LEARNING LEARNING

Volume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

ABSTRACTS
How Can I Be Myself? The Life Story of a Language Learner from Korea
Yoshio Nakai
Reader Responses by Yukari Rutson-Griffiths and Huw Davies
Abstract
In this short paper, I discuss from an ecological perspective the learner autonomy of a Korean
overseas student, “Kim,” learning Japanese at a university in Japan and navigating his social world
and identity in Japanese. I analyze the development of Kim’s learner autonomy holistically andcontextually (Aoki, 2009) by using a life story interview approach. The research reveals how Kim’s
learning experiences and knowledge of Japanese impede his social interactions and constrain hissense of self. It also illuminates his struggle to find a way to become “his true self” as a Japanese
language user. Kim’s learner autonomy story can be seen as an account of acquiring his own voice(Bakhtin, 1986) in his construction of social networks and identities (Riley, 2007). This ultimately
enables Kim to adapt and achieve his own intentions and purposes, subject to the restrictions ofsocial context that he faces.

(Aoki, 2009)(Riley, 2007)(Bakhtin,1986)

Keywords: learner autonomy, voice, social network, social identity, ecological perspective,complex adaptive system

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn: Pragmatics Instruction by Students--

Jim Ronald
Reader Responses by Elisa Acosta and Sarah Morikawa
Abstract
This paper is a report of a near-peer pragmatics teaching project and the creation and presentingof the poster through which the project was introduced. It is also a report of student and teacher
reflections on the project. Further, it is a report of the roles the poster has played in introducing
the project to students and in facilitating teacher reflection concerning both the project and theteaching of pragmatics as part of English speaking classes. Finally, this paper is a reflection on thevalue of written teacher and student reflections to challenge our own beliefs about language
teaching and, consequently, to impact that teaching itself.

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Volume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Keywords: reflection, pragmatics, learner development, teacher development, peer
teaching

Promoting English-Major Students’ Intercultural Understanding through Active
Learning
Hideo Kojima
Reader Responses by Shinobu Nakamura and Dominic Edsall
Abstract
Today, many teachers in Japan are involved in education reforms promoted by the Ministry ofEducation, Culture, Sports and Technology (MEXT) which, taking 21st century skills andcompetencies into account, encourage teachers to develop students’ generic skills as well as theirsubject knowledge and skills through Active Learning (AL). In this article, I report on a study whereI aimed to examine to what extent I could help my first-year English majors to develop theirintercultural understanding through AL in a flipped classroom. The students, who would like tobecome primary or secondary school English language teachers after graduation, continued to learnautonomously and collaboratively in an Introduction to Intercultural Understanding class. Throughquantitative and qualitative analysis, I found that they tended to raise their intercultural andprofessional consciousness as teacher learners. Reflecting on this study, I conclude that we needto promote innovation in teacher education, critically exploring different issues around AL andlearner autonomy.
21(AL)1AL-AL

Keywords: Active Learning, intercultural understanding, flipped learning, teacher-learnerautonomy, teacher education

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Volume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Learning Together across Borders: Correspondence between Hungarian andJapanese Learners of English--Agnes Patko
Reader Responses by Farrah Hasnain and Adrian Wagner
Abstract
Many foreign language learners I have met in Japan feel they do not have enoughopportunities to practice English. They often do not like to read and write in the targetlanguage. Although learners would like to improve their communication skills, a great
number of learners are afraid to speak because they are anxious about their mistakes. As aresult, they lack confidence. I targeted the above challenges by setting up a bilingual
correspondence project in which my students could experience authentic communication
in English and act as native speakers. Corresponding with a foreign student of the sameage was interesting and motivating to my students. In addition to improving their English,
my students gained confidence and started to form a more positive opinion about theirown language learning.

-:-Keywords: language exchange, bilingual correspondence, writing skills, authentic
communication

Emotion and Communicative Competence in English Discussion ClassNicole Gallagher
Reader Responses by Lee Arnold and Blair Barr
Abstract
Drawing on discussions I had with participants during my Creating Community: Learning Together 3
poster presentation, in this short reflective article I reflect on the role that emotion plays inclassroom language learning and use. I begin by describing how the emotional dimension oflearning has informed my approach to teaching a university English discussion class. In order toimprove my own understanding of emotion in learner development, I then inquire whether there
is a relationship between emotional awareness and communicative competence, and, assuming
there is, how empathy might play a role in the development of such an emotional communicativecompetence. I conclude by looking at how engaging in these extended reflections has served as acatalyst for me to think about aspects of emotion in language learning more deeply, and has led meto identify areas to explore further in future classroom research.
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-Keywords: emotion, empathy, communicative competence, oral discussion, classroom
research,

Why Don’t They Listen to You? Teaching Sports Students and Challenges inClassroom Management
Koki Tomita
Reader Responses by Peter Joun and Sean Toland
Abstract
This article highlights the challenges in class management that emerged while teaching an English
course for sports students at a university in Tokyo. When major classroom management issuesrose to the surface, the author conducted action research to analyze the causes of the conflicts that
he was facing. Four consecutive lessons were videotaped for analysis. Carefully examining thevideotaped lessons, the author determined possible causes of the classroom management issues
and re-thought the pro-learner autonomy approach that he had been trying to follow. After making
changes to the way he taught the course, the author tried to gauge the impact of the modifications
on himself and the students in the course. The article includes reflection on these questions, as well
as discussions shared at Creating Community: Learning Together 3, particularly with respect toscaffolding learner autonomy over time and the need for greater educational support for university
sports students.

4

Creating Community: Learning Together 3

Keywords: remedial education, learner autonomy, action research, English for SpecificPurposes, class management,,,

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Volume 24 Issue 2 Summer 2017

Academic Writing: In Search of Effective Ways of Providing Students with
Constructive Feedback
Alexandra Shaitan
Reader Responses by Peter Collins and Martin A. CaterAbstract
In this short reflective article, I explore the issue of teaching academic writing skills at auniversity in the Kanto area of Japan. In particular, the article focuses on different means
and modes of constructive feedback I deployed while teaching an academic writing course
to second-year university students. Further, I will briefly describe what problems I
encountered and how I tried to address them by exploring different ways of providing
feedback to students based on their needs, learning styles/preferences and abilities.
本論では日本の大学生を対象にしたアカデミックライティング指導における問題点を取り上げ、大学２年生のライティング指導実践を踏まえた建設的なフィードバック方法に関して考察する。さらに、学生のニーズ、学習スタイル・好み、能力に応じた建設的なフィードバッ
クの方法とその導入方法も紹介する。

Keywords: exploratory practice, academic writing, feedback, student-teacher conferencing-Uncovering Teacher Assumptions and Developing Intercultural Communication
through Heightened Local Culture Sensitivity
Satchie Haga
Reader Responses by Maho Sano and Trevor Raichura
Abstract
The recent official shift towards communicative approaches in English education may be seen as
favouring popular pedagogies such as active learning, task-based discussions, and debate. In so far
as these pedagogies embody Western linguistic and ideological beliefs, they may sometimes beapplied to EFL classrooms without teachers deeply considering students’ local cultural andcommunicative practices. In this short reflective article the author questions her “Western”
teaching practices and re-examines them in relation to typical stumbling blocks that constrainintercultural communication. She then explores differences between her own cultural ideologicalassumptions and her students’ worldviews and cultural expectations. In the final part of the article
the author provides some practical suggestions about how to recognize local values and teachintercultural differences in order to promote students’ intercultural communicative competence inEnglish.

,,,EFL,,,,,,

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Keywords:
stumbling blocks in intercultural communication, teacher cultural
ideological beliefs, student worldviews, student cultural expectations, interculturaldifferences, intercultural communicative competence

Raising Autonomy by Negotiating Rules with Students: An Exploratory
Discussion about Action Research into Learner Development and Autonomy

Tokiko Hori& Andrew D. Tweed

Abstract
In this discussion, we reflect on our experiences with action research (AR). In particular, we focus
on the application of AR in relation to promoting learner autonomy and development. We examine
an AR project at a Japanese university in which Tokiko involved her students in negotiatingclassroom rules. Drawing on theories of autonomy and motivation, we then discuss how theincreased level of organizational autonomy in the class may have been related to positive changes
in students’ behaviors. In closing, we briefly describe two AR projects that we would like pursue
in the future, one in a classroom context (Tokiko), and one in a self-access center (Andrew).
ARAR
TokikoAR――

Andrew

Tokiko――

AR

Keywords: action research, learner autonomy, motivation, negotiation of classroom rules,
self-access centers

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