LEARNING LEARNING 

Volume 24 Issue 1 May 2017

LD CONNECT

Learner Development Events
PanSIG 2017
Akita International University, Akita, May 19-21, 2017
http://www.pansig.org/

This year’s Learner Development SIG forum gives participants a chance to expand their interests by focusing on avariety of topics related to student development. Focusing both on research and practice-based topics, the forum will
highlight different aspects of autonomous learning, visual metaphors, meta-cognitive strategies and important noncognitive factors in learning. Timed rounds of interactive presentations will be followed by a discussion circle, giving
participants the opportunity to synthesize the information from the presentations with their own experiences
assisting learner growth.
PanSIG 2017 LD Forum Presenters:
Arnold Arao, Non-cognitive Factors in Student Development
Daniel Hooper, Testing the waters: Gauging the viability of autonomous language learning in an eikaiwa
Robert Morel, Student Responses to Learning Strategy Instruction
Matthew Porter, Collaborative Reflection Using a Visual Metaphor

JALTCALL 2017
Matsuyama University, Matsuyama, Shikoku, June 16-18, 2017
The theme for this year’s conference is “Active Learning through CALL.” Active learning isan essential part of language learning. JALTCALL 2017 will focus on how educational
technology can encourage learners to take a more effective role in their study both inside andoutside the classroom.
http://conference2017.jaltcall.org/JALT 2017
Epochal Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, November 17-20, 2017
This year’s conference theme addresses the vital need for foreign language skills in ourmulticultural world and the special mission of classroom instructors to prepare students tosurvive and thrive in a global age. The theme highlights the increased contact that our learners
have with foreign tourists, residents and co-workers from around the globe, the newcommunication technologies that enhance borderless language learning, and the need forlanguage instructors to "think globally, teach locally."
http://jalt.org/conference

SPRING 2017

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LEARNING LEARNING 

Volume 24 Issue 1 May 2017

GET TOGETHERSTokyo Sunday, May 28, 2017
Rikkyo University (Ikebukuro campus), Building 7, Room 7204, 14:00-17:00
The Tokyo get-togethers aim to provide a flexible, supportive, and convivial environment forexploring learner development according to people’s particular interests and concerns. At theMay get-together we will be continuing to explore learner development interests, puzzles, andissues, as well as developing more specific plans together. You are always very welcome to join
us (no worries if this is your first get-together of the year!). We welcome the participation ofteachers from diverse teaching contexts—including elementary school, junior high school, seniorhigh school, university, distance learning & graduate studies, and language school settings—andteachers teaching languages other than English.
Please check out more information about the event on our LD webpage: http://ld-sig.org/tokyo-get-togethers/ . Feel free to contact the get-together organisers (AndyBarfield, Ian Hurrell, and Jenny Morgan) at ldsigtokyogettogethers@gmail.com .
Kansai Sunday, May 28, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Sunday, July 23, 2017
For further information please contact Agnes Patko at ldkansaigettogethers@gmail.com
Hiroshima (Dates to be decided)
Hiroshima’s Learner Development Get-togethers meet eight or nine times a year, every one or
two months. One important role of our get-togethers is to support and promote teacher
development, providing a sounding board, listening ear, and other sources of encouragement foreach other. In the past year, quite a few teachers have joined us for the first time and some,thankfully, have gone on to become involved in roles within the LD Sig beyond local gatherings,
including writing projects, grant applications, and LD-focused presentations.
While we have an active mailing list of about 20 people, our get-togethers are typically muchsmaller affairs where members share experiences and practices related to teacher and learnerdevelopment. We often see many new faces at our gatherings, which sometimes makes it feelthat every time is the first time! As such, it gives us a good opportunity to consider afresh bothwhat learner development is and the roles that our get-togethers may play. On the other hand,the development of longer term projects has seemed hampered by this lack of continuity, and so
far there has been no concerted effort (by me!) to work out the best way to proceed. Writing
now, it seems clear that just as many other parts of the LD SIG are conducted very successfullywithout the luxury of regular face-to-face contact, longer term projects for the Hiroshima group,including plans for working on future publications, may be best conducted via email, GoogleDocs, or other such tools. This will involve more work, more time on the computer for morepeople—but it will also give more of us chances to be actively involved in working together on
LD SIG-related projects. The next step, then, hopefully started by the time this is published, isto invite one or two people to be part of a Hiroshima LD Get-together planning committee. If
you are interested, we'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact Jim Ronald, atjmronald@gmail.com
and I will be more than happy to tell you more.
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