Learning
Learning
ISSN 1882-1103

学
習
の
学
習

ZZ Contents 目次
About this issue of Learning Learning 今号について .  .  . 1Message from the LD SIG Coordinator – Hugh Nicoll• コーディネータからのメッセージ — ヒュー・ニコル .  .  .  . 3

ZZ People ピープル
Self-introduction from shadow editors –Jim Ronald &Masuko Miyahara • シャドウ・エディター自己紹介— 宮原万寿子とジム・ロナルド  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 5Self-introduction from an LD member – Maria Trovela• メンバー自己紹介 — マリア・トロヴェラ  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 6

ZZ Reports 報告
Getting Connected: Local Get-together Reports from
Hiroshima and Tokyo – Jim Ronald & Tomoko Kawachi• つながりを求めて:広島・東京エリアミーティング— ジム・ロナルドと河内智子  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 7JALT 2007 LD SIG Forum Report – Etsuko Shimo & Jodie
Stephenson • 2007年JALT LD SIG フォーラム報告— 下絵津子とジョディー・スティーブンソン .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 11

ZZ ARTICLES BY LD GRANT AWARD

WINNERS LD奨励助成金受賞者による論文
Call for grant applications – Hugh Nicoll • 奨励助成金について — ヒュー・ニコル .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 13
Informal Roundtables: Making Meaningful Spaces for
Teacher Talk – Thomas Amundrud • インフォーマルな座談会：有意義なティーチャートークの場— トーマス・アムンルド .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 15

JALT Learner Development SIG Newsletter
Volume 15, No. 1, 2008

Teacher Identity: The Case of a Japanese Teacher of English – Naoko Harada • 教師アイデ
ンティティ：日本人英語教員の場合 — 原田奈穂子 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 20

ZZ Feature Article 論文
Orienting Learners: An Imaginary Conversation – Deryn Verity • 学習者へのオリエンテーショ
ン：ある想像上の会話 — デリン・ヴェリティ .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 25

ZZ Autonomy in the year 3008 SF連載 – 西暦3008年の自律学習
The Adventure of Magenta M. – Steve Davies • マジェンタMの冒険— スティーブン・デイヴィス .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 32

ZZ Reviews 書評
Group Sakura (Eds) Language Learning towards Autonomy: Teacher Sakura’s Tutorial
Class – Kay Irie • 「自律を目指すことばの学習―さくら先生のチュートリアル―」
グループさくら著— 入江 恵  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 38
Lindsay Miller (Ed.) Autonomy in the Classroom – Peter Mizuki • リンジー・ミラー（編）「教室におけるオートノミー」 — ピーター・ミズキ  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 40

ZZ Future Events 今後のイベント
LD SIG Retreat 2008 Announcement – Ellen Head • 2008年度LD SIGリトリートについて— エレン・ヘッド  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 42
JALT-JACET Conference in Nagoya June 2008 Preview – Martha Robertson • 2008年度6月
JALT-JACET名古屋合同大会のご案内 — マーサ・ロバートソン .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 44
LD SIG JALT 2008 Forum Call for Posters – Jodie Stephenson, Etsuko Shimo & Alison
Stewart • 2008年度JALT LDフォーラムポスター発表募集— ジョディ・スティーブンソンと下絵津子 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 46

ZZ Acknowledgement 感謝
Acknowledgement to Teachers College, Columbia University, Japan Campus • TCコロンビ
ア大学日本校のMA TESOLプログラム紹介  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 47

ZZ Business Matters インフォーメーション
LD SIG Financial Report — Keiko Kawazu • LD SIG財務報告 — 河津佳子  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 49
Learner Development SIG Officers 2008 • 学習者ディベロップメント研究部会
2008年度 委員リスト  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 51
Contributing to Learning Learning「学習の学習」原稿募集  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 52

2 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ About this issue

Learning Learning 学習の学習
15(1) 2008 春
15(1) Spring 2008

W

elcome again to Learning Learning! We 『学習の学習』へようこそ！新年度の準備はいかがでしょうか？今春号は、語学教員また言語学習者として
hope you are enjoying the spring andの自分を振返らせてくれる様々なトピックと刺激にあthe beginning of a new academic year.
ふれた内容となっています。また、仲間と一緒にそのIn this Spring issue, you will find an array of
振返りを分かち合う機会についての情報もお届けしstimulating and thought-provoking pieces thatます。
will help us reflect on what we do as language
まずピープルのセクションでは、今号から編集チー
teachers and learners, as well as information
ムに加わったジム・ロナルドと宮原万寿子の挨拶、最about various opportunities for us to do just that
近広島から東京に引越したマリア・トロヴェラの自己with other people.
紹介をお読みください。
In our People section, meet Jim Ronald
続いてレポートセクションでは広島での初集会のand Masuko Miyahara, new members on the
様子を伝えるジム・ロナルドと河内智子による1月・3
Learning Learning editorial team, as well as
月に行われた東京集会の報告をお楽しみください。また、下絵津子とジョディ・スティーブンソンがLDフォー
Maria Trovela, an active LD member, who has
ラム2007での話し合いを伝えてくれます。
recently moved from Hiroshima to Tokyo.
もしあなたが JALT2007のサンクスギビング・ディナMoving onto Reports, we have two bulletinsーに参加されたなら、LD奨励助成金受賞者の原田奈from the local area get-togethers. Jim Ronald
穂子とトーマス・アムンルドを覚えているでしょう。このreports on the very first meeting in Hiroshima
二人の素晴らしいエッセイをお読みください。尚子はand Tomoko Kawachi covers the two latest meet- 多面的な教員としてのアイデンティティを振返り、トー
ings in Tokyo, in January and March. In addition, マスは、常勤と非常勤教員のための定期的でインフォ
Etsuko Shimo and Jodie Stevenson look back atーマルな座談会の立ち上げと運営の経験を振返りまthe discussions that took place at the LD Forum
す。もしあなたがLDメンバーになって日が浅く、年次2007 in November for those of you who missed it. 大会への旅費の助けが必要ならば、2008年度LD奨励助成金の案内を見逃さないでください！
If you came to the great Thanksgiving dinner
今号の論文はデリン・ヴァリティがヴィゴッツキーのat JALT 2007 in Tokyo in November, you will re「タスク・オリエンテーション」
を紹介・解説member Naoko Harada and Thomas Amundrud, コンセプト
します。このトピックは、JALT2008でのLDフォーラム
our LD grant recipients. We are proud to present
で彼女自身が行うスキャッフォルディング（足場組み）
two articles contributed by them. Naoko takesのワークショップへと繋がるものです。
a look at her own multi-faceted teacher identity
そして今号からはじまるスティーブ・デイヴィスによand Thomas reflects on his experience in starting るひと味違う企画、SFシリーズ「マジェンタMの冒険」
and maintaining an informal roundtable for fullをどうぞ。このクリエイティブな作品を読んで言語教
time and part-time teachers. If you are new to the 育を批判的に振返るものよし、ただ笑って楽しむのも
SIG and need help in paying to go to conferences, よし！です。
don’t miss the call for LD Grant 2008 applications
さて今号をお読み頂くと使用言語についての変更
that precedes these inspiring articles!
に気づかれることでしょう。和英を問わず投稿されたすべての原稿全文の翻訳掲載を取りやめ,要約の翻The feature article is by Deryn Verity. She in訳文を掲載することとしました。この変更は昨年JALT
troduces and explains the Vygotskian conceptにおけるSIG総会で慎重に話し合った結果です。出席of “orienting to task” that closely relates to the
したメンバーの多くはこの新しい形式でもバイリンガ
topic of her workshop which will be held at the
リズムを奨励する精神を守ることができると感じましLD Forum in JALT 2008, in Tokyo.
た。そして、私たちも編集作業の絶対量が減ることに
より、ニュースレターの高い質を維持できると思ってSomething totally new with a twist starting
います。
『学習の学習』
はこれからもあなたの投稿を和this issue is a sci-fi series by Steve Davies, en文・
英文に関わらずお待ちしています。
今号掲載の入titled “The Adventure of Magenta M.” Enjoy the
江恵による和文、
ピーター・
ミズキによる英文の自律
creative approach to reflect critically on what
学習に関する書評はこの変化を体現したものと言える
goes on in language education or simply read it
でしょう。
for a laugh!
Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

—1

ZZ About this issue
One thing you will notice in this issue is that wehave implemented a significant change in the language policy of the newsletter: we no longer provide full translations into Japanese or English of
all texts, but add a summary to each article. Thisdecision was made at the annual general meetingat JALT 2007 after careful consideration and discussion. The majority of the members there feltthat the spirit of promoting bilingualism can still
be preserved in this new format. We hope thatthe reduced workload will enable us to maintainthe high quality of the SIG newsletter. Learning
Learning continues to welcome your submissions
in either or both English and Japanese. The twobook reviews contributed by Kay Irie in Japaneseand Peter Mizuki in English on two different
books about learner autonomy are the embodiment of this new policy.
LD SIG is as active and energetic as ever. Afterreading the reports and articles in this issue, if
you feel the urge to connect with other membersin the SIG or want to explore learner and teacher development more, make sure you read the
Future Events section with your schedule bookand plan ahead.
As lead co-editors for this issue, we would liketo thank all contributors and supporters. We
have been extremely fortunate to have Masuko
Miyahara and Jim Ronald who have been fully involved throughout the process of bringing out thisissue as shadow editors. They have done the lion’sshare of proofreading, translating and generally
making helpful suggestions. We also would like tothank Andy Barfield, Ellen Head, Etsuko Shimo,
Michael Carroll, Nobuko Saito and Tomoko
Kawachi for their help and expertise with proofreading, and Etsuko, Tomoko and Yoko Wakui fortranslating. Masuko will now take over Kay’s position and become Alison’s partner in leading theeditors for the next issue in October 2008.
So please take a short break from your hectic
day and read on. The Learning Learning editorial team is looking forward to hearing from you
about this issue and any ideas you might want
to share with fellow members and colleagues.
Please drop us a line anytime!
Have a fantastic year of learning and development,
Co-lead Editors
Kay Irie and Alison Stewart

LD SIGはこれまでになく元気です。様々な報告や論文を読み、あなたも他のメンバーと交流を深めた
り、自律について一緒に考えてみたくなったら、是非
スケジュールブックを手に、今後のイベントを読み、予定をたてましょう。
今号の共同責任編集者として、投稿及び協力して下さった全ての方にお礼を申し上げます。そして宮原万寿子とジム・ロナルドがシャドウ・エディターとして編集作業に深く関わってくれたことを幸運に思います。お二人は大量の校正と翻訳をこなし、多くの有益な助言を与えてくれました。そして校正にご協力頂いた皆さん（アンディ・バーフィールド、エレン・ヘッド、下
絵津子、マイケル・キャロル、齋藤伸子、河内智子、涌
井洋子）そして翻訳を引き受けてくれた下絵津子、河内智子、涌井陽子に感謝の意を表したいと思います。
次回１０月号では宮原万寿子が入江恵に代わり、共同責任編集者としてアリソン・スチュワートのパートナーを務めます。
新学期の慌ただしい時間から少しブレイクして、今号をお読みください。
『学習の学習』編集チームはいつでも、あなたのご感想及びアイディアをお待ちしています。是非ご一報ください。
それでは学習とディベロップメントに満ちた１年となりますように！

2 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

共同責任編集者
アリソン・スチュワートと入江恵（敬称略）

ZZ Coordinator's message

コーディネータからのメッセージ 2008年4月

Coordinator’s message
April 2008

皆さんこんにちは！
新学年度の始まりはLD SIGの2007年度の活動を振返り、今年度の予定を鑑みるに最適な、そして必要な時期と言えるでしょう。
昨年11月東京において開かれた総会において、今年度も引き続きコーディネータとして留まることに同意させて頂いたことを嬉しく思い報告させて頂きます。総会以降はプログラム・コミティ、パブリケーシ
ョン・チーム、エリア集会チームの皆さんがリーダー
シップを発揮してくれています。そしてルーシー・クッ
カー、ヒロミ・フジサワ、ジム・ロナルド、マスコ・ミヤハ
ラ、及びジャン・タニグチを改めて各コミッティに歓迎したいと思います。ルーシーはweb/IT関連において私をサポートしてくれていますし、働き者の我らが会計担当ケイコ・カワズをヒロミがシャドウする予定です。ジムとマスコはパブリケーション・チームに参加、ジャンはプログラム担当のエレンとマーサを助けていく予定です。
私たちは、本年度のJALT全国大会におけるLD
Forumに向けてすでに動きだしていますし、6月14日に名古屋で行われるJACET-JALTカンファレンスをサポートし、引き続いて翌日15日
（日曜日）
にリトリー
トを計画しています。今年度のフォーラムはデリン・ヴァリティを迎えて、お互いスキャッホルディング（足場つくり）の体験を分かち合う参加型ワークショップを行う予定です。これらの活動予定の詳細は今号の学習の学習でお確かめください。
そしてSIGの情報についてはLD SIG discussメーリ
ング・リスト、もしくは、ウェブサイトhttp://ld-sig.orgにおいて入手することができます。また、気がむけば、あなたのリフレクションをSIGのブログに投稿することもできますhttp://ld-sig.org/lablog/。私たちの姉妹
SIGであるIATEFL Learner Autonomy (LA) SIGが本
年度もエグゼターにおける盛大なカンファレンス事
前イベントを4月4 – 11日に開催します。LA SIGのウェブサイトで自律性に関する発表のレポートを読んでみてくださいhttp://www.learnerautonomy.org/。
そして特に新会員の皆さんには、全国大会への参加をサポートするSIG助成金に応募頂きたいと思います。助成金応募に関する情報は今号の13頁をご覧下さい．
そして最後に、昨年度の活動報告を、JALT2007
期間中にピンク・カウでの素晴らしいサンクス・ギビ
ングのブッフェ・パーティの幹事を務めてくれたステ
イシーへのお礼を言わずに終わることはできません。今年度の活動計画の詳細を詰めている今、是非みなさんからもJALT2008のSIGパーティをピンク・カ
ウで計画するように、私と一緒にステイシーに働きかけてください！
ヒュー・ニコル

Greetings one and all:
The new school year is upon us, whichmakes this both an excellent and necessary
time to reflect on the SIG’s activities in 2007
and on our plans for this coming year.

At the AGM in Tokyo last November, I
agreed to stay on as coordinator, and so far(I’m very pleased to report), much of theleadership energy is emerging from the program committee, our publications team, andfrom the hard-working local gathering teams.
I’d like to welcome Lucy Cooker, Hiromi
Furusawa, Jim Ronald, Masuko Miyahara, and
Jan Taniguchi-Ossorio to the committee thisyear, and thank all those who keep on keeping
on. Lucy will be helping me with web/IT issues, Hiromi is shadowing Keiko Kawazu, ourhardworking treasurer, Jim and Masuko havejoined the publications team, and Jan is helping Ellen with our program efforts.
We already have a good jump on organizing
our forum for this year’s national conference,
and are supporting the JALT/JACET conference in Nagoya this coming June 14, to be followed by our retreat program on Sunday thefifteenth. The forum this year will feature aworkshop led by Deryn Verity in which participants will be invited to share their experienceswith scaffolding. You will find more details
about these events in this issue of Learning
Learning.

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

—3

ZZ Coordinator's message
Please remember also that you can always stay informed about what’s happening in the SIG
by posting messages on the LD SIG “discuss” list, or following our web site, http://ld-sig.org,
and, if the spirit moves you, by posting reflections on our blog at http://ld-sig.org/lablog/. Oursister SIG, the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG will hold another grand pre-conference event at
this year’s conference at Exeter, from April 7-11. Do check out the LA SIG site at http://www.
learnerautonomy.org/ to read reports of autonomy related presentations.
I also especially want to encourage newer members of the SIG to consider applying for a grantfrom the SIG to support participation in the national conference. For more information, please
see the 2008 LD SIG Grants announcement on page 13.
Finally, no reflection on our activities last year would be complete without a big thank you to
Stacey for organizing the great Thanksgiving buffet party at The Pink Cow during the JALT2007
conference. As we finish working up the final details for this year, please join with me in encouraging Stacey to arrange a JALT 2008 SIG party for us at The Pink Cow again this coming
November.
Hugh Nicoll

Getting Your Copy ofMore Autonomy You Ask

J

ALT2006 saw the official launch of More Autonomy You Ask (MAYA),
edited by Eric Skier and Miki Kohyama, and featuring 13 research chapters exploring learner and teacher autonomy in a Japanese context, withguest chapters by Stephen Krashen, Chitose Asaoka, and Terry Lamb. Clickhere for more details.

More Autonomy You Askのご購入についてM

ore Autonomy You Ask(MAYA)はJALT2006において公式に出版されました。MAYAの特徴はEric Skier とMiki Kohyamaによる編集、そして日本における学習者と教師の自律性を探る13章にわたる研究論文とStephen
Krashen, Chitose Asaoka とTerry Lambが書いたゲストチャプターです。購入方法についてはここをクリックしてください。

4 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ People: Self Introductions

Self-Introduction from shadow editors
シャドウ・エディター自己紹介

MASUKO MIYAHARA
Hi, LL readers! I’m Masuko Miyahara. I am currently based in Tokyo, andteach at International Christian University. I’ve been an LD SIG member for about four years now, but had not been really active until lastApril when people started to get together regularly for the LD SIG Tokyo
Regional meetings. These gatherings have proved to be a very enrichingexperience for me, and it has encouraged me to get more involved in theactivities of the SIG. By joining the editorial team, I hope I will be able tomeet a lot more people, and to have many more opportunities to exchange
ideas and opinions. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I am looking forward to facing the challenges, and, most of all, learning from not only others on the editorial team, but also, from you, the readers!

宮原万寿子
こんにちは。宮原万寿子です。現在、東京に住んでおり、母校でもあります国際基督教大学で教えております。LD SIG メンバーになったのは４年程前ですが、あまり活動に参加することができませんでした。昨
年、４月に東京にてLD SIGの会合が定期的に開かれるようになってからはほぼ、毎回参加しており、とても有意義な時間を過ごしております。今回編集チームに加えてもらうことになり、とてもうれしく思っております。皆さんと、どんどん良いものを造りあげていきたいと考えておりますので、どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

JIM RONALD
Hello. My name is Jim Ronald, and I’ve been a lurking Learner
Development member for quite a while. Now I’ve moved on, up, or sideways, from lurker to shadower... My current LD-related interests include
dictionaries in and out of the classroom, language awareness, extensive
reading, and project work. I’ve also spent the past year learning a (for me)
useless language and learnt a lot about the various reasons language students are not motivated to learn or simply give up learning. I was (gently)
prodded into starting local LD get-togethers in Hiroshima, and I’m reallyglad I was. Thank you! That’s all for now - look forward to meeting you(again) and sharing those and other interests.

ジム・ロナルド
こんにちは、ジム・ロナルドです。今まではLD SIGの『隠れ』
メンバー的な存在でしたが、この程、同じ「影」
でも、シャドー・エデイターとして表舞台に出ることになりました。現在ＬＤ関連で興味を持っている分野は教室内外での辞書の使い方、多読、プロジェクトワークの活用法等です。また、昨年は自分自身があまり役に立つとは思えない言語を学ぶことで、生徒がモチベーションをなくし、まったくあきらめてしまう理由を身をもって実感しました。広島でLD SIGのエリア集会を立ち上げることとなりましたが、これはとても良かったと思っております。こんなところが近況報告ですが、皆さんといろいろな話題で今後も盛り上がりたいと思います。どうぞよろしくお願いします。

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

—5

ZZ People: Self Introductions

Self-Introduction from an LD Member
メンバー自己紹介

Maria Trovela
Hello! I’m Maria Trovela. Maybe we’ve met? If we haven’t, I look forward
to meeting you in person someday. Maybe we could talk more about you.
Or maybe we could talk about some of the things I’m curious about—collaborative learning, learner/teacher autonomy, Neuro-linguistic
Programming, current research on the brain and learning…Or how about
the connection between all four? Wouldn’t that be an interesting exploration? Well, I’m finishing up my fifth and final year at Fukuyama University
in Hiroshima Prefecture. Soon, I’ll be moving to Tokyo to work on my
MA. Anyways, nice meeting you here. Thanks for reading!

マリア・トロヴェラ
こんにちは。マリア・トロヴェラと申します。どこかでお会いしたことがあるかもしれませんね。もしお会いしていなければ、個人的にお会いできる日を楽しみにしています。そのときはあなたについてのお話が聞けるかもしれませんし、あるいは私が興味のあることについてお話ができるかもしれませんね。例えば、コラボレーション学習、学習者・教師の自立性、神経言語学プログラミング、脳や学習に関する最新研究などです。
それともその４つとも全部はどうでしょう？とても興味深いものになるのではないでしょうか。さて、私は広島県にある福山大学での5年の月日を終えようとしています。もうすぐ、東京に引越し、修士号を取るために奔走するつもりです。ここで自己紹介できて嬉しく思います。読んで下さってありがとう！

Please send in your own self-introduction with a photo for the next issueof Learning Learning in October 2008!

As ever, the heart of Learning Learning is the living contact between
us all. What’s been getting you excited, puzzled and motivatedwith learner autonomy recently? Send in your short reflections,
ideas and articles. We want to hear from you! Let’s keep on making theconnections!

「学習の学習」の真髄は私たち全ての間での生きたやりとりにあります。このところ学
習者の自律に関してあなたは何に興奮し、戸惑い、心躍らせているでしょうか？皆さんの意見、アイディア、そして記事を送ってください。みなさんからの声を待っています。より良い関係を作っていきましょう。

6 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Reports

Getting Connected:
Local Get-together
Reports from Hiroshima
and Tokyo
つながりをもとめて：広島・東京エリアミーティング
＜はじめに＞今号の「つながりを求めて」LD SIGエ
リアミーティング・レポー トは広島の初集会の様子と東京で１月・３月に行われた２回の集まりの感想が寄せられています。広島に集まった意欲的なメンバー
たちは、この集まりを、それぞれの自律学習を授業で促進するためのプロジェクトを進めていくための原動力にしたいと考えているようです。東京では毎回、メンバーが気になっていること、興味を持っていること、疑問に思っていることを自由に話し合っています。いずれにしても、このレポートを読めば、あなたも次のミーティングに参加して、「つながり」
たくなることでしょう。

Hiroshima Area 広島
Jim Ronald ジム・ロナルド
The first Hiroshima area Learner Development
get-together took place on a late Saturday afternoon in early November 2007, in the breezy terrace area of a café within Hiroshima Station. The
local JALT chapter is active, with regular wellattended meetings, so the aim for the Hiroshima
LD get-togethers has been to offer somethingwith a specific LD focus that would complement
the monthly JALT meetings; aiming to attract
local LD SIG members, JALT members, andany language teachers who do not have muchchance to meet other teachers. That was a good
description of the eleven of us who joined our
first gathering.
Our first meeting was a few months later
than the get-togethers in Tokyo, Kobe andHiroshima, so the planning and focus of the firstmeeting benefited from the insights and musings reported in Language Learning. Thank you
all for those! Especially, it helped us think about
how to both have focused LD-oriented meetingsand opportunities for just enjoying being together. We hope that this report might also help
other groups.

Planning
This started with emails to local LD members,
then other word of mouth and email contacts
to people we knew who might be interested.
Through these contacts, it seemed that somewhere near Hiroshima Station would suit mostpeople, as would late afternoon on a Saturday. A
flier was distributed at the preceding local JALT
meeting, and Naomi Fujishima, LD member
and membership chair for Hiroshima JALT, sentout an announcement via the large “friends ofHiroshima JALT” mailing list.
The meeting
After ordering drinks, we briefly introduced
ourselves, stating who or where we teach andour learner development interests. We didn’t really have a plan for the meeting except that weshould divide up into groups according to ourinterests, then get together after an hour or so
and give reports from each group. With so manyteachers together, ideas about how to do that led
us to finish with a kind of scribes and messengers activity, with people from each group goingto each other group, reporting their group’s discussion and hearing from the other groups. This
worked well.

We divided into three groups, each with a different focus, at least initially: a college English
education group; a children’s English group; and aself-access group. The college English group (EikoNakamura, Naomi Fujishima, Carol LickenbrockFuji, and Ewen Ferguson) talked about activities
to promote student cooperation. Eiko explained
her poster carousel activity where there are stations around the room where students have

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ZZ Reports
posters of certain themes at each station. Visitors(other students) come around and ask questions
about the posters or make comments.
Another topic was how to promote independent study. Carol talked about her activity wherestudents shadow some listening activity of theirchoice, such as a movie scene or favorite song.
This is an assignment done outside of the classroom.
The group also gave supportive comments on
one teacher’s efforts to make an “e-learning”
class successful and more interactive than justgrammar exercises computer.
Other topics touched on were how to make students do homework and on how much Japanese
was appropriate to use in the classroom.
The children’s English group was made up of
Chris Hunt, Hiroko Kuya, and Jim Ronald. We
covered lots of topics: parents’ expectations
vs. children’s situations; whether the learner isalways right; and the danger of imposing our(mostly negative) attitude towards tests on children who may find them motivating.
We talked about offering choices of activities,
and offering a range of activities to suit different
learners, so that the same child isn’t always lastor least able to respond. This brought us to theidea of creating a democratic learning environment. As Chris said, there isn’t much democracy
for children in the world outside, but we canensure that children have a voice in the language
classroom.
The self-access group (Tim Buthod, Maria
Trovela, Gordon Luster and Ian Nakamura)started by discussing self-access centres at college; funding and planning was involved in setting up a centre but any vision of what a centre
might achieve could fade very quickly, as may
funding and management to keep it running as acentre for independent learning. The group also
talked about setting up and managing extensive
reading programmes, both with books and with
online reading resources.
Talking about how to promote learner autonomy to our students, they discussed the merits ofteaching, showing, modeling… and peer modeling of learner autonomy. Tim said, “Would you
like Nakamura to lecture you about baseball, or
would you rather play baseball?”This led to a discussion of the aims and goalsof our local get-togethers, continued in thegroup’s reports and online. One important point
was that just talking and talking about learning
about learning would not be enough to keep
our meetings alive, and that we should not havemeetings just for the sake of meeting.
From this seed of an idea grew the vision of
the group serving as a motor for us to do learnerdevelopment, somehow to promote learner independence through our classes. Our meetings
would bring people with similar interests together, so that we could grow in our understanding of learner development by planning anddoing action research projects or other types ofinvestigation into ways of promoting learner independence. We might do projects together, orjust be there to offer each other support, experience, or feedback as needed.
Our first meeting was interesting, stimulating, and fun, and generally the feeling was that
this had been time well spent. Two months later,
as I write this, planning and doing LD has become the focus for our get-togethers, especiallyas we get ready for the coming academic year:
January, to bring ideas together; and February
and March, to turn these ideas into plans forpromoting and monitoring different aspects oflearner development. We also have a Hiroshima
LD mailing list (thanks Chris!) with about 18
people on it, and we’re using it!

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ZZ Reports

Greater Tokyo Area
首都圏近郊
Tomoko Kawachi, 河内智子

JanuaryThis year’s first LD SIG Greater Tokyo gettogether was held on January 13th at Teachers
College Tokyo Office. Nine members attended
the meeting. We started out by going aroundthe room introducing ourselves as well as ourcurrent interests, and later discussed various issues that came up during the self-introduction
as a whole group. Topics discussed ranged from
evaluation (self and peer evaluation, in particular), scaffolding, praise, and teaching materials, to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL).

Throughout the three hours, the meeting proceeded in a very friendly and open atmosphere.
Here are some excerpts of reflections by attendees on some of the topics:• SFL: “[David Rose’s] approach is influenced
by the ideas of social inequality in schools
and the difference between skills and ability
and how the gap between weaker andstronger students is widened progressively.
Soon I hope to start teaching a small groupof children in Fujisawa using Professor David
Rose’s approach and he has given me his full
support in this.” (John Curran)• Praise: “I agree that giving positive feedback
definitely boosts students’ sense of selfefficacy and confidence, and it creates aclass atmosphere conducive to learning. It
reminded me of comments given to me by
the students at the end of courses, talking

about how motivated they felt after receiving
compliments by me.” (Tomoko Kawachi)• “After the get-together, I decided to include
a peer evaluation task in the course of
returning essays with my comments in one of
my classes. The students were asked to write
a positive sentence after reading their friends’
work. I thought everyone wrote more than
one line, and felt happy at being praised bytheir peers.” (Naoko Harada)• “Written praise on writing was thought to beimportant, and one member suggested thatyou set aside graded papers for a few days andthen go back to reflect anew upon student
writing and your grades and comments.” (JoeFalout)• Scaffolding: “Personally, over the past
few years, I’ve been moving towards more
scaffolding, by which I mean trying to makemy teaching more explicit - explaining why I
use particular materials, how I evaluate etc,
and also using more models (e.g. of texts,
presentations) and encouraging students to
notice what’s good (or bad) about them…
But still, I wonder if it isn’t taking too much
power into my own hands, power which
could be more usefully (or ethically) devolved
to the students?” (Alison Stewart)• Overall: It is necessary to have this kindof stimulation to replenish our energy forteaching. Teachers and students need to makeconstant adjustments to their teaching andlearning strategies so that education remains
a vital force throughout our lives. (Yoko
Wakui)March
At our second get-together this year on March
9th, we had a larger group of twelve members. In
the beginning, we discussed what the best way ofdisseminating get-together invitations would be,
given that some LD SIG members preferred not tobe subscribed to the LD SIG Discussion email list:• “I posed a question about how to explore
the use of various invite lists and bulletincomputer programs to help the processof getting-together run smoother andgive members a chance to post comments
about the get-togethers prior to or after our

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ZZ Reports
meetings. If you have any advice or feedback
on invite lists please contact stacey.vye AT
MARK gmail.com.” (Stacey Vye)
• “The possibilities include, either adopting
the present list, which is under-utilized, or
creating a new list.” (Terry Yearley)
Since we had a couple of new members, weagain started with short self-introductions:• “…through individual self-introductions I
learned about what everybody’s interested inthese days – including those whom I’ve nevermet before and I’m already friends with. Of
course it is great to hear about/from people
I’ve met today for the first time. (Kay Irie)
Following the self-introduction, we went
into tea break. There were lots of refreshments
brought in by the attendees, and quite a bit ofactive small group discussions continued in different corners of the room. After the break, weheaded back to our seats and started talking
about ways of teaching cross-cultural issues in
the classroom:• “The discussion on teaching cross-culturaldifference was especially interesting tome, since I teach a whole course devoted
to intercultural communication, but also
because it reminded me that teaching about
culture should be a part of any language
course, since language and culture are
inseparable.” (Tomoko Kawachi)• “Materials could range from stories basedon students’ personal experiences to criticalincidents around the globe. Comparing
cultural differences through facts and figuresor through other objective sources may help
students to view the reality from a different
perspective. It will ultimately provide an
opportunity for students to gain insight about
our cultural identities as well as those ofothers.” (Naoko Harada)• It is certain that teachers should be careful
how to guide students. I believe, however, thatstudents have the ability to think criticallyon their own if given an opportunity such asgroup discussion. To my surprise, sometimes
they even give us new perspectives as Joe andKay say. Teachers could simply be a facilitator.
(Yoko Wakui)• “Often one community or group has little

idea what its neighbor is doing and thuslack an opportunity for mutual dialogue or
collaboration. Moving to a new job, I realize
I have to be open-minded and keep my eyes
and ears open not just within the department
where I will be working.” (Alison Stewart)
Towards the end of the meeting, one member
mentioned her plan to visit one of the Super
English High Schools, another topic whichsparked interest in some members. We closed
the meeting by writing reflections on the day’s
get-together.
• “What are we gaining by participating inthese meetings? Are they helpful? When you
really start thinking about this, it certainly is achallenging topic. Have you really developed
professionally? …What do you judge yourself
against??? …. one thing I can say for sureis that these meeting do support me a lot,and in a variety of ways. Whether you are apractitioner or a researcher, it can sometimes
be a lonely “business”. The opportunities
to discuss and exchange ideas with people
certainly contributes to broadening myunderstanding or deepening my thoughts ona certain topic. But, I guess, what I appreciate
most are the “people” who are involvedin creating such opportunities – without
their efforts nothing will happen!!” (Masuko
Miyahara)• “The teachers who came together form a
supportive community with the environmentthat encourages self-directed participation.... I
enjoyed listening to everyone’s views, stories,and suggestions towards positive change forlearning. Anyone looking for such a sense ofcommunity can find it here.” (Joe Falout)

10 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Reports

JALT 2007 LD SIG
Forum Report
JALT LD SIG Forum
Coordinators
Etsuko Shimo（下絵津子）
Jodie Stephenson（ジョディー・スティーブンソン）＜要約＞本レポートでは、2007年11月JALT全国大会において開催されたLDフォーラムをコディネーター
である下絵津子とジョディー・スティーブンソンが振返ります。まずフォーラムのフォーマットとその背景を説明、当日取り上げられた主なテーマと焦点について述べます。短い時間ながらもフォーラムはそこに集った人たちが様々な成功、葛藤、フラストレーション、そしてアイディアを共有し合えました。私たちはこのような結びつきと分かち合いは教員の自律性を高めるために、そして元気を保持するために大切であると思っています。

Etsuko: The theme of the 2007 JALT Learner
Development (LD) SIG Forum was“connecting
and sharing ideas.” Moving away from poster
presentation format in the recent years, weplanned to provide an opportunity where participants could share ideas and concerns relating
to learner development issues, such as learnerautonomy enhancement, strategy instructions,and exploration of learner beliefs. Some local LD
groups have been doing such activities in theirlocal get-together meetings in this past year. We
planned to start discussion in small groups, butsince there was a small number of participants—
about seven people on the average—some cameand some left in the middle—we didn’t divide
into small groups but stayed in one “big” group.
We started our idea sharing activity with ourself introduction, following questions such as“what’s your teaching context?”, “who are yourstudents?”, and “what is the curriculum like?”(December 16, 2007)
Jodie: We decided on the theme and format
after some discussion with the members of theTokyo get-together and people on the LD mailing list. Over the past year, LD has been trying
something new with local get-togethers, and wethought that the Forum would be a great placefor different groups to share what they’ve been

doing at their local gatherings and discuss problems they’ve encountered. The Tokyo group has
been active – with around 8-12 people meeting
every second month. We hoped that we could
run part of the Forum in a similar format to theone used in the Tokyo get-togethers, in an attempt to give other groups ideas and perhaps
even inspiration. (January 7, 2008)
Etsuko: Right. It was a shame that we couldn’t
provide the chance to learn about local gettogether activities as we had planned. But it wasinteresting to hear about participants’ teachingsituations in their self-introduction. Even the
few participants had all different kinds of teaching contexts—teaching different age groups,
from children to university students. Many ofthem referred to their students’ motivation leveland motivation types (students’ needs), or theirlearning goals and objectives. One teacher mentioned that her junior high school students whocared so much about entrance examinations
had low motivation in learning speaking skills.
Another mentioned, though, that his senior highschool students studied English only (or mainly)
to pass university entrance exams but they were
well motivated in that sense. Junior high schooland senior high school students are at quite different developmental stages and so motivational
strategies that the teacher can or should use
could be very different. Unfortunately, we didn’t
have time for in-depth discussion about these
intriguing points raised in the self-introduction
stories, but what did you find interesting in thefirst part of the Forum? (January 7, 2008)
Jodie: Looking back over my notes for the firstpart of the Forum, I was struck by the diversity
in our teaching situations, and yet how we allface many of the same issues. For me, it wasinteresting to hear about the different issues
that people are wrestling with in their teachingsituations - student motivation, collaboration
between teachers, the problem of holding on
to good teachers when you can’t pay them well,teacher motivation, and gender roles and the
expectations of male teachers towards their female colleagues. Due to the limited time we hadin the Forum, we probably weren’t able to help
all participants find solutions to problems they
were facing, but we were at least able to listen toand support each other.

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ZZ Reports
In the second part of the Forum we gave
participants the option of breaking into small
groups or remaining as one larger group to
discuss any issues that arose in the first part, orother autonomy-related issues that they wereinterested in. As our numbers were quite small,participants opted to remain as one group.
(January 15, 2008)
Etsuko: Yes, in the second partof the Forum, we discussed one
issue raised by a participant. I
think many of us were in sympathy with her problem eventhough we were in different
teaching contexts. This participant, a professor at a university
in Japan, found conflicts with her beliefs as ateacher and the institutional policies set for the
program that she’s teaching in. She was wondering if it was OK to have her students keep alearning journal in Japanese. She believed that
her students would benefit from this activity as
it would allow her students to think and express
their opinions and feelings more deeply andfreely. I agreed with her that it’d work out finesince its purpose was to help students reflect
over their learning processes more effectively
and help them better monitor their learning
processes. Her institution, however, had decided
to make it a policy that only English could be
used in classes. So, she was wondering if her
instruction would conflict with her institutional
policies. (January 17, 2008)
Jodie: We spent some time exploring this issue,
asking the person who raised the question about
their rationale for using journals, and discussing
the respective benefits of having students writein Japanese versus English. Someone pointed outthat having students complete the journals outof class would not be going against the English
only in class policy. As the discussion drew toan end, the person who raised the journal issue
concluded by saying that she would probably
go ahead and do the journals in Japanese, but
perhaps not announce that she was doing so to
the rest of the teaching staff. She would gather
evidence that the journals were indeed beneficial, and use this evidence to help persuade hercolleagues. (January 21, 2008)

Etsuko: I think it is important that we can share
our concerns with other colleagues. I recently
read an article about teacher autonomy by
Yoshiyuki Nakata (Eigokyoiku, February 2008,
Taishukan). In the article, he raised the issue
that teachers often feel isolated at work. His article suggested that teachers have to be autonomous in order to help learners become autonomous, and that teacher autonomy is developedin cooperation with colleagues. It would begreat if you have colleagues that you can shareyour concerns with at your own work place, butsometimes, it’s not easy. We didn’t have enoughtime to discuss every participant’s concerns in
the Forum, but LD get-togethers would be agood venue for that purpose, wouldn’t they? As
you said earlier, Tokyo get-togethers have been
providing such opportunities. Collaborative dialogues with other teachers are very important.
If I can relate the above teacher’s concern(journal writing in Japanese) to another interesting point from Nakata’s article: students are also
important “colleagues.” I think you can have dialogues with your students through the journal
writing with fewer restrictions and the dialogues
will be helpful for the teachers to learn what
they need from those important “colleagues.”(January 25, 2008)
Jodie: I think that that’s one ofbest things about LD – it provides us with a place for collaborative dialogue and cooperative development. The Forum
showed on a very small scale
how this can work. The local
get-togethers, where people
can meet more regularly and form deeper bondsof trust, perhaps offer greater opportunities. If
what you have read here interests you and you
haven’t been to a local get-together yet, I reallyencourage you to go along. (January 27, 2008)
Etsuko: LD is also planning to hold a retreat thisyear, right? If you don’t have regular get-togethers inyour local area, that’ll be the next great opportunity.
Jodie and Etsuko: Finally, we would like tothank all who participated in the Forum andwere willing to share their stories that day. And
many thanks to those who helped behind thescenes! (January 30, 2008)

12 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ About LD Grants…

Dear LD SIG Members,T

he Learner Development SIG would like to support the attendance of two LD SIG members at this year’s JALT International Conference in Tokyo, October 31 – November 3,
2008. Two 25,000 yen grants are available this year.
The SIG would like to award these grants to LD members who are willing to write a conference report, a report about the experience, or another piece of writing to be published in
Learning Learning after the conference. The two grant recipients can use the money to cover
their travel, hotel, and/or conference fees for the 2008 JALT conference. We are particularly
keen to support and encourage new members of the SIG, new contributors to our LD discussions, and/or LD members researching autonomy in language education.
If you are interested in applying for a grant, please consider whether you meet more or lessthe following criteria:• You do not have access to research funds or conference travel grants from youremployer(s).
• You can attend the 2008 JALT Conference in Tokyo, October 31-November 3.
• You are willing to write a conference report or another article suitable for publication in the
Learning Learning shortly after the conference.
• You are relatively new to the field and have not published much before on autonomy inlanguage education (as our goal is to support and encourage new researchers/ contributors
to learner development discussions and activities).
If you more or less fit these criteria (we wish to be as flexible as possible), please send aminimum 500-word essay on how you view the development of learner and/or teacher autonomy in your own work or study situation to Ellen Head, Hugh Nicoll, Kay Irie., and Masuko
Miyahara. Please send your essay as a rich text format MS Word attachment. In your covering
email message, please introduce yourself to us as well.
We hope that, if you are interested, you will consider applying for these grants, and we arelooking forward to hearing from you by July 31st 2008.
Best wishes,
Ellen Head		
Hugh Nicoll		
Kay Irie		
Masuko Miyahara

ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com
hnicoll AT MARK gmail.com
kayirie AT MARK mac.com
masukom AT MARK aol.com

Translation into Japanese: Keiko Kawazu

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 13

ZZ About LD Grants…

奨励助成金について…
親愛なるLD-SIG会員の皆様へ
Learner Development SIGは、今年10月31日-11月3日に東京で開催予定のJALT年次大会に出席する二人のLD SIG会員をサポートしたいと考えています。今年は2万五千円ずつ、二名分の奨励助成金が利用できます。
SIGでは、このカンファレンスのレポート、またはそこでの体験について書いてくださるLD会員、あるいはこの年次大会の後、ニュースレターLearning Learning「学習の学習」の為に論文を書いてくださる方々にこの助成金を進呈したいと考えています。助成金を受ける2名の方々は、このお金を2008年JALT年次
大会にかかる旅行費用や宿泊費、大会参加費として使うことができます。我々は、特にSIGの新規会員の方、LD SIGのディスカッションへ新しい貢献をしてくださる方、または言語教育の場で自律学習を研究しているLD会員をサポートし、奨励したいと考えています。
この助成金ご興味がありましたら、まず、以下の基準をあなたがほぼ満たしているかどうかを考慮してください。
• ご自身の雇用主からの研究費または出張手当を受け取るすべをもっていない。
• 2008年10月31日-11月3日に東京にて開催予定のJALT年次大会に出席することが可能。
• 大会後まもなく、大会レポート、あるいはニュースレターLearning Learning 「学習の学習」にふさわし
い論文の提出が可能。
• この研究分野の活動を始めて比較的まだ日が浅く、言語教育における自律に関する発表をまだあまり行っていない。
（我々の目的は学習者育成とこの分野における新しい研究者をサポート、奨励することです。）
あなたがこれらの基準をほぼ満たしているならば（できるだけ柔軟に対応したいと考えています）、
2008年7月31日までに、ご自身の仕事・研究状況における、学習者および教師の自律の発達方法に関する見解を500語以上の英文エッセイにして エレン・ヘッド、ヒュー・ニコール、入江恵、もしくは宮原万寿子宛てにお送りください。
• あなたのエッセイをリッチテキスト形式のMS Wordファイルを添付書類としてお送りください。
• 送付メールメッセージの中で、自己紹介もお願いします。
奨励助成金に興味のある方は、是非申込みをご検討頂き、2008年7月31日までにご連絡をいただけることを楽しみにしています。
よろしくお願いいたします。
エレン・ヘッド 		ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com

ヒュー・ニコールhnicoll AT MARK gmail.com

入江恵

		

kayirie AT MARK mac.com

宮原万寿子		

masukom AT MARK aol.com

和訳：河津佳子

14 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Article: Grant Award Winnerpart-time? How can those in charge of language
Informalprograms understand the problems faced by theirand contribute, both within and outside ofRoundtables: Making staff
their managerial roles, to their solution?
Meaningful Spaces
This is the situation in which I startfor Teacher Talk
ed the Ritsumeikan(or “Rits” as it’s
インフォーマルな座談会：
commonly known
amongst foreign
有意義なティーチャートー
staff and students)
Language Teachers’
クの場
Roundtable (RLTR),

Author: Thomas
Amundrud, Ritsumeikan
University, Kyoto(トーマス・アムンルド、立命館大学)
Email: tamandrud AT MARK
yahoo.com＜要約＞職場において同僚や語学カリキュラムの開発プロセスから孤立を感じている語学教師たち
は、どうすれば連帯感を築けるだろうか。筆者はコミュニティに関する研究からその定義を簡潔に引用
し、2007年5月から京都の立命館大学で開催しているRitsumeikan Language Teachers’Roundtable（立命館語学教師の円卓会議）と言う形式張らない教師たちの座談会の開催・運営に関する自身の経験を本稿で述べている。出席者が評したこの集まりの利点・欠点を読者と共有し、さらに改善案を提示、どのようにすれば円卓会議をスタートできるかにも言及。他大学の教師たちが、それぞれの職場での必要性を検討し、円卓会議を始める際に本稿が役に立つことを筆者は望んでいる。
（要約翻訳：上田真友子、Summary
Translation by Mayuko Ueda）

A

s teachers, we often feel we work inalienating institutions in which we as individuals exercise no control in our work
except in how we run our classes. Meetings, ifthey’re held at all, are basically information sessions where harried program administrators dishout information they’ve already sent in memosthat are often half-read at best. How can teachers
who feel isolated from their colleagues and excluded from any say in curriculum development
or decision-making gain a sense that they indeed
are able to have a say in their work, especiallywhen most of them are not tenured, and manya series of informal
meetings of language teachers fromacross Ritsumeikan’s
Kinugasa campus innorthwest Kyoto. An
account of the origins, structure, experiences, and problems thathave emerged may be instructive and useful for
those of you interested in creating spaces in yourinstitutions for teachers to gather regularly yet
informally and share experiences and ideas forthe sake of improving their own teaching, andpossibly their institution’s language program asa whole.
Informal meetings of teachers set up withthe sole purpose of talking about work are notwithout precedent. Researchers and advocatesof teacher development have highlighted thebenefits to be gained from this kind of constructive conversation. In his book, Cooperative
Development (1992), Julian Edge observes thatsharing their intellectual and experiential knowledge enables teachers to enhance their professional self-development, and this in turn is ofbenefit to learners and to the institutions forwhich they work.
Regular meetings of teachers also seem to be
helpful in creating a sense of community. In aprevious issue of Learning Learning, Stewart(2007: 20) defined ‘community’ as a stable groupof people “who come together to work towards
a common goal”, who have shared ways of thinking, speaking and behaving which help define a
sense of identity, and who have a positive senseof commitment to the group. Stewart foundthat the part-time and limited tenure university

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
instructors she interviewed tended to lack asense of belonging to an academic community,
and that this isolation was de-motivating. One
teacher interviewed, however, took the initiative
to create a teaching community by organizing
regular, informal meetings of instructors at hisuniversity who were able to share ideas and concerns across different departments.
That teacher’s account of regular meetings
resonates with my own experience of starting up
and running the roundtable and has promptedme to consider in this article to what extent the
RLTR is a ‘community’, how it has benefited theparticipating teachers, and how such an idea
might benefit others.
What is the RLTR, and how did it
get started?
Most teachers are familiar with this scenario:
You’re in a shared office, or maybe a teacher’sroom or the hallway. One of your colleagues,
maybe a friend, starts talking about a problem
they’re having in class. You chime in, give helpful advice, anecdotes, or sympathy. Then, othercolleagues hear your conversation and join in.
Pretty soon you have four, five, six or even more
people who may not know each other very well,
who may teach different classes or hold different positions, but who may share quite a bit ofknowledge even if they approach the problem
from different angles. This talk continues fora few minutes, then there’s a bell, or a criticalmass of the group moves to leave, and the talkis over, as if it never happened. Perhaps the first
person got some input that can help solve theinitial problem, and maybe the other people got
an idea or two they might try. But, there’s noinstitutional memory on which further ideas candevelop, or to which people who weren’t in theinitial talk can refer.
I’d heard from former faculty that there had
been teacher-organized workshops, but these
had stopped the year before I came to Rits.
Having been in a number of such random talks
as just described in my four years there - thefirst three as a part-time instructor and then one
year as a full-time, limited term instructor - I
wondered if there wasn’t a way for teachers to
get together at planned times and discuss someof the issues that I’d heard come up at these ran-dom gatherings. Obviously these planned meetings would lack the spontaneity that spark happenstance discussions, and could never replacethem. Furthermore, since everyone has busy
schedules, finding a time when such a meeting
could be held and having a chance of attracting more than me and maybe one or two others
was also a problem. Even if this were somehow
resolved, would colleagues come if they saw that
open meetings were being held where their issues of concern were regularly and informallytalked about?
Such problems are further compounded by
the fact that Ritsumeikan, as a large private
university, employs over 100 part-time andfull-time foreign language instructors at the
Kinugasa campus alone. The majority of foreign
language classes are taught by either part-timeteachers or full-time, limited-term adjuncts,
like myself, though some tenured faculty teachupper-division courses in languages other thanJapanese. While the full-time adjuncts like myself work around campus in different faculties,
part-timers are generally tied to one or two
faculties at most, and so never meet instructors elsewhere. Also, while English is by far thedominant foreign language taught at Rits, there
are teachers for many other languages as well.
While these teachers of foreign languages otherthan English face many problems that Englishteaching faculty either do not face, or encounterin differing degrees, it stands to reason that as
fellow language teaching professionals we might
have shared experiences and solutions that could
prove useful to each other. In addition, Japaneseand non-Japanese teachers of foreign languages
often self-segregate in teacher’s areas, and often teach different types of classes. Despite thedivisions and challenges faced, might there be
similar problems, and similar solutions, that we
could share? Could planned, informal meetingsgather full and part-time instructors of different
languages from across campus, and bridge thedivide between non-Japanese and Japanese foreign language faculty?
The only way I figured to answer these questions was to try. In late April 2007, I requested
and received permission from the chair of thecampus English program to organize theseregular, informal meetings for teacher develop-

16 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Article: Grant Award Winnerment. While I was never told that I had to ask
permission, it seemed the most logical courseof action. First, I was then able to have my superiors spread the word about the roundtable.
Furthermore, if anyone outside of the language
program had a problem with the roundtable, I
would have allies in the institutional hierarchy
who would support me. I then consulted withthe staff of the campus Center for Language
Acquisition, which administers the language
classes at the Ritsumeikan Kinugasa campus.
They were also supportive and agreed to reserverooms for our meetings.
I settled on the first Thursday of every monthat third period, right after lunch, since I was free
and there weren’t many foreign language classes
held then. Once these formalities were in place,
I made posters to announce our meeting, andposted them in teachers’ rooms around campus.
For our first topic, I chose the decidedly unsexy yet essential topic of whether, and to what
extent, foreign language teachers should allow
students to use dictionaries in class. Despite,or perhaps because of the apparent dryness ofthe topic, people who knew me started asking
about the roundtable. Eleven instructors, theauthor included, showed up for the inauguralroundtable in May 2007. Talk was lively, with anumber of instructors sharing their experiences,advice, and activities for using dictionaries inclass. Unfortunately, the one instructor I knew
who generally discourages dictionary use in hisclasses, although invited, was unable to come.
Benefits of the Roundtables
There has been a roundtable every month of theschool year since. Topics have covered a numberof different concerns facing language teachers, such as how to incorporate preparation forstandardized tests, TOEFL in particular, into
Oral English classes, how to build classroom
discussion, and how to best encourage andmaintain student motivation. Like the initial
topic of dictionary use, I’ve picked these topics
from conversations I’ve heard and had with mycolleagues, as well as from suggestions made byroundtable participants. Most meetings have
six or seven people, many of whom have comeback repeatedly. This would appear to indicatethat the roundtables are now on a firm footing,one of the hallmarks of community identified in
Stewart (2007). We usually start a few minutes
after the bell, and continue right up to the end of
the 90-minute period. The content of the roundtable talks is not only confined to these meetings, but filters into the general conversation
around the teachers’ rooms as well.
The comments I’ve received from regular participants have shown the meetings to have beensuccessful in creating a mutually supportive
community, particularly for part-time teachers.
One part-timer who has come to every meeting
said, “For a part-time teacher, a meeting such as
the roundtable may be one of the few opportunities available to discuss work-related issues withcolleagues.” This participant has, in personal
conversations, contrasted her experience withthe roundtables with her explicit exclusion fromfaculty meetings at another university where she
has taught part-time.
The meetings also provide a forum for teachers to articulate and receive positive feedback onteaching ideas and methods they discuss which
they might not otherwise receive (Edge, 1992).
One regular attendee said that the meetings provided “a good way to refresh my confidence inwhat I'm doing in the classroom and why.” These
would seem to support the finding by Cowie(2006) that strong, positive relationships at work
can contribute to maintaining teacher motivation.
In addition, some topics, like how to incorporate standardized testing and how to deal withstudent mental health issues, were useful in that
program administrators were able to hear what
instructors were actually facing. The roundtables also open a more direct and informal
channel for communicating existing university
policies and their rationales, as well as explaining measures program administrators weretaking to help address any shortcomings. One
tenured faculty member has attended almost
every roundtable meeting. He stated in a private
email that he found the meetings useful as botha coordinator and as a teacher. For this reason,
although providing a more immediate means ofcommunication with program coordinators was
not a stated purpose of the roundtable, it hashelped cultivate institutional support.

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
Shortcomings
Despite the positive feedback from participants,
there remain a number of areas in which theroundtables could be improved. The author isthe only person who chose topics for the RLTR
in 2007. Since I am necessarily limited by what I
hear as a topic of interest to my colleagues, thetopics discussed at the roundtable are probably
somewhat circumscribed by my interests, rather
than what all language teachers at my campus
would actually like to talk about. However, while
I was unsuccessful in getting others to help
conduct the roundtables last year, a part-time
instructor who regularly attended meetings in2007 has agreed to be co-coordinator in 2008.
Hopefully she will help remedy this problem,
and we will be able to hold a more balanced andinclusive series of meetings by including topics
chosen through formal and informal surveys ofteachers on campus.
Also, while having a regular group of attendees helps to build a sense of community, it also
has the negative effect of creating an echo chamber or, in the case of positive feedback, a focus
on mutual appreciation rather than critical appraisal. As one regular attendee said, he felt that“our discussions tend to draw few disagreements
or disagreeing positions, because those interested in the topic of teaching generally are going
to be of similar mind.” In his opinion, this is a
result of the nature of such informal meetings
whereby attendees self-select, rather than moremandatory meetings which people are more orless obliged to attend. How to encourage a morecritical dialog about our own teaching practices
will be a delicate task to approach in the RLTR
as no one wants to feel embarrassed in front of
their colleagues or superiors. However, perhaps
as the community develops and stabilizes, attendees will feel more comfortable voicing dissenting opinions.
Another weakness that I feel the RLTR has notbeen able to address is how to create an institutional memory to keep people who are not able
to attend involved in the conversation. I’ve attempted to start an online group for participants
and other interested people, but aside from a
few posts in the days after a meeting, this grouphas been dormant, even though minutes wereposted in an attempt to spur discussion. How tobetter use these minutes remains a problem.
Furthermore, while I had hoped that more
Japanese faculty would attend, only one Japaneseteacher of English has come so far. Also, whilebilled as a language teachers’ roundtable, only
English teachers have attended them so far. Thismay be because the meetings are advertised in
English, the author’s social interactions at work
are primarily amongst English-teaching faculty,
and the previous participants have been English
teachers. Nevertheless, I hope to find a way toreach beyond these limits in the second year of
meetings through bilingual English-Japaneseposters and more explicit outreach to teachersof all nationalities and languages at Ritsumeikan.
Finally, I wonder what will happen after myfive-year contract runs out. Will anyone wantto continue holding the RLTR, or will it die out
like the previous teacher-led workshops that had
initially inspired me?
Ideas for the future and forothers
So far, the initial rationale for starting the RLTR
seems to hold true. It has provided instructors with an informal place to share their ideas,
and to hear from others. In addition, it has also
developed an unintended function for administrators to communicate on a more equal footing, and to hear from those they memo. On theother hand, the roundtable is still largely run by
one guy – me - which limits what we can talkabout and when. In addition, the barriers both
between teachers of English and teachers ofother languages, and between Japanese and nonJapanese faculty, still seem firmly in place.
I suggest that anyone wanting to try roundtable-type meetings at their schools do so in cooperation with other teachers. This way, you might
be able to avoid having to handle everything,from scheduling and topic choice, to minutekeeping and chairing the meeting. I’ve also
found having support and help from tenured
faculty and language center staff to be incredibly useful in both spreading the word about theroundtable, as well as with dealing with minor
annoyances like problems with room reservations or misplaced posters.
If you do try your own roundtables, or have

18 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
any further questions about mine, do not hesitate to email me at tat24292@lt. ritsumei.ac.jp.
I have now started a Yahoo Group: Language
Teacher Roundtables, and would be happy tohear from other teachers who have attempted
similar initiatives or who would like to hearmore about our experiences at Rits. If you’d liketo join, simply email me with “LT Roundtables
invitation” as the subject. With so many university language teachers working in part-time orlimited contract positions, there is a clear needto find ways to help such teachers feel a sense of
support and belonging and to bridge the gap between them and faculty. Informal groupings likethe roundtable may be such a way.

References
Cowie, N. (2006). Exploring reasons why experienced teachers stay positive and motivated.
Learning Learning, 13(2), 9-16.
Edge, J. (1992) Co-operative development:
Professional development through co-operation
with colleagues. Harlow: Longman.
Stewart, A. (2007). Teacher development andad-hoc communities. Learning Learning,
14(1),18-26.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the Learner Development SIG for
generously awarding me a travel grant to attend JALT 2007. This allowed me to attend theconference, as I am a limited-contract instructor
without access to institutional research funds
or travel allowances. I hope that the SIG willcontinue this award so that future members who
might otherwise be unable to more fully participate in our community have the chance to do so.

Getting Your Copy ofMore Autonomy You Ask

J

ALT2006 saw the official launch of More Autonomy You Ask (MAYA),
edited by Eric Skier and Miki Kohyama, and featuring 13 research chapters exploring learner and teacher autonomy in a Japanese context, withguest chapters by Stephen Krashen, Chitose Asaoka, and Terry Lamb. Clickhere for more details.

More Autonomy You Askのご購入についてM

ore Autonomy You Ask(MAYA)はJALT2006において公式に出版されました。MAYAの特徴はEric Skier とMiki Kohyamaによる編集、そして日本における学習者と教師の自律性を探る13章にわたる研究論文とStephen
Krashen, Chitose Asaoka とTerry Lambが書いたゲストチャプターです。購入方法についてはここをクリックしてください。

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 19

ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner

Teacher Identity:
The Case of aJapanese Teacher
of English
教師アイデンティティ：日本人英語教員の場合

the honor to write for this article for the Grant
Award of Learner Development SIG JALT2007
was a good opportunity for me to think about
my role in the class. Having recently read Bill
Johnston’s Values in English Language Teaching,
I would like to use his concept of teacher identity as a frame for examining my classroom
experience and exploring the multiple roles I
occupy as a Japanese teacher of English as a foreign language.

Author: Naoko Harada,
The Senior High School
Affiliated With Japan
Women’s University(原田奈穂子、日本女子大学附属高等学校)

Emails in Japanese and English
contexts
One morning, email writing was the theme inmy third-year English writing class of about
twenty. I asked the students if they had learned
the concept of email in information education
classes. They said yes. After briefly checking together what an email was, I instructed them todo some tasks on writing email sentences.
Then, a student asked me, "How do you say
me-i-ru in English?" I was a little puzzled because it should have been easy for that student
to associate theJapanese me-i-ru
with the original
English word ‘mail’.
All she had to do
was preface ‘e’ forthe acronym of‘electronic’ to ‘mail’.
The student raised
the question after I
referred to the definition of email. Because of this, I guessed that
she wanted me to alert the class to the fact thatliterally translating Japanese me-i-ru into ‘mail’
into English does not mean electronic mails. I
explained to the class that postal mail could bereferred to as ‘mail’, but electronic mails had tobe ‘email’.
There was a long silence. Then another student spoke up, “We know that. So what word
in English do you use when you transmit it on
your cell phones?” Other students nodded. I had
to pause for a moment. Skimming through thehistory of personal communication devices in
my mind, I knew of pagers that existed before
emails. However, I could not immediately thinkof the proper term. All I could say was, “Thank

Email: naoano_61 at mark yahoo.
co.jp＜要約＞本論では、高校で英語を教える日本人
教員が、携帯電話の「メール」に相当する英語について質問を受けたことから、教室で教える際の自分の多様なアイデンティティについて探求した。Bill
Johnston(2003)のteacher identity の枠組のうち、特に本例に密接に関係のあるauthority（職権、専門家の権限）と solidarity(一体感)の均衡に焦点を当てた。Authorityとは基本的には他者に影響を与える能力のことであり、solidarityとはここでは、生徒と同じ立場に立つことを指す。Johnstonは、若い教員がsolidarity を目指すのに反し、学生は教員にauthority
を求めることに対するジレンマを提示している。本論の｢メール｣の例では、教員としての職権と専門家としての立場にあった筆者が、質問をきっかけに、ネイティブ・スピーカーの同僚に確認し、次のクラスでその報告を行った際に、外国語としての英語学習者の立場にあった自分に気付いたことを挙げている。英語を教える日本人教員のアイデンティティを考察した結果、語学教員という基本的な立場以外に、学習モラルの案内人、成人の外国語学習者、そして英語を話す文化に道を開くガイドとしての特質すべき存在があることがわかった。

T

his is a reflection by a Japanese highschool teacher, exploring her own identity as a teacher of English. Teachers areoften so overloaded with day-to-day activities
that many of them hardly have time to reflect
about themselves. I am no exception, but having

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
you for your wonderful questions. I’m quite sure
we can use ‘email’ for mails sent out on personal
computers and for cell phones. Just in case, I will
check with our native-speaking teacher.”After class, I asked my American colleague
about the term for emails on cell phones. “Yes,”
he said, “‘email’ could be used for computers andcell phones, but ‘text message’ is another word
for short messages on cell phones.” I shared thisinformation with my students in the next class.
They were delighted to find out about this newword. I was also happy to get an opportunity torealize that this was a generation that had grown
up with cell phones and that they were really interested in this modern technology.
The point of this example is to show how myrole as a teacher changed. To begin with, I was
engaged in explaining the usage of the word
‘email’ to my students. However, when a student
asked me the English word for me-i-ru on thecell phone, I had not expected questions aboutcell phones. I simply asked them to wait until
the next class so that I could consult with myAmerican colleague. At this point, my role as ateacher gave way to a new role as a fellow learner with my students of English as a foreign language. I asked my American colleague questions
as a representative of my Japanese students.
When I brought back the answer, the word ‘text
message’, to my class, I was not only teachingthem a new word, but I was also sharing the solution to their initial question. In this situation, I
was aware of my dual identity: as a teacher and aleaner of English.
Is it appropriate for me to have this teacher/learner identity as a Japanese high school teacher? Are there still other identities that teachers
adopt when they are teaching?
Johnston’s teacher identity
According to Johnston (2003), identity is definedas “something relatively permanent, unitary,and uncontroversial,” and yet it is seen as “fundamentally relational in nature, and negotiatedthrough language and other forms of social
interaction” (p. 99). Erikson (1968) saw identity
as a process located in the core of the individual
and the core of the communal culture surrounding oneself (pp. 22-23). Through their concepts,

I understand identity is a sense of self of anindividual and the awareness of being within asociety. Thus, an individual’s identity can be affected and changed by social interaction, rather
than remaining constant and unchangeable. As
the focus in this article is on the teacher as anindividual, following Harada (2007), the singularform of the word “identity” will be used at thepersonal level to indicate the sense of self (p.
967). Only when I am talking about teachers ingeneral, the plural form ‘”identities” will be used.
Johnston looks at teacher identity as “complex” and a concept that is “only now beginningto be explored” (p.99). He focuses on three
aspects: teacher-student relations, values andprofessionalism, and religious beliefs and ELT.
In this article, I will use only the first aspect, theteacher-student relationship, especially focusing on the balance of authority and solidarity,
since this is particularly salient in the context ofteaching English in Japanese high schools.
In my view, a key characteristic of this context is how the Japanese teacher balances her
position with the students and orchestrates
the classroom community. The dichotomy ofauthority and solidarity can help us unpack theteacher’s role, since I believe these are the barometer of what Johnston calls “moral dynamics
that go to the heart of our own understandingsof ourselves both as teachers and as people” (p.
106). My understanding is that as we teach, weare aware of our identities as teachers, but do
not realize there are other identities we may bedisplaying depending on the circumstances. In
the classroom, the identity of a teacher is highly
determined by the relationship with the student.
The teacher – student
relationship
The teacher-student relationship, according toJohnston, is “the foundation of moral interaction
in language teaching” (p. 100). He examines thisrelationship from two angles: teachers’ involvement in their students’ lives, and the balancethat teachers strike between authority and solidarity.

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
Involvement in students’ lives
Johnston argues that whatever positions ateacher takes, “we will encounter situations inwhich the personal lives of students enter into
our educational relations with them” (p. 101).
Even if a teacher tries to limit her relationshipwith the students in class to educational mattersand nothing more, sooner or later she will meeta situation where she has to deal with fragmentsof students’ personal life that filter through fromoutside the classroom.
However, in contrast to Johnston’s examplesof the teacher being in the position to respondto students’ serious personal problems, my
text-messaging example at the beginning of
this reflection was a comparatively trivial problem. Nevertheless, through a discourse on the
topic of text messages, I came to know more
about their lives and their practices, which differ from my own. In short, the English word
‘email’ served as a bridge between myself andmy students in terms of their cell phone culture. Having learned they were experts in thecell phone culture, I could draw more examples
from their expertise in our classes.
Authority and solidarity
The other aspect that Johnston examines in theteacher-student relation is the polar extremes ofauthority and solidarity. Before applying these to
my high school situation, I would like to clarify
the meaning of authority and solidarity. APA
Dictionary of Psychology’s primary definition of
the word authority is “the capacity to influenceothers,” and it can be categorized into a formal
kind, enabling an individual to exert influence
as a legally recognized office or hierarchy, or an
informal type based on the individual having attributes to facilitate the achievement of a group’s
goals (expert authority) or an attractive andauthoritative personality serving to enhance hisor her credibility (charismatic authority) (p. 89).
Due to the nature of the teacher's role in managing the class, I assume this expert authority will
be most effective in many class activities, but attimes, a charismatic authority will be more of anadvantage.

Johnston mentions that retaining authority will “allow students to respect us and treat
us seriously” and ensure that “the business ofteaching and learning may proceed effectively”(p. 103). His focus is on the teacher’s professionalism when he uses the words “the business” and“effectively” for class management.
On the other hand, the original meaning of
the word solidarity in Longman (2003) could
read “loyalty and general agreement between
all the people in a group, or between different
groups because they all have a shared aim” (p.
1575). Johnston explains that the state of solidarity is “to be on the same side as our students- for our interests to be their interests… and (forthem) to see us as allies” (p. 103). He remarksthat solidarity is a state in which a teacher sharesfeelings, problems, and interests with students.
In other words, I understand this is a notion
which means to have a bond with another person and feel the sense of togetherness under ashared aim.
Johnston illustrates the polarizing notions, authority and solidarity, by examining an article bya young Brazilian teacher (as cited in Johnston,2003). She described her dilemma about teaching in class. Many of her students wanted her toexercise more authority and display less solidarity, while she wanted to establish a close relationship with students and foster a positive language
learning environment. Johnston comments thatthe tension between authority and solidarity is“a moral one that involves the core of her identity” (pp. 104-105), and values her conclusionthat she is a “teacher in progress” (p.106).
My interpretation of this episode is that there
was a discrepancy between the kind of authority the teacher was using to encourage learners
as an expert and the traditional kind of authority with power, which the students wanted theteacher to exercise. If the aim of learning were
fully shared and the teacher could think flexibly, I think there would be a chance for boththe teacher and students to able to find common
ground of satisfaction.

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winner
Authority and solidarity ofJapanese teachers of English
In this section, I would like to focus on the issueof the balance of authority and solidarity of aJapanese teacher of English.
My email episode shows that at first, I was
conducting my language teaching business as
usual with authority by formally instructing mystudents. However, when a student asked me
about me-i-ru and cell phones, I was no longer
in that state. Thrown into a new sphere, afterscanning my memories, I honestly admitted
the limit of my knowledge to the students onwhat specific word could be used for the meaning of emails on the cell phones. I believe I was
still using my authority as an expert, because
I was fairly confident in saying that the word
email could also be used for cell phones, but as alearner of English, I wanted to check it with myAmerican colleague.
However, when I asked my colleague as arepresentative of my Japanese foreign language
learners, I entered the territory of solidarity
with the students. When I went back to classand shared the word ‘text message’, I was partly
maintaining my authority as a teacher, but I was
feeling solidarity with the students who resonated with me in learning something new. It wasa moment in which we shared the joy of learningand it is this kind of experience, I believe, thatcan lead to mutual trust between teachers andstudents.
I would like to share my views of why I valueauthority and solidarity, both of which I use inevery class. Authority is valuable for overseeingclass activities. Like any other teachers in similar
situations, I believe I am exercising my authority as an expert to facilitate students in acquiring new knowledge in their English learning.
However, as I am not as gifted with charismatic
authority to attract every student in every classas some teachers might be, I just try to sharewith my students where my interests are: what I
think would be helpful for them and what I hopeto learn with them.
The primary aim of my teaching is to guide thestudents to be good English learners and users
as Japanese. Cook (2001) points out that the aim“is to equip people to use two languages without
losing their own identity (p.179).” Using English

in an environment where Japanese is used dailyis where my solidarity comes in. Whether mystudents like it or not, I will be one of their
Japanese models as an English teacher, learner,
and user who leads her everyday life in Japanese.
There are several roles that a teacher can playwhile interacting with the students. Figure 1 illustrates such multiple identities for Japaneseteachers of English, who could exhibit theirunique roles to their students. It gives examplesof the possible roles of a Japanese teacher as alanguage expert, a moral guide, an adult EFL
learner, and a guide to an English-speaking
world for students.

Figure 1. Examples of teacher’s roles in theclassroom
When Japanese teachers exercise their authority as language experts, they facilitate theachievements of their students. While they are
doing so, they can serve as models of ideal language learners. This is an important role that,in Japan, only Japanese teachers can fulfill. As
adult learners, through sharing the difficulties
of learning a new language, they can show thatthey are feeling solidarity with their students.
As moral guides, they will encourage students
to overcome the pain and share the joy during
the course of learning. As a guide to an Englishspeaking world, they will eventually provide opportunities for their Japanese students to think
about the social dynamics and diversified cul-

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ Article: Grant Award Winnertures surrounding them.
In a society where English is used mostly inthe classroom at a high school level, the firstnavigator to direct the students to the Englishspeaking world would most likely be theirteachers. In that sense, Japanese teachers need
to be mindful about the history and the present situation of such cultures and about any
significant difference with their own culture. In
other words, providing a bridge for the students
between their own culture and the cultures ofothers is an important step toward intercultural
understanding.
Fostering the teacher – student
relationshipThe classroom can be an inspiring place, butteachers need to wait patiently for those sharedexperiences to produce results in each student.
As Matsuo (2007) urges, based on narrative
accounts of her former students, we teachers
should make it a priority to create rich classroom experiences in every lesson. Indeed, it
could be said that the main function of theclassroom is to be a field of practice where richexperiences are provided. Teachers need to try
to balance the distance between themselves andtheir students to create a comfortable place forlearning. However, as Dewey (1938/1997) remarked, “The educator by the very nature of hiswork, is obliged to see his present work in termsof what it accomplishes, or fails to accomplish,
for a future whose objects are linked with thoseof the present” (p. 76). This means that there is atime lag in what we teach today and how muchof it will be appreciated by the learners.
Some students may not appreciate the authority their teachers are exercising to support theirlearning today. Others may not notice the soli-

darity as fellow language learners that teachers
are trying to share. However, one day when they
become adults, even if only a handful of themmake sense of how and what they were taught, I
think it is worth the effort. If those adults could
learn something from their learning experiencesfrom the past, which they could utilize in theirlifelong education or education for future generations, that would be the ultimate privilege forteacher.
References
Cook, V. (2001). Second language learningand language teaching. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and education. New York: Touchstone.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis.
New York: W. W. Norton.
Harada, N. (2007). The treatment of identities inpostwar EFL textbooks for ninth graders. In K.
Bradford-Watts (Ed.), JALT2006 Conference
Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.
Johnston, B. (2003). Values in English language
teaching. Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum.
Longman dictionary of contemporary English(4th ed.). (2003). Harlow, England: Pearson.
Matsuo, C. (2007, September). Exploring thepotential of multi-modal inquiry: A teacher’s
story. Symposium conducted at the meetingof the 2007 Symposium on Second Language
Writing, Nagoya, Japan.
VandenBos, G. R.(Ed.). (2007). APA dictionaryof psychology. Washington, D. C.: American
Psychological Association.

24 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Feature Article: VerityI

spend a lot of time talking about Vygotsky
Orientingand sociocultural theory at professional
events (Verity, 2006; 2007); as a result, I ofLearners: an
ten run into people who have been kind enoughto spend their valuable time listening to me. For
imaginary
the most part, I try to offer clear and accessible
conversation
examples of the central tenets of sociocultural
theory, as developed originally from the works
学習者へのオリエンテーシ of Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist who lived in
the early 20 century. These principles includeョン：ある想像上の会話(1) the social origin of cognition, (2) the importhtance of the genetic heuristic (including paststages in interpreting current performance),and (3) the centrality of language as the primary
semiotic tool for mediation of activity. Most
（デリン・ヴェリティ、大阪女学院大学） people who work in
our field have someacquaintance with
Email: verity AT MARK wilmina.
Vygotskyan ideas,ac.jp
but are often put
off by the terminol＜要約＞『学習者へのオリエンテーション：ある想ogy and by the dif像上の会話』
はひとりの語学 教師と学生たちとの間にferences between
おけるおしゃべりという形でヴィゴツキーの「タスクへのオリエンテーション」という概念を説明するものであ the sociocultural
る。オリエンテーションとは、初級レベル、かつ、アク paradigm and mainティビティへの適切な参加の仕方を知らない学習者 stream SLA. I hopeに、習熟話者が活動方法を示すことである。本稿は、 my interpretations
教師としてふるまう場合に活動の目的を明らかにする have been useful.
ことの重要性を示しているはっきりした説明や手助け
However, there is
や解説となる「オリエンティング」なしでは、学習者は
onegroup who spend more time with me than
タスクの可能性のすべてを常に見通すことは難しい。
anyone else I know, and who are the individuals
most directly affected by my attempts to apply
本稿の会話例は筆者が実際に教えた授業に基づ Vygotskyan theory to teaching praxis, to whom
いている。卒業旅行で沖縄と北海道のどちらに行くか
I never talk about Vygotsky. These people are, of
意見が分かれた友人同士という状況を想定して、論争解決の短い会話を作るように大学１年の学生たち course, my students.
I teach English, like many readers of thisに指示したどのペアもひとつずつ会話を創作したが、状況設定以上に「論争」を繰り広げたペアはなかっ journal do, at a Japanese institution of higher
た。学生たちはすべて簡単に相手に賛成 してしまっ learning. Our college—women only, small stuたのである。論争解決に向けたロールプレイを行うタ dent body, relatively emphatic about English
スクのために十分なオリエンテーションを提供すると
instruction—is a place where most teachers care
いう重要なタスクを教師は怠っていた。結果的に、学
about good teaching. Each of the core first-year
生たちは「論争解決」ではなく、「賛同」のロールプレ
イをすることになったのである。
（要約翻訳: 吉川友子 English classes (reading, writing, discussion)
meets three hours a week for a year. While theSummary Translation by Tomoko Yoshikawa)
curriculum content and term assignments are
set by the college, we are free to use our own
preferred methods, activities, and supplementary materials in class. Though the students arenever given the chance to articulate what they
consider “good teaching” to be, I like to believethat they recognize it when they see it.

Author: Deryn Verity,
Osaka Jogakuin College

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ Feature Article: Verity
Talking to students about goodteaching
In this article, I have scripted an imaginary
conversation: in it, I imagine what I might say
if I could (or would) tell my students how the
Vygotskyan notion of ‘orientation to task’ informs my teaching. In this conversation, we
discuss a first-year speaking lesson (adaptedfrom a true experience I had at the college where
I teach) that I was dissatisfied with, despite thefact that it appeared on the surface to have gone
so well. As explained below, it was a failure, interms of what I wanted to happen. Yet failed attempts are often more revelatory than successful
ones. They make you think harder about what
you could, and should, have done better.

S1:
T:

SCENE: A classroom. Discussion class has justfinished. Two students (S1 and S2) stay behind tochat with the Teacher (T).
S1: You seem dissatisfied, teacher. Why? I
thought it was a really interesting class.
S2: Yes, it was! We spoke a lot of English fornearly 40 minutes. And then we listened
to our classmates give their dialogues inEnglish. And we commented in English. So
we used a lot of English.
S1: And it was a good topic! We Japanese don’t
like to argue, so it was good practice for us
to argue in English.
T: Oh, do you think you were arguing?
S1: The lesson was about a disagreement,
wasn’t it? You asked us to write aconversation between two friends who
disagree about where to go on a graduation
trip. You said we were supposed to write
their conversation and show their decision.
S2: Don’t you think we did a good job?
T: Well, you did use a lot of English. You all
seemed really engaged with the task, andyou did what I asked you to do: you wrote
out, and then performed, dialogues inwhich two friends disagree about whether
to go to Okinawa or Hokkaido, and thenmake a decision. Your dialogues were allin English, you used the preparation time
well (I could hear that you were using lots

S1:
T:

S2:
T:

S2:
T:

26 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

of English while you were writing, thoughof course you also used Japanese duringthat phase), and you performed themconfidently, while your classmates listenedpolitely.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is not what YOU did. It’s
what I did. Or rather what I didn’t do. In
my mind, I planned a certain activity, but
in the actual class, you ended up doinga different one! I consider this lesson afailure not because anything went visibly
wrong, or even because you did something
different than I’d planned, but because of
the reason it was different. I didn’t fulfill
my dual role of ‘teacher of language’ and‘teacher of learning.’ In Vygotskyan terms,
I did not provide sufficient orientation
to the task (Markee, 2004; Verity, 2007).
You did what you thought I told you to do,but based your activity on the incomplete
instructions I gave.
Incomplete? But we enjoyed it! Nobody
was sleeping, or chatting. Everyone wasreally paying attention.
Yes, it succeeded at some level. But
it wasn’t what I had envisioned. Our
discussion classes give you opportunities
to use English for personal expression in
ways that connect to the themes of thecontent-based lessons. This month, ourUnit topic is Peace and Conflict, and thissegment is about Conflict Resolution.
I thought these dialogues would add
an experiential dimension to yourunderstanding of conflict resolution.
That’s just what we did!
No. What you did was write a textbooklike dialogue in which two people, O(‘wants to go to Okinawa’) and H (‘wants
to go to Hokkaido’) say they disagree, thensuddenly change their minds and agree.
There was no real conflict, or resolution,
involved. No negotiation, compromise,
give-and-take, no attempts to re-define thegoals of each participant….
But we were just friends who had to makea decision! It wasn’t that complicated!
Ah-hah, that’s where I disagree. The

ZZ Feature Article: Verity
purpose of the task—as I saw it—was toexplore a conflict that was complicated,precisely because it involved the tensionsof friendship, sentimentality, rites of
passage, scheduling, money, preferences,and so on. As a task, it was pretty good! Asa teacher, a strategic animator of your useof English…. I wasn’t so great. I somehow
assumed that you—19-year-olds who
have spent a maximum of a few hours
reading, writing, and talking about conflict
resolution—knew as much about such life
events as I do. I’ve been living, making
decisions, resolving conflicts, and, perhaps
most importantly, turning life experiences
into useful language lessons for many years
longer than you’ve been alive! I completely
misjudged your Zone of Proximal
Development (Kinginger, 2002; Lantolf &Thorne, 2006) for the topic and the task.
S1: Our Zone of….wha?
T: It’s a kind of judgment I have to makeevery time I explain something or instruct
you in some way. I have to figure out how
much information we already share about
the task: I need to determine our levelof intersubjectivity for the task (Lantolf& Thorne, 2006; AlJaafreh & Lantolf,
1994), and adjust my mediating moves
accordingly. Clearly, I can’t accurately
judge the right level of instructional help
for every single student in a class, but
having worked with you for several weeks
as a group, I get a sense of what kind of
expressions, explanations, examples, etc.,
will most likely be useful and accessible forhelping you get a foothold on an unfamiliar
concept or task.
S2: Is that why you sometimes start off thelesson with a story from your life, or byasking a question and having some ofus answer it based on our own 		experience?
T: Yes, exactly; besides activating yourbackground knowledge and warming youup, that kind of sideways approach helps
me gauge “where you are” in terms ofwhat I plan to ask you to do in the lesson(Markee, 2004). Today, in the absence ofany such mediating moves from me, youdemonstrated the unsurprising fact thatyou are familiar with the dialogues as a
textbook-style language practice/display
tool. In textbook conversations, nobody
ever really argues, nobody ever disagrees,
and there are no subtexts or hidden
implications. I failed, because I didn’t help
you see what might be called the “nextlevel” (which is where the term “proximal”
comes in: proximal refers to the nearest,or next, level) of dialogue for language
practice: it can also function as a toolfor exploring the language and the topic,
in this case, a conflict between friends.
Rather than set up conditions in whichinter-subjectivity could develop, I gave you
instructions that over-estimated yourability to understand my implied meaning.
S1: Your instructions were really simple andreally clear! I think that’s why we enjoyedourselves so much. We felt very sure that
we could do it.
T: Yes, I admit, ruefully, that for a failed
lesson, it was a great success!
S1: Why ruefully?
T: It’s easy to be misled as a teacher by theappearance of students’ activity. It took
me until the end of the lesson to realize towhat extent the lesson was a failure.
S2: What exactly did go wrong?
T: The problem, from my point of view, is thatyou didn’t end up knowing anything more,or different, about conflict resolution after
this lesson. I “forgot to remember” oneof my two primary responsibilities whenassigning tasks in the classroom: I not
only have to help you learn and practiceEnglish, I also have to help you gain control
over ways of learning and practicing
so that you can use them when I’m notaround. You see, I play two roles: an expert
at both English and at learning, while
you’re novices at both English and learning(Igarashi et al., 2002). In this case, I did
not provide you with a lesson that helped
you appropriate a little bit of my broader
knowledge about dialogues and their
linguistic and pedagogical uses. I assumed
you would make the same, neat, direct,

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ Feature Article: Verity
powerful transfer of ‘book’ knowledge
to ‘active use of ’ knowledge that I can soeffortlessly make. MY understanding of
dialogues-for- conflict-resolution practiceis all about the process of exploring theconflict and examining the assumptions
and expectations of the two opponents.
YOUR understanding is ‘talk a bit and thenreach a [friendly] conclusion.’
S2: So you didn’t really want us to end up
agreeing in our dialogues?
T: No, it’s not that I wanted you NOT toagree, but I wanted to see the process of
you reaching your agreement more thanI cared about the actual agreement. I
envisioned the activity to be about process,and you, logically enough, given most
schooling’s emphasis on ‘right’ answers,
took the instructions to be about product.
S1: Could you give us an example?
T: Sure! Look at the following dialogue. It’s
not your exact words, but it is a compositeof the dialogue that most of you produced:
a completely unmotivated scenario which
involves a change of heart rather than any
sort of real conflict or examined resolution:

meant “face a conflict and resolve it.” These
conversations simply dissolve it. If there isa choice of making two trips, and the two
trips are equal in sentimental, economic,
and chronological currency, then there isno conflict in the first place. Part of theoriginal conflict is implicit in the idea of a
graduation trip: this is a once-in-a-lifetime
thing that can happen only within a fairly
limited timeframe. So you can see that I
expected you to engage with topics that
did not appear in the original directions,but that I thought you somehow also
understood to be essential aspects of thesituation.
S1: We thought you wanted us to practicewriting a dialogue in English. We came up
with some pretty creative solutions!
T: Well, a small number of pairs actually
produced a dialogue that hinted at the way
conflicts can be resolved. Still, even thebest ones barely scraped the surfaceof either the conflict or the resolution
process. Remember this one? It came outof left field, but at least it was different!

Dialogue I

Speaker O: Let’s go to Okinawa.
Speaker H: Why?
O: [gives reasons]
H: I’ve already been there. I’d like to go to
Hokkaido.
O: Why?
H: [gives reasons]
O: Oh, I have a good idea! Let’s go to an
exhibition of products from Hokkaido
and Okinawa. The local Department
Store is having an exhibition right now!
H: Good idea! Let’s go!

Speaker H: Let’s go to Hokkaido.
Speaker O: Oh, why?
H: [gives reasons: foods, snow, beautiful,cool weather]
O: No, I don’t like those things; let’s go to
Okinawa.
H: Why?
O: [gives reasons: interesting food, beautifulsea, good water sports](Both speakers think)
H: Oh, I have a good idea! Let’s go to
Hokkaido this year; next year we can go
to Okinawa.
O: Good idea!
T:

This dialogue, like the one below, shows
how different your understanding of thetask (or “orientation”) was from mine: I

Dialogue IIT:

I mean, is going to a local department
store exhibition a good substitute for a real
graduation trip?
S1: No. But there wouldn’t be enough time for
us to write dialogues that delved deeply
into such a complex problem.

28 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Feature Article: VerityT:You’re right; what you say is a great
illustration of your prevailing orientation
to most classroom tasks: they tend to be
short, to have neat resolutions, to be tidy.
By the way, this is a perfectly appropriateorientation to have, seeing how it isreinforced again and again by the kindsof tasks you are asked to do in school.
It was up to me to try to broaden yourunderstanding of what can be done in alanguage classroom. Conflict resolution asa theoretical method represents a different
approach than ‘winner vs. loser’ so I
thought your dialogues might illustrate thisapproach too.
S2: So what do you wish you had done
differently?
T: As an expert, I constantly have to try toremember what it was like not to know
things, and it’s harder than it looks toforget what you know! The most important
thing to remember when orienting
learners to a new task is that they have
NO IDEA of the goals I have. Even mymost cooperative, motivated, and diligent
students can’t share my understandingof the goals of any given task because
they don’t share my sense of its place inthe bigger picture of the lesson, the unit,
the syllabus, the curriculum. I need toorient them to the task in a way that helps
them take on, however incompletely or
temporarily, my orientation to it.
S1: So if you did it again, you would….
T: Of course, I have to balance the timespent on orienting with the time available
to the students. In this case, I could
have modeled a conversation that did
NOT reach a successful conclusion—thedanger of modeling, however, is that it
can encourage empty imitation. But if themodel is accompanied by explanation,
it can function well to orient learners to
the possibilities of the assigned task.
I could have asked you to reflect upon thetensions inherent in the disagreement offriends. I could have reviewed some of thesteps of the canonical conflict resolution
process outlined in the book, or required
the dialogues to include them. And ofcourse we could have explored the topic
by looking at the disagreement specificallyfrom a Japanese viewpoint: how do friends
disagree in this culture?
S2: Wow, so many choices! I had no idea that ateacher had to think about so many things.
It seemed like such a simple assignment.
T: Yes, simple is often best, but that’s why I
made such a dumb mistake It’s veryclear, to me, that a dialogue is a great way
to explore, as well as review, content. So
I gave a very simple, in fact, simplistic,
set of instructions. And ended up withsomething that really didn’t explore
conflict resolution very much at all.
S1: Did any of our dialogues come close to
doing what you hoped?
T: Not really. This one gives a faint glimpse ofwhat I was hoping the dialogues would be.
At least the two friends explicitly consider
one of the factors that helped them maketheir decision!
Dialogue III
Speaker H: Let’s go to Hokkaido. [gives
reasons: sight-seeing, skiing, cool
weather]
Speaker O: No, let’s go to Okinawa. [gives
reasons: swimming, warm weather,sightseeing, food]
H: Why don’t we go somewhere in the
middle? It will be cheaper.
O: Yes! You want to ski, maybe we could go
to Niigata or Nagano.
H: Yes, and you can do nice sight-seeing in
Nagano.
O: Yes, let’s go to Nagano.

T: Can you see what I mean?
S1: Yes, they actually mention a reason
that supports their substitute choice ofdestination.
S2: Everything you’ve told us makes classsound like being at a theater. We students
are the audience, watching what comes

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ Feature Article: Verity
onto the stage and reacting to it. We haveno idea of all the managing, runningaround, changes, problems, and so on, thatmight be happening backstage!
T: Yes, that’s a good analogy. Except thatthe theater is, for the most part, inside
my head! So even if I wanted to share allthat behind-the-scenes action with you, I
probably couldn’t. Too complex, too manydecisions, on too many levels. Expert-levelknowledge is different from novice-level.
It’s structured out of cross-connections;it’s multi-dimensional, relating different
facts, ideas, beliefs, and experiences.
For somebody with an expert mental
representation, it can be very hard to makea successful lesson for a beginner. That’s
what makes teaching so challenging (asyou probably know, if you’ve ever had ateacher who is a ‘native speaker’ but nottrained at all in teaching)!
S1: But we are not really beginners at English.
Or even at studying English.
T: Of course not! But in relation to many
dimensions of using and learning English,
you are novices—like using dialogue toexplore a situation rather than ‘solve’ it.
We language teachers constantly balanceour decisions between “what do thestudents already know and use” and “whatdo the students NOT know yet that they
probably should?” It is our responsibility
to give you not only the experience of theactivity itself, but also some little nudge
towards linking the activity with otherthings you know. This is what we mean by
expanding the learner’s Zone of Proximal
Development for a given activity or
task. But it can’t be done just by “giving”
the learner words. Knowledge is nottransmitted like a radio signal! I prefer tothink of knowledge as a way of ‘knowing
how to participate’ in an activity. Even thelimited involvement and engagement you
can experience in the classroom setting
takes you beyond any words I could use totell you about it.
S2: It all sounds very circular.
T: I prefer the word “dynamic”—what
happens at one stage affects what happens

S1:
T:

S2:
T:

S1:
S2:

next. The problem with trying to put“Vygotskyan” ideas into pedagogicalpractice is that the theory definestrue learning as both contingent andsituated: this means that instruction is
also contingent upon everything that’s
happening with the learner, the task, thetutor or teacher, the setting, and so forth,
not to mention the personal goals andmotives of the participants (AlJaafreh &Lantolf, 1994; Lantolf & Poehner, 2004;
Waring, 2005).
So is it even possible to teach anything?
Yes, of course! Not that the teacher has
to be a person in a classroom, or even aseparate person. You can teach yourself!
But just as a classroom teacher needs
to orient you to new ideas and new
knowledge, you must have strategies fororienting yourself to what’s available inyour environment.
Does this ‘orientation to task’ notion comeup in other classes?
Yes, it is probably the thing I spend themost time on in all my first-year classes.
Good education should be something thatstudents can “take away” with them fromthe formal learning environment. To givethem tools for autonomous functioning,
what Vygotsky calls self-regulated
activity, I help my students envision
speaking in the future, not only present
and past activity (Lantolf & Poehner, 2004).
Although we can’t do too much of it during
periods of formal instruction, it is not only
possible but absolutely essential that they
begin to share my sense of what “mightbe”—that being speakers, writers, andlisteners of English can be a layer of theiridentity, as individuals and as membersof various communities of speaking andpractice.
It seems to me that you have really tried
to help us get an orientation to the task ofteaching today!
Your explanations have helped me seethat what we do in class has an underlying
purpose, and is not based only on what
happens to come next in the book, or how

30 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Feature Article: VerityT:you feel that day. Teaching and learning
together seem to be the end results of a lotof thinking and decision-making.
It’s true, teaching is a very complex
cognitive-motor-social act, and sometimes
students don’t understand that they also
have an important role to play. But, as I
hope you can see in your English classes
here, a good teacher is nothing without
good students. I learned a lot by being
able to explain my reaction to our sharedexperience today.

References
AlJaafreh, A. & Lantolf, J. P. (1994). Negative
feedback as regulation and second language
learning in the zone of proximal development.
Modern Language Journal, 78(4), 465-483.
Igarashi, K., Wudthayagorn, J., Donato, R., &Tucker, R. (2002). What does a novice look
like? Describing the grammar and discourseof young learners of Japanese. The CanadianModern Language Review, 58(4), 526-554.
Kinginger, C. (2002). Defining the zone of proximal development in US foreign language education. Applied Linguistics, 23(2), 240-261.
Lantolf, J. P. & Poehner, M. (2004). Dynamic assessment in the language classroom. Center

for Advanced Language Proficiency Education
and Research, CALPER Professional
Development Document 0411. [Online]
Available: http://calper.la.psu.edu.
Lantolf, J.P. & Thorne, S. (2006). Sociocultural
theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Markee, N. (2004). Zones of interactional transition in ESL classes. Modern Language Journal,
88(4), 583-596.
Verity, D. (2006). Vygotskyan concepts for teacher education. PanSIG “Lifelong Learning”
conference proceedings. [Online] Available:
http://jalt.org/pansig/2005/html/Verity.htm.
Verity, D. (2007). The speech contest rehearsal
as activity setting for L2A. Unpublishedpaper presented at the conference “Social
and Cognitive Aspects of Second Language
Learning and Teaching”. University of
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Waring, H. Z. (2005). Peer tutoring in a graduate
writing centre: Identity, expertise, and advice
resisting. Applied Linguistics, 26(2), 141-168.
Deryn Verity teaches in the English programat Osaka Jogakuin College, in the MATESOL
program for Teachers College, and online for
the MATESOL program at the New School
University.

LOCAL GET-TOGETHERS: SHARE, TELL, ASK,CHALLENGE, HELP, LEARN, ENJOY!
For information on local LD meetings that are taking place near you, or for advice andfinancial support to help start a new local get-together venture, contact us: Stacey Vye <stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> or Mike Nix <mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>.

エリアミーティング：分かち合い、話し合い、聞き合い、助け合い、そして共に挑戦し、学び、楽しみましょう！
あなたの近くですでに行われているミーティングについて、または地元でのLDミーティングを始めるにあたってのサポートについて、ステイシー・ヴァイ<stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> もしくはマイク・ニックス<mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>まで是非お問い合わせください！

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies

The Adventures of
Magenta M.

マジェンタMの冒険
Author: Steve Davies,
Miyazaki International
College(スティーブ・デイヴィス、宮崎国際大学)
Email: sdavies AT MARK miyazakimic.ac.jp＜はじめに＞このイントロダクションを書くのに思いのほか苦労している。たった200語だと言うのに。問題ないはずだ。なのに、なぜ３ページにも及ぶ下書きが机の上にあるんだろう？そしてなぜ2000語あまりをすでにパソコン画面から消去してしまったのだろう？

Part One: Read, Read, Read.
Magenta stopped in front of the sign that said:“Trans-Galactic Language Empowerment
Agency,” took a deep breath, and knocked on thedoor.
“Good morning, Magenta,” Dexter said, smiling and looking up from his computer screen.
“Have a seat.”“Thanks,” she replied.
“I’ve just had some news from Talut 9, themisty planet. The head teacher out there, Chet
Divine, has e-mailed me about an extensive
reading program that he’s set up. He says he’s
pretty excited about the results, but there are a
few puzzling anomalies with regard to L2 reading proficiencies. ‘Weirdnesses,’ as he calls them.
I think it might be a good idea if you went to
Talut 9 to investigate.”“What kind of anomalies?”

問題はスタイルだ。どんな調子で書けばいいのか。
“He says there are significant gender variations
例えば読者の気をひきそうなこんな疑問文で書き出
interms of reading proficiency.”
すのはどうだろう．．．
「英語は全宇宙の共通言語となり得るだろうか？」とか。まぁそれでもいいかもしれな“Really? In which direction?”
いが、その後どうつづけりゃいいんだろう？更なる疑問“Overall, the women are more proficient than
文？
「銀河系市民たちの英語学習に対する反応やいかに？」とか。
the men.”
だめだ。全然だめだ。疑問ばかりで答えがない。
“There could be a number of explanations for
やり直しだ。書き直そう。もうすこしフォーマルな感じ
that – ”
で。もっときっちりと体験談として説明してみよう。
「私は常々学術的対話のオルタナティブな表現方法に興“Wait. Before you tell me about the female ge味を持っており、この人類学的SF作品もそこからイン netic pre-disposition to comprehend longer pasスピレーションを受けたのだ。」
sages of text, I should point out that Chet says
これは妙に客観的すぎる。気取りすぎだし。
the boys on Talut 9 are significantly better read-

そうだ！もっとパーソナルな感じはどうだろう？執筆の逸話？主観的に？それでいこう！

「何年か前、イヌイットの子供達を教えるカナダ人女性に出会った。彼女が教室の内外で起こった面白い話をしてくれたんだ．．．」
いいぞ。物語のはじまりみたいだ．
．．後は読んでのお楽しみと言うことで．．．
（イントロダクション翻訳：入江恵、Introduction translated by Kay Irie）

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies
ers than the men. So, in other words, there areboth inter-gender and intra-gender proficiency
asymmetries.”“Do you have more specific details?”“Yes. The boys can read book titles and chapter headings, but they struggle with the actual
texts.”“What about the men?”“They can’t read anything.”“Nothing at all?”“That’s right. The men are still pre-literate in
the L2.”
Magenta thought for a moment. “Do you think
this could have anything to do with in-classreading activities? Perhaps the men haven’t been
given the appropriate materials?”
Dexter shook his head. “Nobody reads duringclass time.”“No one?”“That’s right.”“So what happens?”“Not much, it seems. Chet hands out free foodand books and then the students go back to thevillage.”“Has he seen them doing any reading?”“No. He says the village is very damp and going down there might….” Dexter studied thecomputer screen… ‘mess with his chest.’ He’s
asthmatic, apparently.”“So, you’re telling me that Chet doesn’t teachreading and that he hasn’t seen his students doing any reading, either?”“That’s right.”“But how is he assessing reading proficiency?”“He uses book reports. The students are required to submit a written report after they finish reading a book. A minimum of one sentenceis required.”
Dexter glanced at his watch. “So, would you
like to go to Talut 9, or do I have to find someone else?”“Just a moment. How much do we know
about the students?”
Dexter shrugged. “Not a lot. They’re a secretive people. In fact, it’s been quite difficult
to convince them of the value of L2 literacy.
Basically, we’ve had to drag them out of theStone Age. We do know they have a lot of taboos. For example, the men and women live inseparate long houses. There is gendered division of labor. And another thing: the Talutians
believe strongly in the principle of utility. They
have a saying, Use what you can, but take only
what you need. They hunt birds, but they only
kill them for food.”“But you just told me that Chet gives them
free food.”“That’s right. They like tinned fruit. But they
have an aversion to mechanically reclaimed
meat products. That’s why they hunt for the
migratory ducks that fly past their settlement.
When the ducks appear, the students don’t cometo class.”“So you mean the men and women hunt together? But what about the gendered division oflabor?”“The men do the hunting, while the women – ”“Open tins?”“Very funny,” Dexter laughed, running his
fingers through his hair. But then he spoke
more firmly: “Magenta, we need to sort out thisreading proficiency issue. We’re sending a lot ofbooks to the planet. The Talutians really should
be making better progress. I don’t believe I’ve
ever seen such inconsistent results before. That’s
why I want you to go out there. Start by interviewing Chet. See if he knows anything morethan he’s told me. Now, are you willing to accept
this mission or not?”“Yes, I’ll go. I could do with another off-planet
adventure,” Magenta said smiling.
Dexter beamed. “That’s great. The Clothing
Department will supply you with the rightequipment. They don’t call it the ‘misty planet’
for nothing. It can get pretty cold out there.”
But Magenta wasn’t worrying about theclimate. “Talut 9 is in Deep Space. That’s light-

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies
years from here. I’ll need to take a sleeper.”“I’ve already thought of that,” Dexter replied.
He handed Magenta a small, beige envelope.
“Here are your e-tickets. Business Class. You cansleep all you want.”***********On Chet’s desk in the Empowerment Center on
Talut 9 there were two things: a paperback novel
and a mug of coffee.
Chet grabbed the mug, took a swig, and asked,“Want some?”
Magenta shook her head. “No thanks.”“You’ve come a long way,” Chet offered. “Ihope I can be of help.”“I hope so too.”“Cool. You’re here to learn about our extensive
reading program, right?”“Yes, I am.”Chet leaned forward. “I’m gonna cut to thechase. Let’s start with the three Rs: reading,reading, and READING. The neat thing is, thecool thing is, we learn to read by reading. I
mean, reading is reading, right? It’s a non-negotiable issue. The bottom line is reading, the rootof which is to read. That’s the message. Read,
read, and read. Just read.”He took another swig of coffee and swallowed
hard.
“So, all the students can read English?”
Magenta asked.
“Not exactly,” Chet said, in a puzzled voice. “I
emailed Dexter the details. Some weird shit isgoing on. I figured he’d told you.”“He told me that you don’t actually teach reading.”
Chet shrugged. “Like I said, you just gotta let‘em read.”we got this real neat uranium heater keeps theCenter nice and toasty. And there’s the free food.
Tinned peaches and stuff. The Taluts love that
shit. And there’s the games.”“Games?”“Yeah, you know, computer games.
Armageddon, Dark Destroyer, Revenge of theZombies, whatever.”“They like to play computer games?”“Yeah. The guys love ‘em.”‘What about the women?”“Nah. They’re, like, more into word games.
Crosswords. Scrabble. Stuff like that.”
Magenta considered this. She knew that hunter-gatherer communities enjoyed more leisuretime than was generally assumed and, since the
Talutians were the inhabitants of a terribly coldplanet, the fact that they could spend their freetime in the warm Empowerment Center would
obviously be very appealing. And, of course,
there was the added attraction of the free food.
As for any language proficiency gains, if Chet’s
account of what was happening was accurate,then the women would be making progress byplaying lexical games. And the men? Well, theywouldn’t learn much English playing those awful computer games. But that still didn’t explain
why the boys were making L2 reading progress… “Do all the boys play computer games?”
she asked Chet.
“Sure. They love ‘em.”“How long do they play for?”“Until it’s time to leave.”“Then what happens?”“They just get their bags, fill ‘em up with freebooks, and hit the trail back to the village.”“You don’t think that’s strange?”“What?”

Magenta thought for a moment. “There’s
something I don’t understand. Why do the students come to the Learning Center? What’s theirmotivation?”“The fact that they don’t do any reading in theCenter, but they’re willing to carry heavy books
all the way back to the village?”“This planet is frickin’ freezin’,” Chet said, “butMagenta pushed her chair back, stood up, and“I guess,” Chet said, stifling a yawn.

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies
said: “I think I’d like to interview some of thestudents myself. Will they be here tomorrow?”
Chet shook his head. He made a pantomime
gesture of using a bow and arrow. “It’s hunting
time.”“How far is it to the village?” Magenta asked,
looking at a map on the wall.
“About five miles, I guess.”“Is that a lake I can see on the map?”“Yeah. It’s right by the village. I’ve heard it’sreal damp down there.”“You’ve not been there?”

Magenta kept walking until she crested a low
hill. Feeling thirsty, she took off her backpack
and rummaged inside for her coffee flask.
From somewhere nearby a child cried out – a
strange, feral sound – and Magenta croucheddown and stared ahead through the tall grass.
There, in the distance, was a long house. It wasa wooden building with a sinuous column ofsmoke rising from a hole in the thatched roof.
But there was no sign of a child…or of anyone
else…or…
“Looking for someone, is it?”
Magenta turned around. Standing in front of
her was a woman with eyes that were dark andbright, but not unfriendly.

“No way. Not with my asthma an’ all.”***********
Early the next morning, when the sun was brightand red in the eastern sky, Magenta walked
along a narrow pathway that twisted between
several strange, grassy knolls that reminded herof ancient burial mounds.
She felt cold. Very cold. It was a sharp, bright,
frosty coldness that had transformed the tussocks of grass into silver shards that crunchedand popped under her feet like broken glass.
As she marched onwards, she thrust her
gloved hands deeper into her pockets, andtried not to let her fears take over. Really, it
made no sense to worry. Even if some of thevillagers were pre-literate and unfriendly, she
had to remember that they had been willingto accept books, that they had started to read
English. They were moving in the right direction… But why was their progress so uneven?
Most likely, given the gendered division of laborthat Dexter had talked about, the women wereable to spend more time reading while the men
were away hunting for ducks. That made sense.
But why were the boys more proficient than themen? That seemed to be counter-intuitive…
Magenta smiled. There was something funny
about the situation. What had the poet William
Wordsworth written? “The Child is father of the
Man”?
Unless…Were the women teaching the boys toread? Had they set up their own village school?
Was Vygotskian other-regulation taking place?

The woman laughed, showing her small uneven teeth. “Are you scared?” she asked. “Youthink I kill you?”“I – ” Magenta managed to stammer.
“Come,” the woman said, clasping her hands
together. “We go to house. Is warm.”
After a few minutes of brisk walking, they arrived at the entrance to the long house.
Magenta bent low and followed the woman
through the doorway.
Inside, the air was thickly warm with a richaroma of oily meat that was simmering in alarge, soot-stained pot hanging over the fire.
There was another smell, too: the coarse stinkof tallow smoke, rising in dark coils from many
thick-stemmed candles that cast strange shadows on the walls.
Several women were curled around the fire.
All of them had been reading when Magenta
entered, but now they scrambled to their feet,
whispering and staring.
One of them stepped forward. Her dark, thick,braided hair was tied in an elaborate topknot,
decorated with bird feathers. A vivid tattoo
stretched across her forehead, and a shiny necklace of animal bones gleamed at her throat.
“My name is Aruli,” the woman said. “Welcome
to our village. We’ve been waiting for you. You’ve

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies
come a long way. Please have something to eat.
We must strengthen you for your work.”
While Magenta ate the broth, greedily gulping down mouthfuls of duck meat and pungent
herbs, Aruli explained that a young boy had
fallen ill and so the messenger had been sent tofind a doctor. She was pleased and grateful that
Magenta had come so quickly, as the boy had astrong fever and needed attention.
There was an expectant hush when Magenta
pushed aside her bowl, stood up and searched inher backpack for her medical kit. From Aruli’s
description of the symptoms, it sounded as
though the boy had influenza. She knew that
aspirin would help to lower his temperature, andtreating him would give her an ideal opportunity
to look around the men’s long house…
A little while later, Aruli, carrying a goatskinwater bottle, led Magenta across a narrow stripof muddy grass that led to a second building.
Reaching the entrance, she stopped and handed
the bottle to Magenta.
“Is this the men’s long house?”
Aruli nodded. “Go in. I must wait here.”
Inside the house, a boy – about 14 years old –was wrapped in a blanket of animal fur. He wasasleep and softly breathing, but when Magenta
drew near, his eyes flashed open and he struggled to sit up.
Magenta cupped two pills of aspirin in her
hand and offered them to him. Saying nothing,he scooped them into his mouth, swilling themdown with water from the bottle that Magenta
held for him.

Magenta glanced at the buildings. It seemedthat all the villagers lived in just these two dwellings. What was the total population? Fifty?
Sixty?
She was about to follow Aruli when a gust ofwind blew a piece of paper towards her.
She bent down and picked it up.
It was a page from a book. She turned it over.
The back was stained with something sticky…
“What are you doing?” Aruli asked her.
“Nothing,” Magenta replied, stuffing the paper
inside a pocket and hurrying across the muddy
grass.
Inside the long house, most of the women were
now enjoying an afternoon nap. Aruli, too,
stretched out on the floor, gesturing to Magenta
to do the same. “Have a rest,” she urged. “You’ve
done well, and you have a long journey back to
the Center.”
Magenta waited until she was quite sure all of
the women were asleep. Then, as quietly as she
could, she got to her feet and tiptoed outside.
She remembered the map on the wall of Chet’s
office. The lake wasn’t far away. Had the piece of
paper come from there?
She took it from her pocket and looked at it
for a second time. Although it had yellowed withage, she could see that it was from a beginnerlevel text.
I’ll try to find the lake, she thought. It can’t be
far away.

Soon the boy stretched out again, already halfasleep.

***********

Magenta gazed around the room. It was bare
except for the boy’s clothes, neatly folded besidethe bed. She could see no reading materials of
any kind…

As Magenta drew nearer to the water, wraithsof mist rose up and swirled around her feet,soaking her boots with damp dew. Determined,though, to find the lake, she kept walking forwards, treading as quietly as she could throughthe clumps of wet grass, following a thin, meandering pathway, until, a little way ahead, she
noticed something lying on the ground.
It was a second piece of paper, wetly crumpled
in the grass.

Stepping outside, she whispered, “Where are all
the men?”“Hunting. At the lake,” Aruli answered, yawning and walking towards the women’s longhouse.

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ZZ SCI-FI Column: Davies
Was it from a reading text?
As she stepped closer, bending down to get abetter look, a twig snapped under her foot andshe heard the sound of a bird breaking cover.
Startled, she looked up and saw a duck fly
directly overhead, its wings a blur of frenzied
energy.
Then, seconds later, an arrow scorched upwards and the bird crashed to the ground.
Magenta crouched and stared in the directionthat the arrow had come from until she locatedthe well-camouflaged hide. She heard a deep,
satisfied grunt, and then a young boy charged
out and raced through the wet grass towards thedead bird.
Returning, he left the hide door slightly ajar –and Magenta was able to glimpse inside.
She gasped. The walls of the hide were thickly
plastered with pages from reading texts. From
where she was standing, Magenta could even
identify one of the titles: “Zargon Zoo”. She
remembered that it was a beginner text, for students with a passive reading vocabulary of 500
words or less.
Magenta watched the boy as he showed thedead bird to the archer – a bearded, swarthy
man of around 50 – who simply grunted again.
The boy passed the man a fresh arrow. He
carefully set the bow, pulled the string taut, andsquinted skywards through a slit in the roof.

The boy, waiting for the next kill, began staring at the words on the walls…
As Magenta walked back towards the village,
stepping softly through the wet grass, shethought about what she’d seen. Gosh! The airaround here is awfully damp, so I’m not surprised the men tear up the textbooks and use thepaper for insulation. It’s perfectly understandable, especially given the utilitarian ethos of theculture… And the boys are s.l.o.w.l.y learning toread by studying the language-rich wallpaper…
As for the women – lucky things – they can enjoy
their autonomous L2 reading in a nice, dry longhouse…
Read, read, read, Magenta hummed softly toherself. All you need is to read. This is one of
the most interesting cases of autonomous learning that I’ve ever encountered. I wonder what
Dexter will say when I tell him about it?
She walked quietly past the two long houses andthen hurried onwards towards the trail that led
back to the Empowerment Center.
A cold wind was beginning to blow, and thesun was already sinking towards the bare mountains in the west.
To be continued…

LOCAL GET-TOGETHERS: SHARE, TELL, ASK,CHALLENGE, HELP, LEARN, ENJOY!
For information on local LD meetings that are taking place near you, or for advice andfinancial support to help start a new local get-together venture, contact us: Stacey Vye <stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> or Mike Nix <mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>.

エリアミーティング：分かち合い、話し合い、聞き合い、助け合い、そして共に挑戦し、学び、楽しみましょう！
あなたの近くですでに行われているミーティングについて、または地元でのLDミーティングを始めるにあたってのサポートについて、ステイシー・ヴァイ<stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> もしくはマイク・ニックス<mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>まで是非お問い合わせください！
Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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ZZ Book Review

桜美林大学日本語プログラム「グループさくら」著「自律を目指すことばの学習―さくら先生のチュー
トリアル―」凡人社, 2007

Jiritsu wo Mezasu
Kotoba no Gakushu:
Sakura Sensei no
Chutoriaru [Language
Learning towards
Autonomy: Teacher
Sakura’s Tutorial
Class], written by Group
Sakura, published by
Bonjinsha, 2007

日

本の大学における言語教育ではまだ珍しいチュートリアル授業の実践をもとにして書かれたのが、自律を目指すことばの学習－
さくら先生のチュートリアル―（凡人社：2007）
である。
私がこの本と出会ったのは、勤務先の桜美林大学の教員会議の席上だった。当時、外国人学生のための日本語プログラムのコーディネータであり、分担筆者
グループ「グループさくら」の一人である松下竜達彦
先生が、この本を紹介して下さったのがきっかけだった。
「自律を目指す」というタイトルに惹かれて読んでみた。すると、学生に自律学習を促そうと日々悪戦苦闘する私のオフィスのすぐ下の階で、プログラムの支柱の一つとして学生に自律学習を体験させていたことを知らされた。そんな努力を知らなかったことを恥ずかしいと思うとともに、嬉しい驚きでもあった。

書評者: 入江 恵, 桜美林大学(Reviewer: Kay Irie, J.F. Oberlin
University)
Email: kayirie at mark mac.com<Summary>―― Kay Irie reviews Jiritu wo
Mezasu Kotoba no Gakushu: Sakura Sensei
no Chutoriaru [Language Learning towards
Autonomy: Teacher Sakura’s Tutorial Class]written by Group Sakura (published by
Bonjinsha, 2007) which comprised of 12 teachers of Japanese who collaborated to design andimplement a tutorial course in a JSL (Japanese
as a second language) program for foreign students at a university in Tokyo. The book offers adetailed account of this required tutorial course
in which students set their own goals, engage inactivities of their choice, and assess their own
progress under the guidance of their teachers.
It includes numerous suggestions and practicalhints to foster learner autonomy for any language classes. Finally, the sense of ‘community ofpractice’ among the teachers inherent throughout this book is an encouragement and inspiration to all readers.

全10章のこの本は、2003年から桜美林大学日本語プログラムで通常の一斉授業と並んで必修科目のひとつとして実践されてきた「チュートリアル」という授業形態の考え方を紹介するだけではなく、その導入と発展に役だった文献や資料をまとめてある。
「チュートリアル」とは学生一人一人が自分の学習目標を定め、その目標を達成するための学習及び評価方法を考えて実行する、完全個別対応型の授業形態（＝チュートリアル）である。最近理工系や医学系コースで取り入れられている、大人数の講義形式授業のサポー
トとして行われている、少人数による演習形式や、単なる少人数クラスとは一線を画すものである。
まず、第1章「授業がうまくいかない」では、言語ク
ラスの授業で多くの教員に共通する悩み（学習スタイ
ルやレベルの差、学期開始前に教科書を決める必要性など）と学習者の不満（教科書がつまらない、リスニ
ングをもっとしっかりやりたいなど）、そして桜美林大

38 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Book Review
学が実際に直面している留学生の急増という状況を、「さくら先生」の問題として提示するところからはじまる。そして、対応策の一つとしてチュートリアルを取り入れたと説明している。次ぎに、第2章「授業が変わる- チュートリアルの実践」と、第3章「リソースを考える」
では実践内容を詳しく説明、第4章「授業が変わった」
では、学習者、教師、リソース、場（環境・状況）に起こった変化を報告、第5章「壁を崩していく」
では文
字通り、チュートリアルを成功させるために、崩してき
たさまざまな壁・障害を振返っている。第6章「チュートリアル授業を応用する」
では個人による一斉授業への取り入れ方、一斉授業との組合せ方を提案。第7章「チームやプログラムとして実践する」
では、組織としてどのように導入していくかを示している。さらに、第8章「社会と日本語教育の流れの中で考える」は言語教育全体に起こったパラダイムシフトに照らし合わせて、チュートリアルと言う自律性を重んじる授業形態にせまり、第9章「さらに学ぶ」では著者らが参考にした自律学習に関する文献解題へと続いてゆく。まとめの章（最終章）
では、さくら先生が第１章でぶつかっていた七つの問題に立ち返り、チュートリアル授業によってどのように対応問題に対処できたるかを考える。
まずこの本の特徴は、あくまでも具体的であるところだ。第1章の問題提議起にはじまり、第2章から第7章までは徹底的に経験に基づいた説明と提案に徹している。例えば、第2章の授業の流れに沿った説明では、授業で実際に使われている学習記録表や評価シートの見本なども資料として提供されている。そして何よりも有り難いのは、チュートリアル授業に不慣れな教員が出会うと思われる問題や疑問に対して、現実的なアドバイスをしていることであろう。私自身、学
生の自律学習に対する意識を高めるために自分の英語学習目標を設定させることがあるが、往々にして目標が漠然としすぎていてうまく学習計画が立てられないことがある。この悩みに対して、この本では、「日本
人のように話せるようになる」
とい言う目標を学生が掲げた場合、「大学生が先生と話すときに使う日本語を、先生に失礼だと思われないように話せるようになる」(p.41)や「経営に関する専門書が理解できるようになる」(p.42)と書き直させてみてはどうか、といった提案がされている。また第5章では、筆者らが実際にぶつかった壁として、学生の学習観やスタイルを挙げている。例えば、「一人で勉強するのは嫌だ」とする学生に対して中間発表会をしてお互いの進歩やがんばりを報告させたこと、同じような目標をたてた学生同士で学習グループを作ったことなど、実際に効果があった対応策を紹介してくれていることは心強い。
しかしながら、私自身がこの本で最も印象深かったのは、自分たちが実践してきたことをより多くの日本
語教育者、言語教育者、そして学習者たちと分かち合いたいと言う著者たちの姿勢である。そしてその呼びかけは、自分たちの手法を読者に押し付けるのではなく、きわめて民主的で、そこからは、一人でも多く自律学習を重んじる「仲間」を増やしたい、実践する手助けをしたいと言う真摯な態度が伺える。それが、日本語教育の中で自律性が重要視されることになった背景の考察（第8章）と言語教育の範囲を超えた興味深い文献解題（第9章）に繋がっているのだと思う。
そして本書を読みすすめて行くと、12名の共著者た
ちとこのプログラムに参加した仲間の教員たちがグループとして自らを支え合い、自律学習に対する理解と知識を深めていった様子を垣間みることができる。
それこそまさしくレイヴとウェンガー(Lave & Wenger,
1991)の言う実践コミュニティ（Community of Practice）
であり、高い教員の自律性の表れではないだろうか。
そのような人間関係があったからチュートリアルをプ
ログラムに導入することができたのか、チュートリアルがあってそのようなコミュニティが生まれたのかを、聞いてみたいところである。
自律学習を促す上でチュートリアルは一つの選択肢に過ぎない。しかし、この本には学生の自律性を引き出すヒントが、平易な言葉と豊富な例がで数多くちりばめられている。日本語教育に携わる人を読者と想定して書かれている本ではあるが、自立律的な言語
学習はすべての言語教育に共通するテーマである。
対象言語に関わらず、言語教育における自律性に興味がある人ならば、得るところの大きい一冊と言える。

Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning:
Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

レイヴとウェンガー著／佐伯胖訳『状況に埋め込まれた学習――正統的周辺参加』産業図書, 1993

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 39

ZZ Book Review

Autonomy in theClassroom – Lindsay
Miller (Ed.) Dublin,
Ireland: Authentik.
2007.143 pp.
Reviewer: Peter Mizuki, University
Research Center, Nihon
University(書評者 ピーター・ミズキ、日本大学)
Email: peter.mizuki at marknihon-u.ne.jp

CALL software for students learning Japanesecharacters (kanji) in New Zealand. The CALL
software initiated more teacher-student dialogue, and this in turn led to more reflection byboth teachers and students. This resulted in agreater awareness of language learning needsby both teachers and students. In the second
chapter, Xing Zhou and Junhua Mo explored different autonomous learning practices in a process writing program and found peer feedback“effectively exploited the individual and social
aspects of autonomy” (p.41). This peer feedback
was done both orally and in writing although＜要約＞Autonomy in the Classroomは大学の語学授業における自律学習についての本である。この本の主題は自主性の高い学習者個人とインタラクティブな言語学習ががいかに学生を助け、言語学習を活性化し、さらには言語学習を生涯学習に発展させるかについて述べている。本6章から構成され、そのうち4章はcomputer assisted language learning (CALL)を扱っている。この本ではアジアやヨーロッパといったグローバルなコンテクストの中での自律学習について議論がされている。英語の言語プログラムのみならずドイツ語や日本語といった他の言語プログラムも網羅している（
要約翻訳 小宮直美、Summary translation by Naomi
Komiya）。

C

ompressed within this small volume,
Autonomy in the Classroom, are six chapters covering the development of autonomous learning and teaching practices in the university classroom. The central organizing themesof the book are how self-directed, individual andinteractive language learning helps students understand how to learn and how to translate thatlearning into lifelong learning. An underlying
message that emerges from the book is that bothlearners’ and teachers’ beliefs about learning insecond language acquisition need to be considered when implementing or changing a language
program toward including a greater emphasis on
autonomous learning or self-access learning. Allof the chapters in this book are based on action
research carried out in classrooms or self-accesscenters.
Autonomy in the Classroom discusses therole of autonomy in various university settings:
Chapter One by Debbie Corder and Grant
Waller describes the development of in-house

the researchers limited their study to only thewritten feedback. They found 88.89% of thepeer revisions to be correct, providing strong
evidence of the beneficial effects of autonomous
learning. Yoshiyuki Nakata in Chapter Threefound that “social-interactive tools (collaborative
learning, multimedia, content-based) are effective for the development of learner autonomy”(p.62) in a Japanese university context. Following
Littlewood (1999), Nakata divides autonomy
into two kinds: “reactive autonomy” wherestudents will review old tests or form study
groups to review assignments and “proactive
autonomy” where students take charge of theirown learning. His study points to the potentialof the above “social-interactive tools” to change

40 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Book Review
the quality of learner autonomy in Japan fromreactive to proactive.
I found the fourth chapter by Tim Murphey tobe particularly stimulating because of his articulate discussion of the socio-cultural theory oflearning. This theory presupposes two learning
processes: one intermental, where “new concepts, words, behaviours, and attitudes are firstencountered between minds” (p.68), and thesecond intramental, where these new conceptsor ‘tools’ are then internalised in the learner’s
mind. A method that Murphey has used to facilitate these two consecutive processes is ‘ventriloquating’, by which he means “shadowing,
imitating, using, recreating, and teaching [newconcepts] repeatedly” (p.68). By using thesetechniques, learners are able to internalise newconcepts, that is, able to represent them in theirown minds without outside stimulation (p.68).
Murphey describes many ventiloquation activities that are used to develop the intermental
and intramental in language learning such as:
shadowing, summarizing, multiple extended
conversational opportunities, self talk and self
sing, etc. Through the interaction between theintermental and intramental in language learning, Murphey encapsulates how the use of suchpractices can positively affect classroom dynamics. Like Murphey, I have found that similar
activities enabling learners to develop a senseof control over their language and conceptual
learning create a rich learning environment.
Chapter Five by Elke Stracke looks at how important beliefs held by both teachers and learners
are in second language teaching and learning.
The researcher used “blended learning [which]refers to learning environments that combine two
or more approaches to language learning” (p.86).
The program the researcher studied was the development of autonomy and computer-assisted
learning (CALL) from the learners’ perspective
and found a conflict between the teachers’ andlearners’ views on blended learning. This discussion leads into the final chapter, which also discusses beliefs in language learning but from theteacher’s perspective.
The final chapter by Christoph Hafner andJean Young discusses problems that may arise
when implementing a program focusing on thedevelopment of autonomous learning practices.

The authors look at independent learning fromthe teachers’ perspective when their language
program shifts to a program based on learnerautonomy at their university language center.
The researchers found that, when introducing an
independent learning program on a large scale,
it is necessary to provide support for teachers todevelop an understanding of the roles of teachers
and learners because for some teachers independent learning can call into question their core
beliefs and practices about teaching. In this case,a virtual teacher development resource called
Web-based Induction and Independent Learning
Development (WIILD) was developed to offer
on-demand support for teachers going throughthe process of change. WIILD creates an interactive environment where teachers can experience
for themselves the process of independent learning. By reflecting on this process, they can develop an “understanding of their role and also strategies to promote independent learning in theirlearners” (p.108). Without such an understanding, Hafner and Young conclude, “it is difficult forteachers to develop the skills and knowledge theyneed to be effective facilitators” (p.121).
Autonomy in the Classroom would be usefulreading for anybody planning to implement orchange a language program at the tertiary leveltoward including a greater emphasis on autonomous learning or self-access learning. Teachers
working in universities would also find the discussions helpful if they are looking to change
their approach to teaching. It would also be ofinterest to those researching learner or teacher
beliefs and autonomy in second language learning or teaching at all levels.

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 41

ZZ Future Events

Learner Development SIG retreat at Nanzan University

Crossing boundaries: interdisciplinary
approaches to learner autonomy
June 15th 2008, 9.30 AM – 4.30 pm
I want to break free!
Making a community where it’s possible to feel free and still be passionately engaged withteaching, learning and living – for me this is at the heart of what the Learner Development SIG
is about. So what could be better than to retreat together in order to bounce back refreshed?
Our 2008 Spring Retreat will be on June 15th, following the JALT-JACET conference in
Nagoya on June 14th. Come and chill out, attend some workshops if you feel like it, and just talk,think, connect, synergize, talk some more and then have a cup of tea. Frisbee and Uno are not
ruled out. Especially if you are a new member of the SIG, please take the opportunity of coming
to talk, meet, play and perhaps learn something new.
The workshop program is both practical and thought-provoking, with presentations ranging from classroom use of drama, literature and music, to an exploration of new research on
identity and sexuality. Here is the line-up: Hugh Nicoll on Autonomy and Literature; Stacey
Vye on Using Music for listening and discussion in the Classroom; Kathy Emori on Building a
Community through Drama; Prisca Molotsi on Creating Songs in the Classroom; and Marlen
Harrison on Language Learner Identities and Sexuality.
If you have any enquiries or would like further information please contact either Martha
Roberston (marrober AT alumni.iu.edu) or Ellen Head (ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com).  
How to register
Pre-registration for the workshops is optional. Just come along to Nanzan on 15th June.
Pre-registration by May 30th is necessary if you want accommodation. Please pay by electronic transfer into the account below, writing “R” after your name so that the money can be
identified for the retreat.
It would also be helpful if you could send an email to ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com, letting
us know either that you are interested in the workshops, or that you have paid for accommodation, or both.
• Account Holder 口座名義人:  	 Hugh Nicoll ヒュー・ニコル• Bank name
銀行名:
Shinsei Bank 新生銀行
• Branch Number 支店番号:
400 (Head Office 本店)• Regular Account 普通口座
• Account Number 口座番号:
1690285
Single room (shared shower & toilet) with breakfast and lunch on Sunday June 15th
Attendance at workshops on 15th
Combined cost

¥4,500¥1,500¥6,000

Remember: the deadline for paying for accommodation is May 30th

42 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Future Events

学習者ディベロップメントSIGリトリート
於：南山大学
境界線を越えて：自律学習への学際的アプローチ
2008年6月15日9:30am– 4:30pm
自分自身を解放させましょう！
自分を解き放ちながらもティーチングや学習、そして生きることに情熱を傾けることができる…そんなコ
ミュニティを作る。それが私にとってのLD SIGです。あなたもみんなと一緒にリフレッシュして元気になりませんか？
2008年のリトリートは6月14日に名古屋で開催されるJACET-JALT学会の翌日6月15日に予定されています。ご興味があれば是非ワークショップに参加して話し合い、考え、繋がり、シナジーを与え合い、そしてまた話し合って．．．疲れたらお茶でも飲んでリラックスしてください。フリスビーやウノもアリです。もしあな
たがSIGの新会員ならば、なおさらのこと、ぜひ他のメンバーに会って話し、遊び、新しい何かを学ぶためにこの機会を利用してください。
ワークショップはドラマを利用した授業から文学と音楽、アイデンティティとジェンダーに関する新しい研
究など、いずれも実践的で、あなたの思考力を刺激する内容です。
• 自律性と文学 – ヒュー・ニコル• リスニングとディスカッションにおける音楽の利用法 – ステイシー・ヴァイ• ドラマを通してのコミュニティづくり - キャシー・エモリ• クラスで行う曲作り- プリスカ・モロッツィ• 言語学習者アイデンティティとセクシュアリティ- マーリン・ハレルソン
質問や詳しい情報をお求めの方は、マーサ・ロバートソンmarrober AT MARK alumni.iu.eduもしくはエレン・ヘッドellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.comまでご連絡ください。

参加申込方法：事前登録及び当日登録いずれも可能です。宿泊が必要な場合のみ必ず５月３０日までに下記口座に必要代金を振込み、申込みをしてください。

•
•
•
•
•

Account Holder 口座名義人:  	 Hugh Nicoll ヒュー・ニコル
Bank name
銀行名:
Shinsei Bank 新生銀行
Branch Number 支店番号:
400 (Head Office 本店)
Regular Account 普通口座
Account Number 口座番号:
1690285
シングルルーム（共有シャワー・トイレ）１５日朝食・昼食付き
１５日ワークショップ参加費
宿泊込参加費¥4,500¥1,500¥6,000

重要：宿泊の申込・振込は５月３０日まで！！

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 43

ZZ Future Events“Toward a
Synergistic
Collaboration”:
the First
JACET/ JALT
Joint Regional
Conference
教師間のシナジー効果を求めてCollaboration in English Education, reflecting
the desire of the two organizations to encourage greater communication, cooperation, andcollaboration between native-speaker English
teachers and non-native-speaker English teachers at the post-secondary level in Japan. In support of this event, the LD SIG will hold a retreat
on the following day, Sunday, June 15th at the
nearby Nanzan University Research Center.
Overnight accommodation for Saturday June
14th will be available at the Nanzan ResearchCenter, making it quite convenient for out-oftowners to attend both events.
The featured speaker at the JACET/ JALT
Conference will be Professor Hideo Kojima of
Hirosaki University. Professor Kojima is the author of several books and articles about teacher
and learner autonomy, and has been active in
Author: Martha
introducing the concept of autonomous learning
Robertson, Aichi
into the Japanese education system. Throughout
the day, there will be a variety of presentations
University
in Japanese and in English. A Symposium will
(マーサ・ロバートソン、愛知大学)
be held in the afternoon featuring panelists
Email: marrober AT MARK alumni. from both JALT and JACET. Both Japanese
iu.eduand English-based publishers will display theirwares.
LD SIGプログラムコーディネータのマーサ・ロバー
Although the focus of the Conference is
トソンが「教師間のシナジー効果を求めて」というテー
upon areas of collaboration between native
マのもと、６月１４日に中京大学で行われる、JACET
and non-native English-speaking teachers, theとJALTが初めて合同で行う中部地区大会を紹介します（LD SIGも後援しています）。このテーマには二つ Conference offers an opportunity to see howの学会が英語を母語とする大学英語教員と英語を母 autonomous learning is defined and facilitated語としない大学英語教員が、より良いコミュニケーシ within the Japanese educational context as well
ョンをとり、協力し合い、協同し合うことを望んでいる as providing a forum for sharing ideas on an inことを反映しています。英語学習者と指導者の自律に formal basis with native and non-native English
ついて研究を重ねている弘前大学の小嶋英夫氏を基 speaking colleagues. The Conference is free to
調講演に招いたこの大会ではJACET/JALT双方から JALT and JACET members,1,000 yen for nonパネリストを迎えたシンポジアムも予定されています。
members, and 500 yen for student members.
自律学習が日本の教育においてどのように定義付け
The Japan Association of College English
られ、展開されているかを知る絶好の機会でもありま
Teachers (JACET) is the oldest, largest, andす。
most influential professional organization forJapanese university English teachers. For manyo escape the rainy season blues, JALT
years, JALT and JACET have existed side by side
Learner Development SIG members andwith little or no communication between thefriends why not attend the first-ever joint
two organizations. Recognizing that the quality
JACET/JALT Regional Conference at Chukyo
of English education and the working situations
University’s Nagoya Campus on Saturday,of both native and non-native English-speakingthJune 14 , 2008? The event is co-sponsored byteachers could be improved through closer colJACET Chubu Chapter, JALT Gifu, Nagoya andlaboration, individuals in each organization have
Toyohashi Chapters with support from the LD
expressed the desire to bring JACET and JALT
and CUE SIGs.
closer together, but until now a mechanism for
The Conference theme is Toward a SynergisticT

44 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Future Events
forging such an alliance had not been achieved.
The Conference organizers hope that the opportunity to meet in a shared venue and holdinformal conversations will foster greater understanding of the teaching situations of native andnon-native English-speaking teachers and create
partnerships among individual teachers for future collaborative efforts.
The Conference theme, Toward a Synergistic
Collaboration in English Education, exemplifies
not only the kind of alliances and grass-roots
effort that the Conference organizers hope willtake root, but also reflects the origin and actualization of the Conference itself. (Synergistic refers
to the interaction of two or more agents or forces resulting in a combined effect that is greaterthan the effect of any individual agent or force.)
The Conference had its inception in the informal
conversations between two university teaching colleagues, Tadashi Shiozawa of JACET andJohn Gunning of JALT. Over the course of several years, they included others in their discussions and the idea of a joint conference began totake form. In June 2007, Tadashi Shiozawa, John
Gunning, and Robert Gee approached membersof Gifu, Nagoya, and Toyohashi Chapters of
JALT about sponsoring a joint regional conference with Chubu JACET. All Chapters readily
agreed. LD SIG and CUE SIG generously offered
their support for the conference.
The three originators built a committee
of seven, now eight, JALT members to work
together on the conference. Currently, teammembers are Suzanne Bonn, Alex Burke, RobertGee, John Gunning, Richard Morrison, Steve
Quasha, Mark Rebuck, and Martha Robertson.

JACET also formed a group to plan their sideof the conference. John Gunning and Tadashi
Shiozawa acted as intermediaries. JALT and
JACET have different organizational structures,
follow different procedures, and sometimes
hold very different perspectives, so we have
all learned a great deal about cross-cultural
understanding, negotiation and compromise.
The plans for the Conference have proceededsmoothly overall, as both sides have demonstrated flexibility and willingness to listen to theother team. The process of organizing the conference has been a valuable experience in “synergistic collaboration” for the organizers, and wehope that the conference will inspire other JALT
groups to reach out to their area JACET representatives and extend this fledgling partnership.

Conference Details:• 1st JACET/JALT Joint Regional Conference• Theme: Toward a Synergistic Collaboration in
English Education• Date: Saturday, June 14, 2008
• Venue: Chukyo University (Nagoya Campus)• FREE for JALT members
大会概要:• 第一回JACET/JALT合同中部地区大会• テーマ: 教師間のシナジー効果を求めて• 日程: 2008年６月１４日（土）• 場所：中京大学名古屋キャンパス• 参加費：無料（JALT会員）

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 45

ZZ Future EventsLD SIG FORUM JALT 2008
"SCAFFOLDING": LOOKING THROUGH LEARNERS' EYESINTERACTIVE POSTER PRESENTATIONS AND
WORKSHOP WITH DERYN VERITYFIRST CALL FOR POSTER PRESENTATIONSThis year’s LD SIG Forum at the JALT Conference in Tokyo will be in the formof a workshop on “scaffolding” led by guest speaker, Deryn Verity.
LD SIG members are warmly invited to submit proposals for posters in which
you tell/illustrate a story of a time when, as a learner, you learned or failed
to learn something as a result of “scaffolding” in or out of class. Your posters
will feature in some of the exploratory interactive activities designed and facilitated by Deryn for the Forum.
Please let us know of your intention to submit a poster by May 15, by sending
an email with your name, affiliation, proposed poster title, and short descriptionof your poster (50-100 words) to Jodie Stephenson (jodie_js at mark yahoo.
co.jp).

LDフォーラム JALT2008「足場組み」：学習者の視点からインターラクティブ・ポスター発表とワークショップ
デリン・ヴェリティ氏とともにポスター発表第１次募集の案内
今年東京で開催のJALT2008大会のLDフォーラムでは、ゲスト・スピーカーとしてデリン・ヴェ
リティ氏をお招きし、スキャッフォールディング「足場組み」をテーマにワークショップを提供します。そこで、LD会員の皆様からポスター発表を募集します。授業内外における「足場組み」の結果、自分自身が学習者として学んだこと、あるいは学び損ねたときのことを、ポスターを利用して語り、説明してください。ポスターは、ヴェリティ氏がフォーラムにて提供する探求的でインターラ
クティブな活動に直接つながります。ポスター発表の申し込みは、お名前・所属・ポスターのタイ
トル及び簡潔な説明（50～100語程度）
を、5月15日までにジョディ・スティーブンソン（jodie_js atmark yahoo.co.jp）
までメールでご提出ください。

46 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Acknowledgement

The LD SIG Thanks Teacher’s College for
Providing the Meeting Venue for theGreater Tokyo LD Get-togethers forFree!
As a token of our thanks, we are pleased torecommend the MA TESOL program at TC Columbia
University, Japan Campus:T

he Teachers College, Columbia University Japan Campus has been successfully offering graduate courses in Suidobashi, Tokyo for the past 21 years to provide teachers with the same quality graduate studies as the New York campus. The campus offers two MA degree programs: an
MA in Art Education, providing opportunities to study the traditions of fine art and the popular arts
of mass culture, and the MA in TESOL, providing opportunities to study the theory and practice ofteaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Japan.
The Teachers College Japan Campus was officially designated by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) as a “Foreign Graduate School, Japan Campus”
on September 20th, 2006. As the largest private graduate school of education in the U.S. (ranked thenumber one graduate education schools for 2007
by U.S. News Reports), Teachers College continues
to develop innovative and practical programs forteachers.
The M.A. in TESOL program provides opportunities to earn a graduate degree part-time by attending weekend classes. This program offers degree
concentrations for novice and elementary school
teachers, as part of its generalist degree for teachersin other English teaching contexts. Applications are
accepted throughout the year, allowing students tostart in the fall, spring, or summer semesters. The
cooperative nature of the program emphasizes systematic analysis of actual practices, in relationshipto key theories in language teaching and learning, and the opportunity for students to be observedby professors in their schools in order to explore teaching ideas.
Teachers College also offers an MA in Art and Art Education program. The study of art encompasses the traditions of fine art and the popular arts of mass culture, and a central tenet of the program is the role of the arts in nurturing human growth and development throughout the lifespan.
Within this context, courses in art education examine the different environments in which the various art forms reach their audiences: private and public schools, colleges, museums, arts centers,
hospitals and other settings.
For more information on these and other programs visit www.tc-japan.edu or contact the TC Office(Phone 03-3221-9771 or Email <office@tc-japan.edu>)

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 47

ZZ Acknowledgement

LD SIGの東京のミーティングはティーチャーズカレッジ
日本校を無料で利用させて頂いています。感謝の気持
ちを込め、このコーナーではTCコロンビア大学日本校のMAプログラムについてご紹介します。
コロンビア大学ティーチャーズカレッジ日本校

コ

ロンビア大学ティーチャーズカレッジ日本校（東京・水道橋）
は、２1年間にわたって日本の教員を対象にニューヨーク本校と同等の教育を提供し続けてきました。日本校では現在アート エデュケーショ
ンと英語教授法の2つの修士課程プログラムを行なっています。

ティーチャーズカレッジ日本校は、２００６年９月２０日、文部科学省(MEXT)より「外国大学院の日本校」
として正式に指定を受けています。本国アメリカにおいてティーチャーズカレッジは、米国最大の私立教育学部
大学院として、教員のために革新的・実践的な教育を展開してきました。２００７年のＵＳニューズレポート
紙の評価では、米国の教育学部大学院部門で第一位に選ばれています。
アート＆アート エデュケーション修士課程では伝統的な美術からポップアートまで広い範囲の芸術について研究します。プログラムの中心となる理念は、生涯を通じて人々の成長と発達を育むことにおける芸術の役
割です。この理念に基づき、アート エデュケーションコ
ースでは様々な芸術形式が鑑賞される環境 — それは学校・大学・美術館・アートセンター・病院など多岐に渡りますが — について検証していきます。
英語教授法（TESOL）修士課程は、週末に行なわれるクラスに出席することによって修士号を取得できるコースです。通常の課程の一部として、教師経験年数が少ない方々と小学校の教師を特に対象とした単位の取り方も用意されています。出願は１年間を通じて受付けており、秋学期、春学期、夏学期のどの学期からでも入学できます。このプログラムでは、より学習効果の高い授業を創り出すために、教育現場での実践を、語学教育と学習における主要理論に関連付けて分析することに重きをおき、学生が実際に教鞭をとる学校へ教授が訪問し、授業を見学してフィードバックを与える機会を設けています。
詳細につきましては、ホームページwww.tc-japan.eduをご覧いただくか、TC Office (TEL: 03-3221-9771 またはEmail：office@tc-japan.edu)までご連絡ください。

48 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Reports
LD SIG財務報告 2007年9月 - 2008年1月
LD SIG Financial Report Sep 2007-Jan 2008

Balance in PO account 郵便口座の残高
Reserve liabilities 本部預け金
Cash on hand 現金
Balance carried forward 残高
Total revenue liabilities収入負債の総額
Total revenue 総収入
Total expenses 総支出
Total expense liabilities 総経費
負債
End balance 残高
Balance in PO account 郵便口座の残高
Reserve liabilities本部預け金
Cash on hand現金
LD SIG balance 残高

Sep 2007

Oct 2007

Nov 2007

Dec 2007

Jan 2008

2007年9月
269,939

2007年10月
268,879

2007年11月
269,067

2007年12月
24,067

2008年1月
24,067100,000
2,381
372,3200

100,000
2,381
371,2600100,000
41,853410,9200

100,000
41,853
165,9200

100,000
41,853
165,920
0

0
1,060
0

75,18835,52800245,000
00
0
0

15,00000371,260
268,879

410,920
269,067

165,920
24,067

165,920
24,067

180,920
39,067100,000
2,381
371,260

100,000
41,853410,920

100,000
41,853
165,920

100,000
41,853
165,920

100,000
41,853
180,920

Major expenses 主な経費 September 2007 to January 2008
Layout for Learning Learning
14(2) 学習の学習14(2) レイ
アウト
LD Grant JALT 2007 LDグラン
ト2名分
Bridging Loan Repayment つな
ぎ融資返済
ILA Related Expenses 印刷・送料・登録など (Printing, Freight,
Registration) ILA関連経費
Missing Money at ILA site ILA
サイト現金紛失
Major revenue 主な収入Sep
2007 to Jan 2008
Publication sales by SIG
SIGの書籍販売

35,00050,000160,000
30,0005,000

75,00015,000• MAYA Bridging Loans have been all paid back in November 2007. We sold two copies of MAYA
in February 2008.
• MAYAつなぎ融資は２００７年１１月にすべて返済が完了しました。２００８年２月にＭＡＹＡ２冊の売り上げがありました。

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 49

ZZ Reports

Active balance Feb 20th, 2008 可動残高2008年2月20日
PLANNED EXPENSES March to December 2008
Postage LD materials LD資料

2008年2月- 8月予定経費

郵送料

15,000LD Retreat (June) honorarium for a speaker with transportation
LD 愛知リトリート(6月)40,000

謝礼・旅費他

Learning Learning 15 Issue 1 (March 2008) 学習の学習 15（1）2008年３月
TOTAL

40,000

合計

95,000PROJECTED REVENUE March to August 20082008年2月-8月予定収入

Publication sales書籍販売

7,500

Membership 40 members 会費 40人分

60,000TOTAL

83,920

合計

67,500

Projected active balance August 31st 20082008年8月31日予定残高

56,420LD Reserve liabilities (held by JALT National) August 31st2008
2008年8月31日LD負債準備金（JALT本部）

100,000

Keiko Kawazu 河津佳子
LD SIG treasurer LD SIG財務
20 February 2008 2008年2月20日

LOCAL GET-TOGETHERS: SHARE, TELL, ASK,CHALLENGE, HELP, LEARN, ENJOY!
For information on local LD meetings that are taking place near you, or for advice andfinancial support to help start a new local get-together venture, contact us: Stacey Vye <stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> or Mike Nix <mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>.

エリアミーティング：分かち合い、話し合い、聞き合い、助け合い、そして共に挑戦し、学び、楽しみましょう！
あなたの近くですでに行われているミーティングについて、または地元でのLDミーティングを始めるにあたってのサポートについて、ステイシー・ヴァイ<stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com> もしくはマイク・ニックス<mikenix AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp>まで是非お問い合わせください！

50 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ LD SIG Officers

Learner Development SIG Officers 2008
学習者ディベロップメント研究部会 2008年度 委員リスト
Coordinator:
Web and IT
Communications
International LIaison
Treasurer:

Hugh Nicoll 		(Lucy Cooker

hnicoll AT MARK gmail.com
lucycooker AT MARK gmail.com)

Andy Barfieldbarfield.andy AT MARK gmail.com
Keiko Kawazu
kepichan AT MARK yahoo.co.jp(Hiromi Furusawa admin AT MARK eigoya.com)
Membership:
Stacey Vye 		
stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com(Jodie Stephenson jodie_js AT MARK yahoo.co.jp)
Publications:Alison Stewart
stewart_al AT MARK hotmail.com
Kay Irie 		kayirie AT MARK mac.com(Jim Ronald		jamesmartinronald AT MARK yahoo.co.jp)(Masuko Miyahara MasukoM AT MARK aol.com)
Programme:
Ellen Head 		ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com
Martha Robertson marrober AT MARK alumni.iu.edu(Jan Taniguchi-Ossorio
jan AT MARK bca.bai.ne.jp)
Learning Learning
Alison Stewart
stewart_al AT MARK hotmail.com
editorial team:
Ellen Head 		ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com
Jim Ronald 		jamesmartinronald AT MARK yahoo.co.jp
Kay Irie 		kayirie AT MARK mac.com
Masuko Miyahara MasukoM AT MARK aol.com
Peter Mizuki
peter.mizuki AT MARK nihon-u.ac.jp
Members at large:
Chris Carpenter
chris AT MARK dokkyo.ac.jp
Etsuko Shimo
etsu321 AT MARK hotmail.com
Greg Rouault
synectix AT MARK hotmail.com
Marlen Harrison scenteur7 AT MARK yahoo.com
Mike Nix 		
mikenix1 AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp
Naoko Aoki 		naoko AT MARK let.osaka-u.ac.jp
Phil Brown 		philza2003 AT MARK yahoo.com
Steve Brown
brown AT MARK konan-wu.ac.jp
Yoko Wakui 		
ywakui AT MARK bu.iij4u.or.jp
Local get-together coordinators:
Hiroshima
Jim Ronald
		jamesmartinronald AT MARK yahoo.co.jp
Kitakyushu
Malcolm Swanson 		
msswanson AT MARK pukeko.ws
Kobe
Naoko Aoki		naoko AT MARK let.osaka-u.ac.jp
Osaka/Kyoto
Etsuko Shimo 		
etsu321 AT MARK hotmail.com
Miyazaki
Steve Davies 		sdavies AT MARK miyazaki-mic.ac.jp
NagoyaAshurova Umihadon
uzfemida79 AT MARK yahoo.com
Robert Croker 		croker AT MARK nanzan-u.ac.jp
Nara
Ann Mayeda 		
KFA05374 AT MARK nifty.ne.jp
Greater Tokyo
Mike Nix 			mikenix1 AT MARK tamacc.chuo-u.ac.jp(Omiya,West Tokyo,
Stacey Vye 		
stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com
Tokyo, Ibaraki, Chiba, &the Yokohama)Note: People in ( ) are shadowing and assisting.

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

— 51

ZZ Contributions

Contributing to
Learning Learning
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/or Japanese. We welcome writing in different formats and different lengths about
different issues connected with learner and teacher development, such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

articles (about 1,000 to 2,500 words)
reports (about 500 to 1,000 words)
learner histories (about 500 to 1,000 words)
stories of autonomy (about 500 to 1,000 words)
book reviews (about 500 to 1,000 words)
letters to the SIG (about 500 words)
personal profiles (100 words more or less)critical reflections (100 words more or less)research interests (100 words more or less)poems… and much more…

We would like to encourage new writing and new writers and are also very happy to workwith you in developing your writing. We would be delighted to hear from you about your ideas,
reflections, experiences, and interests to do with learner development, learner autonomy andteacher autonomy.
We hope to publish the next issue of Learning Learning in October, 2008. Ideally, we would
like to hear from you well before September 15th 2008 – in reality, the door is always open, so
feel free to contact somebody in the editorial team when you are ready:Alison Stewart
Ellen HeadJames Ronald
Kay Irie
Masuko MiyaharaPeter Mizuki
Stacey Vye

stewart_al AT MARK hotmail.com
ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com
jamesmartinronald AT MARK yahoo.co.jp
kayirie AT MARK mac.com
MasukoM AT MARK aol.com
peter.mizuki AT MARK nihon-u.ac.jp
stacey.vye AT MARK gmail.com

Learning Learning is the newsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG. We aim to publish twice a year in April and October. All pieces are copyright of their respective authors.
Permission to re-print writing from Learning Learning should be sought directly from theauthor(s) concerned.

52 — Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

ZZ Contributions「学習の学習」原稿募集「学習の学習」
は会員に興味あるつながりを構築する空間です。次号「学習の学習」
への和文（もしくは英文、及び二言語での）投稿を募集しています。形式や長さを問わず、学習者及び教員の発達に関連した以下のようなさまざま文章を歓迎しています：• 論文(約4000字－10000字)• 報告書(約2000字－4000字)• 学習者のヒストリー (約2000字－4000字)• 自律性に関する体験談• 書評(約2000字－4000字)(約2000字－4000字)• SIGへの手紙(約2000字)• 個人プロフィール(約400字)• クリティカル・リフレクション (約400字)• 研究興味(約400字)• 詩

その他

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、そして学習者の発達、学習者の自律性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。
次号「学習の学習」は2008年10月に出版の予定です。ご興味のある方は、最終入稿日2008年9月15日よりずっと前に余裕をもってご連絡いただければ幸いです。受け付けは常にいたしておりますので、アイディ
アがまとまり次第、遠慮なくいずれかの編集委員にご連絡ください。
アリソン・スチュワート
エレン・ヘッドジェームス・ロナルド
入江
宮原

恵

万寿子

ピーター・ミズキ

stewart_al AT MARK hotmail.com
ellenkobe AT MARK yahoo.com
jamesmartinronald AT MARK yahoo.co.jp
kayirie AT MARK mac.com.
MasukoM AT MARK aol.com
peter.mizuki AT MARK nihon-u.ac.jp「学習の学習」はJALT学習者ディベロプメントSIGの会報です。年2回4月と10月に出版予定です。全ての原稿の版権はそれぞれの執筆者にあります。
「学習の学習」の文章を他の出版物に使う場合は直接その執筆者の許可をもらってください。

Learning Learning 2008 • Vol 15.1

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