the reason to have such feelings. Throughout the internship, my point of view
definitely changed, and it felt like spending the summer abroad had broadened my horizons. I
learned the importance of giving my ideas to others proactively and having confidence to speak inyour second language. In other words, telling your ideas is more important than your language
abilities because no one can understand what you think unless you say any words that describe
your feelings. Unfortunately, I did not notice it until I joined the internship. On the first day of theinternship, my anxiety got bigger than before I left Japan. People in Malaysia had different
accents and we both could not understand what we were trying to say. I was really worried about
if I could get through it at first. Meeting a lot of people, working with them, and having
conversations with them, I gradually got used to the accents. At the same time, my confidence
also increased because they understood what I said even though my pronunciation was not fluent
and clear. I just looked at the tip of the iceberg in the first place, but on second thought, Malaysia
is a multinational country and people have different accents for sure. When I noticed it, I did notknow why I had really cared about my accent all the time and felt like I was an idiot. I was always
a perfectionist whenever I did something. Instead of caring about my pronunciation too much, I
realized all I have to do is just step outside of my world and be proactive not to miss chances.
Trying new things that you never have done before is a little scary and you may feel anxiety, but I
realized the internship made me have confidence in my English and be more proactive as aperson. Moreover, this internship program experience told me that I could evaluate my English
skills not only my TOEIC score but also interactions with others using English.
Senior year
I always gave up new things I had always wanted before I actually tried. However, I wanted tohave new experience, so I just decided to give it a shot before thinking whether I am good at it ornot. I had once joined the Kaede program which is a volunteer activity to talk with exchange
students to help their Japanese improve, but I did not communicate with them so often. In thisyear, I had a lot of opportunities related to helping exchange students, I made friends with them,and made many memories. Another new challenge was that I started working as a peer tutor who
has been taking TOEIC and raised the score by studying with a study buddy. I had never taught
anyone anything, and I was the one who always asked for help. Making a balance for tutoring andjob hunting was very difficult to manage my time and motivation. Every time I took the second
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

21

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
best for a tutoring session, inside of me said “Are you sure? Your hard work will go down the drain
if you give up right now.” Actually, asking myself the question helped me a lot and made me feelbetter. Doing a lot of things at the same time, I noticed it is sometimes necessary because of mybusy schedule. The busier I get, the more important I think it is to spend time doing things
productively and becoming more flexible. Making a weekly plan to manage class assignments,
preparation for tutoring, and job hunting every week were tough and took time, but once I got toused to it, I was able to do it easier and quicker, and everything went my way. Through thetutoring program, I also learned the difference between teaching someone and learning by myself,
because I needed to think about others and explain so they can understand. Through teaching
younger students English, I could gain confidence in my English more. My dream, to be a hotel
receptionist, changed to wanting to work internationally using English. If I had still hated English, I
am positive I would not have thought I wanted to work overseas. I was glad that although it has
been taking time, I overcame my weakness and gained confidence moving towards my new dream.
After I was done with my job hunting, in order to keep up my English ability and make the most of
my time using the facilities in SALC (Self-Access Learning Center), I took a module program again
and used the conversation desk. My fear of losing English skills led me to succeed. I finally got 905
points on TOEIC and achieved my goal that I discussed with the former President.
Conclusion
My four years at KUIS gave me a lot of confidence in myself. I think I totally grew as a person
through overcoming my weakness that I was not good at English and turning it out to be mystrength. What I changed the most is that I like studying and seeing how I improve. I want to say
to the readers that it is not essential if you are good at things or not; yet, your efforts are
everything. All you have to do at first is to take action. I realized no matter how much time you
take to achieve your goals or you cannot get results that you expected at first, your efforts willdefinitely pay off at the end. Looking back, one thing I still regret is that I did not try to havethese experiences earlier. I cannot actually take myself back in time, but it is not too late tocatch up on things from now; thus, I will keep trying not to feel regret. Before I realized it, I had
always made excuses not to fail. Now, I am never afraid of making mistakes or failing, because
taking actions makes my horizons wider and my life better. My four year experience was a turning
point in my life. How does the whole experience lead me to make my future better? Of course, I
will continue learning English for my career. My new goal is to become a global person working andcommunicating internationally. I think confidence that I have gained from what I have done orachieved is always my strength and I will never forget it. I mean when you try new things, you
might face problems and struggle with them, but later, you will feel a sense of accomplishment
and might see a new aspect of yourself. For me, I believe ‘my never-give-up mindset’ can help me
and motivate me even if my environment changes dramatically. I am really excited to do newthings in the future. No matter what happens or what I bump into, in order to be the person I
want to be, I will follow these words as my life quotes; ‘don’t make excuses, take action, and be
more confident.’

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

22

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles

Sharing my volunteering and study abroad
experiences with my classmates
Megumi Tokuda
Faculty of English Literature, Kyoto Women’s University<daaaaaaance.55@gmail.com>

Introduction
My name is Megumi Tokuda and I am a fourth-year student studying English Literature at Kyoto
Women’s University. When I was a second-year student, I studied abroad in Edmonton, Canada foreight months to improve my English skills through a program at my university. I had a fantastic
experience in Canada because the connections I made with many local communities made me amore outgoing, persistent, responsible and positive person. When I returned to Japan, I was
required to make a short presentation about my study abroad experience. Instead of doing atypical PowerPoint presentation, I decided to make a digital story about my time in Edmonton.
This short reflective article will share some of my overseas memories such as working withhomeless people and studying First Nations culture as well as the things I learned creating a digitalstorytelling project.

Studying and Volunteering in Canada
I was very surprised to learn that there are so many homeless people after I started living in
Canada. At the same time, I felt I wanted to know their background stories through doing
volunteer work. Therefore, I asked one of my advisors at the University of Alberta, the school
where I studied abroad, about volunteering at a homeless shelter. She supported my application
for a volunteer position and told me that the interviews are like a “three-legged race.” I did notknow what my advisor meant but I felt that interviewing for a volunteer position would be aneffective way to develop my speaking skills. To prepare for the interviews, I had to look into thecharacteristics of a particular homeless shelter and explain why I wanted to volunteer there. In
addition, I needed to learn some basic facts about Canadian homeless people. I had interviews
with five organisations. My advisor recommended me to try for an interview first with one of theleading legal-support organizations called Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Actually I didn’t get
beyond the interview stage with them, but the interviewer said since I was very passionate about
helping individuals who are homeless, she wanted to suggest some other organizations where I
might help out and make a difference in this very important cause. Thanks to her suggestion, twohomeless shelters in Edmonton, the Boyle Street Community Services and Hope Mission,interviewed me and allowed me to be a volunteer. As a result, I volunteered at these shelters for a
total of 145 hours over 5 months.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

23

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
These organizations support homeless people in different ways. At the Hope Mission, I mainly
cooked and served food to homeless people. Since I could communicate with different volunteers
every time I volunteered, I tried to cherish this “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

I made a good friend there who was studying to be a social worker, and she taught me a lot.
Since there were so many homeless people going there, the volunteers had limited time and space
so everyone needed to work efficiently. I also joined several events in which Home Mission was asponsor. For example, in the ‘Cold Hands, Warm Hearts’ campaign, we held a fundraising walk to
support hungry men, women and children. It was a very successful event that raised a grand total
of $42,848.55 Canadian dollars.

In the Boyle Street Community Services, my main duty was to assist the work of theorganization in different ways. When I first started, I was the only volunteer and theadministrators regarded me as a visitor so they did not ask me to do many tasks. Moreover, since
all the staff are professionals such as nurses and nursing students, they are busy people who areused to helping homeless people so they know what they need to do. Therefore, I often felt likethere was a lack of communication with the staff. I guess we were also feeling a language barrier
with each other. Despite such difficulties, I tried to make them welcome me warmly. I greeted
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

24

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
everyone with a smile and asked lots of questions and made notes when I did not understandsomething. I also kept thinking how to interact with homeless people. They gradually accepted me
into their community.

After a tough 4-month orientation period, the other staff placed their trust in me. I was put incharge of the coffee service, which is essential for homeless people, and I also helped train new
volunteers. Even though it took four months for them to rely on me, I realized that there is aheavy responsibility to help people in need. I still remember my advisor telling me during the 'Cold
Hands, Warm Heart' event, “You’re not just volunteering for yourself to meet people and learn
English, you are actually helping Edmonton and the community.” These words touched me deeply
and helped give me confidence about my new life in Canada.
The homeless people I met were really kind to me. This completely changed my perspectives
about homeless people. I used to believe stereotypes such as most homeless people are often
suffering from mental illnesses. While it may be true that the homeless tend to have a higher rateof mental illness than the non-homeless and have difficulty reintegrating into society again, I had
learnt to be afraid of approaching and talking to them. However, since there are so many
homeless in Canada, I began to question these stereotypes. I noticed that many of the homelesspeople who visited the Boyle Street Mission are Indigenous people. They taught me some Creewords and talked to me about their culture. One older Indigenous man remembered my name andthe discussions we had. It was a really moving moment for me because every time he saw me hewould say “Megumi!” Although this man was really old and suffered from epileptic seizures, he
was always cheerful.
Many people who come to the Boyle Street mission have difficult lives and abuse alcohol anddrugs. It was impossible for the staff to deal with these serious issues, but they provided people
with information about various social services, food, and a warm place to meet. The homelesspeople I met had colorful backgrounds so I often felt sorry about their situations. I would listen towhat they said but never meddle in anyone’s life. The First Nations people I volunteered with andmet at the shelter made me want to learn more about their history. Therefore, I took a Native
Studies course which focused on Aboriginal history in Canada. I enjoyed this class and learned thatIndigenous people have faced many challenges such as racism and poverty.
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

25

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
Sharing My Overseas Experiences in Japan
When I returned to Japan, I wanted to share my memories with my family and friends. I also
had to make a PowerPoint Presentation for a presentation class about my study abroad
experience. I bumped into a former teacher of mine in the campus convenience store, talked
about my trip to Canada, and mentioned that I was nervous about the upcoming presentation. He
suggested that I make a short video about my time in Canada because “you already know how to
do it.”

Before going to Edmonton, I had taken a creative writing course and the final project was agroup digital storytelling project. At the time, I had no idea what a digital story was and did nothave confidence in my ICT skills to make a short video. According to Nishioka (2016), digitalstorytelling is the “process of crafting, multimodal narratives using video editing software or Web
2.0-based applications” (p. 39). It involves putting different items such as photos, video clips,
music, voice files, written text, and transition effects into one story. By the end of the creative
writing course, I could use iMovie to make a creative video about an original group of superheroes.
The more I thought about it, a digital story would be a great way to share my study abroad
experiences. My smartphone had lots of photos and short videos and I felt sure that my classmateswould rather watch a digital story than a PowerPoint presentation. I ended up making a 6-minutedigital story divided into three parts. In the first part, I showed positive images of Canada such assightseeing spots and my fulfilling life studying abroad. For example, I included photos of thefriends I made when I belonged to a local kendo club and dodgeball team. I also talked about what
students can expect to experience studying at the University of Alberta. After that, I had thepositive sounds of Indigenous music playing in the background as I talked about my volunteeringexperiences and why there are so many homeless people in Canada. I examined the problems they
face, especially those of the Aboriginal women who live on the streets. In the final part of thevideo, I concluded that we need to face problems shared by the world’s Indigenous peoples and do
more to help the homeless in Japan. My classmates really seemed to enjoy my digital story andsome of them said they changed their mind about Canada.
Conclusion
Through volunteering at these two homeless shelters I found that many of the homeless were
Indigenous people. After meeting many Indigenous people with a wide range of values, I have
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

26

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Short Articles
come to explore their difficulties and dilemmas and let others know about this too. Digitalstorytelling could inspire students and provide them with important visual images. I believe thatthe video I created also helped them learn more about the problems Indigenous people face evennow. Thanks to my experiences in Canada, I broadened my horizons and started to see life fromdifferent angles. After I finish my undergraduate studies, I now plan on going to graduate school tostudy anthropology and I would like to focus on Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
Reference
Nishioka, H. (2016). Analysing language development in a collaborative digital storytelling project:
Sociocultural perspectives. System, 62, 39-52.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

27

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): LD SIG Grant Awardees’ Reports

LD SIG Grant Awardees’ Reports |LD SIG 研究助成金受賞者の報告
Building learner resilience in the classroom: A conversation
with Judith O’Loughlin, plenary speaker at JALT2018
Gretchen Clark, Ritsumeikan University, <gretchen3clark@gmail.com>
Judith B. O'Loughlin has taught in K-12, adult education, and graduate
university TESOL endorsement programs. She has also consulted and taught
for U.S. federal and state grants to train ESL and Special Educationteachers. As a consultant, her focus is on standards-based differentiatedcurriculum, collaborative teaching, and newcomers with interrupted
education. She is the author of the Academic Language Accelerator(Oxford) and co-author of Students with Interrupted Formal Education: Where They Are and What
They Need (Corwin).
On the Monday morning of the JALT 2018 conference in Shizuoka this past November, I wasfortunate that plenary speaker, Judith O’Loughlin, was willing to chat with me about resilienceand how to nurture it in the classroom. We touched on several topics but the most meaningful tome are included in the short excerpt below.

Listening to Judith’s plenary at the JALT International Conference in Shizuoka, it was apparent
to me that two powerful factors in the promotion of resilience in any context, both the personaland educational, may be: first, having a positive attitude and second, having a safe environment inwhich to grow. In her many years as a teacher mentor/ educator in the ESL context, Judy has
worked with several students who come from tough communities or unstable home lives and others
who have linguistic challenges learning English as a second language. Confronted with a variety ofstressors such as these, practicing resilience becomes very important for her students if they are to
succeed both in the classroom and in life itself.
I am interested in how resilience might come into play in my context: the tertiary level EFL
classroom at a private university in Japan. While my students may or may not have adverse
personal lives, I feel Judy’s ideas about resilience could be explored in the classroom and prove tobe helpful for university students both as learners of English and also on the personal front. For
example, Judy spoke of several classroom models used to promote resilience. Grotberg’s (1995) ‘I
have /I am/ I can’ framework can be used by educators to help each individual learner pinpoint
support in their immediate community (‘I have~’), inner strengths (‘I am~’), and abilities (‘I can~’).
She also mentioned Soto’s version: the ‘I have~’ / ‘I will have~’ model, which she describes below:
Newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

28

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):LD SIG Grant Awardees’ Reports

Judith O’Loughlin (JO): Mary Soto of the Department of Teacher Education at Cal State East
Bay University, California did it when she was teaching high school. She uses a lot of her ideas fromwhen she taught high school to work with pre-service teachers. So that they can visually see what
the strengths are that they have right now and how they will move the things they don’t have yet
into the ‘I will have’ area. Using visuals is important. It's not just cerebral but seeing things. So in
your life you think about all these things you need to do. For me, making lists of things I have to do
and moving them from what I have to do to I've done them, that visual helps me a lot.
Gretchen Clark (GC): I like the way you frame it so it's positive. There's nothing ‘I can't’ do. It is‘I will’ be able to do this and it implies that I can't do it right now, but there's a hope when you
frame it that way.
JO: Yes and you want to do that. I mean you do that with your own children, your spouse or
your significant other. You're always encouraging them. You're praising them for what they've done
and you're looking forward to being able to do, their being able to do more.
GC: Right. So at the end of the day to be resilient you can't really focus on what you can't do.
You just have to push forward.
Later in the interview, after recounting a personal story about how she handled her father’s
hospitalization and struggle with heart disease, we discussed the stressors she experienced withbalancing her desire to be by his side but also care for her children. Armed with coloring books andcrayons, she took her children to the hospital and accomplished both: Her children participated in
his care by drawing him pictures. It was then she realized that a potentially negative situation had
seamlessly turned into a positive for everyone involved. She remarked, “The positive is what makes
you become resilient. Not looking at something from the negatives.” This personal story helped meunderstand the powerful connection between positive thinking and resilience.
Using Soto’s model, it would be easy for a classroom EFL teacher to encourage students to thinkpositively about their L2 learning by having them reflect on and pinpoint strengths skills or abilities
they already possess. Drawing attention to these positives and providing opportunities to practiceand excel, with guided reflection included, could be integral to the promotion of resilience. It
could be a useful reflective tool to use at the beginning and end of the term as a way for learners
to track changes in their development. I like how the model forces students to consider what they
already have in their life that is a support (‘I have ~’), but also invites them to envision their future
support system (‘I will have~’).
In my classroom, I might change the model to ‘Now’ / ‘At the end of the term’ and havestudents focus on abilities. I feel the ‘Now’/’At the end of the term’ phrasing would still capture
the essence of the model but also make the meaning more concrete for my lower proficiency
students. It also seems fitting to keep the model centered on learning topics rather than any
personal issues as some students may not want to share information with classmates about theirhome lives.
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

29

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): LD SIG Grant Awardees’ Reports
For example, at the beginning of a course, my students could make a poster outlining theircurrent perceptions of their English abilities (‘Now’). They might note the skills they are mostproud of, highlight recent episodes of language learning
Now…
success, or describe any abilities on the ‘Now’ side. On the ‘At
the end of the term’ side, they might write any language
learning goals or abilities they hope to hone. The students could
share their ideas with each other as a relationship building
activity. Then, the poster could be revisited midway through theterm and again at the end to help each student track her/his language learning progress. As part ofa portfolio, this activity may prove to be a simple, concrete, yet effective, way for students andteacher to get at the heart of who each student is and who they want to be. In the end, the poster
created during activity might well serve as an excellent multimodal account of L2 progress andhelp foster resilience should any learning stumbling blocks occur.
Another way teachers could cultivate resilience is by providing emotional support. Judy spoke at
length about the importance of teachers getting to know students and their families. Cultivating
trust with all members of a learner’s support system helps build communities where young people
feel safe to grow. Here she related a story of a primary school age Korean child and her family that
had immigrated to her community in California and the obstacles she faced as the girl’s ESL
teacher:
JO: They lived across the street from the school. The mother was the chief caretaker. The
father was very busy with business. Their daughter was literally afraid to speak and she did not talkfor almost three years. She didn't talk in the classroom. She didn't answer questions. By the middleof the second year it was apparent that she had gained a lot of receptive language and that she
really understood what was going on in the classroom.
And observed on the playground, the young girl could interact with minimal language with otherkids. The mother also was so worried about her and that made this cycle of ‘the mom's worried andso the kid was anxious and then she didn't speak’. In that situation I went with the mother to asocial worker and talked about how we can help the mother stop enabling her daughter to besilent.
GC: So as a teacher what were you doing in your classroom to make, to try to get her to speak?
JO: I paired her with another student when we had activities and so they worked together.
GC: Yes, at least in the university I find that all of the onus is not on me to make my students
resilient. I think they get a lot of support from their classmates. It's what they say to each other. In
my discussion classes we practice "Oh that's a good idea", which gives the other person confidence
to speak up more.

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

30

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):LD SIG Grant Awardees’ Reports

JO: I think they do that in elementary school too. Of course, it depends on the classroom
teacher and also the ESL teacher but if you can create the idea of a community, a community
together, I think it's a really big thing.
While I don’t have contact with my students’ families, classroom community building is possible
and could promote resilience. To me, honoring both the successes and failures of a learner in a safe
atmosphere is a practice that would benefit learners. Connected to this, Judy described a ‘morning
meeting’ activity in which both teacher and students begin the day by conversing with each otherabout any worries or stresses they may be feeling. This activity could humanize classroom
relationships and thereby create a safe classroom environment where students cultivate
confidence. I recently tried this simple activity with a small upper intermediate Speaking class at a
women’s university. I participated as well, relating some stressors I had experienced that morning
getting my five-year old to daycare on time. We all had a good laugh and I felt better equipped tostart a long day of teaching. I remember feeling how wonderful it was to connect on a personallevel with the students before any serious language learning tasks had begun.
In sum, as I revisit my discussion with Judy, I am struck with how important resilience is for ourdaily lives both in and out of the classroom. While sometimes hard to practice, with support fromothers and a positive attitude, we can and will succeed in some capacity. The end result may notmaterialize as one imagines, but in the end we are stronger and better equipped to handle any
kind of hurdle. Finally, as a main adult figure in a student’s life, it is important for teachers toprovide a place for exploration of the self, help learners learn from mistakes and ultimately
cultivate a sense of resilience and drive to tackle any obstacle, be it connected with learning orotherwise.
I want to thank Judy for taking the time to sit and discuss her ideas with me for this grant report.
And also a big thank you to the Learner Development SIG for offering the grant and enabling me toattend the conference.

Reference
Grotberg, E. (1995). A guide to promoting resilience in children: Strengthening the human spirit.
The Hague, Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation. Retrieved from https://bibalex.org/
baifa/Attachment/Documents/115519.pdf What I learned from my first conference

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

31

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Looking Back | 報告

LOOKING BACK | 報告
Reflections
on Creating
Community:
Learning
Together 4
Andy Barfield, Ken
Ikeda, Jenny
Morgan, & James
Underwood
Creating Community:
Learning Together 4 took place on Sunday
December 16, 2018 with over 31 poster
presentations/digital displays by both students
and teachers. This small-scale, informal
afternoon conference offered opportunities forstudents and teachers to learn together fromeach other about different experiences,questions and issues to do with learnerdevelopment. As the final Tokyo get-togetherof the year, we aimed to keep presentation
formats informal and interactive. There were
three rounds of poster presentations anddigital displays, with each round followed bysmall discussion and reflection circles for 10
minutes in pairs and small groups in eachpresentation room. The conference finishedwith a plenary session where participants andpresenters had a chance to share reflections
and questions about creating community andlearning together, while designing a poster that
documented their experiences. The
participants were then invited to formally
write up these reflections and we include here

three of these.
Our thanks go to everybody who helped out
and participated in the conference, as well as
to Aki Kubota & Dexter Da Silva, Haruka
Shintani & Nick Kasperek, Jim Ronald & Robert
Moreau who contributed their reflections.

Reflections on CCLT4 from Aki
Kubota and Dexter Da Silva
Aki Kubota, 3rd year student, Facultyof Law, Chuo University
I participated in the Creating Community:
Learning Together 4 (CCLT4) and gave mypresentation about Burmese youth integrationin Canada. Overall, I had a great experiencethrough talking and discussing about specificcases in Canada to do with refugees withpeople I met for the first time at theconference. For example, how different is thesituation of Burmese youth refugees in ruraland urban areas? What difficulties have
Burmese youth faced at school, in theworkplace, and at home, with friends, family,
neighbors and people with whom they work?
Also, I talked about why I was interested in theissue as well as my experience of researching
and learning about development issues in thespring semester and then doing fieldworkinterviews about multilingual education for
ethnic minority children for two and a halfweeks last summer in Myanmar. In thisreflection, I would like to report what I
learned at CCLT4 and improvements andchanges that I can make for next time.
While I saw how other teachers andstudents presented, what I learned most wasNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

32

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):that engaging people in your presentation andseeing carefully someone who joins in the
middle of your presentation are very importantand challenging to actually carry out. I foundmany great models about how to do this in thefirst and second rounds so that, when it cameto my own presentation, I tried my hand at
looking at my audience carefully. However,things did not work out completely as planned.
In fact, while I was giving my presentation, I
could not do well in letting many otherstudents and teachers join the discussions andbe interested in my research issue. In the end,
I was unable to give any comments about what
the audience discussed.
In terms of improvement and changes, I
should have learned more about how to makethe investigation area narrow. I got feedback
about my research and presentation after thethird round. A teacher told me that my topic,
Burmese youth integration in Canada, wasgreat and important to discuss with people,
but I should have examined specific cases suchas Burmese youth in Canada who live in avillage or a remote part of Toronto. I was
grateful to get this important feedback andthat would be of help in improving my researchand presentation skills in the future.
At CCLT4 I learned a lot from people I did notknow before. I also learnt how to makeconnections with people throughpresentations, discussions and reviews. I
believe that there is a reason why I could nothandle it. I did not feel very knowledgeable
and ready to discuss with people and give astrong opinion although I had researched about
Burmese youth integration in Canada and gave
the presentation about it. Although I have still
many bad points, I believe that taking part inthis conference was a great learning chance to

Looking Back | 報告
find out what is necessary to be improved infuture presentations and discussions and I
would like to join CCLT in 2020 and take partagain.

Dexter Da Silva, Keisen University
This was my third time participating in
CCLT and my second time presenting. I
presented on the topic of Self-Directed
Learning, which is the focus of the class inwhich I teach Keisen students who alsopresented at CCLT. A couple of people came to
my poster presentation because they were alsointerested in that topic, so I had two short
discussions on it. However, I learnt much morefrom the wide variety of poster presentations I
saw and listened to, especially the student
presentations. I could really feel inspired by
the display of learning that is going on atuniversities in Japan.
The poster presentation I was mostinterested in was Aki Kubota’s on Burmese
youth integration in Canada. I wanted to know
more about the situation and the problems
because I know nothing about it but am very
interested in Burma / Myanmar and Burmese
emigration. I could see and understand the
difficulties that Aki wrote about that she had,because a couple of other people were also
very interested in the topic and had strong
opinions about Canada and immigration issues.
So it developed into a very lively discussion.
However, I perceive this as a positive result of
the topic and content of the poster
presentation which stimulated the discussion.
Aki’s reflection shows, I believe, theunpredictable directions that learning together
can take. This is part of the excitement of
events like CCLT.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

33

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Looking Back | 報告

Rejuvenated Learning and“Active Learning”:
Reflections on CCLT4 from
Haruka Shintaku and Nick
Kasparek
Haruka Shintaku, 2nd year student,
Department of international Society,
Faculty of Human and Social studies,
Keisen University
Before I joined this event, I was only
thinking about the achievement of mypresentation. But as I listened to and watchedmore and more presentations, and talked witha lot of people, I got interested in many things,
especially diversity, identity, and theconnections between Japan and Hawaii.
My theme is "My English Journey". I like
English since I was a child. But after entering
university, I had many things which I want todo; volunteer work, study English, study
manything ...etc. But I don't have time fordoing everything. I had many things to do then.
So I thought "I give up things I want to do,
because I can't do." And I didn't study English
so much, and also other subjects too . But I
noticed it was wrong. I just escaped. I havedifferent thought which I will not escape. I will
do anything hard. And I decided to continue"My English Journey".
At CCLT4 I was most interested in“Identity”. Identity is involved in many thingsin complex ways, such as people's life
histories, the languages that they use, and thedifferent groups they belong to. One
presentation was about the people who grewup with different languages. From listening tothis presentation, I started to want to know
about how such people’s identities develop.
Persons having parents from different
countries would seem to have two cultures,
while persons having parents from the same
country would seem to have one culture. I
don’t know how we could determine whichcountries, nationalities, or ethnic group such
persons belong to. But the presenter said,“Actually, there is no race in the world.” Thismeans that people should choose and decide
who they are by themselves. This is what ismeant by “building identities.” I also want tobuild my own identity.
I found myself wanting to learn a lot morethings, both in university and beyond. I alsodecided to learn seriously for the rest of myuniversity life. I noticed that I haven’t learned
many things for about two years. I thus plan torestart my university life.

Nick Kasparek, Tokyo University ofForeign Studies
Like Haruka, I got a lot out of theinteractions both about my own presentationand others’ presentations. It was especiallyinteresting to see different perspectives anddata on learner motivation, note-taking, andreflection. Many presentations reinforced forNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

34

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):me that learning is an internal process thatteachers can try to encourage, but can neverhope to completely control. In this sense,
then, all learning is “active learning.” My
presentation described part of the discovery
process of what we mean when we callsomething “active learning,” particularly inthe context of an English language course forteacher trainees with institutionally required“active learning” assignments. I drew uponideas that emerged through classroom
discussions with my students as inquiry
partners to come to new understandings of theterm by juxtaposing our perspectives, throughexperimentation with learning tasks thatevolved as we tried them out, and through myown reflections in dialogue with the academic
literature. This dialogue was further enrichedat the conference, as I learned from anotherparticipant that in the official Japanesecontext (directed by MEXT), “active learning”
involves three main components: autonomy,
interaction, and deep learning. While each ofthese terms would also need to be unpacked,
these components accord well with what mystudents told me in discussion and with theactive learning assignment that my students
and I experimented with: using course
concepts to conduct challenging and relatively
autonomous collaborative education researchas teacher trainees, designing a poster
together, and presenting it at CCLT4. In short,the assignments seemed to become a form ofcollaborative project-based learning.
While MEXT’s three official components
seemed present in our course’s active learningassignments, what my students and I seemed
to value most about the project—and whatmade it “really active,” or “meccha active,”for them—was how it involved them in doing

Looking Back | 報告
real research, that is, actually doing andthinking about what an educator-scholar
actually does. Building on the official
components, especially the “deep learning”
aspect, I therefore suggest that teachers inJapan also find inspiration in complementaryideas from the broader literature on
curriculum design (Bean, 2011; Fink, 2013; vanLier, 1996). Retaining the focus on autonomy
and interaction, “deep learning” could then be
helpfully understood as involving direct
experiences with relevant inquiry and focusedreflection on learning. As Bean (2011) argues,
active learning is especially likely to occur insmall groups critically discussing pertinent
puzzles that help students become“autonomous thinkers who can join theconversation of the discipline” (p. 200).
Similarly, Fink (2013) stresses that taken
holistically, active learning involves “realaction in an authentic setting” (p. 120), findingfor oneself and using relevant information andideas, and reflecting on changes inunderstanding. Meanwhile, van Lier (1996)
emphasizes that the authentic use of language,
autonomy such as that involved in conducting
collaborative research on group-chosen
puzzles, and heightened awareness of learning,such as through shared reflection, are each key
elements of not only active learning generally
but especially of language learning. Involving
students in relevant collaborative inquiry andguiding focused reflection emerge as common
key elements of active learning in thisliterature, and these elements provide a
helpful framework for group research projects
as assignments that fulfill “active learning”
requirements in a more meaningful way,particularly in English language education
courses.

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

35

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Looking Back | 報告
Through CCLT4, I gained further confidence
that the time is ripe for discussion about what
we as teachers and learners want from “active
learning” tasks, whether or not these aremandated from above. The way that mystudents and I—along with various conference
attendees—seemed to find enriched sharedunderstandings of “active learning” gives mehope that other teachers can similarly work
toward their own better understandings
through dialogue. My hope is that bycontinuing to attend to the meaning of active
learning and to suggest frameworks for its
actual practice, I can help to extend this
discussion.
References
Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The
professor’s guide to integrating writing,critical thinking, and active learning in theclassroom (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning
experiences, revised and updated an
integrated approach to designing college
courses (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language
curriculum: Awareness, autonomy, andauthenticity. New York, NY: Longman.
Reflections from Jim Ronald and Robert
MoreauFrom Jim Ronald
In the final shared reflection with Robert,
words such as shock and struggle, realizing
being challenged and even breakdownreflected the impressions we were left with ofmany of the learners’ presentations that we
joined. These “discomforts” or “disturbances”

in people’s lives were often the spark that led
to the investigations they reported, or part ofthe learning journey they described. This wastrue in many of the students’ presentations,regarding various types of culture shock, orchallenges to preconceptions.
For me, similar feelings also applied to theexperience of joining CCLT for the first time.
The existence of the conference was not a
shock, and neither did I feel any struggle orchallenge in its name; after all, it’s not
unusual for conference titles to use big words.
At least that was until I was actually there andrealizing that the conference was deliberately
planned and realized with the objectives ofcreating community and learning together. And
that, within the limits of what is possible in
one afternoon and early evening, it did seemto be very successful in doing what it set out
to do. One reason for joining the conference
was to help me prepare to be program chairfor Hiroshima JALT, and to see how we can dothings differently.
Having said that, joining the conference
alone, as a teacher and an adult, may havebeen very different from that of the university
students joining the conference with perhaps
half a dozen of their classmates, or at leastfrom the same university. Did they talk toother people, people they didn’t know? Did
they, individually or together, decide a policyof only English, only “other” people? Were theyencouraged to? And where were malestudents?! More questions, more challenges!
Looking back, has joining this conference,and reflecting on it, changed me? Just
recently, joining a similarly different
conference, excitELT, was one direct outcome and that in turn has me realizing the value of
struggles and challenges in our development.

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

36

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1):From Robert Moreau
As always, it was a pleasure to be able toattend the latest CCLT conference. One of thespecial things for me about this event is thestudent presentations, and this year was no
exception. In several of the student
presentations there was an interesting mix ofresearch projects that dealt with issues
involving foreign countries, and the impact thisresearch had in developing the views of theresearchers while doing these projects. For
example, Haruka Hibi’s research on temporary
housing settlements in various countries, orCecilia Fujishima, Zhu Wangyi, Miu Yoshino,
and Maika Seki’s presentation on Japanese
history and the awareness of multiple points ofsubject amongst different cultures that had
resulted from it. Both of these presentations
were very insightful, and demonstrated thetime and effort that the students had put into
thinking critically about their topics.
At the end of the conference there was asession set aside for reflecting on the

Looking Back | 報告
presentations we had experienced, during
which time Jim Ronald and I had the chance tosit down together and share our impressions,while jotting down some keywords on a small
poster.
Looking at our poster, the three words thatfirst jump out at me are; identity,intercultural, and history. As mentioned above,
the presentation by Fujishima et al. wasclosely related to this theme. In their talk,called “Developing an Awareness of Others
through Japanese History”, the students
discussed their learning about Japanese andKorean historical figures. They touched oncross-cultural perceptions, national identityand also the role of education in these areas.
One reason this hit home for me is that, while
doing a research project about the Second
World War, one of my own students
commented on the gap between what she hadlearned in High School about the atomic bombs
used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki versus theinsights she gained doing research frommultiple sources, including those from foreigncountries, in the university project. The
Shirayuri university students reiterated thisnotion of the need to rise to the challenge of
exploring and understanding issues frommultiple, and international perspectives, andnot just accept without question what one
learns from a single textbook. It was great tosee this kind of critical thinking in practice in awell-constructed and thoughtful student
presentation.
I wish that I could have taken in more of
the presentations at CCLT, but being able toreflect with other people at the end of theconference was a good opportunity to shareideas and find out about some of thepresentations I had missed out on. These

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

37

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Looking Back | 報告reflections have also helped to provide mewith insights into the potential of criticalthinking that our students are capable of, andits connection to developing a wider awarenessand understanding of the issues that students
encounter while doing research projects. Thisis definitely something I will keep in mind
when students are working on projects in myown classes.

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

38

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 25 (2): Sig Matters

SIG MATTERS | インフォメーション
Financial Report November 2018 to April 2019
As the summary below indicates, the SIG’s finances are in good health and this year’s budget
agreed at the JALT2018 AGM aims to use up some of the surplus that has been accumulated. The
idea is to use our funds for SIG members’ benefits. The budget can be found at the end of theminutes for the AGM at the SIG website <http://ld-sig.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-LDSIG-AGM-Minutes-Final.pdf>.
Revenues: November, 2018 – April, 2019 /収入：2018年11月〜2019年4月
Book sale (28, October, 2018)

1,000

CCLT4 Meeting Fee (Teacher attendees)

20,000

Balance / 合計

21,000

Expenses: November, 2018 – April, 2019 /支出：2018年11月〜2019年4月
Payment to Hugh Nicoll, Webmaster (22, October, 2018)(150,000)

JALT2018 SIG Table and Electricity Fee(14,000)

Printing and postage for JALT2018 conference(4,973)

Conference grants (3x40,000)(120,000)

CCLT4 Room rental and postage(55,955)

Admin. postage
Bank fees (includes October 30, October, 2018)
Balance / 合計

(820)
(1,032)(346,780)

SIG fund balance, April 30, 2019 / SIG資金残高2019年4月30日
Balance in bank account / 銀行口座残高

166,236

Reserve liabilities / JALT本部預け金

200,000

Cash in hand / 現金
Balance / 合計

712
366,948

Please note that as the previous financial report was calculated up until October 21, I haveincluded October 2018 transactions made after the 21st (indicated in parentheses) for the sake ofcompleteness.
For those of you who missed the AGM, I should let you know that I took over the post of treasurer
following the AGM and have been overseeing the SIG accounts since then. I’m particularly gratefulfor the smooth handover from Huw and the kind support that I have received from Koki and Yoshi
since then and look forward to supporting LD activities this year.
Patrick, SIG Treasurer <kiernan@meiji.ac.jp>
学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

39

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Sig Matters

Writing for Learning Learning『学習の学習』応募規定
Deadline for Contributions to the Autumn issue: August 31st
Learning Learning is the Learner Development SIG newsletter and is published online bi-annually, in the
Spring and Autumn. It has a specific ISSN number (ISSN 1882-1103), and features cutting edge articles invarious formats that relate to people’s ideas, reflections, experiences, and interests to do with learnerdevelopment, learner autonomy, and teacher autonomy. Many different SIG members contribute to eachissue of Learning Learning, and, by doing so, create a sense of shared community and learning together.
Please feel free to contribute too and make connections within the SIG and beyond. 『学習の学習』はLD SIGのニュースレターで、年に２回（春と秋）オンライン出版されています（ISSN 1882-1103）。学習者の成長、学習者と教員の自律に関するアイディア、省察、経験や興味に関連したさまざま形式の原稿を収録しています。SIGの多くのメンバーが『学習の学習』に寄稿し、共同体の意識を築き共に学習しています。どうぞ奮ってご投稿され、SIG内でのまたそれを超えた繋がりを築いてください。

Contributions / 寄稿
We encourage new writing and new writers and are happy to work with you in developing your writing.
We would be delighted to hear from you about your ideas, reflections, experiences, and interests to do withlearner development, learner autonomy, and teacher autonomy. これまでにない形式のもの、また新しい方々からのご投稿をお待ちしております。内容についてもぜひご相談ください。みなさまのご意見やお考え、
ご経験、そして学習者の成長、学習者と教師の自律性に関することなど、ぜひお聞かせください。For moredetails about formats and lengths (形式と長さ) of writing suitable for Learning Learning, please see below.
To upload your writing to the editorial team of Learning Learning, please use this link.

Formats and lengths / 形式と長さ
Learning Learning is your space for continuing to make the connections that interest you. You are warmly
invited and encouraged to contribute to the next issue of Learning Learning in either English and/orJapanese. In order to provide access and opportunities for Learner Development SIG members to take partin the SIG’s activities, we welcome writing in different formats and lengths about issues connected withlearner and teacher development, such as:『学習の学習』は会員の皆様に興味ある繋がりを築きつづけるス
ペースです。次号の『学習の学習』への日本語（もしくは英語、及びニ言語で）の投稿を募集しています。メンバーの皆様にSIGの活動にご参加いただきたく、形式や長さを問わず、学習者および教師の成長に関する以下のような原稿をお待ちしております。

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

40

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Sig Matters
Short articles on issues to do with learner/teacher development and autonomy /学習者と教師の成長・自律に関する小論#1: short individual articles (1,200 – 2,500 words)： 小論（単著） (約3,600-7,500字)#2: short group-written articles (1,200 – 4,000 words)： 小論（共著）(約3,600-12,000字)

Reflective writing about learning for learner/teacher development and autonomy /学習に関する省察 ー 学習者と教師の成長・自律を目指して#1: particular puzzles that you and/or your learners have about their learning, practices, development,
autonomy, and so on, and inviting other Learning Learning readers to respond (1,000 words or more)：ご自身や学習者の悩み（学習、実践、成長、自律など）に関して、LL読者と一緒に考えましょう。(約4,000字)#2: dialogue with (an)other SIG member(s) (1,000 to 2,000 words)：SIGメンバー同士の対話 (約4,000字-8,000
字)#3: stories of learners becoming autonomous (about 500 to 1,000 words)： 自律・成長する学習者に関する話(約2,000字-4,000字)#4: stories of your learning and teaching practices: success and failure (about 500 to 1,000 words)：学習・
教育実践の成功談・失敗談 (約2,000字-4,000字)

Members’ voices / メンバーの声#1: a short personal profile of yourself as a learner and teacher and your interest in learner development(about 500 to 1,000 words) ：学習者・教員としての自身のプロフィールと学習者の成長に関する興味 (約2,000字-4,000字)#2: a story of your ongoing interest in, and engagement with, particular learner development (and/or
learner autonomy) issues (about 500 to 1,000 words) ：学習者の成長や学習者の自律に関する興味や取り組み(約2,000字-4,000字）#3: a short profile of your learner development research interests and how you hope to develop yourresearch (about 500 to 1,00 words) ：学習者の成長に関する研究内容と今後の研究の展望 (約2,000字-4,000
字）#4: a short profile of your working context and the focus on learner development/learner autonomy that a
particular institution takes and/or is trying to develop in a particular curriculum (about 500 to 1,000
words)：教育環境の紹介、所属機関やカリキュラムにおける学習者の成長や自律に関する取り組み (約2,000
字-4,000字）

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

41

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Sig Matters

Research & reviews / 研究 & レビュー
#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 dowith 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)

Free space / フリー・スペース#1: photographs, drawings, and/or other visual materials about learner development, and/or related tolearner autonomy：学習者の成長や自律に関する写真、絵、視覚資料#2: activities and tips for learner development/autonomy (about 500 to 1,000 words) ：学習者の成長・自律を促す活動やヒントの紹介 (約1,000字-2,000字)#3: some other piece of writing that you would like to contribute and that is related to learner development：その他の学習者の成長に関する執筆#4: poems… and much more： 詩、その他。

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

42

Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 26 (1): Sig Matters

Learning Learning Editorial Team
editorial team <LLeditorialteam@googlegroups.com>
Those working on Learning Learning share a commitment to working together in small teams. We aim tolearn together about writing, editing, responding, and/or translating, for our shared personal andprofessional development. Some areas where we would like to encourage SIG members to take part andwork together on Learning Learning include:• Layout and Design: working on the formatting and preparation of finalised content for online
publication• Members’ Voices (co-)coordinating: contacting news members of the SIG and working with them todevelop their writing in a variety of formats and lengths as a first step to taking part in the SIG’s
publication activities;• Looking Back (co-)coordinating: working with contributors writing on events related to learnerdevelopment (conferences, forums, get-togethers, workshops, both face to face and online) for
publication in Learning Learning;• Research and Reviews (co-)coordinating: encouraging potential contributors to send in summaries
and accounts of research, as well as reviews (of books, journal articles, materials, or web resources
relating to learner development), and working with them to develop their writing for publication in
Learning Learning.Learning Learning
If you are interested in any of these areas of working together (and/or you have other areas of interest)
and would like to discuss your interest and ideas, please email any member of the Learning Learning
editorial team:
Andy Barfield: <barfield.andy@gmail.com> (editor, members voices)
Chika Hayashi: <c-hayashi@hotmail.com> (editor, translation coordinator)
Tokiko Hori: <thori@tsoka.ac.jp> (editor, translator)
Ken Ikeda: <kodanuki@gmail.com> (editor, grant awardee essays)
Fumiko Murase: <fumikomurase@gmail.com> (editor, grant awardee essays)
Yoshio Nakai: <uminchufunto@gmail.com> (editor, translator)
Daniel Hougham: <d.hougham@gmail.com> (editor, digital content)
Hugh Nicoll: <hnicoll@gmail.com> (editor, webmaster)Sean Toland:<seanhtoland@gmail.com> (editor, grant awardee essays)
Koki Tomita: <tomita.koki@gmail.com> (editor, translator)
James Underwood: <jamesmichaelunderwood@gmail.com> (editor, layout)
Many thanks!

学習者ディベロプメント研究部会 <http://ld-sig.org>

43