JALT学習者ティヘロフメントSIGの会報	 	  psychological needs that, when met, lead to
intrinsic motivation: relatedness, competence,and autonomy. School of the Air helped fulfill
these needs for us. Although we couldn’t see it,
School of the Air gave us a sense of belonging
to a community. We would check in with ourteacher every school day, and we could hear
the voices of other little kids experiencing thesame wonder as us. We had a sense ofcompetence because we were learning frommaterials designed to be at just the right levelfor us (optimal challenge). Moreover, seeing as
there were no other kids, no TV, no video, noclubs, no shops…absolutely nothing, we were
free from distractions and totally focused oncompleting our lessons. Not surprisingly, we
also finished them in haste. And finally, we
also had ample autonomy because, apart fromhaving to be present for our morning roll call,
we could study whenever we wanted.
Deci and Ryan (2000) also postulate thatstudents in autonomy-supportive environments
show higher levels of motivation and learn
more than students in controlled environments.
My brother and I can vouch for this, too. We
were proactive and engaged. We used to burnthrough those materials so fast that we wouldfinish two weeks’ work in one week. There
were no school rules for us, no sitting incrowded classrooms waiting for a bell to ring,either. In fact, there was no watching a clock atall. We were interested, excited, confident, andthis translated into performance, persistence,and creativity. In fact, we were so creative thatonce we had finished all our materials, wewould just check in for roll call in the morningand then knick off down the creek catchingsnakes and lizards until the next lot ofmaterials arrived.
Now I find myself here in Japan. My neighborlives only inches away from me, I have over ahundred channels on my TV, and aconvenience store is always in walking
distance. Like everyone else teaching in Japan,
I also find myself bound by various institutional
constraints. These controls are often anecessary fact of life as a teacher, but learnerautonomy seems to me to offer us somebalance in regards to overbearing control. That,
combined with my own learning experience,
makes me think that we can use learnerautonomy to motivate our students to reachhigher and achieve more. If we can give ourstudents a sense of belonging, then they will
work hard for their community. If we can givethem a sense of success, then they will gain
the confidence to push their boundaries. And if
we can give them a sense of choice, then they6	   LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	  	  will be motivated to take control. My brotherand I thrived on the ability to take control of ourlearning. We ended up being sent away toboarding school in our high school years.
However, my School of the Air experience set
me up to thrive at distant learning when doing
my Masters as an external student. The ability
to take control of my learning was a motivating
experience that I hope I can pass onto mystudents.
References
Deci, E., & Ryan, R. (2000). Self-determination
theory and the facilitation of intrinsic
motivation, social development, and wellbeing. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.
Katherine School of the Air. Retrieved fromschools.net.nt.edu/ksa/.	  	  Greetings	  from	  Learner	  Development	   SIG	   Member	   Bill	  Mboutsiadis	  LD	  SIG 会 員 紹 介 ： Bill	 Mboutsiadis	 	  Hello everyone. My name is Bill
Mboutsiadis. I have been asked tointroduce myself since I’m a recent LD
SIG member and to discuss myunderstanding of learner development. I hope
to meet more of you during the various events
that are now being developed. As LD
programme chair, I’ve had the pleasure toconnect with some of you via emails and soI’m looking forward to meeting you in person
this year. In this introduction I will also explain
my ongoing understanding of learnerdevelopment by specifically discussing whatlearner autonomy means for me and how it isrealized with my learners in our sharedlearning environment.
I arrived in Japan in March of 2010 with myfamily to teach at Meisei University in the WestTokyo area of Hino City. I have been teachingin ESL environments for most of my career
though my initial experience was teaching at auniversity in Bratislava, Slovakia. Turning
down a JET teaching offer back in 1996, I
started teaching English for Academic
Preparation at the University of Toronto’s
English Language Program. Since then I’ve
always wondered how things would haveturned out for me if had chosen to go to Japan.
Coming here has thus fulfilled a long-time goal
to have a Japanese EFL teaching opportunity.

Newsletter	  of	  the	  JALT	  Learner	  Development	  SIG	  	  It has also been a great chance for mychildren’s growth and learning. My second son
Alexander was born in Niigata in December of2010. Finally, a major motivating factor tocome to Japan was to re-energize my career
after a recent loss of plausibility and purpose in
my teaching. The professional development
possibilities and academic rigor in appliedresearch here in Japan have been a major
motivating factor to better myself and has
contributed to a re-evaluation of myprofessional belief system. Most memorable so
far has been the many individuals with whom
I’ve met at various conferences who havewelcomed me as if I’d been here for a longtime. I’ve been learning on a daily basis here.
With the LD SIG, I have found a great sense of
a community of practice which brings out thebest in everyone. This is what I have beenmissing the last 10 years of my career.
Learner autonomy development
As soon as we take our first breath as humanbeings upon leaving our mother`s womb, weare born learners.
We are learners
in the survival oflife. The recent
birth of my twosons in 2009 and2010,
have
demonstrated tome, as to all newfathers,
thecurious love oflearning. They both are independent explorersof the world. My wife and I give guidance andtry to create an environment of encouragement
for learning and growth. John, my three-yearand-three-month old son, is constantly trying todo things on his own. He literally pushed meaway and wants to do things by himself. He
demonstrates a desire to have control of hislearning through his curious exploration of theenvironment around him. I have come torealize that I should give time for him to figure
things out on his own. With my watchful eye
and positive feedback I am facilitating his
learning through experiences that he iscreating and not simply being directed towards
instructional behaviour from me. Knowing
when to intervene and when not to is key tomaintaining an unobtrusive observation.
In the future, as my children enter educationalsettings, there will be attempts to curtail their
independent learning through the conforming
influences of formal institutions. This isunfortunate and can be stifling for learners. A
loss of control and ownership of their learning	  process will occur. I would hope their learning
environment would encourage them to beindependent critical thinkers and encouragethem to seek out truth and knowledge.
I believe autonomy in learning is the taking
back of this loss of control in one’s learning
process. The ability to take charge of one’s
learning is very powerful because it builds
learner agency. Agency creates motivation
through nurturing curiosity and thus developing
a belief that something positive is happening to
one’s self and that there is independent control
that is facilitating this experience. A confidence
is thus created that allows a learner to be arisk taker in the learning process. Thisregained control shifts the responsibility oflearning to the learner as opposed to being
dependent on the educator (Holec, 1981).
According to (Benson, 2001), “the autonomous
learner is one that constructs knowledge fromdirect experience, rather than one whoresponds to someone’s instruction” (p. 70). As
in my son’s case there is a natural tendency
for learners to take control over their learning.
Autonomy may be displayed in different ways
to different degrees depending on each learnerand the learning situation. Autonomy can bedeveloped if given the appropriate conditions
and preparation and is a more effective form oflearning than non-autonomous learning.
Autonomy can be illustrated by the famous
quote of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), “Youcannot teach a man anything; you can only
help him find it within himself.” Furthermore,within my practice I try to be less of an
instructor and more of a facilitator. My students
are discouraged from relying on me as themain source of knowledge. I try to encourage
my students’ own capacity to learn on theirown and with their peers. I try to encouragethem to make decisions about what they learn.
This all takes time and patience since it isbasically a re-socialization that needs to takeplace.
At Meisei University in Japan, the instructors in
the International Studies Department havebeen given great autonomy in instruction andcurriculum development. The instructors havecome together and decided the textbooks forparticular courses. On the other hand, thedepartment that manages the required general
English courses has basically mandated thetextbooks. In all classes where a text isrequired we, the students and I, negotiate thechapters of the text that they would like tocover. In some other classes I have gone off
the textbook and used my own material to liven
up the class since the text is so disconnected

LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	   7	  JALT学習者ティヘロフメントSIGの会報	 	  from the learners’ reality. The most autonomy
I have in my teaching context is by being thechair of the Computer Assisted Language
Learning (CALL) autonomy learning courses.
International Studies majors are required totake four autonomous learning classes overthe first two years of study. These classes arequite unique in Japan and take place in a
CALL room. I am lucky as the chair of theCALL autonomy learning courses since I am
constantly learning and trying to make apositive learning environment for my students
and instructors. We are constantly adaptingand improving the course. There is no text
book for the class. Most of materials aredeveloped, provided and introduced to thestudents. Students are also encouraged toseek out other sources for their learning that
may include online websites or other out-ofclass learning opportunities. The class is notstreamed by proficiency levels due to thelogistics of booking the CALL room. This mixed
class context allows for each student to seekout their own comfortable level of learning.
Students have a choice of their learning
activities on a daily basis. The activities include
a variety of online learning sites, in-house
software, graded readers and some DVDs.
The students are assigned a similar term
project but it allows for self directed creativity
and expression.
Within my classes I try to give as much choice
to my learners as possible. In the autonomy
classes there is absolutely no testing of any
kind unless the students try some online
quizzes. At the end of the term I set up
advising sessions where we look at the term’s
activities and their progress and together wenegotiate their final mark. This situation is quite
unique and can be explained by the fact that
Meisei is a private university which allows	  	  	  	  8	   LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	  	  some freedoms. The English teachers havebeen given great autonomy in designing thecurriculum. This autonomy would be very
limited in a more conservative nationaluniversity. Finally, autonomy in learning ingeneral, as I see it, is not necessarily a finaldestination. It is also not something to betaught by some individual. It is a life-long pathof continual discovery by both the learner andeducator of what it means to connect with theworld in the search for ultimate truths in life.
Bill Mboutsiadis has been an instructor in theEnglish Language Program at the University ofToronto since 1996. He is chair of CALL
Learning at Meisei University and is a highschool TESL certified educator. Bill has been
living in Japan with his wife and two boys since2010. His research interests include: learner &teacher autonomy development, Language
education
policy,transformative&sociolinguistic learning theories, CALL, criticalpedagogy, Content & Language Integrated
Learning (CLIL), Dogme, Extensive Reading(ER), Digital literacy, kamishibai storytellingtradition, digital interactive storytelling, Englishfor Academic Purposes (EAP), WorldEnglishes (WE), art media education,
children’s literature, international field work
learning, and Teachers Helping Teachers(THT) – international teacher development
workshops and in-service volunteer work.
References
Benson, P. (2007). Teaching and researching
autonomy in language learning. Harlow:Longman.
Holec, H. (1981). Autonomy and foreign
language learning. Oxford: Pergamon. (First
published [1979], Strasbourg: Council ofEurope.)