Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 25 (2): Looking Back
interaction is conducive to the development oflearner autonomy and how the learner herself
attempted to become aware of what Nakai
referred to as her “ideal L2 self” through socialinteraction. The digital media, such as the video
game Doko Roko, used by the student during her
learning process, illustrated the multifaceted rolethat digital media can nowadays play in thelanguage learning process.

motivation during her studies but that interactingwith some of the participants and experiencing thevivid atmosphere at the conference has given her anew push. It is comments like this which show us
how important it is to listen carefully to eachother’s voices. We can only say that we deeply
enjoyed attending such a great event. It was greatto hear so many new voices and to listen to ourown voices from a new and fresh perspective.

In addition to the theoretical and luckily oftenvery practical as well as interactive events, theconference offered a varied social programme,
including a Sake tasting and a dinner at a
traditional Japanese Izakaya. During the final
sharing session, one of the student assistants said
that she had lately experienced a lack ofReferences
Hayashi, C., & Karlsson, L. (2018). A meeting ofhearts and minds.
Learning Learning,25(1), 32-35. Retrieved from http://ld-sig.org/
learning-learning-25-1/

Reflections on ILA 2018
Daniel G. C. Hougham
Hiroshima Jogakuin University
Email: <d.hougham@gmail.com>
This was my first time to go to an ILA
conference, and I thoroughly enjoyed theexperience. In April this year I started a newteaching job, and going to Kobe for ILA2018 was arefreshing break for me ahead of the Autumn
semester. The thought-provoking title of theconference—Whose Autonomy? Voice and Agency inLanguage Learning—had me thinking long and hardabout the meaning of voice and agency and how
important they are within the development ofautonomous learning processes. The way theconference was organised also led me to reflect on
individual learners and how I can help them makechoices and take responsibility for their learning. I
felt encouraged to find new ways in my work topromote autonomous learning inside and beyond
the classroom.
One of the main takeaways from ILA2018 forme was the importance of advising and reflective
dialogue to help learners develop autonomously. In
her plenary titled Supporting Learning ThroughDialogue Within and Beyond the Classroom, JoMynard talked about the importance of advisingwhich she emphasized is the most powerful tool for
helping students as it can facilitate meaningfullearning beyond the classroom. She touched on
Kato and Mynard’s (2016, pp. 9-18; see also Mynard
2018, p. 28) transformational advising approachthat goes beyond simply giving learners hints andtips: It supports them through a process ofintentional reflective dialogue that aims topromote deeper critical reflection on learning andlead to major shifts in thinking, improvements inlearning, and learner autonomy. Later on in theconference, I attended Kato and Mynard’s
workshop on Practical Advising Strategies for
Promoting Reflective Dialogue, where participants
had an opportunity to do some face-to-facepractice advising sessions. Working in pairs, weenjoyed trying out various basic yet very practicalstrategies such as repeating and summarizing
what a learner has said, focusing on the learner’s
tone of voice and words expressing emotions.

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 25 (2): Looking Back
Another main takeaway for me was theimportance of creating a space where students
have opportunities to find and develop theirpassions and interests, not just their immediate
language requirements, so as to nurture their longterm motivation. Fortunately, I was able to attend
the pre-conference tour of three self-accesscenters (SACs) in the Kobe area and learn about thedifferent features of these centers. Konan Women’sUniversity e-space was particularly impressive inthat it includes a large and well-organizedcollection of graded readers, thus offering
opportunities for students to find interesting andsuitable reading/listening materials. e-Space also
provides students very good opportunities to takeownership of the spaces, for example, by creating
specific places on the walls where students canpost a note expressing what their motivation is andwhat their goals and visions are.
I also had a chance to speak with someexperienced SAC-practitioners who kindly sharedstories of practice and transformation in selfaccess facility design and management (e.g.,Taylor, 2014; Thornton, 2015). As a result of these
serendipitous encounters, I soon searched andfound that there is a wealth of recent and relevant
literature (e.g., Carson, 2015; Chavez & Pena
Clavel, 2015; Rubesch & Barrs, 2014; Werner & VonJoo, 2018), containing a lot of practical advice andsuggestions on what to consider and what questions
to ask when looking into developing self-accesslearning environments. At my university I am
hoping to create some self-access learning
opportunities such as more of an online presence tosupplement in-person learning opportunities, so I
was fortunate to make such connections and findthese resources.
I was impressed by how very well everything
was organized: The conference team did a
fantastic job of putting together a varied
programme that aimed to highlight learner voices
and promote reflective understanding of how they
relate to the development of learner (and teacher)agency and autonomy. The 3-day programme
included a pre-conference tour of three nearby
SACs, two solo plenaries, one collaborative plenary,symposia/workshops, a model United Nations, aparallel student conference, an online “videovoices” pilot project, and a large number ofinteractive poster sessions and interestingpresentations on a wide range of topics related tothe conference theme, including autonomy/agency
in self-access centers and in the classroom,motivation, peer reflective dialogues, learning
strategies, and advising strategies. The preconference SACs tour was an inspiring experience,and I attended numerous interesting presentations
that it would be impossible to cover in a brief
conference reflection. I am glad, however, to havethe opportunity to elaborate on some of myILA2018 experiences in a Collaborative Reflections
piece with my fellow attendee, Naomi Fujishima(forthcoming in the ILA Proceedings on the ILA
website in Spring 2019). To conclude, I would liketo express my thanks to the organizers—especiallySteve Brown, Ann Mayeda, and Hisako Yamashita—
for hosting ILA2018 at Konan Women’s University.
The well-designed conference handbook(downloadable from http://ila2018.org/news/handbook) is a testament to the professionalismand dedication that went into creating such a great
event. I would also like to thank everyone who took
part in the conference for contributing to it inmany and various ways.

References
Carson, L. (2015). Human resources as a primaryconsideration for learning space creation. Studies in
Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(2), 245-253. Retrieved
from http://sisaljournal.org/archives/jun15/carson
Chávez Sánchez, M., & Peña Clavel, M. (2015). The
development of CELE-UNAM mediateca. Studies in
Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(2), 219-230. Retrieved
from http://sisaljournal.org/archives/jun15/chavezpena
Kato, S., & Mynard, J. (2015). Reflective dialogue:
Advising in language learning. New York, NY:
Routledge.
Mynard, J. (2018). Supporting learning through dialogue
within and beyond the classroom.
Learning
Learning, 25(1) 26-31. Retrieved from http://ldsig.org/learning-learning-25-1/
Rubesch, T., & Barrs, K. (2014). Supporting a physical selfaccess center with a virtual presence.Studies in Self-

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Learning Learning 『学習の学習』 25 (2): Looking Back
Access Learning Journal, 5(1), 42-49. Retrieved fromhttp://sisaljournal.org/archives/mar14/
rubesch_barrs
Taylor, C. (2014). The transformation of a foreign
language conversation lounge: An action research
project. Bulletin of Shotoku Gakuen University(Faculty of Foreign Languages), 53, 1–16. Retrieved
from http://www.shotoku.ac.jp/data/facilities/library/publication/gaigo53-1.pdf

Thornton, K. (2015). Sharing stories of practice in selfaccess facility design and management. Studies inSelf-Access Learning Journal, 6(2), 216-218. Retrieved
from http://sisaljournal.org/archives/jun15/thornton
Werner, R. J., & Von Joo, L. (2018). From theory topractice: Considerations in opening a new self-accesscenter. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 9(2),116-134. Retrieved from https://sisaljournal.org/archives/jun18/werner_vonjoo

Learners about Learning Student Conference
Ann Flanagan, Ritsumeikan Junior and Senior High School, Email: <ann@fkc.ritsumei.ac.jp>
Agnes Patko, Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Email: <a_patko@kufs.ac.jp>
Katherine Thornton, Otemon Gakuin University, Email: <katherine-t@otemon.ac.jp>
In conjunction with the 8th Independent
Learning Association Conference, “Whose
Autonomy? Voices and Agency in Language
Learning held at Konan Women’s University inKobe, Japan, the Kansai Get Together group of theJALT Learner Development SIG, held the 3rd Annual
Student Conference entitled Learners about
Learning. In this short review, we describe andreflect on the event, share student feedback andoffer suggestions for those interested in holding
similar events simultaneously with teacher
conferences.
The JALT LD SIG Kansai Get Together Group has
previously held two student conferences called theKansai to the World Conference (K2W) (Aden et al.,2017). They were aimed more towards university
students focusing on global related issues facing
Japan.
This year’s conference, Learners about
Learning, held at Konan Women’s University inKobe, Japan was organized by Agnes Patko, Ann
Flanagan and Katherine Thornton. It aimed atproviding an opportunity to local and international
senior high school and university students todiscuss issues of and share experiences and ideas
about their language learning. In preparation forthe poster conference, students were asked tothink about their language learning experience andwhat made it meaningful to them. They wereencouraged to include ways that helped them tostudy language like:•study resources (YouTube, movies, music, Apps,
online resources, chats ...)

•language opportunities (English conversations,activities with international students, events at
school or your self-access center ...)

•study abroad experiences•projects in class•any other activities or projects or ways ofstudying English.

Before the conference began, students hadlunch together which gave them the opportunity toget to know each other in an informal situation as
well as calm those presentation jitters. Afterlunch, Agnes Patko and Katherine Thornton lead
fun ice-breaking activities to get students to learn
more about each other since they were fromdifferent schools in Japan.
At the beginning of the conference, students
placed their posters on tables or hung them on thewall. They then did a 20-minute “Gallery Walk”
where students toured the room to read theposters and write questions on Post-It notes which
presenters could include when they gave theirpresentation. This was led by Ann Flanagan. Thiswas very effective because it gave weaker students
the time needed to engage with text and have theNewsletter of the JALT Learner Development SIG <http://ld-sig.org>

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