The 7th Annual JASAL Student Forum was held online on Saturday 11 July 2026, bringing together student staff from Self-Access Learning Centres (SALCs) across Japan.
For the first time, the forum was supported by a student team, who designed the discussion questions, helped moderate the groups, and introduced a shared notes document with rotating leaders and notetakers.
Discussions covered approaches to language study, attracting and retaining students, and measuring SALC effectiveness, with participants swapping practical ideas from language exchange programmes to social media campaigns.
Feedback was very positive with everyone reporting speaking a lot and each participant left with concrete plans for their own centre. As one student put it, the forum “allows a lot of students from all over Japan to connect with each other.” We look forward to an even more student-centred forum in 2027.
The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 