Raising Awareness: Learning Advising as an In-Class Activity

Kayoko Horai,Elaine Wright

doi:10.37237/070208

Abstract

Learning advising can play an important role in scaffolding the development of learner autonomy. While a classroom teacher might give advice to students about what and how to study, a learning advisor aims to help students to identify specific needs and create action plans to meet their goals. The teachers and the learning advisors can work hand-in-hand to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. For this project, a communicative English course at a Japanese university was modified to include in-class advising sessions. Despite having no English majors, there is a well-curated but underutilized Self Access Learning Center (SALC) that includes three learning advisors. Students are required to learn English but often have limited awareness of the language learning process. The project was designed to increase learner awareness toward their individual learning goals, inform the teacher of students’ goals, and increase student engagement with the SALC. This paper discusses the details of the course in the specific setting, as well as reactions from students, teachers, and learning advisors. The article also gives options for teachers who hope to encourage learner autonomy but may not have access to learning advisors in their institution.

Highlights

Context The focus of this paper is a project conducted at a private, technical university in Kumamoto, Japan, which has no English majors; students are required to attend communicative English courses in their first two years
The Self Access Learning Center (SALC) has numerous resources, including three Learning Advisors (LAs). This project began with a discussion about a collaborative effort between a teacher and an LA to improve language learning for students by offering opportunities to engage with the SALC in class
Most students tend to give little consideration to the language learning process and often do not understand the role of the LAs or how they can help them to achieve their goals. They have reported feeling intimidated by the SALC, which is in line Croker and Ashurova’s (2012) idea that such learning can be new to students who have only ever learned “under the direct supervision and control of the teacher” (p. 237)

Summary

Introduction

Context The focus of this paper is a project conducted at a private, technical university in Kumamoto, Japan, which has no English majors; students are required to attend communicative English courses in their first two years. A native speaking English teacher and a Japanese LA had a discussion about improving student engagement with the SALC as a whole, and with learning advising . The teacher and LA decided to conduct group advising sessions in Japanese during class time, but out of the classroom.

Results

Conclusion