JASAL 2024 will take place at Soka University, on Saturday, October 26, 2024.
Format: Hybrid (on-site conference with partial online participation possible)
Schedule
Friday, October 25, 2024
16:45-18:15:
SAC Tour at the Self-Access Park, University of Electro-Communications (電気通信大学) in Chofu, Tokyo. Sign-up information has been shared with JASAL members – please check your email!
Saturday, October 26, 2024
09:00-18:00:
JASAL2024 Conference at Soka University (1-236 Tangi-machi, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-8577). Access information can be found in the Conference Program below. Please note that there is a 15-minute bus journey from JR Hachioji or Keio Hachioji to the Soka University campus, and several possible bus stops, so please refer to the Program to see which one will best serve the Main Gate Fuji Art Museum bus stop.
The conference program includes a student-led tour of the self-access facilities, World Language Center.
20:00-22:00:
Conference Networking Dinner at Aangan Nepali restaurant in Shin-Okubo (near Shinjuku in Tokyo). ¥4500 for set course, vegetarian option available.
A sign-up form for the dinner is being shared with conference participants. Advance booking and payment required.
Sunday, October 27, 2024 Post-conference hike up Mt. Takao. Meeting place and time will be shared with conference participants several days before the event. Please note that participation is at your own risk.
Conference Program
The conference program with the schedule and all presentation abstracts, as well as useful information about the venue, is now available for download. (Updated on October 20th with detailed information about how to get the bus to Soka University from JR & Keio Hachioji stations.)
Conference Theme & UnPlenary Session
This year, we’d like to highlight the power of collaboration in self-access language learning. As a community-based learning model, we all know how self-access thrives on the connections made between self-access centre users, service/event participants and the educators who support the facilities. Equally, many successful self-access innovations would not be possible without collaboration between teachers, administrators, learning advisors, students and other people connected to self-access centres. At this year’s JASAL conference, we invite you to share your own practices and research on the role of collaboration in your self-access context, and how it has contributed to your self-access environment and supported learner autonomy.
Instead of a traditional plenary session, attendees are invited to participate in a special session of focus group discussions aimed at tackling real-world challenges and exploring innovative research avenues within their field. Inspired by Renaissance Weekend and introduced to the JASAL Board via Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, we aim at JASAL2024 to foster an environment where diverse perspectives converge to generate creative and tangible solutions to the issues that are most pressing to you–our members. For more information about this year’s (Un)plenary, and to register for the conference, follow this link.
Online Participation
This year’s JASAL conference will, as in recent years, have a hybrid element, but please note that the program will not be fully available for online participants. Online presentations will be screened in a presentation room for on-site participants, and one presentation room (out of four) will be streamed via Zoom to online participants. We hope to make as many presentation files available as possible after the conference for online participants.
Registration
Registration for the conference is now open. Please access the registration form here.
Due to an extremely generous grant awarded to JASAL by Soka University, there will be no registration fee for JASAL members at this year’s conference, for either online or on-site participants. We’d like to thank Soka University for their support for the conference.
JASAL Members: ¥0!
Non-JASAL members: ¥500 (payable by bank transfer).
(Undergraduate students are also entitled to free registration).
Submit a Proposal
Submissions are now closed. Thank you to everyone who submitted a proposal. The Call for Papers is available below.
Please submit your proposal here.
Travel Bursaries
JASAL supports its membership by providing registration waivers and travel bursaries to JASAL members without institutional funding and undergraduate/postgraduate students for participation in the annual conference. If you meet the criteria for eligibility below and desire to apply for a travel bursary, please apply using the online form on the conference webpage. Members of the JASAL Executive Board will review all applications and award bursaries as we are able. Please note that bursary amounts are dependent on a variety of unknown factors such as conference revenue and estimated travel costs of all bursary applicants, and may not cover the full cost of travel. We are unable to cover accommodation. Criteria for eligibility:
- I am a JASAL member or undergraduate student.
- I do not have a source of funding (e.g., institutional budget, research grant) that can cover my travel costs.
- I am willing to write a summary of my experience at the conference for publication in JASAL Journal or another publication. (Details will be given to successful applicants.)
We particularly welcome applications from members new to JASAL, undergraduate or postgraduate students, ALTs, or other non-tertiary sector educators. Please apply for the bursary using this form by September 15, 2024.
The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 