JALT学習者ティヘロフメントSIGの会報	 	  do the same.
References
Holden, B. & Usuki, M. (1999). Learnerautonomyinlanguage
learning:
Apreliminary investigation. Bulletin of Hokuriku
University, 23, 191-203. Retrieved fromhttp://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS /ED450581.pdf
Littlewood, W. (1999). Defining and developing
learner autonomy in East Asian contexts.
Applied Linguistics, 20(1), 71-94.
Ustunluoglu, E. (2009). Autonomy in language
learning: Do students take responsibility for
their learning? Journal of Theory andPractice in Education, 5(2), 148-169.
Retrievedfrom
http://eku.comu.edu.tr/index/5/2/e_ustunluogl
u.pdf

Reflection	   on	   the	   JALT	   2011	  Conference	  J ALT	 2011	 の感想	  National	  Memorial	  Olympics	  Center,	  Yoyogi,	  Tokyo,	  November	  18th	  –	  21st,	  2011	  国立オリンピック記念	 青少年総合センター、2011年11月18日〜21日	  	  Matthew	  Coomber	  Kyoto	  Sangyo	  University	  マシュー・クーンバー	  	  京都産業大学	 

W

ere anyone toconduct
agenre analysisofELT
conference
reports, they would
doubtless arrive at theconclusion
that
conferences
areunremittingly
sunnyaffairs,andpresentations always professional, thoughtprovoking and engaging. But of course thereality is not quite the same. Conference-going,
like any other activity, has its fair share offrustrations and disappointments. It’s just thatthese aspects of the experience rarely seem tomake it as far as the reports, and with goodreason considering the huge amount ofvolunteer work that goes into organising a
conference on the scale of JALT National. It
seems almost inconceivable to report on aconference in anything less than glowing terms,
as if to mention a negative experience is insome way a criticism of the conference as a18	   LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	  	  whole. Even though this is most emphaticallynot the case, it is thus with some trepidationthat I must report that my two days in Yoyogi
included both ups and downs.
Despite the risk of living up to the common
stereotype of the British as being obsessedwith the weather, it would be difficult to write abalanced report on this year’s conference
without mentioning the torrential rain which
persisted throughout the whole of the first day.
I wish I had been able to ignore the effect ofthe downpour which set in when I was in themiddle of Meiji-jingu, having foolishly decided
that a walk across the park from Harajuku
would be a more pleasant way to get to thesite than attempting to change trains at theintimidatingly complex (to a non-Tokyoite atleast) Shinjuku station. Sadly though, thatwould require a more phlegmatic character
than that which I possess. Needless to say,arriving soaking wet was not a good start tothe day, and with events split between threebuildings drying out was never more than
temporary. This combination of bad luck andmy own bad judgment led me to reflect upon
how these two factors can impact upon theconference-going experience.
A more predictable, but equally unavoidable
problem, relates to scheduling. While one of
the great advantages of a conference the sizeof JALT National is that there will almost
certainly be a presentation appealing to yourinterests at any particular time, the downsideof this is that there will often be more than one.
Thus, when deciding on my first presentationof the day during my shinkansen journey from
Kyoto, I was faced with the dilemma (trilemma,perhaps?) of choosing between threepresentations which, for very different reasons,appealed to me roughly equally. Greg Sholdt’s
Featured Speaker Workshop - Getting started
with quantitative research, sounded just thekind of thing I needed to help me with mycurrent research, in which I am looking at ways
teachers can encourage learners to make selfdirected revisions to their writing, rather thanrelying on teacher feedback. Yet on the otherhand, I really wanted to hear Marcos
Benevides introducing his new series ofgraded readers, based on the Choose yourown adventure series I enjoyed as a child. As
next year I will be starting a new job at auniversity with a well-established extensive
reading programme, I was especiallyinterested in discovering whether the ELT
version of the series had managed to retain
the atmosphere of suspense and reader
involvement I recall from my own reading.

Newsletter	  of	  the	  JALT	  Learner	  Development	  SIG	  	  Finally, a short paper by Paul Leeming andStuart Cunningham on group dynamics andleadership in the classroom, the importance ofwhich I feel to be vastly under-represented in
ELT research, was something I didn’t want tomiss. In my own teaching, I have long been
mystified as to why certain classes seem to gel
far more successfully than others, and washoping to gain some insights as to how I might
be able to promote greater cohesion in my lesssuccessful groups.
Ultimately, my poor planning led to me arriving
late and took the decision out of my hands, but
the process of deliberation made me think
about how any one delegate can only ever see
a tiny fraction of what is on offer at JALT
National, and how the decisions that we make,which involve both luck and judgment, are to alarge extent responsible for our perceptions ofthe event as a whole. Luckily, I was able toattend a later presentation by Sholdt on asimilar topic, and was thoroughly glad I did so.
Even more fortunate was the fact that noHealth and Safety officers happened to look in.
By the time the presentation began, a roomdesigned for around 20 people held twice that
number. However, it was well worth the effort
to squeeze into the room. While quantitative
methods can seem intimidating to the novice
researcher, Sholdt’s clear explanations andsheer enthusiasm for his subject left me withthe feeling that quantitative research was nolonger the impenetrable mystery I had
previously thought, but something I could see
myself eventually getting to grips with. While I
doubt I will ever attain a true appreciation ofwhat the presenter termed the ‘beauty behindthe numbers’, Sholdt’s example of an early
research project he conducted into extensive
reading helped me to realize both that potential
sources of quantitative data are readily
available in the classroom, and that results canbe analyzed and presented in ways that areboth meaningful and comprehensible. To
practicing language teachers, such as myself,
who have only a rudimentary knowledge ofstatistics, it would be a refreshing change weremore quantitative researchers to consider just
how accessible their work is to the typicalreader.
By 5.30 on Saturday evening, many delegates’
enthusiasm may have been starting to wane,
and my thoughts were turning to the first beerof the night rather than the last presentation of
the day. After an early start and a long,information packed day, what I needed was apresentation that could re-energise me. Given
that Richard Silver is not only co-coordinator of	  the LD SIG, which generously sponsored myparticipation in this year’s conference, but alsoa colleague and a good friend, I am about tolay myself open to charges both of sycophancyand subjectivity. However, not to mention
Richard’s presentation in this report would
seem fundamentally dishonest, as it was by far
the best I saw at this year’s JALT, providing
me with just the burst of energy I needed at theend of the day. Focusing on the issues andchallenges
whicharise
whenusingpresentations in the language classroom,
Richard suggested several ways in which theactivity can be transformed from one
dominated by one-way transmission of
information by a single student to anexperience in which the entire class can be
more actively involved. Even more than thehighly stimulating content, what set thisworkshop apart was the innovative way inwhich the presenter managed to create
genuine interaction between participants whohad been strangers at the start of the session.
Too often, in my experience, presenters’attempts to promote audience interaction inworkshops feel forced, awkward, and at times
pointless. Yet in this case, the group activityRichard engaged us in was not only integral tohis theme of Growing autonomy inpresentation-discussions, but also immenselyenjoyable. In spite of the knowledge that thatfirst beer was waiting for me, I left the roomwishing the presentation could have gone onlonger.
After such a positive ending to the first day,and with a dry pair of shoes on my feet and ablue sky overhead, my expectations were highas I set out on Sunday morning for the firstplenary speech of the day. A quick glance
inside the cover of any of the books in theCambridge Language Teaching Libraryreinforces the view that Jack Richards,
responsible for more titles in this series thanany other author, is without doubt one of thegiants of our field. Yet a speaker being an‘internationally renowned applied linguist,
teacher educator, and textbook author’, toquote Richards’ biodata from the conference
handbook, does not necessarily guarantee agood speech. Richards though, more than
lived up to his reputation, delivering a wideranging plenary covering some of the mostfundamental issues in our profession, anddoing so without apparently feeling the need topause for breath! As Richards himself
acknowledged, the scope of this plenary wassuch that to do his subject full justice in a merehour was an ambitious goal. But while thesheer breadth of topics covered meant that atLEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	   19	  JALT学習者ティヘロフメントSIGの会報	 	  times the audience may have been left wishingfor greater depth, personally I felt that Richards
did a fine job in walking (perhaps sprint would
be a better choice of verb?) the tightrope ofoffering something to novice teachers, 40-year
veterans, and everyone in between. As amember of the latter group, of particularinterest to me was the importance Richards
ascribed to disciplinary knowledge andpedagogical content knowledge. While I would
certainly agree with the presenter’s assertion
that teachers who possess both types ofknowledge are more likely to be more effective
than those who do not, I also wonder about thepotential impact of when and how thatknowledge was obtained. My practicalexperience of teaching preceded thetheoretical knowledge I have gained, asituation which would be decidedly odd in mostprofessions, but which does not seem unusual
among EFL teachers in Japan. It seems to me
thatoverlaying
theoryonto
practicalexperience, rather than vice versa, may have asignificant impact on the ways in which wedevelop as teachers.
As Sunday drew to a close I faced my finalscheduling conflict of the weekend, with myown presentation beginning at the same timeas the LD Forum. Thankfully, although I
missed most of the poster session, I was able
to arrive in time to enjoy the stimulating roundtable discussion which closed the event, andfor me, the conference. While the need toreturn to Kyoto that evening meant that, muchto my disappointment, I was unable to joinother SIG members for dinner, I was at least
provided with food for thought: Phil Benson’sobservation that there is a degree of conflict
between the principles of learner autonomy
and sociocultural theory leading me to reflect
on the need to be aware of this potential
conflict in my own classroom. And it was withthat thought in my head that my participation inJALT 2011, made possible by the muchappreciated grant I received from the LD SIG,ended. Now, looking back through theconference handbook as I write this report, I
am reminded once again of the incredible
variety of expertise that language teachers inJapan possess, and only regret that limited
time allows us to enjoy such a small amount ofwhat is on offer at JALT. But perhaps it isbetter to be left wanting more.
Matthew Coomber has been teaching English
in Japan since 2001. Having spent the past
five years working at Ritsumeikan University,
he is looking forward to different challenges
when he takes up a new position at Kyoto

20	   LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	  	  Sangyo University in April 2012.

5-­year	  membership	  of	  JALT:	  Buy	  4	  Get	  1	  free!	  	  JALT	  is	  currently	  running	  a	  ‘5	  years	  for	  4’	  membership	  campaign	  where	  you	  can	  pay	  for	  4	  years’	  membership	  of	  JALT	  (4	  x	  10,000	  yen)	  and	  receive	  one	  year	  free	  (i.e.,	  get	  a	  total	  of	  5	  years	  membership	  of	  JALT).	  The	  campaign	  runs	  from	  March	  1	  to	  August	  31	  2012.	  If	  you	  sign	  up	  for	  a	  5-­‐year	  membership	  within	  that	  period,	  you	  will	  also	  have	  a	  chance	  to	  win	  a	  fees	  waiver	  for	  this	  year’s	  conference,	  to	  be	  held	  in	  Hamamatsu,	  Shizuoka,	  October	  12-­‐15	  2012.	  For	  more	  information	  about	  joining	  JALT,	  go	  to:	  http://jalt.org/main/	  membership.	  	  At	  present	  there	  is	  no	  SIG-­‐wide	  agreement	  about	  running	  a	  similar	  offer	  for	  your	  SIG	  memberships,	  so	  if	  you	  do	  pay	  for	  a	  5-­‐year	  JALT	  membership,	  please	  note	  that	  you	  will	  –	  for	  the	  time	  being	  –	  still	  need	  to	  pay	  your	  1500	  yen	  SIG	  memberships(s)	  on	  a	  yearly	  basis.	  
For	  detailed	  information	  about	  joining	  the	  LD	  SIG	  as	  a	  JALT	  member	  or	  becoming	  a	  LD	  SIG	  subscriber	  as	  a	  non-­‐
JALT	  member,	  please	  go	  to	  http://ld-­‐
sig.org/join/.	  	  If	  you	  have	  any	  questions	  or	  comments	  about	  any	  of	  the	  above,	  please	  contact	  the	  Learner	  Development	  SIG	  membership	  chair	  Rachelle	  Jorgenson	  rachellejorgenson@gmail.com.	  	  	  Many	  thanks.