Self-access Centre Research Articles

Self-Access Centres in South Korea: Bridging Physical and Online Spaces

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore what three physical Self-Access Centres (SACs) in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Daegu, South Korea do for their online space and how online space is valued by stakeholders. Findings show that these SACs have more or less exclusively focused on their physical environment while neglecting their online potential, resulting in technologies and online spaces (Social Network Services (SNS), websites and Learning Management Systems) being under-utilized. There are differences in values placed on online spaces between staff and users with key concerns being: efficacy and effort, need, awareness-raising, reach, and selection.

Promoting Independent English Language Learning within an Asian Tertiary Institution: The Lingnan Experience

This article is a self-reflective account of the English Language Support Service (ELSS) at the Centre for English and Additional Languages at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. The article gives a brief background of the Centre’s structure, goals, development and the role it plays in student language development. Stressing the importance of self-motivation and independent learning, the article examines the issues the centre has had attracting and retaining students and the on-campus and online promotion used to increase student attendance, self-access, and face-to-face interactions. The article offers lessons-learned and future goals that can be applied to other tertiary institution self-access language centres.

New Scenarios in Autonomy for Foreign Language Learning: Conference Summary and Reflections

The International Conference on Self-Access (Encuentro Internacional de Centros de Autoacceso, EICA) was held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) from the 4th to the 5th August, 2016. The conference theme in Spanish was Nuevos escenarios en torno a la autonomía del aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras which translates as ‘New scenarios in autonomy for foreign language learning’ and was attended by approximately 280 delegates. Most delegates were based in Mexico and were mainly working in one of the numerous university or school-based self-access centres around the country. Others were classroom teachers interested in learner autonomy and how it can be fostered in their contexts. In this short paper, each of the plenary speakers will share a summary of their talks and this will be followed by some brief reflections on the event in general.

Integrating Self-Access Center Components into Core English Classes

The Department of English Language and Culture at Konan Women’s University opened a self-access center in 2011. “e-space” was built into the department common room as part of a renovation project. Two full-time lecturers/learning advisors were hired to develop the language learning resources, offer advising services and to develop a more dynamic language learning community. In 2012, the department revamped its curriculum with a focus on improving the core English courses and facilitating the development of learner autonomy. Self-access language learning (SALL) activities were gradually integrated into the core courses as a way to expose students to the resources available in e-space and to provide opportunities to engage in language learning in a more learner-centered way. In 2013, teachers were asked to integrate SALL into first- and second-year core classes, and in 2014, these components became compulsory, graded sections of the courses. A stamp card system was developed to help students and teachers track the activities. At the end of the year, the cards were collected and student feedback was solicited via an online survey. While teacher buy-in has been difficult to achieve across the board, preliminary results show that the SALL components were generally successful in terms of student participation and satisfaction.

Design and Management of a Self-Access Language Learning Space Integrated into a Taught Course

This paper reports on the design and management of an online self-access language learning (SALL) space that was used with a group of Saudi medical students to complement classroom-based learning. The aim was to increase the opportunities for communication and language practice and, more specifically, to help develop the learners’ language learning autonomy (Little, 1999). In a pre-study, a questionnaire and a focus group were used to collect information about the students’ needs and interests in language learning. The design of this space was informed by the students’ feedback on their language learning needs and styles as recommended by Breen (1986) and Marsh (2012). Desire2Learn, a widely used virtual learning environment, was used to provide learners with an online self-access center because of the many features it has which would help learners to take control of their learning. The learning resources and online tools included instant messaging (IM), a news stream, access to a facilitator and other learning support, moderated discussions, videos, images, activities and quizzes, as well as links to external materials and to free self-access language learning resources. A description will be provided of how the materials, the tools, and the facilities were integrated within this space along with the justification for each of the elements. A look ahead to how this study could be extended for use with all learners enrolled in the medical scheme of the university will be discussed at the end of the paper.

Balancing Competing Needs among Stakeholders: Lessons from the Self-access Language Learning Centre (SALL) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), referred to as ‘University’ or ‘CUHK(SZ)’ hereafter, is a newly established private university located in the Longgong District of Shenzhen, which is a special economic zone in the southern part of China. Its first batch of about 300 undergraduate freshmen, all majoring in Business Administration, commenced studies in September 2014. The Self-access Language Learning Centre (‘SALL’ or ‘the Centre’ hereafter), as a unit under the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS[1]), was put into trial operation from 6th March to 4th June 2015 to explore students’ needs and preferences in self-access English language learning. The purpose of this progress summary is to delineate and analyze the trial operation. It is divided into two major sections. The first section is a brief description of the 3-month trial operation and evaluation whereas the second section details recommendations for the future development of the SALL and other self-access centres also needing to address conflicting needs among stakeholders.

Youth and the Disruption of Power: Student-Run Conversation Workshops in a Mexican Self-Access Centre

Within self-access learning there has been a gradual shift towards incorporating approaches to learning involving strong elements of peer interaction. In the USBI Xalapa self-access learning centre (SALC) that is part of the Universidad Veracruzana in Veracruz, Mexico, work placement students (WPS) have begun to run daily conversation workshops with students from the centre. By drawing on the works of Acuña González, Avila Pardo, & Holmes Lewendon (2015), Murray (2014), and Hughes, Krug, & Vye (2011) relating to peer-supported learning in self-access environments, a small research project was developed to understand the effectiveness of the student-run workshops. This involved conducting interviews with WPS and English students who attended the workshops. By comparing and contrasting the responses, a rich, heterogeneous set of data was uncovered which provides insight into peer-centred learning. The findings suggest the need incorporate peer-based learning to break down hierarchical relationships in which power divisions construct a traditionalist learning environment governed by fear of making errors. Also, the role of WPS needs to be reconsidered to allow them to take a more active role in the institution due to their positive relationships with learners. Beyond these aspects, it can be seen that a deeper understanding of the role of peer interaction in learning environments is essential in self-access centres.

Implementing a Language Learning Advising Service at a Self-Access Center in Cambodia

This article discusses the implementation of a language learning advising service at a self-access (SAC) center in Cambodia. The SAC was opened in 2011 at a language school in Phnom Penh as a way to provide learners with additional English language learning resources and to promote learner autonomy. While it was somewhat successful in meeting these objectives, an evaluation in late 2014 revealed that the SAC’s full potential was not being realized. In particular, support for learners was lacking, and interaction in the SAC was limited. After meetings between various stakeholders, it was agreed that a language learning advising service should be implemented. This decision has resulted in a number of ongoing developments: Cambodian English teachers have been designated as advisors; they have received training in language learning advising; and learning plans have been developed. The language learning advising system was trialed for one 10-week term, and the newly trained language learning advisors (LLAs) completed surveys about their advising experience. While the responses to these questionnaires showed that LLAs generally have a positive attitude toward advising, they also revealed a number of important areas for development.

Considerations in Developing a Peer Mentoring Programme for a Self-Access Centre

The paper outlines a peer mentoring programme at tertiary level in Japan, where it is still an uncommon practice. It will explain the context and reasons for its introduction; namely, expanding the range of services of a busy self-access centre. It will then describe what services we wish the mentors to provide which are compatible with the aims of the centre, and what skills we believe the mentors should possess, and what they need to be trained in to successfully deliver the service. It will then describe the research opportunities which this programme should provide.

Learning Space-Based Initiatives for Developing Learner Autonomy: Design And Implementation

Recently, traditionally resource-heavy self-access centres have increasingly been reinvented as social learning spaces (Allhouse, 2014; Murray & Fujishima, 2013), usually with a greater emphasis on peer interaction and communication in the target language. By elevating the communication aspect of a language learning space, however, there is a danger that the important task of developing metacognitive skills gets sidelined in favour of simply developing language proficiency through peer or teacher-student interaction. Language learning spaces that set themselves up as conversation lounges are missing a big opportunity to do so much more than just develop language proficiency in users. Learner autonomy should be a central mission of any language learning space. Indeed, a language learning space can be an ideal milieu for supporting learners to become autonomous. Unlike in the classroom, users of self-access and other non-classroom learning spaces already have a sense of being in control of their learning choices, even if they are not entirely sure how to exercise that control. It is therefore vital that support is offered to guide and support learners, and this support can take many formats. The best forms of support do not simply attempt to help learners make single learning decisions such as which materials to choose or service to use, but to support their long-term development as autonomous language learners.

Effective Training for SALC Student Staff: Principles Borne from Experience

Student staff can play a vital role in any Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) (Gardner & Miller, 1999; Cooker, 2010) and providing training for them is one of the key skills required of people managing SALCs (Gardner & Miller, 2013). This article charts the evolution over four years of a training program for student staff at the self-access language learning center at Osaka Institute of Technology in Japan. After detailing the institutional context of the center, we (the director and assistant manager of the center) discuss how, through a reflective process, the training program developed over this time period, moving from a group-based approach to a more individually-focused program. In the concluding section we draw on these experiences to put forward five principles that we believe will help others who are seeking to establish effective student staff training programs.

Introduction: Supporting Student Staff Through Effective Training

Gone are the days when a self-access centre consisted of bookshelves and a cabinet of VHS tapes that students checked out from a manager or administrator. Language Learning Spaces in the twenty-first century are social learning spaces, where people learn with and from others as much as, if not more than, from physical or Internet-based resources. As was highlighted in the previous instalment of this collection, successful learning spaces create a sense of community among users, and student staff are often key members of these communities.

The SAC as a Community of Practice: A Case Study of Peer-Run Conversation Sessions at the Universidad del Caribe

The present article describes how the development of the ‘conversation sessions’ in the self-access centre (SAC) fostered a Community of Practice (CoP) as theorised by Lave & Wenger (1991). Our SAC is at a government-funded university in Cancun, Mexico. The conversation sessions were implemented with the aim to offer our EFL students the opportunity to practice speaking on a regular basis to complement their English programme. These peer-run conversations, in turn, are one of the key elements that led to the creation of a CoP where SAC users and personnel share a repertoire of resources and conventions created over time in order to form, transmit and advance knowledge.

Introduction: The Crucial Role of Peer-Learning in Language Learning Spaces

Welcome to the second instalment of the Language Learning Spaces: Self-Access in Action column. While the first instalment examined the process of establishing facilities, this second instalment focuses on the role learners themselves play in the ecology of a self-access centre. When the self-access movement first started, many facilities were labelled Resource Centres and centred around providing physical resources (mainly books and audiovisual materials) for self-directed learning for individuals. In recent years, the rise of the Internet, which provides easy access to learning materials and authentic audio and visual from target language countries has challenged proponents of physical self-access spaces to assert their relevance to learners (Reinders, 2012). These technological advances, in addition to the growing recognition of the social dimension of both language learning and learner autonomy (Murray, 2014), have stimulated a shift from a resource-focused approach to self-access language learning, to one which emphasises the social aspect of learning. In some cases, the term self-access has been rejected altogether, in favour of social learning spaces (Murray, Fujishima & Uzuka, 2014). The previous column in SiSAL documented one such reinvention of a resource-based self-access centre into a social space (Allhouse, 2014).

PATTERNS OF SAC UTILIZATION AND THE SINE QUA NON OF THE SELF-PROPELLED DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS' ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

This article reports on a study intended to find out the patterns of the Self Access Center (SAC) utilization by students of the English Departments, State University of Malang, and to explore the most effective pattern in developing students English proficiency as well as students' learning autonomy. The study involved 207 students of various years. Thedata were collected through questionnaires, observations, and interviews. Analyses of the students' responses to the questionnaires resulted in the findings that the more advanced the students were, the less frequently they utilized the SAC; that the students' proficiency was improving along with classes; and that the students were autonomous in their learning. In addition, the study also found out that the materials and activities need to be periodically updated in order for the SAC to better serve the learning needs of the more advanced students.

A self-access learning facility in a Libyan University

“The introduction of Self –Access Language Learning (SALL) requires change in the roles of learners, teachers and institutions.” (Gardner and Miller, 1999, p.13). SALL is a concept which has developed as a result of the promotion of autonomous learning which takes place without the teacher’s control. Nevertheless, establishing SALL in any educational institution will require the institution to be aware of the abilities and constraints that it has. Furthermore, getting the teachers and the students involved in this will necessitate change to their traditional roles. In this article I will focus on SALL and how its application can change the roles of the institution, teachers and students. The article has two phases: theoretical and practical. The theoretical phase deals with the definition of SALL , the relationship between the SALL and the belief of autonomy, the existence of the self access centre (SAC) and the change of roles while the practical phase presents a simple design of a SAC in a Libyan university .

Considering Your Context: The Importance of Considering Specific Institutional and Learner Contexts when Researching the Set Up of a Self-Access Centre

This article describes how a language learning centre was researched and set up at a performing arts academy in Hong Kong. The Language Learning Centre (LLC) at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts opened in December 2012, after five months of research and planning. During the research phase, specific aspects of the institutional culture and of the learners themselves were identified and compared with examples found in relevant literature and with other self-access centres in the region. During the planning phase, much was unknown about the purposes that the LLC would serve, since new programmes were being introduced throughout the Academy and the incoming cohort was the product of a new secondary school syllabus. While necessary decisions were made at the outset to establish the space, others, particularly those relating to pedagogy and the provision of advising and learner training, were taken in stages, as information became available.

“I am a SALCer”: Influences of Identity on Fear of Making Mistakes in English Interactions

This preliminary study attempts to examine the potential factors that enable EFL learners working in an English-only self-access learning center (SALC) to overcome their fear of making mistakes when they communicate in English with their peers. Through the interviews with those student workers called “SALCers,” it was revealed that the degree of their Willingness to Communicate (WTC) (McCroskey & Baer, 1985) was quite high when they interact with other SALCers in the SALC. On the other hand, their WTC is low when they are instructed to communicate in English in their English classrooms. The findings seem to indicate that some of the distinctive characteristics of the SALC work environment free the learners from the fear of making mistakes in English. Moreover, an analysis of interviews conducted with the SALC student staff indicated they had strong identities as SALCers and a shared sense of community, which also seemed to enhance their WTC. In this paper, the prominent characteristics of both the SALC and the SALCers themselves which seem to enhance their willingness to communicate by reducing the anxiety of making mistakes will be delineated with examples.

Human Resources as a Primary Consideration for Learning Space Creation

This paper discusses language learning space creation within third level institutions in Japan – specifically self-access language centres (SALCs). Human resources are particularly important considering that language learning is, both a difficult task that can be facilitated through expert support, and a necessarily communicative, interactive endeavour. It suggests that the first issue designers of new learning spaces may wish to consider is educational staffing, and gaining institutional approval for the necessary funding from the outset if possible. As the history of SALCs clearly shows, adequate and appropriate staffing remains key in order for optimal and broad learning gains to occur. One of the earliest evaluative studies of SALCs was conducted by Gardner and Miller (1997) in Hong Kong. The finding of most salience to this discussion is that “the SAC manager’s post should be full-time as should some of the tutor’s posts” (Gardner & Miller, 1997, p. 118). As a non-traditional learning environment where student and ‘teacher’ roles are repositioned, a SALC does not function within the same parameters as, for example, a language classroom. SALCs tend to employ learning advising rather than teaching. “While both the disciplines of advising in language learning and language teaching attempt to improve students’ language competence and learning ability, and would generally state both as desired learning outcomes, the weighting given to each goal is different” (Carson, 2012, p. 247). Those involved in setting up and running a SALC need to bear in mind different factors, and have a different knowledge base and skills set. Or, at least, they must have the time to develop this new knowledge and skills set, which can be problematic if this role is merely an addition to a wider job role.

The Development of CELE-UNAM Mediateca (1996-2015)

This paper describes the creation and evolution of the self-access centre (mediateca) at the Foreign Language Teaching Center at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, since its establishment in 1996, and its present profile as a learning space in the context of the university language center. It addresses the organization of the self-access system and describes the services it provides to foster learner autonomy, as well as the problems encountered in the process. It mentions some future directions.