JASAL 2025 National Conference

JASAL 2025 will take place at and is co-hosted by Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Oita, on Saturday, October 11th, 2025.

Format: Hybrid (on-site conference with partial online participation possible)

Conference Handbook

Link

Conference Schedule

Saturday, October 11th, 2025
JASAL2025 Conference at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Oita.
Time: 09:00–18:00
Access the detailed Conference Schedule here (updated 9/15).

Optional Activities

Friday, October 10th, 2025
SALC Tour at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Oita.
Time: 16:00–17:30.
Advance sign-up required (see form below).

Evening Networking Reception
Venue: Oita Kitchen HAL (near Beppu Station)
Time: 19:30–21:30 (tentative)
Menu and details: 8 dishes including dessert + all-you-can-drink
Price: ¥4,500 per person
Vegetarian and allergy-friendly options available — please let us know in the sign-up form (below) of any specific dietary requests.
Advance sign-up required (see form below).

Sunday, October 12th, 2025
Post-conference social event – Beppu sightseeing tour organised by APU students
Time: 10:30–12:30
Location: Kannawa area, Beppu
📄 Flyer
📽 Promo Video
Advance sign-up required (see form below).

To sign-up for these optional services, and to order a bento lunch, please use this sign-up form. (Please note that this is a different form to the conference registration form – see Registration below).
Deadline: Sign-up and pay by Tuesday, September 30th.

Conference Theme

Emotions in Self-Access Language Learning
As anyone who has spent any time learning a language knows, managing emotions is a vital part of the process. Language learning can lead to anxiety, but also great joy, and sustaining motivation is not always straightforward. This is especially the case in self-access environments, where various affective factors can influence the degree to which learners engage with the affordances offered by these spaces, and how they interact with other users. For self-access practitioners, considering emotions can affect the design of our spaces, the services offered, the role of staff and the physical (or virtual) set-up of the facilities, among other factors. 

Abstract
Affective factors play a significant role in foreign language learning, and in recent decades, research has increasingly focused on this dimension—examining learners’ emotions, feelings, motivation, and engagement, among other aspects. This body of work has highlighted the close relationship between emotion and cognition, the influence of emotional states on cognitive processing, and the impact of motivational factors and personal beliefs on learning outcomes.

In self-access learning settings, the affective dimension becomes even more crucial. Learners engaged in self-directed learning may face challenges such as fluctuating motivation, disorientation, disappointment, or frustration. Moreover, successful self-access learning frequently involves social interaction—such as joining a learning or conversation group, participating actively, or even taking the initiative to lead one. While these situations can be energizing and motivating for some, they may be intimidating or overwhelming for others.

Finally, beginning a reflective dialogue with a language advisor can be both rewarding and demanding, requiring emotional self-regulation and openness.

In this presentation, I will briefly illustrate how self-access managers, advisors, and support staff can create environments that reduce emotional barriers and instead foster a sense of acceptance, autonomy, and security in learners’ language learning journeys.

Registration

Registration for the conference is now open. Please sign up to attend the conference here.
Registration Fees:
On-site in Beppu:
JASAL Members: ¥2500
Non-JASAL members: ¥3000 
Online:
JASAL Members: ¥1500
Non-JASAL members: ¥2000
(Undergraduate students are entitled to free registration).

All registration fees are payable by bank transfer (details provided in the registration form). Presenters should submit payment by August 24th to ensure their place in the programme. For other attendees, payment will be accepted until Wednesday, October 8th. 
(Please note that if you would like to order lunch or attend the networking reception, you need to sign up and pay for these options, using this separate form, by Tuesday, September 30th. A joint payment with the registration fee is acceptable.)

Membership (free) must be active prior to the day of the conference. Please note that all presenters must be JASAL members.

Call for Papers

At this year’s JASAL conference, we invite you to share your own practices and research on the role of emotions in your self-access contexts, and how the consideration of emotions has shaped your spaces. 

We welcome submissions on this and other self-access related topics, such as:

• Managing and administrating self-access centres 
• Learning advising/counselling/coaching
• SAC design and layout
• Self-access and curriculum, learning program design
• Learning communities and learner involvement in SACs
• Student perspectives on self-access language learning (SALL)
• Virtual self-access
• Influence of AI on self-access 
• Assessment of self-access SALL
• Research design in SALL
• Professional development for SALL / Learning advisor education
• Promotion of SACs & SALL
• Lifelong learning 
• Study abroad & SALL

Presentation Formats:

We are accepting proposals for the following kinds of presentations. Please note that at this year’s conference we will have a limited number of online presentation slots available. 

1. Research presentation (on-site or online) (20+5 mins) 
2. Practices presentation (on-site or online) (15+10mins) 
3. Workshop (on-site only) (45 mins) 
4. Poster session (on-site only)

When submitting your proposal, please indicate if you are only able to accept an online presentation slot. All presenters should be JASAL members at time of registration. (To join JASAL, please send us an email, and include the information requested on the website.)

We welcome submissions in both English and Japanese. Please note that each presenter should be the lead presenter on only ONE submission, and may appear as a co-presenter on only one other submission. Once received, proposals will be blinded and peer-reviewed by at least two members of the JASAL board to ensure quality and relevance to JASAL.

Undergraduate students are welcome to submit to one of these formats with a member of staff (faculty member or administrator), but we encourage these students to participate in the dedicated student conference and other student-centred events, where they will have more opportunities to interact with peers. 

Submit a Proposal

Deadline for submissions:
Sunday, 6th July 2025. The submission deadline has now passed.

Please submit your proposal here. 

Accommodation & Transport

Check hotel information compiled by the APU team for Beppu here.
Please note that the weekend of the conference is a long weekend and accommodation is likely to fill up fast (and be rather expensive). For other options, Oita city is a short train ride from Beppu. Please note that APU can be reached by bus from Oita (60 mins) and Beppu (35-40 mins).
Here is information on flights, and local buses. There are also direct overnight ferries between Osaka and Beppu, and between Kobe and Oita.