Learning Learning

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017LOOKING FORWARD
Interviews with the Editors of the Learner Development Journal Issues
1, 2, and 3
The Learner Development Journal
The Learner Development Journal

1
JALT
2017

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The Learner Development Journal

The Learner Development Journal
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http://ld-sig.org/ld-journal-concept/

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he Learner Development Journal is the online, open-access journal of the JALT Learner Development
SIG, devoted to practitioner-driven research, reviews, and interviews exploring learnerdevelopment issues in second language education. Its inaugural issue was published online in theautumn of 2017.
Here, Alison Stewart, Tim Ashwell, and Andy Barfield of the journal’s steering group interview theeditors of the first three issues about their experiences of working together with each other and with thewriters, reviewers, and others involved in the issue’s creation. As each editorial team is at a different
stage along the path to publication with their respective issue of the journal, it is our hope that thesethree interviews will make the journal and editorial processes familiar to everyone in the Learner
Development SIG, as well as encourage SIG members to consider becoming in the future an editor,
contributor, reviewer, or member of the Journal Steering Group.
To find out more about the journal, please visit the current Learner Development SIG website at
http://ldjournalsite.wordpress.com/.

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWSLOOKING FORWARD |62

Learning Learning
An Interview with the Co-Editors of
Issue 1 of The Learner Development
Journal,“Visualizing
LearnerDevelopment”
Darren Elliott and Hugh Nicoll, with Alison
StewartA

lison: Thank you, Darren and Hugh,for taking part in this email interview.
I’d like to start, if I may, by asking
about your particular interests in learnerdevelopment issues, and what appeals to you
about the theme of the issue 1, “Visualising
Learner Development.”
Darren: Some of my recent research has
been into learners’ metaphors for learning, andways in which those metaphors connect toautonomous actions and beliefs, so when thistheme was suggested I saw an instantconnection. Of course, metaphor is just one wayof “visualizing.” I wanted to see how otherteacher-researchers in different contexts
interpreted the theme. I am really happy withthe diverse range of ideas and voices we will bepresenting in the first issue.
Alison: Thank you, Darren. How about
you, Hugh?
Hugh: Visualising Learner Development asa theme for the first volume of the journal feels
like a natural fit for me in several senses. First ofall, I suppose, because I was aware through my
firstteaching
experiencesofthecyclical/reciprocal
natureoftheteaching/learning continuum, and that theyliterally and metaphorically made me aware oflearning environments as new worlds that I
needed to imagine fully in order to navigate andunderstand. I am remembering first my workwith elementary school children who lived in
the neighborhood of the church my family

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017attended in Washington, D. C. in the 1960s. We
had moved to D. C. from rural Maine, so acting
as a reading and writing tutor (as a junior highschool student myself) with mostly 8 to 10 year
old African American boys constituted achallenging and engaging introduction to thecomplexity of the world. My second shaping
experience began just after I graduated fromhigh school, when I started training to become amountaineering instructor.
Those experiences took me back to thewoods of my early childhood, but also triggered
efforts on my part to link the physical,
conceptual, and leadership challenges ofworking in outdoor education to ideas of an
intuitive sense that my natural way of framing
learning and teaching questions is essentiallykinaesthetic, and having become a professor of
American literature and cultural history, I see allof the key issues in learner development as partof a great interdisciplinary continuum, where,
like Darren the centrality of metaphor isfundamental to the journeys we undertake aslearners and as teachers.
Alison: So, whereas Darren, your interest in
this theme is the natural continuation of theresearch you’ve been doing recently, Hugh, yourinterest has very deep roots that extend backthrough your long career as a teacher: an
interesting contrast. But both of you see
metaphor and other ways of visualizing orexperiencing learner development as crucial to
its realization, right? I share your views about
the importance of metaphor, but I’ve tended tothink of it more as abstract concepts rather thanconcrete images. So I’m looking forward to
discovering some of the different approaches
that you have been working with for this firstissue.
But first, as this is the first issue of a newjournal, I’d wonder if you would briefly describe
the process of starting a new publication fromLOOKING FORWARD | 63

Learning Learning
scratch? And can you give us an idea of how
many people are actually involved in thisprocess?
Darren: I came into the process a little after
the decision had been taken to start the journal,
although as is usual with the LD SIG, theconsultation process has been fairly transparent.
As I understand it, the concept behind thisjournal goes back to previous LD SIG
publications like Autonomy You Ask! (AYA) andMore Autonomy You Ask! (MAYA) (which I readin the UK as a graduate student) and Realizing
Autonomy (to which I contributed). That is, weare hoping to offer writer-researcherpractitioners a chance to collaborate much moreclosely than they would on a regular journal. We(Hugh and I) have worked fairly closely with thewriters of each paper, and at various stages eachof the writers have read and commented onother papers submitted to the first issue. A
couple of the papers we received were almost
complete, but have been rewritten after
commentary from other writers. Some of thepapers started off as research notes or proposals
and have taken a lot more work to build into thefinal versions we will see published soon.
We also have a Review Network drawn
from the LD SIG membership who havelooked at later iterations of each paper andgiven yet more useful feedback. Each paper will
have been seen by at least half a dozen people,
all of whom have made astute observations,
before completion. Fundamentally, we hopethat this journal will be supportive andcollaborative. We aim to develop papers, rather
than accept or reject submissions.
I’ll be honest… I don’t really enjoy thefiddly bits at the end of the process, but we havea great team of proofreaders, reviewers, andtechnicians sweating over the final product.
Being curators of the first issue is both
especially onerous and a great privilege. On the

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Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017
one hand, we have to do everything fromscratch, but that enables us to shape the journal
as we would like to see it (to some extent, atleast).
Hugh: Not a lot to add to Darren’s
description of the process above, though ofcourse, having been involved in LD SIG
projects since 1994, I have benefited from thecollaborative processes by which AYA, MAYA,
Realizing Autonomy, and other more recent
projects have been brought into the world.
Like Darren, I find the “fiddly bits” a big
challenge, especially now that I am retired, but
as too-busy adjunct faculty, trying to juggle
research writing and editing with the realities of
my current part-timer’s life. That said, thesometimes hard slog of engagement in others’
re-writing challenges is both tough andinspiring.
Alison: That sounds like quite a mammoth
venture, and I know that you are both still hard
at work on the “fiddly bits” involved in
finalising all the articles as well as the new
website for the journal. I wonder if I could
home in on the various stages that you describe
in order to find out more about the concept of
the journal and the way you are attempting torealize it in the first issue.
First of all, your work with the authors: I
notice you use the term “writer-researcherpractitioner”—one step up from the morefamiliar “researcher-practitioner”! How does
writing become part of the process of researchand practice, and how do you see your role aseditors in this process? Furthermore, when you
say, Darren, that some of the papers were
submitted as almost complete and thenrewritten in response to reviewers’ comments,
whereas others were submitted as research notesor proposals and required a lot of work todevelop, could you tell us a little more about
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Learning Learningprospective writers (and editors) in future issues
could aim for?
Darren: I added writer to the term as it wasalways our intention to work with the writing
more closely if required. The usual process is tocomplete the research, write up the paper, andsubmit it to various journals. Most of the time,
editors will only accept papers which need little
revision. However, because each issue of ourjournal is themed fairly specifically it is unlikelythat an “off-the-peg” article would fit—actually,
we rejected several good papers because they
didn’t match our theme (although we did takethe trouble to suggest more appropriate homes
for each of them).
The paper we worked on the most was one
which came to us as a proposal rather than apiece of completed research. For various
reasons, the research didn’t go entirely to plan...
but the process of reworking the goals wasreally interesting. It’s actually rare that research
DOES work out exactly as intended, of course.
What was particularly interesting for me froman editorial perspective was assisting the“writer-researcher-practitioners”
inrepositioning themselves within the data they
had and coming up with a paper which wasquite different from the one they had originallyproposed.
Alison: You mention the Review
Network—members of the SIG with a special
interest or expertise in the subject of the issue—
who got involved in reading the articles in thelater stages of the process. Can you tell us more
about their role and how they contributed to thearticles?
Darren: After the writers had commented
on one another’s papers and revised their own
on that advice, we distributed the papers
amongst a network of LD SIG members. Eachof the papers was reviewed by two of the

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Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017
Review Network members. As far as possible, I
tried to match “contrasting” reviewers to each
paper—that is, I hoped that by choosing two
reviewers with different backgrounds we may
get wider perspectives in the feedback. The
Review Network is fairly diverse in nature so wewere able to achieve that, I think.
Hugh: I’m going to jump in and write alittle about the upcoming stages as we movetoward the completion of the project: Final
proofing and layout, then uploading (actual
publication) to the web. It looks like we’re goingto need to complete a two-step move, forpractical reasons, which will involve moving thecurrent SIG web site <ld-sig.org> to a new
WordPress install on the JALT server, and thencreate a subdomain for the journal. This isperhaps tediously technical as a subject for somemembers of the SIG, but in the interests oftransparency, it may be good for people tounderstand that beyond the conceptual andlogistical challenges of editorial communications
and policy discussions, there are further
logistical and aesthetic challenges in creating thefinal draft files in pdf format and creating a website for sharing the articles.
Alison: So, the publication of the newjournal still involves a whole range of important
decisions to be made about what it should look
like and where it should be kept. From my own
position in the sidelines as a member of thesteering group with Tim and Andy, I know thatmany of these “fiddly” processes have beencollaborative and consensual, even though thatis not easy, especially as we get closer to the dateof publication.
But, all credit to you, Hugh and Darren, theissue is on target to come out as scheduled next
month. No spoilers, but can you give us apreview of what we will find in it?

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Learning Learning
Darren: Sometimes English teachers canfind themselves tucked away in their own
parochial pockets so personally I want this to be
an international journal. I can tell you that wehave papers from Italy and Finland in the firstissue, which I am very happy about. Hugh and I
are still working on our introductory paper so
we are picking out the threads that run throughthe articles and tying them together. One pointthat stands out is that the papers are largely
research that has emerged from practice, rather
than research conducted for its own sake. Thisis also very pleasing, and I think accessible andinspirational for other teachers considering
dipping their toes into the murky waters of
research.
Hugh: I couldn’t agree more about how
pleasing it is to be working with teachers whoare committed to research writing that is
growing out of their exploration of the
dynamics of the teaching-learning relationship.
We are also looking forward to the final chapter,a reflection on the issue as a whole, from Alice
Chik. Some LD SIG members may remember
theworkshoponvisualizing
learnerdevelopment that she led at the JALT 2015
international conference.
Alison: Yes, I remember it! A reallystimulating session that opened up new
possibilities for exploring identity and learning.
It’s wonderful to see the project of creatinga new international, practitioner-based journal
coming to fruition with this issue. I have no
doubt that the articles in it will be met with agreat deal of interest in the Learner
Development SIG and beyond, and perhaps
lead to new practices with new puzzles andproblems for further research.
Darren and Hugh, thank you both so muchfor taking the time to talk about your work on
the journal, and good luck with the final stages!

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017

An Interview with the Co-Editors of
Issue 2 of The Learner Development
Journal, “Qualitative Research Into
Learner Development”
Chika Hayashi, Masuko Miyahara and Patrick
Kiernan, with Tim AshwellFor the second issue of the journal theeditors are Chika Hayashi, Masuko
Miyahara and Patrick Kiernan. At thetime of writing, they are working with thecontributors as they approach the deadline for a
first full draft of their papers. All three editors
are based in Japan, but Patrick is away on an
extended sabbatical at the University ofBirmingham in the UK. I wanted to start theemail interview with them by asking what
appeals to them about the theme of Issue 2 of
the journal, “Qualitative Research into Learner
Development.”
Tim: Chika, Masuko, and Patrick manythanks for doing this email interview when thedeadline for the first full drafts for Issue 2 islooming.
I wonder if we could start with your own
interests in learner development issues, andwhat personally and professionally appeals toeach of you about the theme of issue 2,“Qualitative
Research
into
LearnerDevelopment.”
Chika: A decade ago, I carried out aqualitative research study on learnerdevelopment. It was very impressive to me not
only because it was my first longitudinal semiintervention research but also because I myself
realised the dynamic process of qualitative
research. In addition to interview andobservation, the data collected through adouble-entry journal that I constantly exchanged
with a teacher connected me to the core of her

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Learning Learninginternal aspects and helped me to understandhercomplexlyinterwoven
identity.
Triangulating the data, I felt that the wholeprocess of qualitative research is like a catalytic
activity between participants and researcher aswell as among data. Reflecting on my researchhistory, qualitative approaches are somethingthat I have been fascinated by and also desired
to explore for a long time. I am looking forward
to engaging in another catalyst activity with
Masuko, Patrick, and all the contributors in thisissue!
Masuko: The idea of learner development
and autonomy in language education has been
fairly well established now. There are currently agreat deal of research studies that examine LDfrom various perspectives and in a diversity ofcontexts, and a large number of them appear totake a qualitative approach. However, when weread these published works, only a few attempt
to discuss the methodological challenges of theresearch itself. I thought it is now time to stop,and reflect on these issues before moving
forward to the next stage of LD research.
Patrick: The thing that excited me about
the topic of this issue was the focus on
qualitative methodology. Although learning
development has of course been studied
quantitatively and qualitatively, it seems to me
that the issues that are of real interest, at least toteachers like myself, are the ones that can only
really be explored qualitatively. The way learnerautonomy is tied up with personal identity andrelationships inside and outside the classroom
means that there is much to be learned from thekind of fine grained analysis that qualitative
methods provide. Qualitative approaches also
potentially offer a more natural role for theteacher-researcher. At the same time, qualitative
research has tended to be misunderstood or
misrepresented as something inferior toquantitative research or as merely a stage

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017
towards quantitative verification. Hopefully, as
Masuko suggests, this issue will be an
opportunity to take stock and celebrate therewards of qualitative approaches. Also, as
Chika points out, there are real rewards fromsharing ideas with contributors and fellow
editors.
Tim: It seems as if all three of you havedeveloped an interest in qualitative research(QualR) over a number of years and that you
see your involvement in this issue of the LD
Journal as a way to take stock and to share yourown experiences with others. Maybe you also
see this as an opportunity to expound some ofthe strengths of a QualR approach as well as
challenging some of the misconceptions thatyou feel surround it?
Patrick: Yes, certainly in my case, I would
agree with that assessment.
Tim: I wonder if I can move on to a second
set of questions? Could you each tell me about
getting this issue of the Journal off the ground?
How did you organize the call forcontributions/proposals and how did you go
about inviting a guest contributor (AnneBurns)? Also, could you explain why you choseto hold a one-day retreat for all the contributors
and tell me how that went?
Patrick: Well, although this is an editorial
team, I think teams always work best with aleader and Masuko both invited me to join theissue after volunteering herself and has been
instrumental in coordinating everything
including inviting Anne Burns as a guest
contributor. She has incredible charm withgetting people to do things! Meanwhile, among
other things, Chika did an amazing job oforganizing a retreat for the contributors to shareinitial thoughts face to face. Sessions on SkypeLOOKING FORWARD | 67

Learning Learningand email communications have also made it
feel a very collaborative process.
Chika: I joined the team after almost
everything had been organised, so the retreat
was the first collaborative activity I engaged inwith the other editors and contributors. To mysurprise, all the contributors joined the session
although we were based in different places andeven countries! Before the retreat, we created a
set of outlines about the proposals and shared itwith all the contributors so that they could readit beforehand. At the retreat, each contributor
explained about their research proposals andthen received feedback from the othercontributors as well as the editors. It was aserious but friendly atmosphere and somemembers went out for dinner afterwards. Afterthe retreat, some of them expressed their desire
to have social/academic gatherings on a regularbasis! It was a pity that Patrick could not join us
for the retreat, but he was there for emotional
support as well!
Masuko: After the proposal had been
accepted by the Journal Steering Group (JSG),
the first thing was to get a line-up for theeditorial team—a group of people who would
not only be interested in the topic, but also
editorial work. Secondly, they would draft up
the CfP, and at the same time decide theschedule or flow of the project. We tossed
around the draft for this with the members of
the JSG several times, and I believe it was
through this process that things became clearer.
Setting up the deadlines was quite tricky.
Our first major event was the retreat. I was
skeptical at the beginning because we had arange of contributors from different parts of theworld, and was not sure if things would work.
Overseas authors and people who were not able
to join us in person participated through Skype.
The time difference was a bit tricky, but wewere able to pull it off. It was great in the sense

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017that we not only were able to talk to each otherabout our projects, but it gave us an opportunity
to get to know each other. I believe this made iteasier to communicate. Chika, thanks for taking
the lead in organizing the event. For this issue,
we were very fortunate to have Dr. Anne Burns
as a guest contributor. I happen to know her
through her work, and when I met up with her
at JALT 2016, I talked to her about our project
as well as the possibility of writing a shortcommentary for the issue. To my surprise, shevery generously agreed to this.
Tim: The retreat (both face to face andonline) sounds like a really great idea! You seemto have been able to forge a bit of a group
identity and, as you say, this has probably helped
a lot with communications since.
Masuko: Yes, I think if you can put a face
to a name, it gives people a sense that they areindeed interacting with another human being, so
to speak, and not just talking to a ‘machine.’
This is really important especially when you
have a group of people from all over the world
with different expertise and experience. For me,
this is the most fun and interesting part in a
project like this.
Tim: OK, so moving on to the writing
process itself: Could you tell me how you havefound working with writers on their first drafts
and scaffolding writer-to-writer interaction?
Patrick: Well, of course, everyone isdifferent and so far, after settling on the initialoutlines, I have found one writer sharing thewhole process with me and another keeping mein suspense (laughs). But yes, seriously, thediscussion I have had with one writer has
allowed me to see how intimidating it can seem
to present an intimate study as “Qualitative
Research.” At one point, I thought we mightend up with one less contributor, but it has been
impressive to witness how pushing beyond such

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worries can really generate a lot of energy. This
has also fed into my own thoughts about learner
identity as well as inspiring me to get things
done myself.
Chika: So far, I regularly contact thecontributors to see how things are going andprovide support whenever necessary. Once I
receive their first draft, I will work more closelywith them. Also, some members from LD
Journal Review Network will join later, so I am
looking forward to seeing how the collaborative
process will be expanded and even transformed
throughout the whole process of the project!
Masuko: We are just about to start
receiving first full drafts. Since people are all
busy with their daily things, I think it isimportant for editors to give gentle reminders,and ask for outlines, etc. This helps not only theauthors to consolidate their ideas, but also gives
us, the editors, a chance to see how things areproceeding, and give our feedback whenevernecessary.
Tim: So, plenty of reminding and cajolingmixed in with “support”…?! But, interesting
how interacting with people who are writing
about qualitative research requires a lot of
sensitivity and how it can help you reflect onsome of the knotty issues for people engaging in
QualR. I wonder if this is one of the more
rewarding aspects of being an editor—being
challenged to understand the topic from anotherperspective and to expand your own
understanding as a result.
Finally, could you tell me how you work
together as co-editors? Has it been easy to keep
yourselves and the other contributors to a fairly
clear schedule? What have been the joys andchallenges of working as a team of three? Etc.
Patrick: For me the biggest concern has
been the issue of working at a distance. I am not

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017
entirely comfortable with Skype and missing out
on the retreat, altogether, I was afraid that I
would end up out of sync with everyone.
However, in spite of being very obviously busy
with work and many other commitments Chika
and Masuko have done an amazing job of
keeping a line of communication and keeping
on top of the schedule and communication withboth me and the writers. A case in point wasthat after the retreat they prepared a detailed
report, which really put me in the picture. I feelthat both Masuko and Chika are people I canreally trust with similar outlooks making forwhat feels like a harmonious team.
Chika: This is my first time to work as an
editor, but Masuko and Patrick invited me tothe team in a natural and friendly manner, so I
could join the team smoothly. We regularly
contact each other and report on what is goingon between the contributors, so I can see that
we are moving on at our own pace, keeping ourschedule in mind. More importantly, I believethat a mutually supportive environment that
Masuko and Patrick naturally co-constructed
before or at the initial stage of the issue is oneof the key elements for a novice editor like me
to embark on a new collaborative project withexperienced editors.
Masuko: As the chief editor, I think mymain job was to keep things rolling, so to speak.
This is, thus, what I have been doing: providing
updates, sending out reminders, etc. Patrick andChika are the ones that are really doing the“job.” We have created a very friendly, warmand supportive atmosphere, and I am certainly
lucky to be working with them. We have juststarted, but I am looking forward to working
with them.
Tim: It sounds like a dream team! A blendof experience and energy! It is great that Chikafeels comfortable in her first editing role. It is

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Learning Learning
exactly what we hope the Journal will do:
nurture new editors and writers. I hope yourexample will inspire others both within andoutside the SIG to step forward and join in thedevelopment of the Journal. Thank you to all
three of you for sharing your thoughts so
openly. And, of course, good luck with Issue 2!

An Interview with the Co-Editors Of
Issue 3 of The Learner Development
Journal, “Learner Identities andTransitions”
Christina Gkonou, Jim Ronald & Yoshio Nakai,with Andy BarfieldFor the third issue of the journal theeditors are Christina Gkonou, Jim
Ronald, and Yoshio Nakai. At the timeof writing in August & September 2017, they are
working on developing the Call for Papers andsharing ideas about how they want to approachdeveloping their work with each other together.
While Jim and Yoshio are based in Japan andare active members of the Learner
Development SIG, Christina is the director of
the MA TESOL programme at the University ofEssex in England and is the SIG's guest at
JALT2017. I wanted to start the email interview
with Christina, Jim, and Yoshio by asking about
their particular interests in learner development
issues, and what appeals to them about thetheme of the issue 3, “Learner Identities andTransitions.”
Andy: Christina, Jim, and Yoshio, manythanks for doing this email interview at the sametime as you are starting to get know each otherand work on the Call for Papers for issue 3 ofthe journal. Perhaps a good place to start would
be with your own interests in learner

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Volume 24 Issue
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development issues, and what personally andprofessionally appeals to each of you about thetheme of issue 3, “Learner Identities andTransitions.”
Christina: I have always been interested in
how learners “change” throughout the processof learning a foreign language; and by “change”
here I refer to changes to and shifts in boththeir level of cognitive and linguistic
development and also their personalities andidentities, i.e., who they are as learners and as
individuals. A number of transitions take placewhen learning a foreign language (for example
that of becoming a speaker or user of a new
language, getting to know more about a new
culture etc.) which are fascinating to investigate
and reflect on.
Jim: The two sides of this theme, learner
identities and transitions, have become
increasingly important to me as I’ve noticed
how changed identities, even just titles, canmake a massive difference. For example, atconferences last year I noticed a great difference
in student helpers: ones I’m sure were labelled“sign holders” did just that, while others who
realized that they were the welcoming face ofthe conference really took on that role. Just asmall example, but it reminded me how
important these issues are, and how I need tolearn more about them!
Yoshio: Building on what Christina and Jim
have said, speaking of learner identities reminds
me that “learner” is just one of aspects ofsomeone appearing in the context of language
learning. So, I always think and see learners ascomplex organisms with various kinds ofidentities trying to realize different identities
through learning and using languages.
Andy: You all point to many questions notjust around how learners see (and think about

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seeing) different identities and transitions thatthey can create and perform, but also about how(and why) others create, assign and enable orconstrain the development of identities andtransitions for learners too ... as well as
questions of focus on individual learners and/or
groups of learners …
Christina: Yes, it would indeed be very
interesting to look at learner identities andtransitions individually and as a coherent whole,that is to say how they are shaped in thelanguage classroom and also how learners andtheir identities function with connection toother environments they are embedded in.
Yoshio: Raising questions about learner
identities and transitions for me is about how
language teachers and supporters may betterknow the complexity of learner and language
learning and explore what and how we can dofor them through teaching and supporting, forinstance in the language classroom.
Jim: I’m also very interested in learningfrom the various ways that language teachers
and learners view and deal with these issues—inthat way being an editor is at heart a fairly
selfish activity!
Andy: You each have a great sense oflearning from working with a group of teacherresearchers together. As you are getting to knoweach other, I was wondering how you feel about
working together as editors in this project,
developing communities of practices withwriters, responding to them, and seeing things
through to publication...
Christina: Jim, Yoshi, and I have only met
virtually, but I am sure we all look forward tomeeting in person very soon. Working withthem will be a wonderful opportunity to
exchange views on a topic that is of greatinterest to us all and also work towards

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017supporting our writers and ensuring that the
papers that will be part of this special issue
inform each other and lead to a better
understanding of learner identities acrossdifferent contexts.
Jim: As Christina mentions, we have nevermet (but I’m looking forward to it!), and that
adds a dimension that I hope we are gettingused to. Anyway, to me the heart of language
use is not how we get things done, but how we
can build good relationships as we work
together. We’ll make mistakes, misunderstandeach other, maybe let each other down attimes… but our challenge is to deal with all
that—to work well as a team, to get the job
done, and to appreciate each other better!
Yoshio: I really appreciate that I can havethis wonderful opportunity. Working with
Christina and Jim as editors is a big challenge
for me as a researcher on learner autonomy anda language user as well. This seems to me that I
am exercising autonomy to realize what I want
to be as a researcher using English.
Andy: It’s great to see those challenges
from such a proactive perspective. And
speaking of challenges, how is drafting the Callfor Papers going?
Christina: We are nearly there with the Callfor Papers, and I think Jim and Yoshi havewonderful ideas about how best to describe thecontent of this special issue and what we, as
guest editors, would envisage for it. More tofollow soon so stay tuned!
Jim: We’re getting there! (As British Railonce lamely claimed…) Making it a cooperative
venture from the start does take more time thanhaving just one person do a first draft, but we’rehoping it’ll be worth it for everyone involved in
Issue 3. Contributions won’t follow quite the

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same path, but we hope that the shared venture
element will be true for all of us.
Yoshio: As working has just started, any
clear ideas doesn’t hit on me at the moment, but
I hope that we can create the communities ofpractices of learner autonomy researchers andpractitioners where we can discuss our ideas
freely about learners.
Andy: Are there particular reviews andinterviews that you feel might be an integral partof issue 3 too?
Jim: Just a thought, but a kind of annotatedbibliography would be a very useful part of themix—whether as one person’s contribution oras a kind of shared reading project. Any takers?!
Yoshio: I’m really looking forward to seeing
how everyone involved in this issue reachtowards new understandings through discussing
from various perspectives with autonomous andcooperative practitioners. As Jim said, I think it
is because contributions will go along different
kinds of path, and this will bring new discovery
of issues of learner identities and transitions.
Christina: It’s difficult to tell at this stage,and it will largely depend on what proposals andcontributions we will receive to ensure that we
maintain cohesion in the issue, but overall it
would be interesting to also interview
practitioners and researchers who work on thetheme of learner identities. They will bringdifferent perspectives to the topic as well assuggestions for researching and addressing
learner identities in the classroom, as Jim andYoshi also highlight.

LDJ EDITOR INTERVIEWS

Volume 24 Issue
3 Winter 2017
Andy: Yes—things are still unfolding as you
talk through your ideas with each other andimagine different possibilities for this project.
It’s fascinating to see this sense of emergent“co-understanding”
and“co-imagination”
developing between you. Many thanks,
Christina, Jim, and Yoshi, for sharing the startof your collaboration, as well as your hopes inwanting to bring together a group of teacherresearchers to explore “learner identities andtransitions.”
We’re looking forward to hearing morefrom you as the Call for Papers takes shape—
and as potential contributors start imagining
how they may take part in such explorations
with their learners, with you as editors, and withother teacher-researchers (or “writer-researcherpractitioners” to use Darren and Hugh’s term)in the group that forms and works together on
Issue 3 of The Learner Development Journal. I hope
you have the chance to talk with many different
people at JALT2017—and with each other too.

To read the completed Call for Papers
for Issue 3, please visit
https://ldjournalsite.wordpress.com/
issue-three-identities-and-transitions2019/
Initial inquiries and proposals should bedirected to Jim Ronald at jmronald@gmail.com.

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