How do Learners Make Use of a Space for Self-Directed Learning? Translating the Past, Understanding the Present, and Strategizing for the Future

Yoshio Nakai

doi:10.37237/070205

Abstract

This article aims to reveal how learners make use of a space for self-directed learning to promote collaborative autonomous learning, drawing on data collected at a Japanese language institution for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) care worker candidates in Osaka. The data analysis shows that, through the activities the learners chose and organized, they imagined an ideal L2 self and created their own L2 world. As soon as the self-directed learning session had started, they created their own group on Facebook and promoted learning activities which were related with their real lives in Japan. These activities on Facebook created a learning space beyond the classroom. These online activities they engaged in eventually returned to the classroom space and led to them increasingly taking ownership of the physical space. This research reveals that an important factor for self-directed learning is providing learners spaces and allowing them to explore the boundaries and possibilities of that space. The learners in this case study used the space to translate their past experiences and present emotions into the second language context, and moreover, to strategize for the future. To encourage collaborative autonomous learning, the activities must be organized around learners’ inner worlds where their emotions, experiences and futures exist.

Highlights

This study shows how collaborative self-directed learning sessions within a language training course enabled a group of learners of Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) to construct spaces through which they could connect their language learning with their past, present and future selves
The language training was organized for candidates from the Philippines who were aiming to become care workers in Japan under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was established in 2009
While still in the Philippines, they undertake Japanese language training for three months. They come to Japan and take six further months of language training. They are sent to nursing homes for three years of practical training before they take the national exam for care workers

Summary

Introduction

This study shows how collaborative self-directed learning sessions within a language training course enabled a group of learners of Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) to construct spaces through which they could connect their language learning with their past, present and future selves. The language training was organized for candidates from the Philippines who were aiming to become care workers in Japan under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was established in 2009. The EPA training program begins in the Philippines, where candidates are chosen in response to the demand of Japanese host nursing homes. While still in the Philippines, they undertake Japanese language training for three months. They come to Japan and take six further months of language training. They are sent to nursing homes for three years of practical training before they take the national exam for care workers

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Conclusion