Post-JASAL Conference Page
The JASAL committee would like to thank the presenters for sharing their presentations online. You can access photos, abstracts, and PDF files of the presentations made at the JASAL 2017 Annual Conference here.
Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba, Japan
Saturday, December 16th, 2017
Friday, December 15th, 2017 KUIS SALC tour, 15:00-16:00 (No cost)
Saturday, December 16th, 2017 Annual Conference
Updated Conference Program (Click here to download!)
(This is an updated version of the program, uploaded on Dec 13th. If you have the old program, please discard it and use this. We sincerely apologize for the errors made on the old program.)
JASAL aims to be environmentally conscious, and we know that many attendees will prefer not to waste paper. Thus, we recommend downloading the program onto your device. We will print some copies of the program for those who prefer to have a paper program in their hand, but these will be limited in number. Thank you for your understanding!
Online Registration
Please register by November 15th, 2017 to get an early discount. Online registration after Nov. 15th is full price (¥3,000). After December 10th you will not be able to reserve lunch or your place at the evening reception, so book while you can!
Register for the conference here.
Plenary Speaker
Dr. Garold Murray
Okayama University
“Self-Access Environments as Self-Enriching Complex Dynamic Ecosocial Systems
Download handout here.
Presentation slides here.
Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of self-access learning in Japan. Most self-access centers start off as modest endeavours and over time develop into fully-fledged facilities. Successful self-access centers are in a continuous state of becoming. Change is one of their key features. One major change that has taken place so gradually over the years that it has been barely perceptible is the shift in the fundamental mission of self-access centers from places that support individual self-directed learners to spaces that also embrace the social dimensions of learning.
In my talk, I argue that self-access environments can be enriched by the inclusion of social learning spaces. Self-access centers, which incorporate social learning spaces, have the potential to become complex dynamic ecosocial systems. As such, they can support the emergence of a wide variety of affordances for language learning. While complex dynamic systems cannot be created and the process of emergence cannot be engineered, both can be facilitated. In my talk, I will suggest steps that self-access workers might take to support the emergence of complex dynamic ecosocial systems and affordances for language learning.
To illustrate my views, I draw on data from three research projects, which investigated a social learning space at Okayama University. These projects include a five-year ethnography, a multiple-case study and a narrative inquiry. After describing the social learning space and outlining the studies, I will briefly summarize how the theoretical orientation shifted from a community of practice perspective to a complex dynamic systems approach. I will then share with you what I have learned from these studies and the implications for the development, management and day-to-day operation of self-access learning facilities.
Bio
Garold Murray is an associate professor in the Center for Liberal Arts and Language Education at Okayama University. He holds a PhD in language education from the University of British Columbia. In addition to having taught EFL courses in undergraduate, graduate, and teacher education programs, he established and managed two self-access centers – one of which was open to the general public. He has served as convener of the AILA Research Network on Learner Autonomy in Language Learning (2005-2011) and president of the Japan Association of Self-Access Language Learning (2005-2010). His research interests focus on learner autonomy, social learning spaces, imagination, and semiotics of place. He is the editor of the book The Social Dimensions of Learner Autonomy (2014), and co-editor of the books Identity, Motivation, and Autonomy in Language Learning (2011); Social Spaces for Language Learning: Stories from the L-café (2016); and Space, Place and Autonomy in Language Learning (2018).
The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 