JALT学習者ティヘロフメントSIGの会報	 	  Greetings	  ご あいさつ	 
From	  the	  Editors	  	  	  	  Michael	  Mondejar	  and	  Jackie	  Suginaga	  編集者	 Michael	 MondejarとJackie	 Suginagaより	 

Greetings all,This issue of Learning Learning comes out alittle later than usual, and in a season of mixed
emotions. While spring is normally a time ofrebirth and renewal, of fresh starts and newbeginnings, this spring was marked by the
one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan
Earthquake,which
ravaged theTohoku
regionandcontinues tocast a heavy
shadowinthe minds and hearts of everyone in Japan.
Many of us affected by the quake have cometo reflect on our own lives and the lives of ourneighbors, and have become determined toaid in the rebuilding efforts either directly via
volunteering or indirectly by making donations.
The theme of self-reflection connects all of thecontributions in this issue of Learning Learning.
The issue begins with an introduction to two
new SIG members, Steven Paydon and Bill
Mboutsiadis. Currently in the SIG publications
team, Steven discusses his first encounter withlearner autonomy as a child in Australia, as
well as how this experience informs his beliefs
about teaching today. Bill, the SIG Program
Coordinator, describes how principles oflearner autonomy influence his teaching beliefs
and practices.
Following the introductions are reflectivepieces by the 2011 LD SIG Grant Awardees:
Ian Alexander Hurrell, Mehmet Boyno, andMichael Wilkins, and Matt Coomber. Ian andMehmet both detail their experiences at theAdvising for Language Learner Autonomy
conference, held by the IATEFL Learner
Autonomy Special Interest Group at Kanda
University of International Studies, and what
they came away with from the conference.
Michael discusses his roots and current
research in learner autonomy, as well as hisexperiences
attending
theJALT2011
Conference held in Yoyogi, Tokyo last year,and Matthew reflects on both positive andnegative experiences at the same conference.

2	   LEARNING	  LEARNING	  19(1)	  	  We are also happy to feature in this issue
two articles by Mathew Porter and Lee Arnold.
Mathew describes an online pronunciation
course that he designed, discussing how
successful the course was in promoting hislearners’autonomous
acquisitionofphonological knowledge. Lee reflects on how
adult learners in private tuition take control of
their own learning, and offers some guiding
principles for promoting learner autonomy inthis particular learning context.
Also featured in this issue is an interview withPhil Benson, one of the plenary speakers at
JALT2011 and long-time proponent of learnerautonomy. In this interview, conducted byMichael Mondejar and Jackie Suginaga, Phil
describes his personal journey with learnerautonomy, and the directions which it may takein the future.
In “Looking back”, Rachelle Jorgenson, andTomoko Kurita
eachofferreflections on
the Tokyo LDSIG
gettogethers thathave been held
on a monthly
basis at Teachers College in Suidobashi sinceDecember 2011.	   Darren Elliott, Robert Moreau,and Bill Mboutsiadis also preview different LD
SIG forums taking place this year.
This issue of Learning Learning reflects the cooperation of many people, and we would like tothank in particular for their contributions andassistance: Phil Benson, Andy Barfield,
RichardSilver,
StevenPaydon,Bill
Mboutsiadis, Ian Alexander Hurrell, Mehmet
Boyno, Matthew Wilkins, Mathew Porter, LeeArnold,
MatthewCoomber,
RachelleJorgenson, Tomoko Kurita, Darren Elliott,
Robert Moreau, Kay Irie, Hiromi Furusawa,
Hugh Nicoll, Alison Stewart, and FumikoMurase. Without their invaluable help it would
not have been possible to publish this issue.
We hope that you will find something ofrelevance and interest in this issue and as
always, we want to hear from you if you areinterested in writing articles, reflections, orbook
reviews,
orworkingonthe
editorial/translating team.