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Holec’s seminal definition of learner autonomy as the capacity to take charge of one’s own learning has guided my work as a language educator in both classrooms and self-access centres over the past 30 years. Implementing his model, I encouraged learners to take responsibility for all aspects of their learning from goal setting to assessment. However, my focus has gradually shifted from the individual learner working independently towards individual learners working collaboratively. I adopted a community of practice perspective to conceptualize to conceptualize the learning I saw happening through social interaction. Gradually, this frame of reference expanded to encompass ecology and complexity thinking. In this chapter I explore how adopting complex dynamic systems theory as a theoretical orientation has influenced how I view learner autonomy and Holec’s model. To illustrate my points, I draw on data from three studies carried out over an eight-year period in a social space for language learning at a Japanese university: an ethnography, a multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry. After describing the learning context, tracing the evolving theoretical orientation, and outlining the studies, I examine learner autonomy as an emergent phenomenon in relation to such themes as control, change, space and place, and imagination. Before concluding, I reflect on the implications for practice, further inquiry, and Holec’s model.

In this era of globalization, Japanese universities will have to accommodate an increasing number of local students wishing to learn foreign languages and they will also have to welcome more international students to their campuses. While universities will undoubtedly take steps to ensure that both groups have positive educational and intercultural experiences, we contend that it is also incumbent upon them to implement measures designed to facilitate the adaptation of international students to Japanese society. In this article, we examine the role social learning spaces can play in helping universities respond to these challenges. We argue that these facilities can make an invaluable contribution by supporting language learning and cross-cultural acclimatization for both international and Japanese students. The term social learning spaces refers to places where students can come together in an informal or quasi-formal environment in order to learn from and with each other. To illustrate our points, we draw on the data from a five-year ethnographic inquiry carried out at one such facility on the campus of a large national university. After describing the social learning space, outlining the study, and tracing the theoretical orientation guiding the interpretation of the data, we focus on the benefits social learning spaces can afford international students wishing to improve their language skills and adapt to Japanese society. To conclude, we reflect on how social learning spaces can support the process of glocalization by making local universities more globalized places.

Over the past four decades, learner autonomy in language learning has been quietly moving across what might be viewed as three paradigms in applied linguistics. When learner autonomy was introduced in the late 1970s, language classrooms were largely teacher-dominated. At that time, learner autonomy offered a much-needed focus on learners as individuals capable of accepting responsibility for all aspects of their learning. Later, as Vygotsky’s (1978, 1986) neo-constructivist theories became known, learning came to be seen as being socially mediated; and the field of applied linguistics experienced ‘a social turn’. Now it is widely recognized that learner autonomy develops more through interdependence rather than independence. Currently in the field of applied linguistics, ecology and complexity thinking are becoming more widespread. This article explores the impact that this theoretical shift might have on the work being carried out in social learning spaces. By drawing on themes arising from an ethnography, a multiple case study, and a narrative inquiry investigating a social learning space, this article looks at how managers might facilitate the emergence of affordances for learning by fostering conditions for complex emergence. It begins by situating the research within the literature, and providing an overview of pertinent aspects of theories of complex dynamic systems and space and place. Then, illustrating the points with themes and anecdotes from the three studies, suggestions are made as to how learning space managers might support the emergence of affordances for learning through attention to distributed control, neighbour interactions, reciprocity, randomness, and physical design features of the learning space.

Learner autonomy is a construct in motion, unfolding in step with our academic imaginary. Over the past forty years, it has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to changing times. Introduced in the late 1970s during an era characterized by the teacher-dominated language classroom, learner autonomy provided a much-needed focus on learners as potentially independent individuals capable of taking charge of their learning. Later, as the so-called ‘social turn’ gained prominence in the field of applied linguistics, autonomy revealed itself to be a social construct developed through interdependence. Now, as applied linguists turn their attention to complexity science, what facets of learner autonomy can be revealed by examining the construct from the perspective of complex dynamic systems theory? This paper addresses this question by drawing on the findings of three studies – a five-year ethnography, a longitudinal multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry – all of which explored a social space for language learning located on the campus of a large national university in Japan. The aim of these studies was to explore the ways in which learners experienced the facility and how it supported their linguistic and personal development. Adopting an ecological approach enabled the author and fellow researchers to focus on the affordances that emerged through learners’ engagement with the environment. Gradually, as these studies were carried out over the past eight years, the thinking on how to view this space, the learners and their learning has expanded from a community of practice perspective to one embracing complex dynamic systems theory. This article will examine how this shift in theoretical focus has offered lessons on learner autonomy in this out-of-class context.

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.

Metacognitive knowledge – what students know about themselves, the tasks they complete and their learning strategies – is essential for successful self-directed learning. It follows that those who work in self-directed learning settings need to stimulate their students’ metacognitive development. Previous research in metacognition has defined its characteristics and contribution to language learning, but little has been written about how it develops or can be promoted. This paper seeks to fill that gap by reporting on a three-year study involving more than 400 Japanese students of English which investigated the development of their metacognitive knowledge. The paper will first discuss research in metacognitive knowledge as it relates to language learning. Then, it will describe the aims and nature of the learning opportunities provided in the study before describing the research methodology. Thirdly, the results of analysing quantitative and qualitative data gathered will be presented and discussed. The data provide evidence of change in the students’ beliefs about assuming control of their learning, and reflect increases in their ability to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning. It is argued that distinctive elements in the learning structure contributed to the growth of students’ metacognitive knowledge.

This paper reports on a life history research project which involves collecting the language learning stories of adult Japanese English foreign language (EFL) learners who have attained intermediate to advanced levels of fluency without having studied or lived overseas. In these stories the learners reveal what they did to learn the language outside of the classroom. An analysis of the stories provides insights into the prominent role pop culture plays in their language learning. The author uses these insights to illustrate the kind of knowledge that life history research can provide language educators and how this knowledge might inform pedagogical practice.

Paradoxical as it might seem, most of the authors contributing to this exploration of the social dimensions of autonomy in language learning began their chapter by referring to Holec’s seminal definition. He defined autonomy as ‘the ability to take charge of one’s own learning’ (Holec 1981: 3), and, in doing so, situated the construct squarely on the individual side of the individual-social dialectic in applied linguistics (for a discussion see Benson and Cooker 2013b). His definition and accompanying model grew out of early work to develop self-access language learning. In this institutional context, individuals were learning the target language by themselves through direct access to target language materials; hence, the term self-access. ‘To take charge of one’s own learning’ entailed setting goals, selecting materials, making decisions about activities and strategies, monitoring progress and assessing outcomes. This learning environment called for learners to work independently of a teacher, to take initiative, to plan, and to accept responsibility of all aspects of their learning. Furthermore, as Lewis (Chapter 3) points out, the emphasis on learner independence was necessary at a time when the notion that learners could successfully take on these responsibilities amounted to a revolutionary concept. Thirty years on, Holec’s remains the most commonly cited definition of learner autonomy (Benson 2007).

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.

This paper reports on an ethnographic inquiry into the linguistic and sociocultural affordances available to English and Japanese foreign language learners through their engagement in a social learning space at a Japanese university. By social learning space we refer to a facility in which students come together in order to learn with and from each other in a non-formal setting. To explore the social learning dynamic in this environment, we carried out a longitudinal ethnographic inquiry. Data came primarily from interviews with learners and administrators, supported by participant-observations. A thematic analysis of the data, informed by ecological and community of practice perspectives, pointed to the emergence of a community of learners and revealed how closely the affordances were connected with the emergent community. In this paper we report on the findings related to the affordances which gave rise to language learning opportunities, the relationship of these affordances to the conditions which supported the development of a community of learners, and the role of learner autonomy in regard to these two interrelated phenomena.

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.