Self-access Learning Research Articles

Language Learning Through Socialization: DiversifiedUse of a Self-Access Center

Through the establishment of interactionally rich environments, conversation rooms and self-access centers encourage attendees to be extremely competent and resourceful language, cultural and social learners. The following paper outlines four unique yet contrasting aspects of one such self-access center—the English Resource Center at Saitama University, Japan. In the first section, a brief history of the Center is provided, outlining its socially situated learning community. The second section details a special event occurring in the Center, which prepares students for formal academic presentations in foreign institutions. The Center's Drama Workshop is discussed in the third section, focusing on the linguistic and cultural growth that participants experience as they each experiment with their own developing English identity. Finally, the fourth section quantitatively analyzes attendees' English proficiency gains by comparing examination results over time. All in all, the differing interactive contexts of this self-access learning center work together in unison, strongly supporting linguistic growth and cultural development.

Supporting Self-Directed Learning: A Framework for Teachers

The language learning process is a complicated one, and although classroom study forms the backbone of this process for many learners, motivated students will also engage in their own language study independent of the teacher. This paper examines four aspects of the learning process that self-directed learners are generally understood to be able to navigate: planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating; it then suggests ways in which teachers can foster these abilities in the language learning classroom. By teaching specific strategies for different learning tasks, encouraging reflection and self-analysis, and raising learners’ awareness of their own learning processes in addition to features of the language they are studying, teachers can help learners to assume more responsibility for their own learning, and thus to become more effective language learners. In order to be successful, most language learners will have to engage in independent study to some degree to master a language; the growth of self-access centres in institutions around the world is a reflection of the importance of this process. Institutions and managers have realised that learners can only reach their full potential when they have the flexibility to study according to their own needs, learning styles, and interests, and that classroom-based learning scenarios are only a small part of the overall process of learning a foreign language. Of those learners serious about mastering a language, even those who do not have access to a state-ofthe-art resource centre will likely be engaging in their own self-directed study, independent of their class work or homework set by the teacher. This willingness to seek out their own learning opportunities and engage with the language on their own terms is a common theme seen in studies of identified “Good Language Learners” (Griffiths, 2008). Such good language learners often develop very effective strategies which help them make considerable progress in their language learning; however, for every successful, motivated, independent learner, there are many others who, despite their efforts, struggle to make meaningful progress or experience problems with self-motivation and lack of confidence in their study strategies. In these circumstances, the role of the teacher is vital. By providing support and guidance for learners, teachers can help their students develop the skills to be successful self-directed learners with clear goals, appropriate resources, and effective learning strategies. This paper aims to provide a framework to help teachers support their learners in developing autonomous learning skills which can enhance their language learning both inside and outside the classroom. It draws on the experience of the author, a Learning Advisor in a Self-Access Learning Centre in Japan, in encouraging learners to analyse their own situations and develop the skills to be able to take full control of their own learning process. While a self-access centre in which learners are aware of the need to make their own decisions about their learning may Language Education in Asia, 2010, 1(1), 158-170. http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/10/V1/A14/Thornton Language Education in Asia, Volume 1, 2010 Thornton Page 159 be an ideal environment for learners to engage in such analysis, classroom teachers can also foster independent learning skills in their students in a similar fashion by incorporating simple activities into their lessons and encouraging self-analysis during classroom tasks.

Beliefs about Self-Access Learning: Reflections on 15 years of change

This paper examines the degree to which the beliefs of stakeholders in self-access language learning in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong have changed during a 15 year period. To identify changes a comparison is made between the findings of a research study conducted in the mid-1990s in five self-access centres (Gardner and Miller, 1997) and the current situation. The following four key areas are examined: materials for self-access learning, integration of self-access centres and language learning courses, motivation and the effectiveness of a self-access centre. The comparison reveals that the degree of change in these four areas vary. We reflect on the causes of change.

An Empirical Study on the Effectiveness of Self-Access Language Learning and its Autonomy Based on Self-Access Center

With the deepening reform of college English teaching in China, many self-access centers(SAC) have been established in universities to promote students’ antonomy and cultivate their leanring ability. Based on the theories of constructivism, humanistic psychology and cognitive psychology, the self-access language learning ( SALL), with its new emphasis on speaking and llistening , is a very good supplement to traditional classroom teaching ，whose focus is only on reading and writing. This paper intends to probe into the effectiveness of students’ SALL in SAC of Wuhan Polytechnic Universtiy through an empirical study. After analyzing the findings qualitatively and quantitatively, the results show that that learners’ autonomy, by and large, can be achieved. SAC and SALL is sure to be very helpful to arouse learners’ learning interest, foster their independence, improve their problem–solvling ability and facilitate their four-skilled abilities.

Report on the Japan Association of Self-Access Learning (JASAL) Forum, at the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) 2009 Conference in Shizuoka.

The theme of the JALT 2009 conference was The teaching-learning dialogue: An active mirror. In the area of self-access language learning the teaching-learning dialogue primarily takes place in the language advising situation. In this forum, educators from different universities in Japan addressed the following questions: What form does the teaching-learning dialogue take in your centre? How has this dialogue informed the practice of learners and educators working in your centre? For a fuller discussion of the role of dialogue in self-access learning (based on presentations at this forum), see Mynard & Navarro (2010).

Integrating Self-Access into the Curriculum: Our Experience

Linking self-access and classroom learning is a difficult and time-consuming business, but one which can lead to great rewards as learners develop independent learning skills and assume greater responsibility for their learning. This paper will outline the approach for encouraging independent learning employed in the first year English language curriculum at Hiroshima Bunkyo Joshi Daigaku (HBJD), a four-year women’s only university in Japan. Two different methods for doing this will be introduced: employing project-based learning activities and linking classroom activities with a Self-Access Learning Center (SALC). The design of the curriculum and the materials encourage individualized learning, while the project-based and independent learning activities promote learner responsibility and control of learning (Dickinson, 1987) through utilization of the SALC. This paper will outline the issues involved in shifting from a weakly linked curriculum and SALC to a more strongly linked curriculum-SALC relationship. It will provide specific examples of this challenge before also discussing examples of the successes and failures that have been faced by the curriculum design and self-access teams in attempting to create a curriculum which strongly promotes independent learning. It is hoped that sharing these experiences will provide some useful insights into the issues surrounding the encouragement of independent learning and how these issues can be tackled practically in a teaching situation.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Modules in the Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) for Success in the Global Workplace

University students must prepare themselves to be successful members of the global workforce, and this paper introduces one way for a self-access center to support such preparation by students outside of the formal classroom environment. In this paper, it is proposed that the Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) provide ESP (English for specific purposes) modules intended to prepare students for their future careers.

Developing Song Worksheets for a SALC

After receiving the Japanese Ministry of Education’s Best Practice award in 2003, the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at Kanda University of international Studies (KUIS) has continued in its goal of creating materials and resources which aim to engage the learners whilst promoting learner autonomy. The development team has promoted its materials design and philosophy at a number of national and international conferences and in a variety of SLA publications (Kershaw et al., 2010).

Enhancing a Self-Access Website

Since July of 2009, the Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) at Kanda University has maintained a student-oriented Let’s Study English website (accessible at http://elisalc.org). The website acts as an extension of the physical space of the SALC, supporting the Center’s commitment to student access to information and materials which suit individual students’ learning needs, abilities and preferences. It also widens the learning environment- enabling students to access SALC information and resources virtually anywhere at any time. Lastly, it helps promote a community of language learners, encouraging student involvement in Learning Center activities.

Some Self-Access Principles

In this article, I will describe how the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) was established, and discuss some of the personal philosophies of self-access centres (SACs) and self-access learning that I have developed over the eight years of being associated with this centre.

Editorial

Welcome to the very first edition of the journal Studies in Self-Access Learning, which will otherwise be known as SiSAL ( /si:sæl/). SiSAL began life as a modest project at an institution of higher education in Japan. Originally intended as an internal publication which would serve the team of administrative staff, teachers and learning advisors at Kanda University of International Studies and its associated institutions, the journal developed out of a desire to archive and share ongoing work with each other and also with interested colleagues. However, colleagues at Kanda and elsewhere expressed surprise that the initiative should have such a limited scope; surely this was a golden opportunity for professionals in the field around the world to learn from each other? After considerable reflection, it was agreed that SiSAL Journal should be launched as a peer review journal, providing articles, reports, reviews, perspectives and work in progress to educators and staff involved in self-access learning worldwide.

Management of Change in a Self-Access Learning Centre

The management of self-access centres is an interesting and challenging job; in fact, it is so challenging that managers of such centres often have to consider whether they want merely to maintain the existing state or, since change will not come overnight or without sustained effort, persist with the long-term extra work involved in being leaders for change. This paper aims to show how, after a decade in existence, major changes were initiated and implemented in the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). In doing so, it is hoped that it can serve as a useful example to managers of other self-access centres who are contemplating change.

Designing a Placement Test for Use in Student English Access Rooms (SEARs)

One project in Thailand in which self-access has been implemented recently is Student English Access Rooms (SEARs), which is funded by the World Bank. The aim is to promote English development and improvement through self-access learning. To serve the aim, a placement test is needed as supportive guidance on where to start using the materials. This paper investigates whether a computer-based placement test, which was specially designed for use in SEARs, is an appropriate test and whether the levels of the materials suggested are appropriate for students’ language levels.

CULl Instructors' Use of and Attitudes toward the Self-Access Learning Center

CULl Instructors' Use of and Attitudes toward the Self-Access Learning Center

Examining the ‘self’ in self-access materials

Self-access centres (SACs*) are an increasingly common form of support for language learners. Self-access learning, by its nature, is heavily dependent on the availability of sufficient and relevant materials of a high quality, since students often have little or no access to further support from a teacher. The materials thus have to be very clear, comprehensive, and easy to use. Although more and more publishers now include comments such as ‘suitable for self-access’ in their catalogues, it is not always clear on what basis such comments are made. The majority of purchasing decisions are made by SAC staff without even such basic comments. This article presents the results of an evaluation of a random selection of materials in the SAC at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, using an evaluative checklist developed by the authors. Results from a quantitative analysis show that many materials do not include the types of support needed in a self-access context. Results from a qualitative analysis of the evaluators’ comments show that the features most commented on by teachers (either for their absence or their presence) are ease of access and support for the wider development of students’ language learning strategies.

Scenario-Based Spoken Interaction with Virtual Agents

This paper describes a CALL approach which integrates software for speaker independent continuous speech recognition with embodied virtual agents and virtual worlds to create an immersive environment in which learners can converse in the target language in contextualised scenarios. The result is a self-access learning package: SPELL (Spoken Electronic Language Learning). The SPELL system has been implemented to run in real time on a standard desktop PC. A prototype of SPELL is in user testing with learners of Italian and learners of Japanese in five high schools in Scotland. The speech recogniser is programmed to recognise grammatical and some ungrammatical utterances so that the learner can receive feedback on their language production. The dialogues can be modified in cases of communication difficulties, and are reactive to the learner's spoken input so that the learner receives relevant and immediate feedback to their utterance. Feedback takes two key forms: reformulations, where the system modifies the initial input, and recasts, where the system repeats the learner's utterance, implicitly correcting any errors. The SPELL system will offer a test bed for the effectiveness of the feedback within a self-access virtual learning environment.

Towards Greater Individualization and Process-Oriented Learning Through Electronic Self-Access: Project “e-daf”

Research in cognitive psychology and second language learning has underlined the significance of learners’ cognitive processes and individual preferences in language learning. Helping learners to be aware of these processes and preferences has in fact become an important methodological principle of language teaching. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) have made it possible to offer a wide range of interactive language exercises and self-access learning materials in the Internet. This paper will provide a brief description of “e- daf ”, the Virtual Self-access Centre for German as a Foreign Language at the National University of Singapore, its objectives and structure. Using selected examples of interactive exercises and resources from “e- daf ”, it will introduce five essential design principles and explain how these principles can be applied to enable greater individualization and process-orientation with the ultimate aim of promoting autonomous learning.

Different Learning Patterns in Self-Access

Self-access learning has recently received much attention from language practitioners, educators and linguists in the language learning field. Much emphasis has been put on the effectiveness of the self-access system. However, it is difficult to locate studies concerning the learning patterns in self-access systems. This paper looks on two levels into the different learning patterns among university students studying in a self-access learning environment. First, it addresses the impact of the different learning patterns on language learning under self-access systems. Second, the paper discusses our research findings on the learning patterns among university students when learning in the self-access mode and proposes appropriate self-access working models to enhance language learning.

Bridging the Gap: Utilising Self-Access Learning as a Course Component

The use of self-access centres by independent learners is only one of the ways that such important institutional learning resources may be used. The SAC can also be exploited by class teachers and course co-ordinators to supplement teaching and reinforce course objectives at the individual level. This may help to bridge the gap between independent language learning and total teacher control and may be particularly valuable for students whose past experiences have lead them to expect a great deal of teacher direction. In this article we describe how self-access learning was integrated as part of a classroom-taught course in Business English and evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. From the lessons learnt from our experiences, we consider the implications for improving the effectiveness of other integrated self- access learning projects.

Teletext for CALL

Mindful of how much time is needed to produce satisfactory texts for standard CALL authoring packages, it is surprising that an abundant source of free, first-class, totally authentic and up-to-date raw material still remains largely untapped for supplementing course material and for self-access language learning.