LD SIG Team Reports 2016

Learner Development SIG 2016
Team Reports for the 2016 Annual General Meeting
Table of Contents
Co-coordinators
Treasury Team
Membership Team
Programmes Team
Publicity Team
Publications TeamWeb Team
Grants Team
Get Together Teams
Tokyo Get-Together
Hiroshima Get-Together
Kansai Get-Together
Committee Members at large

1. Co-coordinators(Submitted by Mathew Porter & Mayumi Abe)
Write a summary of all of the team reports for submission to the SIG Representative Liaison. These reports are
all submitted into the record at the LD SIG’s Annual General Meeting, which is held during the JALT international
conference.
1. Achievements:
The Learner Development SIG continued to fulfill its obligations to its members by providing forums,
both in print and in person, to discuss, research, and share various facets of learner development. Ourrole as coordinators has been to support the teams that are responsible for the different areas of the
SIG, communicate with members, and represent the SIG and its members at JALT national executive
meetings. We would like to highlight some of the SIG’s major achievements from November 2015 toNovember 2016:●

Steadily growing membership and sustained personalized communication with SIG members(membership team)●

Avoided negative balance by reducing number/values of grants. Have been able to provide some
support for unforeseen events, but austerity is needed. (treasury team)●Grants awarded to members for two conferences, one research project, and one project, totaling
125,000 yen. (grants team)●

Published two regular issues of Learning Learning and one special issue, which featured 8 short papers
from the 2015 LD Forum on “Learners as Teachers: What Teachers Learn From Their Learners” and the1

LD SIG Team Reports 20162015 Creating Community: Learning Together 2 informal afternoon conference. (LL editorial team)●Ordered two small print runs of publication projects: Learning Development Working Papers (80) andLooking Back: This Past Year after the Earthquake (35), delivered to project team members and sites
in Rikuzentakata (publications team & former outreach team)●Held forums at national conferences: JALT2016, PanSIG, and JALTCALL (programme team)●

Making progress on the first issue of the Learner Development Journal and a Review Network has been
established. A theme, editors, and CFP have been announced for the second issue of LDJ. (Learner
Development Journal Steering Group)●Tokyo Get Together group met 7 times in 2016, and the group held their second Creating Community:
Learning Together mini-conference for teachers and their students in December 2015. They are
currently accepting proposals for their third CC:LT in December 2016 (Tokyo Get-Together organizing
team)

●

Kansai Get Togethers were successfully restarted, holding meetings monthly throughout the year, andthe team held their first student conference in November 2016 (Kansai Get-Together organizing team)●

Hiroshima Get Together group met 5 times in 2016, and are currently preparing for their annual interuniversity Scrabble competition in December (Hiroshima Get-Together organizing team)●

Collaborated with other organizations inside and outside of JALT: sponsoring Hugh Nicoll at the Sojo
University Teaching and Learning Forum (NanKyu Chapter) in Feb. 2017, developing a workshop on
Goal-Setting and Learning Outcomes with FLP and the Nagoya chapter, and successfully bidding to hostthe Independent Learning Association’s conference in August/September 2018.

2. Unresolved Challenges: (Agenda)●

Budget priorities
How the SIG is financed by JALT has changed and we were quite generous with our funds in the past.
We are encouraged by JALT to keep a “rainy day fund” equivalent to one year of our budget. We must
rethink our grants, meanwhile we have requests for funding from GT groups and the PR team●

Volunteers
We are in need of volunteers for both key roles and shadow positions, particularly for the coordinators,
web team, and pub team.

●

Understanding Member Needs
Some team members have suggested a need to better understand what our members want from the
SIG. Should a member survey be prioritized and who would design/implement it and analyze theresults?

●

Attracting New Members
JALT members now get a free SIG, but we didn’t experience a surge in membership. How do we attract
new members?

●

Activities
Nagoya and FLP are eager to collaborate with LD on an event, but talks have stalled. The SIG will host
ILA2018 and the conference committee will need our support.

3. Recommendations:●Improve communication

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016●○

Mayumi and Mathew need to communicate with the teams better. We have started to holdmonthly Skype meetings, but perhaps we should make our notes public or send a monthly
summary of coordinator news to the list.

○

There needs to be more awareness of areas where teams interact (get-togethers, PR, web,
grants, pubs, membership) and a greater attempt by team members to make sure that info isgetting to the right people in time so it can get to our members.

○

Switch to Mail Chimp for announcements. ER SIG curently uses Mail Chimp for their newsletter(basically announcements). It’s better for announcements as it allows for embedded media andcollects open and click data. Do we need to look at how other SIGs communicate withmembers and encourage interaction?

Understanding Members’ Needs○

Develop survey to be used with membership letters tailored for new, renewing, and departing
members. Try to identify what our current strengths, successes, and weaknesses. Ask
respondents to for permission to use opinions in PR material.

4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget:● information pamphlet (500 postcards 10,000)● Tokyo GT room fees: 25,000 yen● Kansai GT room venue fees: 35,000● Approximately ¥20,000 for web hosting and domain registration fees.
● PanSIG Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen (20,000-25,000?)● JALT CALL Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen (20,000-25,000?)● Research Grant - 1 x 25,000 yen● Project Grant - 2 x 20,000 yen = 40,000 yen● JALT International Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen
5. Goals for 2016-2017:
a. Create a budget and operate within it
b. Facilitate communication b/w teams and w/members
c. Recruit new committee members
6. Team members/roles for 2016-2017

2. Treasury Team
(submitted by Huw Davies)
1. Achievements: Having received slightly more than expected for membership from JCO, and thanks to
the help of the grants team, finances are in a much more stable position than expected
2. Unresolved Challenges: Further discussion is needed going forward, because to continue spending as
we did in previous years is likely to lead us into a sticky situation. That said, it is important to offer
value to our members, and to offer grants and give opportunities to present and publish
3. Recommendations: A full discussion at JALT National to learn members’ priorities for how money
should be spent moving forward. Both of the treasury team will be at the meeting this year.

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget: Unchanged so far. It would be helpful if we were informed of any
expected expenses in the coming year - even if the project is likely to break even.
5. Goals for 2016-2017: To distribute funds to worthy projects, as chosen by our members.
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017: unchanged - Huw and Sami to continue,
though we would welcome shadows.

3. Membership Team(Ann Flanagan)
1) Achievements:
a. There has been a steady increase of new members each month.
b. The format for the letters has been changed and well received.
c. The membership update procedures have been updated.
d. Collaboration with other team members went smoothly.
2) Unresolved Challenges:
a. Being consistent with when the letters are being sent out.
b. Knowing when to update the letters and what content is appropriate for each update.
3) Recommendations:a.

Changing the advanced renewal letters system from +1, +2 to a +2 and +3 montharrangement.

b. Having a consistent timeline for when the letters need to be sent out.
c. Send out an online questionnaire to members to see if they are satisfied with the LD SIG and ifthey have any suggestions on ways to make our SIG stronger. Another online questionnaireshould be created for those members whose membership has lapsed.
d. Ask for more feedback about the content of the letters from the other SIG Team Leaders at
different times throughout out the year. Have a timeline of when to update the letters.
4) Items for the 2016-2017 budget: None
5) Goals for 2016-2017:a. Establish a new renewal system for the letters and schedule for when the letters need to besent out.
b. Be more consistent with sending the letters out..
c. Send monthly updates to the LD SIG Team Members and Monthly Get Together Teams.
d. Better communication with other Team Leaders within the LD SIG.
6) Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017:a. Ann Flanagan - Chairperson
b. Barrie Matte- Letters

4. Programmes Team
(submitted by Joël Laurier)
1. Achievements: This year, our three big conferences (JALT International, PanSIG, and JALT CALL) had

4

LD SIG Team Reports 2016deadlines for proposals at around the same time in February. The Programmes Team decided to haveour presenters submit their LD SIG forum proposals at the same time. This greatly facilitated our job, as
most of the year’s work was done within a span of two weeks. This formula worked very well.
2. Unresolved Challenges: With PanSIG changing their system, next year’s Programmes team will need to
do their work earlier. This should not be a big problem.
3. Recommendations: Have a waiting list system for presenters. For JALT CALL and JALT International,
accepted presenters dropped out after being accepted. In most situations, we could get otherpresenters to fill in vacated slots.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget:
5. Goals for 2016-2017: We have started discussions about having a conference with another SIG. Thisshould be done. Or, another idea would be have the SIG team up with a chapter for a mini conference.
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017: Lee Arnold (Programmes Team Coordinator) - JALT International, Blair Barr - JALT CALL, Nicole Gallagher - PanSIG.

5. Publicity Team
(submitted by Robert Moreau)
1. Achievements: This year the publicity team followed the same general course of action as the previous
year. At the beginning of the year the team put together short blurbs for the TLT publication. After May
however, the publication stopped regular blurbs and the publicity team worked on a new generaldescription for the SIG.
The team also worked on a completely new logo for the one-day conference coming up in December
2016. The previous 2 years used the same graphic, but with different color schemes.
The team has also been involved in updating the LDSIG's Facebook group page as needed. The
Facebook group has actually grown quite a bit this year with the total number at 344 at the time of thiswriting.
2. Unresolved Challenges: It would be a good idea to have an information pamphlet to be able to handout at conferences if the budget will allow for it.
3. Recommendations: Contact the publicity department as soon as possible when work is needed toallow for revisions and translation work
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget: Usually this is determined by the type of work the publicity teamdoes for the other teams. The publicity team itself does not, at the moment have any items for the
2016-2017 budget.
5. Goals for 2016-2017: to continue providing services for the SIG as needed
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017: The team members and their roles areas yet undecided, subject to a vote at the general meeting.

6. Publications Team
(submitted by James Underwood)5

LD SIG Team Reports 2016

Publications Coordinator James Underwood
Learning Learning team Alison Stewart (Lead Editor), Andy Barfield (Members’ Voices), Arnold Arao (Layout),
Chika Hayashi (Translation Coordinator), Monika Szirmai (Layout), Rachelle Meilleur (Shadow Editor), Yoko
Sakurai (Grant Awardees), with Arnold Arao becoming the lead editor from LL23(3)Learner Development Journal One editors Darren Elliott & Hugh Nicoll
Learner Development Journal Two editors Masuko Miyahara, Robert Croker, Patrick Kiernan, and Chika
HayashiLearner Development Journal Steering Group Tim Ashwell, Andy Barfield, Alison Stewart
1. Achievements
Learning Learning●

Spring (23.1), edited by Alison Stewart and Rachelle Meilleur and contained contributions from Agnes
Patko, Andy Barfield, Alison Stewart, Bjorn Fuisting, Ken Ikeda, Lee Arnold, Nat Carney, Natsumi
Magatake, Paul Arenson together with the regular LL features.

●

Special edition (23.2). In early October a special edition of LL was published. It was edited by Lee
Arnold, Andy Barfield, Charlotte Murakami and Alison Stewart and contained contributions from Andy
Barfield, Charlotte Murakami, Erina Iwasa, Jenny Morgan, Lee Arnold, Mehran Sabet, & Stacey Vye.

●

The forthcoming Fall Edition (23.3), edited by Arnold Arao, will feature six Members’ Voices articles,
and a preview of the LD Forum at the JALT 2016 conference, as well as the regular SIG updates.

Learner Development Journal●

Learner Development Journal Issue One on Visualizing Learner Development Edited by Darren Elliottand Hugh Nicoll is scheduled for publication in April/May 2017.

Learner Development Journal Steering Group●We’ve kept contact with Darren and Hugh through the year and had discussions with them by email
and Skype about different questions to do with the production of the first issue. A big thank you toDarren and Hugh for all their work on the first issue.

●

We’ve also approached different members of the SIG to join the Review Network (RN) for the journal.
Ann Mayeda, Chika Hayashi, Dexter Da Silva, Fumiko Murase, Jo Mynard, Katherine Thornton, Steve
Brown, and Ted O’Neill are the starting members of the RN.

●

We’ve developed a set of simple review guidelines for the RN that we agreed with Darren and Hugh.
The RN has also reviewed the guidelines and approved them.

●

Masuko Miyahara, Robert Croker, Patrick Kiernan, and Chika Hayashi have formed an editorial teamwith a thematic focus on Qualitative Research into Learner Development for the second issue. In May
Masuko put out a Call for Papers for the second issue of the Journal. The CfP has been posted on the
LD website: http://ld-sig.org/issue-two/Learning Development Working Papers A small print run of 80 copies was organised in October 2016. 80
copies @ 100,000JPY plus p&p costs. Priced @1500 JPY per copy in Japan, and @2000 JPY for overseas orders(so far, Ireland and Hong Kong). In the past the SIG has had trouble selling publications that have already been
published online. This has led to a large surplus stock that has had to be shredded later. With 80 copies, the SIG

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

should not find it difficult to sell something like 75 copies and keep a few as display copies; printing and p&p
costs should be more or less covered, too. Expected cost to the SIG: 15,000-20,000 JPY.
Looking Back: This Past Year after the Earthquake A small print run of 35 copies was organised in June 2016priced @2500 JPY per copy for SIG members. This pricing allowed the SIG to donate 12 copies to different
people and organisations in Rikuzentakata (including the school, Musashi-san, the local library, the tourist
office, and Nakazawa Sensei). A copy was also sent to JALT Central Office for JALT’s archives.
2. Unresolved Challenges
Learning Learning
Members’ Voices (Andy) One of the challenges has been contacting new SIG members soon after they join the
SIG. My feeling is that this needs to be done within 3 months of their joining the SIG. Later than that, and the
response rate/interest in contributing is much lower. Something to discuss with the membership team when
we see each other - much easier to talk about this together than by email.
3. Recommendations
Learner Development Journal Steering Group We’d like other SIG members to become involved in the steeringgroup. Darren will join the steering group after Issue One is completed.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 Budget
5. Goals for 2016-2017
Learning Learning
Arnold Arao (editor) 1. Regarding the upcoming Fall Issue of LL, we are looking at publication to coincide with
the JALT conference at the end of November. To that end, if you have any information that needs to be
published / included in the upcoming issue of LL, could you please send it to me at arnoldarao@gmail.com orlearninglearning.editor@gmail.com by Sunday November 6th. This will allow us time to format and prepare thejournal.
2. Looking ahead, I would greatly appreciate hearing your ideas of where LearningLearning should be headed in
the future, such things as what you enjoy reading and what you would like included. Moreover, if you comeacross anyone who would like to submit a piece of for publication, please ask them to submit it via
learninglearning.editor@gmail.com as the current link on our site is inactive.
As I am new to this, I appreciate any help and suggestions you can offer and I am really looking forward toworking with all of you to continue the success of the Learner Development SiG.
Members’ Voices (Andy) I’d like to find a shadow who could shadow me on LL 24(1) - i.e., from JALT2016 - andtake over from LL 24(2) - from April 2017.
Learner Development Journal Initiation of work for Issue Two in February 2017 and development of research
and writing over the rest of the year. Publication of Issue One in April/May. Inviting proposals for Issue Three,and building on experiences and lessons learned with Issues One and Two.

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

Learner Development Journal Steering Group Continue as we have been doing in keeping contact with theeditorial teams, and explore possibilities for developing a dedicated website for the Learner Development
Journal. Look for other people to shadow us so that other SIG members become involved in overseeing thedevelopment of the journal
6. Team Members/Roles for November 2016 to November 2017
Changes:Publications Coordinator: James Underwood => ?
Learning Learning Editor: Alison Stewart => Arnold Arao
Members’ Voices shadow => ?

7. Web Team
(submitted by Hugh Nicoll)
1. Achievements: During the 2015/16 SIG year we have maintained our web presence, email list
communications (both for officers and announcements for the general membership), and I have tried
to post regular updates on our Facebook page.
The primary web site maintenance and support task for the SIG is publishing new issues of Learning
Learning. A less demanding -- but more of a moving target challenge -- is regularly updating
information pages. In the 2015-2016 year, by the time of the conference AGM in Nagoya, we will havepublished 3 issues; LL23(1), LL23(2), and LL23(3). I am pleased to now be working with Arnold Arao who
stepped in as the Learning Learning layout coordinator.
Email communications -- both the LD-Comm (officers list) and the LD-News (announcements) mailinglists are hosted on the ld-sig.org domain, using the oldie but goodie mailing list software Mailman. Eachmonth as web admin I receive membership updates, and try to keep both subscriber lists up-to-date.
Occasionally minor problems -- lapsed email addresses, etc. -- have to be dealt with, but such issues
can usually be dealt with quickly and easily. Maintaining the Facebook social media presence is also
relatively simple and trouble-free, involving the posting of event and special publications
announcements passed on by officers and friends.
2. Unresolved Challenges: There are three primary challenges to be addressed in the next year: (1) The
development of a team of editors who will monitor and update web pages in consultation with otherofficer teams; (2) Developing a shadowing/skills development practice that will allow new members totake over in the near future; and (3) Re-booting the Talking Points Blog for the 2016-17 SIG year. In
brief: bodies, brains, and commitment required.
I did get help from James and Billy in 2014 when we moved to Wordpress as a site platform, but for themost part all web site editing/updating is currently a solo effort, with the notable exception of theGrants team and Tokyo Get-togethers group, who mostly add and/or edit content on their own pages.
Thanks and a shout out to Kris and Andy. Matthew has also stepped up from time to time to edit themessages from the coordinators and general welcome messages on the site.
The biggest challenge -- in addition to doing a better job of developing an active, collaborative team --8

LD SIG Team Reports 2016

is in rebooting the Talking Points Blog, perhaps working more closely with the Publications Team
members to integrate our respective areas of responsibility with the PR aspects of the maintaining the
web site, Facebook presence, and publishing efforts. Institutional/personnel crises at my “home”
university, combined with the personal challenges I have faced in moving from a tenured position to
re-joining the ranks of the wage-slave part-timers proved more than I could manage during the firstsemester of the H. 28 academic year. Fingers crossed that we can hash out some options in the next
month or two, hit the ground running in the new year.
3. Recommendations: See “Unresolved Challenges” above.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget: Approximately ¥20,000 for web hosting and domain registration fees.
5. Goals for 2016-2017: see “Unresolved Challenges” above.
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017: need to be discussed at the AGM

8. Grants Team
(submitted by Jenny Morgan, Kristen Sullivan, Satomi Yoshimuta)
1. Achievements: The grants were advertised via the SIG homepage (http://ld-sig.org/grants/), facebook
page and mailing list. The results of applications were communicated to SIG members via the mailinglist, and to applicants via email. As necessary, unsuccessful applicants were provided with alternativeideas for seeking funding. Details of grants, applicant numbers and recipients are listed below:
PanSIG Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen - No applicants
JALT CALL Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen - 1 applicant - Recipient: Sean Toland
Research Grant - 1 x 25,000 yen - 1 applicant - Recipient: Yoko Sakurai
Project Grant - 1 x 20,000 yen - 2 applicants - Recipient: Nathaniel Carney
JALT International Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen - 1 applicant - Recipient: Daniel Hougham
So far there have been no inquiries or applications for the Subscription and Membership grants.
2. Unresolved Challenges:a) The number of Project Grants and JALT International Conference Grants on offer was reduced fromtwo to one due to budget cuts. What should happen regarding this next year?
b) There were a very small number of applicants for each grant type this year. Why? Is it because themajority of our members receive institutional funding and are thus ineligible for most grants (except
the project grant)? Or is it because 40,000 yen still would not cover the out of pocket expenses
necessary to attend a conference for our members who do not receive institutional funding? Orsome other reason? Is this an issue or not?
c) For the past two years there have been zero inquiries/applications for the Subscription andMembership grants. Are these grants necessary?
d) What to do if there are no applicants for a grant? Return this money to the SIG, or use it insubsequent cases where there are multiple applications to one grant category?
3. Recommendations:a) Should a survey be conducted to gauge the needs of members regarding grants?
b) Stop offering the Subscription and Membership grants? Find some other method to attract

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

potential new members to the SIG?
c) Return the number of project grants to two?
d) It might be better to have four people on the Grants Team: 1 person acting as overall
coordinator/contact person, and 3 acting as vetters of the grant applications.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budgeta) PanSIG Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yenb) JALT CALL Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yenc) Research Grant - 1 x 25,000 yend) Project Grant - 2 x 20,000 yen = 40,000 yene) JALT International Conference Grant - 1 x 40,000 yen
5. Goals for 2016-2017:a) Add information about previous recipients to the Grants section of the SIG homepage, and include alink to the issue of LL which they contributed an article to?
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017

9. Get Together Teams
A. Tokyo Get-Togethers
Andy Barfield, Blair Barr and Ken Ikeda
1. Achievements
We have been trying a new approach with workshops and informal discussions for five out of the 7 gettogethers (including the CCLT conference) of the year. Feedback has been very positive, but participation has
been variable from one get-together to another.
Get-togethers held so far (date, theme, participants)●

February 21 Research histories, 14 participants (with 4 people sending their apologies)●

April 24 Exploratory practice (Alison Stewart), 12 participants (with 8 people sending their apologies)●

May 15 Qualitative interviewing (Alex Shaitan, Caroline Ross), 14 participants (with 3 people sending theirapologies)●

June 19 Narrative research (Masuko Miyahara), 15 participants (with 1 person sending their apologies)●

July 24 Semester review, 5 participants (with 7 people sending their apologies)●

October 23 Workshop on Diary studies in learner development research (Christina Gkonou), 6 participants(with 7 people sending their apologies)

Extensive reflective reports written up after each get-together●

Community resource - see http://ld-sig.org/tokyo-get-togethers/ but we are wondering whether we needto continue doing this.

Final get-together of 2016●

December 18 Creating Community: Learning Together 3

2. Unresolved challenges

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

It’s really important to get timely membership updates so that we add new members as soon as possible to theTokyo mailing list. Unfortunately there was a mix-up in the first half of the year and we missed contacting over
20 new members of the SIG until late July. For a couple of years now we have faced problems of continuity interms of participation from one get-together to another. The core group of people making it to each gettogether has become more variable, so there’s been less of a sense of a need for research-oriented
camaraderie. It could be that this is an unexpected effect of having the Creating Community Learning Together
informal afternoon conference in December since 2014. Similarly, the launch of the Learner Development
Journal may have shifted research impetuses outside of the meetings. Such factors may have changed the
dynamic of the get-togethers, and the three of us are wondering whether (a) we should let CCLT go for a year
(i.e., not hold it in 2017), and (b) it’s worth having a complete break from the get-togethers for a year and thenre-start in 2018 when Ken is back from sabbatical. This in part connects to the third challenge that we face finding a venue for the 2017 get-togethers. Perhaps all these challenges are pointing to the need to re-think
everything together with Tokyo area members, survey them, and see what the different preferences andproposals people have for continuing.
3. Recommendations
It would be great if other people could step forward to act as get-together co-coordinators. Ken will be on
sabbatical in 2017, and Blair will be more involved in LD SIG programmes. We need others to help coordinate
the get-togethers. Perhaps we might stop the get-togethers for a year and then re-launch them in 2018, as
mentioned above.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget
Estimated venue room costs for 2017: 25,000 yen. At Otsuma Women’s University we pay a small amount for
one room for several hours - about 2,500 each time; with CCLT3 room costs go up considerably, but we cover
the increased costs through the 1,000 yen participation fee in December for teachers. CCLT breaks even. If we
continue with the get-togethers in 2017 and the venue costs work out to be higher than 25,000 yen over theyear, we can ask for donations from participating members as we have done in the past.
5. Goals for 2016-2017
The first is to enjoy what we do and learn as we go - we need to work out how to continue, adapt our
expectations, and respond to the changing patterns of interest and activity that we have noted above. Ideally
we would continue to develop as a teacher-researcher group committed to exploring together learnerdevelopment issues. This might involve developing action research or Exploratory Practice projects together,
combined with free-wheeling discussions of learner development practices and puzzles around people’sinterests. Another possibility is to develop a broad book, online, or multimodal project together, and/or work
for a special issue of Learning Learning. We have the feeling that it would be helpful to have some kind ofgreater collaborative project, but we are as yet uncertain as to what that might be. CCLT4 at this point remains
a question mark.
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017
At the time of writing this (late October) it looks likely that in 2017 Blair will be less involved in coordinating theTokyo get-togethers and more involved in LD programmes. Ken will be definitely be away on sabbatical. Andy
will continue, but it would be really appreciated if one or two new people could step forward to co-coordinate
in 2017.

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

B. Hiroshima Get-Togethers(submitted by Jim Ronald)
1. Achievements:
We’re still going! And it’s still worthwhile. In 2016, we have met in March, July, September, and plan to meet inNovember and December. The annual Scrabble contest gives us a good end-of-year focus, and as we lookforward to becoming more involved in a publication-related project, we hope that this will also give us an
opportunity to work together in various ways. It’s been good working with Ariel Sorensen, while he was inHiroshima. Monika Szirmai has been our Scrabble manager - preparatory meetings, location, and contest
management: the best managed part of our Hiroshima LD get-togethers!
2. Unresolved Challenges: Finding meaningful ways to meet more regularly - or accepting that 4-5 times in theyear is good going.
3. Recommendations: Appreciate the support and encouragement we receive.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget: nothing (we have been able to find places where we can meet for free: theprefecture’s Ryugakusei Kaikan and rooms in the city campus of Hiroshima International University)
5. Goals for 2016-2017: To keep meeting, and to investigate and proceed with action work / publicationrelated projects
Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017:
Jim Ronald and one or two more, hopefully! for November 2016 to November 2017

C. Kansai Get-Togethers
Anita Aden, Agnes Patko (from April 2016 – current) & Chris Fitzgerald (Nov 2015 - March 2016)
1. Achievements:
Kansai Get-Togethers restarted in November 2015 and subsequent monthly meetings have been well attended
by Kansai area language instructors. Get Together gatherings have been held at the Hito Machi Koryukan
Community Centre in Kyoto. With an average of 6 – 8 people at each Get Together, there has been a positivecommitment to meet and support Learner Development in Kansai.
During the ten Kansai GTs that have occurred, the discussions have led to the creation of a student conference
called K2W (Kansai To the World) which will held on November 20th involving students and language
professionals from seven Kansai region universities. The purpose is to invite students from various universities
to meet and discuss real issues facing Japan. Within this student centered event, we can encourage thedevelopment of communication skills, empathy and cross-cultural understanding. Through poster
presentations, discussion and reflection, we hope to inspire students to see themselves as not just learners, but
as users of a foreign language, and also see themselves making important contributions to the future of Japan.
*Monthly meetings have been scheduled for every 3rd Saturday (subject to change)
2. Unresolved Challenges:
We discussed ways to gain more access to LD SIG members that join each month,with the goal of increasing attendance and awareness of the LD SIG activities in Kansai.
3. Recommendations:
We need to connect more with LD SIG local chapters.
Updates for Kansai Get Togethers need to be added on the JALT LD SIG site.
4. Items for the 2016-2017 budget:

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LD SIG Team Reports 2016

Pending the success of the 2016 student conference, we would request
35,000 yen for the rental of 2 rooms needed for future conference (projected venue costs).
5. Goals for 2016-2017:-When a new LD SIG member joins in the Kansai area, we would like to send a Welcome to message withinformation about the Kansai GTs.
-Post Conference goal: we plan to write up a conference debrief for the LL newsletter.
-Consistency of regular meetings and maintain the number of attendees for monthly meetings with hopes formore collaborative opportunities to arise next year.
6. Team members/roles for November 2016 to November 2017:
Continue to actively participate in the monthly meetings.

10. Committee Members at large

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