Search

This study explores the process of how a learner recognises the value of a Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) and takes charge of her own learning through self-reflection of her language learning environments beyond the classroom as well as her ideal future self-image as a motivational factor. A university student who majors in English drew a mind map as a tool to reflect on her learning activities beyond the classroom before and after engaging in various reflective activities. Employing a qualitative narrative case study approach, multiple data sources, which included two mind maps, written descriptions of them, and a follow-up semi-structured interview, were analysed from an ecological perspective. The findings show that the learner's self-reflection on her learning environments beyond the classroom, as well as her stronger image of ideal future-self, guided her to step forward to take action to engage with the SALC to create a meaningful space to achieve her goals. The learner's self-reflection on her engagement with the environments, strategic advice from her friends, and a clearer image of her ideal future self are seen as key factors for the development of her learner agency. The benefits of teachers including self-reflection during class time on learning beyond the classroom as an aid to develop learner agency are also outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

This is an interview study of Eldin, a 14-year-old Bosnian boy living in Sweden since the age of six. The aim is to investigate how Eldin became a gamer and how he, strongly motivated, learned foreign/second (L2) English mainly through self-access gameplay. Using language learning motivation theories, Dörnyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System and Dweck’s (2006) concept of mindsets, the questions are: (i) By whom and at what age was the learner introduced to video games?, (ii) What was it about the games that kept the learner motivated for two years before he started to play ‘for real’?, and (iii) How does the learner himself describe his process of language learning? Data consist of an in-depth interview and three university-level vocabulary/multiple-choice tests measuring English proficiency. Guided by the questions, interview data were analyzed qualitatively. Eldin’s mindset seems to favor naturalistic language learning, matching his interest in gaming. Experiences of having fun and daring to use ‘trial-and-error’ in gaming have contributed to his English proficiency, which is equivalent to a passing grade at second-semester university level. Elements of gaming (in particular, competition, stories, and escapism) appeal to Eldin, thereby indirectly contributing to his successful learning of English.

This is an interview study of Eldin, a 14-year-old Bosnian boy living in Sweden since the age of six. The aim is to investigate how Eldin became a gamer and how he, strongly motivated, learned foreign/second (L2) English mainly through selfaccess gameplay. Using language learning motivation theories, Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System and Dweck's (2006) concept of mindsets, the questions are: (i) By whom and at what age was the learner introduced to video games?, (ii) What was it about the games that kept the learner motivated for two years before he started to play 'for real'?, and (iii) How does the learner himself describe his process of language learning? Data consist of an in-depth interview and three university-level vocabulary/multiple-choice tests measuring English proficiency. Guided by the questions, interview data were analyzed qualitatively. Eldin's mindset seems to favor naturalistic language learning, matching his interest in gaming. Experiences of having fun and daring to use 'trial-and-error' in gaming have contributed to his English proficiency, which is equivalent to a passing grade at second-semester university level. Elements of gaming (in particular, competition, stories, and escapism) appeal to Eldin, thereby indirectly contributing to his successful learning of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]