Registration Open for JASAL 10th Anniversary Conference

Registration is now open for the JASAL 10th Anniversary Conference (originally called JASAL Mini-Conference) in Tokyo on 12th December. We have 12 presentations on various aspects of self-access from 13 different institutions across Japan, so it promises to be a very interesting day.

If you’d like to attend the Conference, please register in advance using this online registration form.

More details about the JASAL 10th Anniversary Conference can be found on this page, or accessed from the Conference & Events tag.

Conference Program pamphlet can be found here.

We hope to see many of you at KIFL on December 12th!

Announcing JASAL Mini-Conference, Sat., 12 December, 2015

JASAL is excited to announce a one-day mini-conference, to be held at Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages in Tokyo, on Sat., 12th December 2015, from 10:00 to 15:30.

Join us for a tour of their the two-floor SAC (VISTA ACT & VISTA SILC), and presentations and discussion on any aspects of Self-Access Language Learning.

Click here for more information.

Show & Tell Student Presentations at L-café, Okayama University

JASAL was delighted to host a very successful event at Okayama University’s L-café on Saturday, 11th July. Students (and a teacher) from 7 different universities across Kansai and the Chugoku region gave presentations about their self-access facilities, and took part in student discussion. Over 60 people attended the presentation event. It was great to see the L-café, learn about other facilities at different institutions and meet so many students who are passionate about learning languages and their centres. Thank you to all L-cafe students, teachers and administrators who did such a great job of welcoming us all!

Look out for a more detailed update on the JASAL Conference Page in the coming days!

New event: 2nd Feb 2015 – SAC Visit and Discussion at Sojo University, Kumamoto

In collaboration with Sojo University, Kumamoto, JASAL is happy to announce the latest in its series of SAC visits, this time in Kyushu.

On 2nd Feb 2015, Sojo University, Kumamoto is hosting the Teaching & Learning Forum: Focus on Listening, co-sponsored by Nankyu JALT. http://jalt.org/events/nankyu-chapter/15-02-02

As part of this event, Sojo staff have very kindly agreed to offer a guided tour of their self-access facilities, the Self-Access Learning Centre, which was established in 2010. This will be followed by discussion time, facilitated by JASAL. For more information about the SALC at Sojo, please check their website: https://www.sojo-u.ac.jp/silc/salc/

In order to attend the event, please fill in the online application form for the Forum, stating your interest in the JASAL SALC tour. Participation in the tour also entitles you to full participation in the Forum. Normal Forum registration fees apply-￥1000 for JALT members, ￥1500 for non-members (￥500 early bird discount). JASAL membership is not necessary to join this event.

Registration Open for SAC Tour at KIFL

Registration is now open for the SAC Tour of the recently renewed SAC facilities at Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages (KIFL) Tokyo on Saturday November 22nd, 2014.

See the event home page for more information.

Event participation is free, but we kindly ask all attendees to pre-register by Thursday, November 20th, so we can have a good idea of numbers for the event. Please use the form available on the event home page to register.

Hope to see you in November!

Announcing the JASAL Forum at JALT 2014 (Tsukuba, 23rd Nov. 2014)

The JASAL forum, held annually at the JALT conference, has now been confirmed. We have a great line up for you this year.

Title: Self-access conversations: beyond classroom border

Day: Sunday, 23 November 2014

Time: 5:40 PM-7:10 PM

Room: 202 B

This year we have 4 presentations from members that will be followed by a group discussion. This year’s presentation topics are setting up a new centre, attracting new users, tips for running a SAC smoothly and issues in evaluating self-access, and we welcome any issue for discussion. We hope to see many JASAL members there!

For more details, see the JASAL Forum 2014 page.

PUBLISHED! Student Conference Reports from SISAC Conference

JASAL is very happy to announce the publication of the Student Conference Reports from the Student Involvement in Self-Access Centers Conference, held in Nagoya in February 2013.

You can download your copy here:

SISAC Conference Reports

There are 5 reports from students who attended and presented at the conference, along with some contributions from the editor, Vick Ssali, and the organisers. Please feel free to share the Reports with any interested parties.

JASAL and the conference organisers Umida Ashurova & Robert Croker, and editor Vick Ssali, would like to thank all the students for all their hard work in writing their papers.

We hope to be able to announce another student conference soon!

Call for Papers: SISAC Conference Proceedings

Thank you to everyone who participated in and made the recent Student Involvement in Self Access Centers Conference in Nagoya an astounding success! It was great to see so many students talking passionately about their SACs and exchanging ideas about how to make them even better. We hope to be able to hold similar events in the future. Thanks once again to Risa and her team of students at Sugiyama Jogakuen University for a superb job in organising it all!

In order to spread the word even further and keep the conversation going about student involvement in SACs, we’d like to announce a Call for Papers for a Conference Proceedings.

This conference proceedings will be read by people who couldn’t attend the actual conference, so it’s a great opportunity to share your ideas and suggestions with people all over Japan who are interested in SACs and Learning Centres. We also hope to help authors publish their papers in respected academic journals.

Teachers/advisors/managers: please encourage your students to submit a paper for this volume!

The editors would like to suggest the 3 following kinds of paper for submission:

a summary of your presentation content
a conference report, giving details of the different presentations that you saw with some of your reflections
a reflective report on your experiences at the conference – what you learned and how you would like to change and improve your SAC based on the ideas you got from the conference.

Papers should be around 750 words. The deadline is 6th May, 2013. Please send your submissions to studentconference2013ATgmail.com.

All submissions will be reviewed by the editors before publication.

We look forward to reading your submissions.

Call for Presentations: JASAL Forum at JALT 2013

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
for the JASAL Forum at JALT2013, Kobe (October 25-28, 2013)

Self-access and the lifelong voyage of learning
Self-access learning can be a lifelong endeavour, starting at any age, and continuing far beyond graduation from an institution. This process is easily likened to a voyage, with learners going in different directions and progressing at different speeds depending on a variety of environmental factors. The self-access centre can be seen as a port, with learners coming to refuel with ideas, restock with learning materials, share stories of their adventures, and possibly chart out a new direction for the future. Feel free to interpret this year’s JALT theme in any way that is relevant to you and your context.

We invite submissions on areas including, but not limited to:

SAC layout
Managing and administrating SACs
Materials
Learning program design
Integrating self-access with curriculum
Learner involvement in self-access
Self-access learning communities
Learning advising/counseling
Assessment of self-access learning
Evaluating SACs
Research design
Interaction and collaboration with colleagues and administrators

Continuing on the success of last year’s event, this year’s forum will consist of short presentations followed by a poster session and open forum discussion.

Proposals should include the following:

Title
Format (poster or presentation)
Name(s) of presenter(s) and affiliation(s)
JALT membership number of all presenters, (if applicable)
150-200 word abstract
75-word summary which clearly states your topic
Equipment you will require

Please submit your proposal to jasalorgATgmail.com by Sun, April 14, 2013. Please note that while the JALT deadline for submissions is April 21, we need time to put together our proposal. If for some reason your presentation cannot be included in the JASAL Forum, we will notify you so you can submit your proposal to the JALT conference as an individual paper before the April 21 deadline.

Please understand that depending on the number and nature of proposals we receive, we may have to ask you to change from a presentation to a poster or vice versa.

For more information on the JALT 2013 conference, please visit: http://jalt.org/conference

Registration for the Student Conference now open!

Happy New Year from the JASAL committee!

The Student Involvement in Self Access Centres Conference is now coming up very soon (1st & 2nd Feb) (more details here). We have around 10 different student presentations for participants to enjoy, and hope that many JASAL members can come to learn from and support students working hard in Self Access Centres around Japan.

If you are planning to attend the conference, please register by completing this

Conference Registration Form

and sending it to studentconference2013ATgmail.com ASAP. We will also accept onsite registration, but it would help our planning greatly if you could indicate your interest for the different events we will be holding in advance. Registration is free for all students, but, as we are a non-profit conference with very limited funding, we ask for a suggested donation of ¥2000 from professionals attending the conference, to help us cover transportation, food and accommodation costs for student participants who otherwise would not be able to attend.

If you would like to use the onsite accommodation at Nanzan Kenshu Centre, please make sure you return the form by 24th January (sorry about the short notice). Please understand that, due to a limited supply, we cannot promise to be able to meet all requests.

Hope to see many of you in Nagoya in a few weeks!