Abstract
Although the importance of communities for social learning within self-access centers has been recognized over the last decade, there has yet been little research exploring student-managed communities in a self-access learning center (SALC). This short pilot study investigates the ways in which members identify with the community of practice (Wenger, 1998) of a student-led learning community within a university SALC. Five members of the Learning Community (LC), an English conversation community, were interviewed three times over the course of one semester about their language learning histories and their experiences in the LC. This data was analyzed inductively and subsequently categorized according to Wenger’s (2010) modes of identification – engagement, imagination, and alignment. The findings of the study indicated that members’ identification with the practice of the LC was connected to a desire for an accessible learning environment, attaining membership in an international imagined community of English users, and the ability to negotiate sociocultural norms for their own purposes. This study highlights a bidirectional relationship between the “baggage” that members bring with them and the everyday practice developed over the course of the LC’s two-year history. Additionally, the insights gained from this exploration of the LC CoP have practical implications for SALC staff aiming to cultivate and support student-led learning communities.
Highlights
An area of self-access learning that has attracted increasing attention over the past decade is social learning spaces (SLS) and, more broadly, the role of social interaction in developing and enriching learner autonomy
Engagement From the coded data, the most common expression of engagement influencing the identity of the community and its members appeared to be in their efforts to create an accessible learning environment where students could come to socialize and support each other in developing their English proficiency
Conclusion this study suggested a range of potentially fruitful avenues for further research into self-access learning center (SALC)-based learning communities, there were significant limitations that must be addressed in future inquiry in this area
Summary
An area of self-access learning that has attracted increasing attention over the past decade is social learning spaces (SLS) and, more broadly, the role of social interaction in developing and enriching learner autonomy. A more recent social learning system established in certain self-access centers are Learning Communities - “group[s] of students (and teachers) who share common academic goals or interests, and meet regularly to learn with and from each other” (KUIS, 2016). These groups are often conceived of and managed by students rather than SALC staff or teachers and this was an initial point of interest that drew me to conducting research in this area.
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