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This chapter proposes a new research direction into autonomy in language learning: an exploration of its spatial dimension. Based on a longitudinal ethnographic inquiry into a social learning space in a language centre in a Japanese university, a key assumption of the study is that how people define a space transforms it into a place, determines what they do there and influences their autonomy. Drawing on data from this five-year investigation, the findings suggest that researchers might draw on ecological approaches, complexity approaches and mediated discourse analysis. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the potential benefits of pursuing research that incorporates space, place and autonomy.

This chapter presents a thematic content analysis of sixteen narratives by administrators, teachers and students in which they write about their experiences in a social space for language learning at a Japanese university. Drawing on complex dynamic systems theory as well as theories of space and place, the authors explore the affordances for language learning and personal development available in this environment, the theoretical implications for out-of-class learning and insights pertaining to the development and management of such facilities. The authors conclude by presenting a conceptual model for social learning spaces and suggesting directions for future research.

This chapter chronicles a narrative inquiry comprised of a collection of sixteen stories about how students, teachers and administrators experience the L-cafe, a social space for foreign language learning located on the campus of a large national university in Japan. Adopting a narrative style, this introductory chapter begins with a description of the L-cafe and a brief outline of its history, after which it tells the story of the five-year ethnographic study leading up to the current inquiry. It then provides an account of how the theoretical perspective informing the interpretation of the stories expanded from a focus on community of practice to encompass constructs from human geography, mediated discourse analysis and complex dynamic systems theory. It concludes with a synopsis of the participants’contributions.

In a New York Times article commenting on the protest movements which unsettled the status quo from Tahrir Square in Cairo to Zuccotti Park in New York City, the author cautions that ‘we tend to underestimate the political power of physical places’ (Kimmelman 2011: SRI). In this chapter we argue that neither should we underestimate the power of place in relation to language education, nor its relevance for learner autonomy. Benson (2011: 58) defines autonomy as ‘the capacity to take control of one’s own learning’ and characterizes it as encompassing three dimensions: control over learning management (cf. Holec 1981), control over cognitive processing (cf. Little 1991), and control over content. We propose a fourth dimension: space. How learners imagine a space to be, perceive it, define it, and articulate their understandings transforms a space into a place, determines what they do there, and influences their autonomy.

While much of the literature in the area of language education focuses on young people learning primarily in classroom settings, this chapter explores the topic of designing learning opportunities for older learners outside of the classroom context. Over the next two decades, the number of retired people will increase dramatically in nations around the world. Media reports constantly remind us that people are not only enjoying a longer life span than previous generations but are also staying healthier and more active. For any number of reasons, many will commence or renew foreign language study. Language educators and researchers will need to turn their attention to the matter of learning languages later in life and the challenges older learners face.