ReN News and Activities

ELECTION OF SECOND CONVENER, MARCH 2006

Sara Cotterall, Akita International University
(AILA ReN Convener 1996-2002)

Background

In August 2005, the three year term of the AILA Scientific Commission’s (SC) co-conveners – Ana Maria Barcelos (Brazil), Terry Lamb (UK) and Richard Pemberton (Hong Kong) - ended. As Ana Maria and Richard were no longer available, I was asked to organise the election of a new co-convener.

In January 2006 I sent out a call for nominations to all current AILA ReN members. Four ReN members were nominated: Andy Barfield (Japan), Garold Murray (Japan), Hayo Reinders (New Zealand) and Angelique Angela Schinas (Canada). The nominees were then asked to submit a statement outlining their interest and involvement in the field of learner autonomy in language learning. These statements were incorporated in an electronic ballot form which was sent to all ReN members in February 2006 together with details of the voting procedure. A total of 60 votes were cast in the election, as a result of which on March 8, 2006 Garold Murray was declared the new co-convener to work alongside Terry Lamb.

Garold is a Professor at Akita International University Japan, and Director of the Centre for Independent Language Learning. He undertook his first major project in the field of learner autonomy in 1990 when he was employed by the New Brunswick (Canada) Ministry of Education to develop self-access English second language programs for the province’s French-speaking school children.

In his current position at Akita International University (AIU), Garold developed a course in independent language learning for first-year students and established the Centre for Independent Language Learning in Akita City. On the basis of his work, AIU was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education’s 4-year Good Practices Grant in 2004. He is currently conducting a research project to investigate the experiences of learners as they work to improve their English skills at both of AIU’s Centres.

Garold was recently elected President of the newly formed Japan Association of Self-Access Learning. He is also a convener of the Independent Learning Association’s Japan 2007 Conference.

Garold’s goal as a convener of the ReN is to facilitate collaboration amongst members in order to establish a closely-linked network of researchers which strives to provide its members with opportunities to enhance their teaching and research agendas.

The next ReN conveners’ election is scheduled for August 2008 in Essen, Germany to coincide with the triennial AILA Congress. The ReN’s election procedures are detailed in the recently drafted Bylaws. Terry and Garold would welcome feedback on these procedures.

Learners’ Voices in Language Learning: A Report on the Symposium of the AILA Scientific Commission on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning at the 14th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, Madison, Wisconsin, 25 July 2005

Terry Lamb, University of Sheffield, UK

The Scientific Commission organised another successful symposium at last year’s AILA World Congress in Madison, Wisconsin. Convened by the SC convenors, Terry Lamb (University of Sheffield, UK), Ana Maria Barcelos (Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brasil) and Richard Pemberton (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and now at the University of Nottingham, UK), the symposium explored the following questions relating to the theme of learners’ voices:

· What can we learn from our learners’ stories about their language learning?

· How can we access their voices and integrate them into our planning?

· What does ‘voice and influence’ mean in our contexts?

Given that learner autonomy is about opportunities to have a voice in the learning process, the challenge for the researcher and teacher is to gain access to these voices. The six contributions from around the world displayed a range of innovative research methodologies which allowed these questions to be considered from different perspectives.

The first part, entitled Accessing and listening to voices, focused on learners’ accounts of aspects of language learning in a number of contexts: stories about the languages classroom in higher education as well as about study abroad; language learning histories, self-evaluation and counselling sessions; and metacognitive knowledge in self-directed language learning contexts.

The second half of the symposium, entitled Voices influencing, explored ways in which these voices can influence planning and teaching: individual differences, learners’ stories and implications for the classroom; ways in which insights into out-of-class language learning might inform classroom practice and provide direction for the development of language learning software; and the ways in which the voices of learners in distance language courses can influence the processes of learning and teaching for all participants.

The first part opened with a paper by Beverly-Anne Carter (University of the West Indies, Trinidad), entitled ‘Past, present, future: how learners’ voices shape language learning’. Beverley discussed learners’ stories about their language learning in three contexts linked to higher education: one set of data came from classroom-based language learners; study abroad students provided the second set of data; the third set of data was elicited from ESL teacher trainees. She showed how, in their diaries, the students’ stories unfold in a fairly linear manner, progressing from past to present learning experiences. The trainees’ stories are, on the other hand, more complex, weaving together past experiences, present training and future projections as facilitators of learning. All the accounts provide a rich insight into language learning and resonate far beyond the individual keeper of the diary.

In conclusion, the paper supported the claim made by others (see, for example, Solas, 1992; and Knowles and Cole with Presswood, 1994) about the utility of autobiographical accounts, confirming that giving voice to the learners’ experience enriched foreign language education for all the teachers and learners involved.

The second paper, presented by Leena Karlsson (Helsinki University, Finland) was entitled ‘“Evaluation is something somebody else does to you”: accessing, sharing and using learner voices, biographies and histories’. Leena’s paper focused on English learners’ self-evaluation and face-to-face counselling with a view to highlighting the relevance of learner histories to foreign language education. While doing research into how learners construct and tackle self-evaluation in an autonomous language learning environment, she described how she became convinced of the importance of the language learning history full of experiences, beliefs and personal theories that is brought to any new context or course. In particular, she argued that the long history of external testing cannot be ignored here. Moreover, learners’ ways of conceptualising language and language learning form an integral part of their histories. She concluded that learner beliefs or learners’ everyday knowledge of language need to be reflected upon by both learners and counsellors. In addition, it also became evident in her work that there are always echoes of voices from other, possibly less dialogic, learning encounters in the counselling sessions.

The first half of the symposium concluded with a paper entitled ‘Eliciting metacognitive knowledge in self-directed learning programs’, presented by Mia Victori (Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona, Spain), and Maria Àngels Piñana and Sarah Khan (Universitat de Vic, Spain). They described how there is a substantial amount of research studies today emphasizing the need to provide self-directed learners with methodological and psychological support, using Holec’s and Dickinson’s terminology. Both types of support are perceived as essential to help learners develop their language learning skills, and ultimately, their autonomy. Yet, whereas the literature provides us with several examples of applications of learner’s methodological support, little is reported on how the learner’s psychological preparation is undertaken, and particularly, how the learner’s beliefs and metacognitive knowledge is elicited and dealt with in those programs.

The objective of this presentation was therefore twofold: (a) to provide a review of studies and contexts that have used different data elicitation methods and procedures for eliciting and fostering learners’ metacognitive knowledge in self-directed learning programs; and (b) to present the preliminary results of an ongoing research study which, after evaluating those procedures, had selected and used different methods, both structured and open-ended, for eliciting and fostering self-directed learning students’ metacognitive knowledge.

Alice Chik, form the University of Hong Kong, opened the second half of the symposium with her paper entitled ‘From individual differences to learner individuality and identity’. She explained that language learners’ stories have always been there, buried under curriculum and classroom routines, demonstrating how learners try to make sense of their own language learning and connect it to their socio-cultural contexts, and that individual differences, treated as the pre-conditions in SLA, may only be the starting point of a learning pathway. She explored ways in which learners’ stories may show that learning is a process of transforming individual differences into learner individuality and identity, both inside and outside the classroom. The elicitation of these stories through different methods can result in a massive amount of data. With narrative analysis as the analytical tool, Alice suggested that it is possible to construct a coherent sense of learners’ attempts to create this process, and demonstrated this through extracts from analyses of interview data from learners of different age groups. Offering a working theoretical framework, she concluded with implications and possibilities of incorporating learners’ stories into our teaching and planning.

The symposium continued next with Garold Murray’s (Akita International University, Japan) paper, ‘Life history research: Stories informing foreign language learning’. Garold argued that language educators’ recent interest in learners’ stories about their language learning gives rise to two important questions: What research methodologies are best suited to accessing and documenting learner’s stories; and, how can these stories inform language learning theory and practice? His paper addressed these questions by reporting on a research project which had involved collecting the stories of Japanese English foreign language learners. The paper illustrated how narrative research methods and more specifically life history methods of data collection and analysis were adopted from the social sciences for use in this study. The learners’ stories provided insights into out-of-class language learning which have the potential to inform classroom practice, the use of media and technology, and program development, and the paper concluded by proposing a direction for language learning software development based on the results of the study.

The final paper in the symposium was presented by Cynthia White, from Massey University, New Zealand, and was entitled ‘Developing awareness of distance language learners’. Cynthia put forward the key challenge for anyone involved with distance or online language learning, namely how to develop an understanding and practical knowledge of learners when both teachers and researchers are for the most part remote from the sites of learning. Her paper explored different approaches used by teachers, researchers and learners to access the voices and experiences of learners in distance language courses and how these can influence the processes of language learning and teaching for all participants. The significance of ‘voice and influence’ – and related issues – were examined in online communities where more of the learner comes into view and where contributions posted by learners constitute much of the course content. Cynthia argued for the value of approaches which can capture the shifts in the perceptions and awareness of participants as their experience develops, and for approaches which also include participants in validating and elaborating on emerging understandings.

The symposium stimulated much discussion, with questions after each part, group discussions, and a panel session. The symposium was brought to a conclusion by Terry Lamb who reflected on the need for further research into learners’ voices, in particular their varying nature and ways in which they can be accessed and taken seriously in the language teaching and learning project.

A special issue of the new journal Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, edited by Terry Lamb and Hayo Reinders, and published by Multilingual Matters, will be devoted to the theme of learners’ voices in Autumn 2007. It is hoped that many of the papers presented in Madison will feature there.

Minutes of the last business meeting of the AILA Scientific Commission on Learner Autonomy

Terry Lamb

Approximately 19 members attended the 2005 Business Meeting of the AILA Scientific Commission (SC) on Learner Autonomy, which was held at AILA 14^th World Congress of Applied Linguistics in Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, July 27^th, 2005. The meeting was chaired by Terry Lamb, Richard Pemberton and Ana Maria Ferreira Barcelos (co-convenors of the SC).

Present were Jane Kehrwald, Margaret DuFon, Sara Cotterall, Garold Murray, Ernesto Macaro, Nandini Sarma, Claudia Kunshak, Jennifer Bown, Cynthia White, Wale Adegbite, Dipo Salami, E. Desirée Castillo, C. O’Leary, Mia Victori Blaya, Patricia Alejandra Munoz, Anita Wenden, Richard Pemberton, Terry Lamb, Ana Maria Ferreira Barcelos.

Agenda

1. The future of SC (AILA has proposed that SCs be replaced by ‘Research Networks’ RENs)

2. Nominations for New Conveners (for election later in the year)

3. Other SC activities (AUTO-L, LAPI, newsletters, etc)

4. Membership issues/suggestions

5. Publication of symposium papers

6. Upcoming Conferences

7. Any Other Business

1. The future of SC

Terry Lamb explained to everybody how AILA wanted to replace the Scientific Commissions with Research Networks. In the opening ceremony AILA let everybody know that this was in effect from now on and a meeting would be held on Thursday, July 28 to talk about this. Terry reported to members the activities of the SC on Learner Autonomy (AUTO-L, publications, symposia). He also said that 30 proposals had been submitted for the SC Learner Autonomy symposium at AILA 2005 and that all three convenors had reviewed all papers in that strand for AILA. In addition, the SC is working on a publication based on the AILA 2002 symposium, is planning to publish a book based on the AILA 2005 symposium, and perhaps make efforts to encourage the publication of the first journal on learner autonomy. In other words, it is an active scientific commission. Terry then asked the members to express their views and give feedback on the future of the SC.

Richard Pemberton clarified that this was not something in which we have a choice since AILA had already decided to replace the SCs. Several members in the audience expressed concerns about this, stating that they wanted to maintain this community of researchers and repeating that the Learner Autonomy SC is a vibrant one with a working structure that is doing well. Several people said that it was their first time there and they embraced the opportunity to contact and be part of a community of professionals working around the same theme. Garold Murray suggested the creation of regional networks with local conveners. In sum, there was a feeling that the SC was doing well and that it would not benefit from this new structure. Some members felt we should adopt a new name and keep doing the same kind of work we had done before. Anita Wenden suggested some questions which could be asked at the meeting on Thursday:

1. Can non-RENs organize symposia? What are the procedures?

2. Who would evaluate the proposals? By what criteria?

3. Will the topics for the proposals be strand-based?

2. Election of New Conveners

Terry Lamb presented the background to the election of the new conveners, reminding those present that the three current co-conveners – Richard Pemberton and Ana Maria F. Barcelos and himself – were completing their first term, and could run for their second term. Terry expressed his wish to continue for another term, whereas Richard and Ana said they wouldn’t be able to continue, for different reasons. Terry explained that, as we did not know what was going to happen with the Scientific Commission, there was no call for nominations of new conveners as yet and that this could be done via email. Sara Cotterall agreed to help out with the nomination process, which was set to begin in mid September.

3. Other SC activities (AUTO-L, LAPI, newsletters, etc)

The conveners reported on the activities that the SC was responsible for:

AUTO-L: this is an electronic list maintained by Anita Wenden. The list invites guests to moderate discussions on certain topics. Terry invited people to volunteer to be moderators of this list, proposing topics. At the moment, Terry Lamb and Phil Benson are responsible for moderating this list.

Website: Richard informed us that the website is based in Hong Kong, but that it perhaps needs to get a domain of its own.

LAPI – Learner Autonomy Project Inventory. Terry explained that Hayo Reinders had taken this over from Leni Dam, and had developed it as a searchable resource. He urged people to encourage others to contribute to this.

Newsletter – we have sent out one newsletter since we became conveners and another one should come out later this year. Terry asked the members to send contributions for the newsletter to him.

4. Membership Issues/suggestions

There was a suggestion from the members to post the list of members on the website, i.e., if members gave permission for this. Members also suggested that information on local networks be available on the website with contact names to strengthen the community. Some are already linked to the website, so people were asked to let the convenors know of any other such networks.

5. Publication of symposium papers

Terry mentioned the intention to publish the Symposium papers on learners’ voices and would try to find a publisher for this. They may form part of a special edition of a journal.

6. Upcoming conferences

One conference (in New Zealand) was brought to the attention of those present: September 9-12, 2005.

7. Any Other Business

Richard reminded everybody of the URL for the AILA SC Learner Autonomy: lc.ust.hk/~ailasc

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the outgoing conveners.

Draft Bylaws – AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy

Anita Wenden and Sara Cotterall, former conveners and founding members of the AILA Scientific Commission on Learner Autonomy, have drafted bylaws for our new Research Network on Learner Autonomy. Please read them carefully and address your comments, questions, and/or concerns to the conveners, Terry Lamb T.Lamb(at)sheffield.ac.uk and Garold Murray garold-murray(at)aiu.ac.jp.

MEMBERSHIP of the ReN

1. Criteria for joining

2. Prospective members should be involved in teaching and/or research that includes learner autonomy and/or one of its sub fields - learner independence, self-access learning, learning strategies etc.

3. There is no membership fee.

4. Benefits

5. Only members whose membership predates the election by at least one month can nominate and vote for a convener.

6. In the selection of papers for inclusion in the ReN's conference programme, members will be given preference so long as their proposal is relevant to the ReN’s programme theme.

CONVENERS

3.  Number of conveners.

3.1 　The ReN is headed up by two conveners.

4.         Term of office

4.1     conveners are elected for a 3 year term (to coincide with the AILA Congresses).

4.2 conveners may stand for re-election for a second term.

5. Responsibilities of Conveners

The responsibilities of the conveners have so far included the following:

5.1 Liaising with AILA - providing annual reports of activities, discussing the ReN symposium, providing membership data etc.

5.2 Organising the ReN symposium at the AILA Congress (every three years).

5.3 Producing an annual newsletter. Back issues of the newsletter can be seen on the SC’s website at: http://lc.ust.hk/~ailasc/. There has been no newsletter since 2002.

5.4 Working with the membership – recruiting new members, maintaining the membership database, responding to queries from members and other interested parties, publicising ReN activities and autonomy-related publications etc.

5.5 Managing ReN projects (maintaining the website, initiating and overseeing AUTO-L discussions, maintaining LAPI)

In the past, selected tasks (e.g. the design and maintenance of the website, maintenance of the Learner Autonomy Project Inventory (LAPI), the organisation of the symposium at the three yearly AILA congresses etc) have, on occasion, been delegated to other Network members.

6. Election of Conveners

7. An election is held every three years to coincide with the AILA Congress. (In the past elections have been held during the Congress, by snail mail and e-mail before the Congress and most recently by e-mail after the Congress.)

8. Nomination of Candidates

9. Only individuals whose membership of the ReN predates the election by at least one month are eligible to nominate a convener.

10. Criteria for Nominees

11. Nominees should be members of the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy. Nominees should be able to demonstrate a commitment to the field of Learner Autonomy through their research, teaching, conference presentations and/or publications.

12. It is desirable that the two conveners represent different parts of the world, in an effort to reflect ReN membership and to expand activities into different parts of the world.

13. Responsibility for Running the Election

14. The convener who stepped down the previous term (e.g. Sara Cotterall ran the 2005 election – having stepped down in 2002) is responsible for running the election, i.e. soliciting nominations, sending out the ballot, tallying the returns, informing the membership of the result of the election.

AUTO-L Spring 2006 “Autonomy Evaluation” Discussion

Sergio Valdivia, USBI - Xalapa Self-Access Centre, Universidad, Veracruzana, MEXICO (svaldivia(at)gmail.com)

In March 2006, AUTO-L, one of the projects of the Research Network (ReN) on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning, opened a discussion on “Autonomy Evaluation”. Although brief (two weeks, only), it captured the attention of a good number of language teachers, researchers, writers, and SAC advisers from different parts of the world and moved them to participate with enthusiasm.

At the beginning, the main argument was whether we have the need to evaluate autonomy or not. Some of the arguments in favour of some sort of evaluation were the urge to convince authorities that our academic interventions are working. Although, some participants confessed that they felt uncomfortable with the whole notion of evaluating autonomy and maintained that what mattered most was the end result: whether learners have learnt successfully. But we came to an agreement in that autonomy evaluation is rather complex and that it demands creative and innovative ways of approaching evaluation of this sort. It's also interesting to mention that some references to articles were made during the discussion and that we were lucky to have the writers of those articles attentive to AUTO-L, so they joined in, later on. We spent some time on aspects such as “concepts,” “intervention,” and “insiders” in the learning process and we talked of the need to include socio-cultural dimensions and political-critical perspectives, as part of this endless complexity.

All in all, it was a positive, fulfilling and healthy discussion which motivated a combination of expertise, backgrounds, research, nationalities and visions on autonomy. Now, we're looking forward to having some more topics on autonomy for discussion on AUTO-L.

Sergio has recently agreed to coordinate the program of discussions for AUTO-L (eds).

Membership – introductory remarks

Sara Cotterall, Akita International Univeristy

Think about becoming a member of the ReN on Learner Autonomy. We currently have 300 members in 40 countries around the world.

Benefits of being a member include (in no particular order):

§ access to a worldwide network of researchers and practitioners in the field

§ access (via the website and regular postings) to information about conferences, seminars and courses related to Learner Autonomy

§ the opportunity to receive and contribute to an annual electronic newsletter

§ the chance to publicise projects you are involved in (through the LAPI) and material you have published on Learner Autonomy (through the newsletter)

§ the chance to take part in a state-of-the-art international symposium once every three years

§ the opportunity to stand for and vote in the ReN’s triennial elections for conveners.

In order to become a member all you need to do is send an e-mail to Sara Cotterall at saracotterall(at)aiu.ac.jp including your snail mail address and details of which AILA affiliate you belong to (if you belong to one, though this is not a requirement for membership).

New Members

María Blanco-Hermida

Since 2003 I have been the Institution-Wide Language Programme Spanish Coordinator at the University of Westminster (London).

Prior to moving into higher education, I worked as a Spanish teacher in Further and Secondary Education in the UK. I had also worked as a Learning Advisor for a number of years in Spain.

Education:

§ 2004 MA Modern Languages, Institute of Education, University of London (UK)

§ 1987 MA Education, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain)

§ 1985 BA Education, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain)

I have been interested in and exploring learner strategy training (ST) for a number of years. Overall, I have found that most of the Spanish students I have taught are receptive to receiving information on how to learn, and they tend to respond well to activities which involve reflection on the process of learning. Encouraged by those observations and supported by my department, last academic year I decided to start the process of developing a ST programme for Spanish beginners.

The first phase consisted in reviewing the research literature, as well as developing a framework and materials suitable for our specific academic context. The second phase, which took place this academic year, was to set specific objectives for the ST, incorporate seven sessions in the course syllabus and pilot the framework and materials developed with four groups of Spanish beginners I teach.

The main difficulty I experienced during the implementation of the ST was a dilemma regarding time management. On the one hand, I did not want to allocate more than fifteen minutes to each ST session since I was concerned about students’ negative reactions e.g. ‘we should not be spending so much time on this since we will not be assessed on it!’ On the other hand, I wondered whether those fifteen minutes would be enough to at least raise awareness of a number of strategies.

The satisfaction and encouragement has come from the written feedback of the students. Overall, it has been excellent. Please see some samples below:

________________________________________________

· ‘Before adopting the strategies my study was unproductive. I can now do much more in terms of study in shorter periods of time’

· ‘Knowing how to approach tasks has helped gain confidence’

· ‘I know have a regular time for learning vocabulary and then any grammar structures associated with the topic area’

· ‘I now know that even if I don’t have Spanish course anymore, I can still learn well with the strategies’

________________________________________________

I am now planning to repeat the same format for the next academic year and develop further the training materials.

Noémia Barbara

Surname/ First name: Bárbara, Noémia

Address:
                                                                        Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra
                                                                        Bencanta – 3040 Coimbra
                                                                        Portugal

e-mail: nbarbara(at)esac.pt

Position held:
Associate Professor (Professora Adjunta) of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra

Education:

² MA in Anglo American Studies

² PhD student at the University of Aveiro preparing thesis entitled “Autonomy and Innovation in English Learning. A Case Study”.

Since 1989 I have been teaching English for Specific Purposes in Engineering courses (Agricultural Engineering, Food Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and more recently, Ecotourism and Biotechnology).In the last 4 years I have been doing some experiments with language portfolios at the tertiary level, specially with the Ecotourism course.

Within the framework of the Bologna Process which envisages great change in Higher Education in Europe and has to be fully implemented by 2010, I have decided to try to understand old and new paradigms of teaching and learning in order to fully grasp the moment and understand how I could change my teaching practice. I have been drawn to learner centered pedagogy and the fostering of autonomy which I will try to transform from the realm of theory into class practice.

I hope to make a valid contribution to the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning and to learn a lot from all of you!

Noemí Lázaro

Noemí Lázaro (<nlazaro@flog.uned.es>) from the UNED-University in Madrid (Spanish Distance University), is currently writing her PhD on learner autonomy and self-access centres at the Teaching and Linguistic Engineering Laboratory (http://www.vip.uned.es) overseen by Prof. Germán Ruipérez (http://www.ruiperez.net). Noemí is a graduate in German Studies from the University Complutense of Madrid in Spain. She did her MA in Didactics of German as a Foreign Language at the Herder-Institute of the University of Leipzig in Germany and has taken a postgraduate course on E-Learning at the UNED-University.
The main focus of her research is to examine how different SACs in different countries foster learner autonomy. She has visited and interviewed managers in a significant number of institutions around the world. In 2002-03 she visited SACs in Germany and Switzerland, in 2004 in Hong Kong, and in 2005 in Spain and New Zealand.

Some of the areas she is investigating include:

· SWOT analyses of the SAC (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)

· Learners’ and teachers’ attitudes towards autonomous learning in the SAC

· Counselling services

· Learner training

· Learner profiles

· Materials

· Learning activities

· Assessment

· Centre evaluation

If you would like more information about this research, Noemí can be contacted at: <nlazaro(at)flog.uned.es >.

Dave Murray

I’ve been teaching English for over 15 years in mostly in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. I recently graduated with an MA in applied linguistics from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

I am currently gainfully employed at a number of universities in Western Japan. Exactly who is gaining what from whom is an occasional cause for lighthearted critical reflection and speculation.

I usually list my academic interests as autonomous language learning, Task-based and experiential language learning, SLA & technology (CALL, IBLI), and pronunciation and the vast majority of my work is now based on incorporating and adapting elements from different versions of the European Language Portfolio along with task-based and e-learning for Japanese university students. The learning curve over the past year has been more like a roller coaster ride, and it is very hard work. While improvement in communicative competence is still very much dependant on the individual, overall increases in students’ motivation and awareness of language and language learning are some of the observed benefits that make it very exciting and rewarding for me and mandates continued efforts toward further development.

LAPI, the Learner Autonomy Project Inventory

The Learner Autonomy Project Inventory contains descriptions of current research projects in the fields of autonomy, self-access, advising, strategies, and related areas. It is a great resource to find out what others are doing around the world and to find research collaborators. You can add your own project(s) online by filling in a form and your project is included immediately.

The LAPI is currently maintained by Hayo Reinders. You can find the LAPI here: http://www.hayo.nl/lapi/

Recent Events

Recent Events

The 6th national and international Mexican conference on SACs

E. Desiree Castillo, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico

In early August, the 6^th National and International Mexican Conference on Self-Access Centers was hosted by UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) in resplendent Mexico City. Teachers and researchers representing 20 different institutions from 14 of Mexico’s 32 states were joined by colleagues from Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and Germany. The plenary speakers came from England (Terry Lamb, University of Sheffield and Anita Pincas, University of London), Italy (Francesca Helm, University of Padova) and Japan (Sara Cotterall, Akita International University).

Six pre-conference workshops were hosted by the plenary speakers, as well as by teachers from UNAM. The pre-conference workshops covered topics in motivation, advising, new technologies, and self-access centers.

The talks given by the plenary speakers covered three current areas of interest. Terry Lamb spoke about planning for lifelong language learning. Francesca Helm and Anita Pincas discussed the use of new technologies. Sara Cotterall explored solutions to advising problems.

Thirty-five papers addressed five themes: developing learner autonomy, autonomy and new technology, advising and the role of the advisor, research experiences, and the identity of SACs. In addition, the conference featured ten workshops, six posters, two audiovisual presentations, and three roundtables.

The new online electronic review, LEAA (Lenguas En Aprendizaje Autodirigido) was also introduced. The review’s internet address is http://cad.cele.unam.mx/leaa/. The editors are currently seeking papers on autonomy, SACs, and other related fields.

The 7^th conference is currently being planned for next year. Details can be found LEAA’s website. We hope to see you there!

Seminar in Columbia on the professional development of foreign language teachers

Terry Lamb, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

This Seminar held at Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia in July 2006 aimed at fostering continuous professional development in foreign language teachers’ teaching practice and research skills. The main themes were teacher and learner autonomy, action research, and language teacher professional development. The presentations included international researchers Dr. Terry Lamb, ; Dr. Susan Noffke, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA; and the Colombian researchers, Dr. Adriana González Moncada, Universidad de Antioquia; Mg. Clara Arias and Mg. Ana María Sierra, Universidad de Antioquia and Mg. Melba Libia Cárdenas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

The Seminar was coordinated in part* by Grupo de Investigación Acción y Evaluación en Lenguas Extranjeras – GIAE (Action Research and Evaluation Group in Foreign Languages) of Universidad de Antioquia. GIAE´s mission statement includes investigating discourse and practice in the field of foreign language teaching and learning to contribute to the development of autonomous human beings and to the construction of a fair and democratic society through collaborative and participative work with the educational community involved. Currently, the Group has three lines of research: autonomy, language learning, evaluation and curriculum.

* The other coordinator was Grupo de Investigación en Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de Lenguas extranjeras – EALE (Research Group on Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages) of Universidad de Antioquia. This event was organized in association with Universidad Eafit, Colombo Americano (binational center), Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó.

Research Projects

Research Projects

Independent Learning Project at Akita International University

Garold Murray and Sara Cotterall, Akita International University, Japan

The Center for Independent Language Learning [CILL] at Akita International University [AIU] was established shortly after the university of opened in April, 2004. The mission of the CILL is to promote self-directed language learning and learner autonomy, to support the professional development of educators interested in fostering self-direction and learner autonomy, and to encourage research and experimentation in these areas. In its first year the Center’s focal point was the development of a self-access center on the AIU campus. Faced with the challenge of integrating self-access language learning into the university’s English for Academic Purposes curriculum, Garold developed a course in independent language learning. In this course learners develop and carry their personal language learning program. Through a process of portfolio and collaborative assessment, they evaluate their work. All first-year students are required to take this course for which the students receive academic credits.

On the basis of the work that was done during the first year, AIU was awarded a MEXT [Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology] Good Practices Grant for the purpose of establishing a second self-access center open to the general public in downtown Akita City. This center which has a strong business English orientation has been successfully operating for one year now. In addition to business people, the Center counts housewives, retired people, and high school students among its members.

In April, 2006, Garold and Sara were awarded AIU’s President’s Research Grant to carry out a two-year study exploring learners’ experiences in the self-access center on AIU’s campus and the one downtown. Primarily ethnographic in nature, the study makes use of interviews, language learning histories, artifacts such as learners’ portfolios, and questionnaire results to explore how the experience of learning English at one of these centers might influence the learners’ linguistic and metacognitive development. Sara and Garold are currently conducting a preliminary analysis of the data collected during the first four months of the study. With the expansion of self-access learning across the country, they expect the results to have implications for the future development of self-access centers in secondary schools, universities, and local communities in Japan.

Learner autonomy and learning beliefs:
A correlational study

Qing Liang, English Education Centre, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China Liangqing(at)blcu.edu.cn

Research on the nature of autonomy seeks to document the behavioural and psychological attributes associated with the control over learning management, cognitive processes and learning content. The current research on beliefs in autonomous learning, part of the cognitive control of psychological factors, is far from being comprehensive and satisfactory.

This study has investigated the relationship between learner autonomy and learning beliefs with English as a foreign language (EFL) students at the tertiary level in China. Three questionnaires were administered. The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) (Fisher, King & Tague, 2001) was used to gauge students’ degree of autonomy; the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ) (Schommer, 1998) was used to measure students’ beliefs about knowledge and learning in general; the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI) (Horwitz, 1987) was used to assess students’ language learning beliefs.

The correlations among the total score of the SDLRS, SEQ and selected BALLI are (i) the SDLRS is significantly correlated with the SEQ (r = -.302; p < .05) and the selected BALLI (r = .270; p < .05); (ii) the SEQ is not significantly correlated with the selected BALLI. The results of correlations indicated: (i) Learner autonomy is related to learning beliefs. The more autonomous the students are, the more mature are their learning beliefs. Although the results of this study demonstrate a definite link between these two variables, their connection is not close, which indicates that learning beliefs are not the decisive element in the development of autonomy. In other words, psychological readiness is just one of the factors that influence autonomy. What’s more important in the development of learner autonomy is the provision of learning skills and strategy training to equip learners with the knowledge and technique for the practice of autonomy as well as the provision of situational contexts, such as self-access learning facilities, to exercise autonomy; (ii) Learners’ epistemological beliefs are not related to language learning beliefs. The two instruments used in this study measure different belief dimensions, partly because the models used to develop the instruments were designed to find evidence of domain-general beliefs and domain-specific beliefs. Also, the results of this study support the multidimensionality of personal epistemology. One point worthy of notice is that in this study BALLI items were selected and recoded based on opinions of several ESL/EFL experts, which was not the purpose of Horwitz when this instrument was developed. Whatever sacrifice in validity might exist was judged to be an acceptable trade-off for the ability to address the research questions. Therefore, any finding and conclusion involving the recoding of the BALLI in this study should be taken as suggestive instead of conclusive.

Epistemological beliefs deserve considerations in the research of learner autonomy. This study demonstrates a definite link between learner autonomy and learning beliefs. Most importantly, this study is the first effort to unravel the nature of the relationship between learner autonomy and epistemological beliefs. A significant relationship was found between the two variables. The more autonomous the students were, the more mature were their epistemological beliefs. Previous research on learner autonomy in SL/FL field has probed merely the connection between learner autonomy and language learning beliefs. This study, on the other hand, contributes to the research on learner autonomy and learning beliefs by suggesting that both students’ general beliefs about knowledge and learning as well as specific language learning beliefs influence their readiness for autonomous learning. However, this is merely a correlational study. Future research on the casual relationship between learner autonomy and learning beliefs could be a potential and valuable area of study to further understand the nature of their relationship.

References

Fisher, M., King, J., & Tague, G. (2001). Development of a self-directed learning readiness scale for nursing education. Nurse Education Today, 21(7), 516-525.

Horwitz, E. K. (1987). Surveying student beliefs about language learning. In A. Wenden & J. Rubin (Eds.), Learner strategies in language learning (pp. 119-129). New York: Prentice Hall.

Schommer, M. (1998). The influence of age and schooling on epistemological beliefs. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 551-562.

Project to research, develop and evaluate an e-portfolio

Debbie Corder and Sonja Moffat, Auckland University of Technology, NZ

My colleague Sonja Moffat and I are trialling an e-portfolio with first year students this year. This project is the continuation of my research into learner autonomy in the Japanese programmes at the Auckland University of Technology. The aim is to raise learner awareness and to help students develop the ability to reflect and self-assess. Because the curriculum is divided up into different papers and taught by a number of teachers, we needed a medium to foster and manage the development of student self-assessment and reflection holistically, and for consistent teacher monitoring and feedback.

The AUT e-portfolio is an adaptation of the e-portfolio developed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which was designed for ESL students, and includes aspects of the European Language Portfolio: the six proficiency levels, a facility for reflection and for evidence, and one for teacher feedback. There is also a link to a discussion forum.

The initial findings from one semester of trialling are encouraging. In the case of the students, there is evidence of increasing awareness of their language learning, albeit to different degrees and levels of willingness. As a teacher, working with students through the e-portfolio has encouraged me to look more closely at content, delivery and assessment and to move more towards giving students more choice and opportunity for discovery learning, as well as more responsibility for developing their own study materials. This in turn provides them with the opportunity to reflect and provide evidence for the portfolio.

The role of technology in self-access

Noemí Lázaro, UnED-University, Madrid, and Hayo Reinders, University of Auckland

Noemí Lázaro and Hayo Reinders are currently investigating the role of technology in self-access. Using data from 46 centres visited by Noemí in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Spain, Germany and Switzerland, we are looking into the ways technology is used to support student learning. As part of this research an evaluative framework was developed (Lazaro and Reinders, 2006) that allowed us to analyse and compare the pedagogic and practical uses of technology, amongst others. One of the key findings is that the use of technology in general and its pedagogical range specifically, is limited. The main use of technology is for the provision of language content (e.g. materials), much less for the provision of language learning support. Further results are currently being written up for publication.

Assessing self-access learning

Noemí Lázaro, UnED-University, Madrid, and Hayo Reinders, University of Auckland

In a second project, and using the same data set referred to above, we are making an inventory of 1) all assessment practices currently in use in self-access centres around the world, and 2) the language-, learning- and other areas assessed. The next step is to compare this with the assessment practices known from the literature to identify the extent to which full use of made of the methodological options available. Finally, we will identify the key factors impeding assessment in the self-access context and make recommendations for alternative approaches.

Shou Gang Institute of Technology:
Two Research Projects

Xu Min, Shou Gang Institute of Technology, China

Shou Gang Institute of Technology is an institute sponsored by Shou Gang Company, one of the largest state-owned companies in China. Its business covers a wide range of fields such as steel, electronic products, mechanical products, etc.

The institute is located in Shi Jing Shan District, Beijing. There are 2887 full-time students, 3032 part-time adult students, 222 graduate students and more than four hundred staff members. Before 1995, Shou Gang Institute of Technology only admitted undergraduate students. The students studied there for four years and could get a B.S or B.A degree. In 1995 a new director of Shou Gang Co. was appointed by the central government. Since then, Shou Gang Institute of Technology has been admitting vocational students. The students study for three years, majoring in areas like electronic engineering, mechanical production, metallurgy, business, environment engineering, etc. There are 21 majors. All of the students are full-time. About half of the students come from high schools. They have passed the national College Entrance Examinations. The other half of the students come from the primary vocational schools. They have to pass a special entrance examination to be admitted. After they successfully finish their study in the institute, they can get a certificate which is similar to the associate degree of a community college in the U.S.

Most of the students come from Beijing. A few come from other provinces. The students from Beijing started to learn English when they were in Grade 1 or Grade 3 in the primary school. It means they have learned English for 9-12 years when they come to the institute. As for the students from other provinces, most of them started to learn English in Grade 1 in the junior middle school. It means that they have learned English for 6 years when they are enrolled in the institute.

According to an investigation, the characteristics of the students can be summarized as the following:

______________________________________________________

1. Their English level is varied and low.

2. About 60% of the students don’t like English because of the following reasons:

· They think it is too hard to learn English.

· They are not confident in themselves.

· The English class is not interesting.

3. Although their intrinsic motivation is weak, their extrinsic motivation is strong. While 60% of the students don’t like to learn English, 80% of them want to pass various English exams in order to get certificates, and 90% of them think it is very important to learn English well.

4. Most of them have a part-time job. Some play truant for making more money. But some realize the importance of study through contact with the society and the work place and become more motivated in their studies.

5. Most of them spend very little time on English study. They only finish their homework, most of which are written exercises in the textbook. They seldom listen to or speak English.

6. Most of them are 18 years old when they come to the institute. Very few of the students have working experience.
_____________________________________________________

For more information on this project, contact XU Min at xuminalice62(at)yahoo.com.cn.

The Impact of Computer-assisted English Learning on Low-achieving Students in Their Motivation and Autonomy

Xu Min, Shou Gang Institute of Technology, China

From Sept. 2003 to July 2005, a program on computer-assisted learning was conducted in Shou Gang Institute of Technology. The program had aimed at improving the students’ competence of English listening and speaking, but it turned out to be a failure. An investigation was conducted to find out the reasons that account for the failure.

a. The software for this program was not carefully chosen. The computer software is called Dynamic English. Both the students and teachers think it is too old and not attractive.

b. The students were not given much autonomy. The advantage of computer-assisted learning is that the students can decide when, where, and what to study according to their English level and their time schedule. However, in conducting the program, time and the content were fixed for each group of students. Consequently, problems arose, e.g., the content was too easy for some relatively advanced students in the group because they were not allowed to choose the content; and when the students were free in the evening and wanted to go to the computer room, it was closed. The computer room is open only during the regular work hours of the technicians.

c. The administrators, teachers and the students were not ready for autonomous learning which is totally different from traditional learning. The Chinese education system is rigid while the autonomous learning requires a flexible administration system. Moreover, the concept of offering service is weak for the administrators. On the part of the teachers, they were trained how to use the software but they were not trained how to adapt to their changing role as a teacher. The teachers were observing the students learning on the computer and offering help when they needed it. For example, when there was a new word or difficult sentence , the teacher would explain it to the student. The students were used to listening to their teachers. When they could study on their own, they didn’t know what to do and how to do it.

d. The students are supposed to pass a national English exam which includes listening, reading and writing. As our computer-assisted program was meant for improving listening and speaking, neither the students nor the teachers think it was very relevant to the exam, so the students were not very enthusiastic with this kind of learning.

In addition, since computer software was developed by an American company, the content doesn’t comply with the Chinese national examination that all college students take after they have finished two years of English study at their college.

For more information on this project, contact XU Min at

xuminalice62(at)yahoo.com.cn.

An Exploration of Improving Students’ Motivation and English Competence by Task-assisted Approach

Xu Min, Shou Gang Institute of Technology, China

A research project on the task-assisted approach to English teaching and learning will start in Sept. 2006. It will last two years. It will be funded by our college. The purposes of the project are: 1) improving the students motivation of learning English; 2) improving the classroom learning and teaching; 3) improving the students learning strategies by changing the way of assessment and teaching.

A questionnaire survey has been conducted to establish the present situation of the students. Its results indicate that about 60% of the students don’t like to learn English because they think that it is too hard. Most of the students have learned English for more than 10 years but they still feel it is difficult to communicate with others in English. They are not confident in themselves.

The table below indicates the situation of autonomous learning before it starts and the expected outcomes of the project:

	Prior to the project	After the project
Content of learning and teaching	Only one textbook was used. Both students and teachers don’t have autonomy to choose other content	One textbook and tasks designed by teachers will be used. Both students and teachers will have autonomy to choose extra content.
Method of learning and teaching	The teacher dominates the classroom learning and teaching. The students follow their teacher.	The students will be more involved in the classroom learning because they can choose the tasks and give a presentation in the classroom.
Assessment	The teacher decides on the assessment.	Both the teachers and students get involved in the assessment because the students will have to reflect on their own learning and give assessment to their peers’ work through portfolio assessment.

We hope that the project will help increase both teachers’ and students’ autonomy in English learning and teaching.

For more information on this project, contact XU Min at xuminalice62(at)yahoo.com.cn.

On offering training in learner autonomy to pre-service teachers

HUANG Jing (Zhanjiang Teachers University/The University of Hong Kong)

Researchers generally agree that learner autonomy depends on teacher autonomy (e.g. Aoki, 2002; Benson, 2000; Little, 1995; McGrath, 2000; see a review by Huang, 2005a). For BA TEFL students who have a dual identity as learner and prospective teacher, offering training in learner autonomy in language learning may enhance their current learning in university and will be beneficial to their professional (autonomous) development as language teachers.

At Zhanjiang Teachers University, China, I integrated a 7-week learner autonomy component into a newly born 17-week (two 40-minute periods each week) course, i.e. TEFL Theory, for the third-year English majors in 6 classes (N=212, around 35 in each class) in a four-year BA TEFL programme. The TEFL Theory course consisted of three components: curriculum (5 weeks), my autonomy component (Autonomous Approaches to Language Learning and Teaching), and task-based language learning and teaching (5 weeks). The autonomy component was implemented from late March to late May 2006 to the 6 classes which were regrouped into 3 paired classes.

There were three general purposes for the autonomy component:

1) To explore the definitions and meanings of learner autonomy in EFL education, grounded in interpretations of learner autonomy in the current literature on second/foreign language education, and based on insider perspectives (views and attitudes of university students themselves).

2) To examine the possibilities for and constraints on the exercise and development of learner autonomy in EFL education in the Chinese university context.

3) To examine the possibilities for and constraints on the exercise and development of teacher autonomy in EFL education in the Chinese secondary school context.

The first two purposes were more concerned with learners of EFL, while the third purpose was more relevant to learner of EFL teaching. It was also a response to the new English Curriculum Standard for Senior Secondary Schools in China (Ministry of Education, China, 2003) in which autonomous learning is an explicit goal.

Before I had a chance to meet the students, I planned seven topics/sessions for lessons in seven weeks:

1) What do we mean by learner autonomy? Have you been autonomous in EFL learning?

2) Why autonomy? Why now?

3) Can autonomy be fostered? How?

4) Can autonomy be evaluated? An exploration of WHY, WHAT and HOW.

5) What are the possibilities for the exercise and development of autonomy in our context?

6) What are the constraints on the exercise and development of autonomy in our context?

7) Resources for research and practice.

Both the content and method of teaching were monitored on an on-going basis. In Week 2, I felt that it would be easier for students to understand the concept of autonomy and to put theory into practice, if they were given a chance to collaborate on some form of research on a topic of their own choice outside of class and to report their findings and insights to the whole class for further scrutiny. Students welcomed this idea and quickly formed research groups (5-6 members in each group) by the end of Week 2. After negotiation, we agreed that student presentations would start from Week 5, in the form of separate class (60-70 minutes for three presentations in each class), so that even the earliest groups, groups making presentations in week 5, had three weeks for preparation (meeting to identify a focus, dividing work among members, conducting library research, and bringing together ideas for presentation). Since there were 6-7 groups in each class, Sessions 5-7 were mainly for student presentations, with the second half of Session 7 spared for a whole component summary. In each presentation, students outlined their findings and ideas for 12-13 minutes, leaving 7-8 minutes for questions and answers.

Reading

Core reading materials included four chapters (1, 3, 7, and 18) in Benson (2001), Benson (2004), the edited email correspondence in AUTO-L online discussion on evaluating autonomy in March 2006, and the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy newsletter 2003 (retrieved from: http://lc.ust.hk/~ailasc). Supplementary reading materials included Dam (1995), Littlewood (2002), and my own work in autonomy, i.e. Huang (2005a, 2005b, 2005c, 2006a, and 2006b). The purpose of using my own work was to foster a sense of relatedness and relevance in students as all my investigations were conducted at Zhanjiang Teachers University. In addition, I encouraged students to read beyond the given materials, especially Chinese literature on autonomy or related notions (e.g. “self” and “self-improvement”) to enhance their understanding of the complex concept.

Assessment

Forms of assessment for the autonomy component were negotiated between students and me on an on-going basis. Gradually, I took initiatives to co-ordinate the whole course because no coordinator was appointed. Below is the common ground established between students and me, on behalf of the three teachers:

1) The final grade should be based on: class participation, discussion notes students submitted after class, and group projects (no group research and presentation in other two components); and final term papers. The formative and summative parts account for, respectively, 40% and 60% of the final grade.

2) Students were given the freedom to choose any one component for their term papers. They were allowed to write their papers individually or to co-author papers on any issue related to the three components. The length requirement for each individual paper was between 700-1000 words, while co-authored papers were expected to be longer. Papers focusing on different components were submitted to different teachers for assessment.

Programme evaluation

Based on the various notes I kept over the seven weeks, the end-of-component questionnaire and interview data, it can be concluded that students generally held positive views towards the autonomy component. Through exploring the major issues concerning autonomy, students developed favourable attitudes towards theoretical learning, which to us was a significant achievement as we often heard students accuse previously offered theoretical courses of being “boring” and “useless”. Students became more reflective upon learning and more aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Many of them also began to think seriously about what they should do to make themselves good teachers so that they could help their own pupils become more self-initiated and independent in EFL learning in the near future.

Field notes and discussion notes

I kept notes to monitor the implementation of the autonomy component. At the same time, students sent me their answers to issues raised in class or in reading materials. The question which gave rise to the greatest amount of response (94-page email messages of font size 10, within 3 weeks, mostly learning accounts, critical reflections and further planning) was: Have you been autonomous in your previous EFL learning experiences?

In summary, students’ learning accounts and reflections indicate that they were more aware of the importance of taking responsibility and initiatives in learning, and made better sense of establishing personal agendas, setting own goals, and conducting regular self-evaluation of own progress in EFL learning. They also gained a better idea of what constituted the possibilities for and constraints on autonomous learning in the given context and how they should respond to these possibilities and constraints to improve their learning. Finally, many began to conceptualize their future role as English teacher, and to consider how to help their own pupils take greater control of EFL learning in their own teaching in the very near future.

Questionnaire

At the end of the autonomy component, I administered an open-ended questionnaire, in Chinese (translation below), to all course participants at the regular class time:

1) (a) How much attention have you paid to the autonomy component? (b) How did manage your learning of this component?

2) What have you learned from the autonomy component? For example, you can talk about how you have benefited from this component.

3) Please evaluate the autonomy component in terms of the necessity of including this component in the TEFL Theory course and the actual classroom teaching of this component.

4) What roles should students play in improving the teaching of this component? For example, what should students do in class and out of class to improve the teaching of this component?

Space constraints do not allow detailed presentation of data and discussion. In summary, the questionnaire data demonstrate once more that students held positive views towards the autonomy component. Especially, responses to question 2 show that the component was beneficial to students’ current learning and their professional development. Many students said that the component itself displayed a mode of autonomous learning and teaching, which was useful for now and the future. Negotiation of classroom methodology and assessment, together with the group research/presentation, were among their most valued activities.

Interviews

One month after the component was over, I conducted 7 small group (2-3 students each) interviews and 8 individual interviews with volunteers of two random classes. Interview findings confirm questionnaire findings and at the same time provide insights into other interesting issues that were not explained in details in the questionnaire, such as problems in routine teaching administration of the English Department, the current curriculum, choosing and using textbooks in various courses, modes of course assessment, teacher roles and teacher-student relationship, etc.

Areas that needed amendments

There were several areas that needed improvement, from the students’ perspectives:

1) The concept of autonomy was difficult so that the teacher should choose easier reading materials.

2) There was a need for more discussion and analysis of specific cases concerning how autonomy was constrained and made possible in specific contexts.

3) Some students were still not interested in the component and the teacher should stimulate their interest to ensure maximum interaction in class.

Conclusion

There has been little research conducted to explore the impact of offering training in learner autonomy to pre-service teachers. The current project was rooted in my firm belief that student teachers should be given a chance to explore the idea of autonomy, possibilities for and constraints on autonomy in order to better prepare themselves for working in secondary education, if learner autonomy continues to be a legitimate and desirable goal in education. This project began with a purpose of enhancing “language-learner autonomy” and “student-teacher autonomy”, but was exploratory throughout implementation. It proved that offering some form of instruction in learner autonomy to dual-identity student teachers was beneficial to their autonomous development as learners of EFL and EFL teaching, and therefore, should be part of teacher educators’ agendas.

References

Aoki, N. (2002). Aspects of teacher autonomy: Capacity, freedom, and responsibility. In P. Benson & S. Toogood (Eds.), Learner Autonomy 7: Challenges to Research and Practice (pp. 110-124). Dublin: Authentik.

Benson, P. (2000). Autonomy as a learners’ and teachers’ right. In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath & T. Lamb (Eds.), Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions (pp. 111-117). Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Benson, P. (2001). Teaching and researching autonomy in language learning. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Benson, P. (2004). Learner autonomy in the classroom. In D. Nunan (Ed.), Practical English language teaching (pp. 289-308). Beijing: Higher Education Press (first published by McGraw-Hill in 2003).

Dam, L. (1995). Learner autonomy 3: From theory to classroom practice. Dublin: Authentik.

Huang, J. (2005a). Teacher autonomy in language learning: A review of the research. Research Studies in Education, Vol. 3 (pp. 203-218). Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong.

Huang, J. (2005b). Metacognition training in the Chinese university Classroom: An action research study. Educational Action Research, 13(3), 413-434.

Huang, J. (2005c). A diary study of difficulties and constraints in EFL learning. System, 33(4), 609-621.

Huang, J. (2006a). Learner resistance in metacognition training? An exploration of mismatches between learner and teacher agendas. Language Teaching Research, 10(1), 95-117.

Huang, J. (2006b). Learner autonomy in the Chinese university classroom: An insider perspective of teacher-learner role relationships. In P. Benson (Ed.), Insider perspectives on learner and teacher autonomy (pp. 84-103). Dublin: Authentik.

Little, D. (1995). Learning as dialogue: The dependence of learner autonomy on teacher autonomy. System, 23(2), 175-182.

Littlewood, W. (2002). Cooperative and collaborative learning tasks as pathways towards autonomous interdependence. In P. Benson & S. Toogood (Eds.), Learner Autonomy 7: Challenges to Research and Practice (pp. 29-40). Dublin: Authentik.

McGrath, I. (2000). Teacher autonomy. In B. Sinclair, I. McGrath & T. Lamb (Eds.), Learner autonomy, teacher autonomy: Future directions (pp. 100-110). Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Ministry of Education, China (2003). English Curriculum Standard for Senior Middle School Education (experimental edition). Beijing: People’s Education Press.

Biodata: HUANG Jing is a PhD student at the English Centre, the University of Hong Kong. His research interests are primarily in the areas of learner and teacher autonomy in language learning, and second language teacher education. Before starting his PhD studies, he has taught English at Zhanjiang Teachers University, China for more than 10 years. His papers have been published in Language Teaching Research, System, Educational Action Research, and English Teaching Forum. Email correspondence: peterjh(at)hkusua.hku.hk; peterjhuang(at)yahoo.com.cn.

Using think-aloud verbal protocols to investigate affective and metacognitive processes among beginner distance language learners

Stella Hurd and Tim Lewis, Open University (UK)

Think-aloud verbal protocols have been used increasingly over the last twenty years in an attempt to access more directly the thought processes of students as they interact with the target language. To date, studies using this research tool have largely involved classroom-based learners. The relevance of think-alouds to distance language learners remains largely unexplored, and yet it is arguably this group of learners for whom such a method has special application, given the remote nature of their learning environment and the subsequent difficulty of finding out anything about them.

Twelve students registered on a Beginners’ French course at the Open University (UK) took part in our TAPs mini-study, which required them to record on audio-tape everything that was going through their heads as they tackled a short suite of activities from their course book. Reports/papers will chart the stages from task encounter to task completion, focusing on student emotions, self-awareness, feelings and strategies. Data analysis will be carried out with the help of QSR N6 or NVivo7 qualitative data analysis software.

As well as offering a profile of the independent learner, our study will enable us to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of think-aloud verbal protocols as a research instrument.

Japanese Language Portfolio

Naoko Aoki, Osaka University, Japan

The Japanese Language Portfolio is being developed by Naoko Aoki and her students at Osaka University, Japan. It is based on the principles of European Language Portfolio (ELP) and similar to Milestone (http://www.eu-milestone.de/ ) in that it's meant to be used by adults living and working in a second language environment.

Japan has seen an unprecedented rapid increase in the number of foreign residents in the past couple of decades. Many of them do not receive any formal instruction in Japanese and those who wish to improve their Japanese go to a “Japanese language classroom” or Nihongo kyoushitsu in their local community, where volunteer helpers work with them. They have, however, very limited contact hours, normally 90 to 120 minutes per week. This is evidently not enough to make any drastic progress which many learners hope for in order to cope with problems they encounter in living and working in Japan. The Japanese Language Portfolio has been developed as a tool for such learners to take control of their own learning.

The Japanese Language Portfolio (JLP) differs from Milestone and other versions of ELP in some significant ways.

*JLP doesn't have the passport section, because JLP cannot have a reporting function under the present circumstance.

*JLP includes instructions and examples for learners, because many volunteers who help learners at Nihongo kyoushitsu are not trained or qualified teachers.

*JLP deals less with cultural experiences than Milestone in order to keep it simple for the same reason as above.

The JLP consists of the following 13 sections:

· Introduction

· The reason(s) I have decided to go to a Japanese language class

· My languages

· Self-introduction　　　

· Before and after I came to Japan, and my hopes for the future　　　

· My self-assessment (includes CEF self-assessment grid)

· I can do this in Japanese! (descriptors in five skill areas at levels from A0 to B2)　　

· Immediate goals　　　

· Learning diary　　　

· Opportunities to learn and practice Japanese　　　

· My favourite ways of learning　　　

· Words and phrases that are important to me　　　

· My work　　　

The JLP comes in four versions, English, Chinese (simplified characters), Japanese in roman alphabet, and Japanese as we write it with the reading of Chinese characters indicated in kana syllables.

The JLP has been piloted in two ways since 1994. Naoko has been meeting a group of volunteer helpers working in the Kobe area monthly since 1994. She has introduced the idea of JLP and encouraged the group members to use any of its sections that they find fit for their situation. JLP has proved to be a very powerful tool to sensitize volunteer helpers to learners’ needs, wishes, current abilities, preferred learning styles, and backgrounds. JLP has been used more extensively at the Nihongo Kyoushitsu which Naoko organizes on the campus of Osaka University as a place for teaching practice for in-service and pre-service teachers of Japanese as a second language. We have learned that learning to use JLP is not straightforward even for experienced teachers who have a positive attitude towards the idea of learners taking control of their learning. The strategy we have found the most effective so far is learning from learners’ responses.

The four versions of JLP and a helpers’ guide (in Japanese) will be available in pdf files on the web soon.

For more information contact Naoko Aoki at naoko(at)let.osaka-u.ac.jp.

Acknowledgement:

The project was partially supported by Hyogo Prefecture’s Community Development Fund in 2004 and Osaka University’s Research Assistant Fund in the 2005-2006 academic year. We are also grateful to Akichika Nagashima of Hyogo Nihongo Volunteers Network, David Little of Trinity College Dublin, Michael Byram of Durham University, Johanna Panthier of Council of Europe and Goethe Institute Tokyo for their valuable assistance.

AMFALE Project

Vera Menezes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil

The AMFALE Project [Aprendendo com Memórias de Falantes e Aprendizes de Línguas Estrangeiras (Learning with Speakers and Learners of English as a Foreign Language)] brings together researchers interested in language learning narratives. Several researchers from Brazil, Japan, and Finland have been collecting language learning histories and using them for different research purposes, including autonomy in language learning. Other contributors are welcome. The project page address is http://www.veramenezes.com.amfale.htm. So far there is a corpus of written and oral narratives in Portuguese and in English. There is also a small corpus of multimedia narratives written in English [ http://www.veramenezes.com/narmulti.htm].

For more information, please visit the web site or contact Vera Menezes at vlmop(at)veramenezes.com.

Regional Reports

Regional Reports

Thailand

Pornapit Darasawang, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi and Hayo Reinders, University of Auckland

To cope with increased globalisation and competitiveness (especially as a result of the GATS agreement), the Thai government has put a lot of effort into increasing the use of English in its education sector. Many international schools and bilingual schools are being set up for this purpose and universities are increasing the number of courses taught in English.

At our institute, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), this has led to more programmes now being taught in English. In addition, the use of English is now strongly encouraged also outside these classes. A Self Access Learning Centre (SALC) was set up 14 years ago in order to both encourage learner autonomy through developing life-long learning skills and to offer facilities for university students to practise English by themselves. With the increase in the number of students taking up English studies and changes in the way students prefer to access support, it was decided to develop an online language support system (My English!).

‘My English!’ will allow students to access study materials from anywhere on campus (and a large number from home), provide chat and other types of online support from language advisors, and help students to develop pathways and learning plans relevant to their needs. In addition, ‘My English’ will include an online needs analysis, ongoing assessment and a language portfolio that students can use for future employment.

Language teachers can access the portfolio for assessment purposes and to provide ongoing feedback. An important aspect of the support system is that it will be integrated in the already existing (online and offline) support such as the university's Learning Management System, its student portal, and the resources available in the SALC. The development of ‘My English!’ started in July 2006 and is hoped to be completed by the end of the year.

Mexico

RedICAA UAEM: A Mexican project towards autonomy in language learning--the largest network of self-Access centres in the world?

Maria Estela Estrada Cortés, Coordinator of the RedICAA Project, & Elsa Martínez Olmedo, Academic Assistant of PIEI Online and Self-Learning Projects, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico

Project RedICAA, standing for Institutional Network of Self-Access Centres (Red Institucional de Centros de Autoacceso in Spanish), is based at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. It is a key element of the Institutional English Teaching Program (Programa Institucional de Enseñanza del Inglés) which is concerned with promoting and developing autonomy in language learning among the more than 32,500 university students who have English as a foreign language as part of their program of studies in order to attain international proficiency standards.

The first steps in the project were the installation of the centres, the provision of technology, and the search for the ideal profile for staff to coordinate them. At the beginning 11 centres were established in different academic units belonging to the university. The number is increasing fast and by the end of 2006 there will be 31 of them, and by the middle of 2007 there will around 35. However, the implementation and setting up of such a project does not ensure that the project will succeed in reaching its goals. A lot of effective strategies were designed and are in the process to be implemented. These strategies are explained in detail below, but here I should mention that they involve training staff and students, installing technology, and purchasing materials. The RedICAA centres offer students opportunities to develop English language proficiency through the use of technological resources, the development of autonomous learning skills, and the promotion of materials.

As its main and broad aim, the project envisioned to lead learners of English towards international standards of English, the implementation and strengthening of a network of self-access centres with more than 30 self-access centres where human resources, technology, didactic materials, theoretical foundations on autonomy in language learning, and Internet resources can join in leading staff and students towards the development of autonomy and self-directed learning programs. The strategies employed to help RedICAA reach this goal are diverse: staff training on autonomy, material design, and use of technology; learner training on strategy use and the development of autonomous learning skills; and the design, creation, and implementation of a professional program which will join all aspects and lead to success.

For more information, please the website http://www.uaemex.mx/piei/ or e-mail Maria Estela Estrada Cortés piei@uaemex.mx / Elsa Martinez Olmedo elsamolme@yahoo.com .

Groups and Networks

Groups and Networks

IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG update

Jo Mynard, Koryo International College, Japan

Greetings from the Learner Autonomy SIG of IATEFL (The International Association of Teachers of English of a Foreign Language). The first news item to report is our resurrection. Rescued from nearly perishing by an enthusiastic new coordinator, Carol Everhard, we have acquired a new newsletter editor, Richard Smith, revamped our webpage and gathered some new members to help us plan some exciting events for the coming year. The first event is already underway and has involved releasing a can of worms on the academic community. This idea was sparked by an article written by Carol Everhard in issue 37 of our newsletter Independence. Carol likened investigating learner autonomy to opening a can of worms. The can of worms were quite literally opened at the last IATEFL conference in March 2006 and 6 worms are now in circulation. The following willing keepers are currently throwing light on their areas of expertise:

1) Assessment - Hanne Thomsen

2) Counselling / Advising - Marina Mozzon-McPherson

3) Learner Training - Barbara Sinclair

4) Motivation - Ema Ushioda

5) Self-access - Richard Pemberton

6) Teacher Autonomy - Flávia Vieira

The worms will then be sent on to another expert in the field and we will all reconvene at the next conference in April 2007. Articles written about these areas will be appearing in our newsletter in the meantime. The latest issue features articles by Barbara Sinclair, Ema Ushioda, Hanne Thomsen and Flávia Vieira

Our next event is a Joint IATEFL LASIG and TESOL Macedonia-Thrace event, at the Capsis Hotel, Thessaloniki, Greece on Friday 29th September 2006.

TESOL Macedonia-Thrace (www.tesolmacthrace.org) of Northern Greece is holding a 3-day annual convention (29^th September – 1^st October 2006) The title of the Convention is: ‘The Whole Professional: Rethinking Teaching in and out of the Classroom’ . The LASIG will be responsible for organizing the first day of the convention, which is dedicated to autonomy. Starting in the morning, this will take the form of presentations and short round-table discussions which will examine the factors that can foster or inhibit autonomy in language learning and what steps the teacher can take to promote autonomy in the language classroom. Speakers include:
Androulla Athanasiou (Cyprus), Leni Dam (Denmark), Carol Everhard (Greece), Lienhard Legenhausen (Germany), Joan Nordlund (Finland) and Richard Smith (U.K.).The traditional Friday Evening Plenary will be delivered by Leslie Bobb Wolff (U.S. / Spain), well-known internationally for her work on the practical implications for the classroom teacher of putting autonomy into practice.

Finally, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG, we are organising another very interesting and exciting Pre-Conference Event which is not to be missed! This will take place in Aberdeen on Wednesday 18^th April 2007. At least seven experts in the field of Autonomy will be there to enlighten us with their knowledge and expertise. Among those who have promised to be there to share this big day with us are – Marina Mozzon-McPherson (Counselling/ Advising), Richard Pemberton (Self-Access), Barbara Sinclair (Learner Training), Flávia Vieira (Teacher Autonomy) and Ema Ushioda (Motivation) and at least one more very special surprise guest! There will be plenty of speaker- audience interaction, so you will have the opportunity to question and challenge the experts and enlighten all of us with your own knowledge, experience and expertise. It will be a most productive and festive day, so do come and join us!

Further details of the events and progress of the worms will appear in the Autumn issue of Independence and on the website http://www.learnerautonomy.org

Jo Mynard is the LASIG Deputy Coordinator, Web manager, and e-List Coordinator. She currently holds the position of Associate Professor of English Language at Koryo International College, Aichi, Japan.

Japan Association of Language Teachers Learner Development SIG

The LD-SIG will launch a new anthology, More of Autonomy You Ask (MAYA), help sponsor featured conference speaker Shoko Yoneyama, and have an LD Forum workshop on learner and teacher autonomy with TC Columbia (Tokyo campus) teachers at the JALT National Conference 2006. Check out the new LD website < http://ld-sig.jalt.org/ > or contact co-coordinators Stacey Vye< stacey.vye(at)gmail.com > or Marlen Harrison < scenteur7(at)yahoo.com > for more about LD.

Japan Association of Self-Access Learning

In 2005, at the invitation of Lucy Cooker, a group of educators from around Japan interested in self-access language learning met at Kanda University of International Studies to discuss the possibility of forming a professional organization. This meeting led to the creation of the Japan Association of Self-Access Learning [JASAL]. Later in the year the members elected Garold Murray of Akita International University, President; Lucy Cooker of Kanda University of International Studies, Vice-President; and Hisako Sugawara of Kanda University of International Studies, Secretary.

The prime aim of JASAL is to support educators in their efforts to provide self-access language learning opportunities at universities and high schools in Japan. Currently the organization is doing this by sharing information through the network of members via the JASAL web site (http://uk.geocities.com/jasalinjapan/). In November, 2006, JASAL is hosting a forum at the JALT conference. The theme of the forum is the development of self-access learning in Japan. Educators from three different universities will present case studies focusing on the various aspects involved in establishing self-access centers. As JASAL grows, we hope to be able to provide other means of support to educators interested in promoting self-access learning and learner autonomy in general.

Anyone interested in joining JASAL can contact Hisako Sugawara [hisako(at)kanda.kuis.ac.jp]. General inquiries about the organization, its goals, and future plans can be directed to Hisako, Lucy Cooker [lucycooker(at)gmail.com], or Garold Murray [garold-murray(at)aiu.ac.jp].

AUTONOMIAMeXICO ... another discussion list?

Sergio Valdivia, USBI - Xalapa Self-Access Centre, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico

Since the arrival of the Internet and the proliferation of E-mail services, the boom of discussion lists has been on us. Some lists gather hundreds or even thousands of members from around the world. In fact it is strange to meet someone right now, who doesn't belong to any of these.

AUTONOMIAMeXICO is a young discussion list that started in March 2006 as an independent academic effort (at Yahoo! Groups), in order to bring together all those interested in the promotion of autonomy in Mexico. We want to include teacher/counsellors working in the classroom, at the SAC, or elsewhere--regardless of their target language or of their level of expertise--because we believe there are common interest issues in autonomy for everyone to share.

Communication technology has broken barriers. Something that was unthinkable twenty or thirty years ago is now a reality. Professional development has taken new forms and new horizons. For many years, part of our personal development in language teaching and learning consisted of reading texts written by distant authors. Later, those authors came closer and were at conferences and congresses to share and discuss important issues of our discipline. Now, with the aid of the Internet (and discussion lists), we can gather around in discourse communities (interest groups) of all sorts. Writers are much closer to readers and open for discussion--and in a way, we have all become writers of some sort, too.

AUTONOMIAMeXICO is bilingual. Most of us in the list are Mexican so Spanish is our native language. The simple fact of using either English or Spanish opens new venues of expression because it permits us to be more at ease in some subject matters.

In discussion lists, there are those who benefit just from reading, those who participate when from time to time, and those who are talkative (like myself), for whom learning comes from interacting, participating, and discussing. Another advantage of discussion groups is that they give you time for academic issues to be 'digested', understood, and comprehended, but above all, time for ideas to be constructed and shared. A discussion list is not just a platform for displaying finished ideas, it is a tool for constructing ideas!

Discussion lists build on the culture of academic exchange, left aside when dragged down by routine and workload. It seems we have little time to talk to colleagues or meet for academic discussions. So, the magic of discussion lists is that they bring you -academically closer to those sitting next to you.

AUTONOMIAMeXICO wants to explore, also, our idiosyncratic ways of holding a discussion. Not all cultures discuss matters in the same way. And finally, another aim of our list is to have a voice in the future of autonomy promotion in Mexico. Right now, there are national agreements but also national disagreements which add a healthy variety.

So now, that it is relatively easy to start a discussion list in the Internet, our list can be used as a reference for similar efforts around the world, opening the possibility of finding cross connections in our near future. Then, is AUTONOMIAMeXICO just another discussion list? It is ... in a sense ... but it aims at being of a quite different sort.

For more information, please contact Sergio Valdivia, (svaldivia(at)gmail.com).

Courses

Courses

Advising for Language Learning

The Department of Modern Languages at the University of Hull (UK) offers an online Postgraduate Certificate in Advising for Language Learning consisting of three 20-credit modules focused on learner autonomy, self-access, writing materials for open and distance learning and supporting self-directed learning, plus it examines the skills and discourse of language counselling/advising.

The qualification can also be extended to the MA level, an MA in Language Learning and Technology. The additional three 20-credit modules focus on approaches to teaching, language processes and structure, and e-learning.

Both qualifications are fully delivered online and are aimed at current, or prospective, language-learning professionals (teachers, advisers, material designers or managers of self-access centres) interested in managing and supporting learner autonomy,developing self-access centres and/or online language learning support structures.

Further information can be found on http://www.hull.ac.uk/languages or by contacting Dr Marina Mozzon-McPherson at languages@hull.ac.uk

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