This year’s JASAL Forum at JALT conference was held Tokyo!
Time: Sat, November 1st, 2025, 17:40-19:10
Location: Room 307
(National Olympics Memorial Youth Center, Tokyo / 国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター)
We had two great presentations from JASAL members and plenty of time for discussion and networking:
1) Yuki Namiki, Daniel Hooper, Samuel Reid (Tokyo Kasei University)
Revitalizing the REAL Room: Creating a Learning Community
Over the past 30 years, self-access language learning has evolved beyond material repositories into communities of practice that support learners’ social and psychological needs. This presentation explores the transformation of the REAL Room, a self-access space at a Japanese university. We first outline its history and factors contributing to its past inactivity. Then, we present findings from a needs analysis of student and faculty perspectives, which identified key roles for the REAL Room: an English-medium social hub, a self-directed learning support space, and a promotional tool for the English Communication department. Based on these insights, we developed a mission statement to guide its transformation into a collaborative and learner-centered space. By sharing our experiences, we aim to provide insights for creating adaptable self-access learning centers in similar educational contexts.
2) Suwako Uehara (University of Electro-Communications)
Connecting across campus: The International Week initiative
UECSAP is a self-access center at a national science and engineering university, where student engagement with language support services is often limited due to academic demands. Despite ongoing efforts, both UECSAP and other global sections such as study abroad and international internship groups, face challenges in raising awareness of international opportunities among students. In response, we joined forces to launch our first-ever International Week—an initiative designed to enhance the visibility of global activities both within and beyond the university. The event served to highlight existing global efforts across departments, and showcase the university’s international opportunities to external stakeholders, encouraging broader collaboration. This presentation outlines the steps taken to organize the event, the interdepartmental connections established along the way, and our future vision for a more integrated global university community. The findings suggest that cross-sectional partnerships can play a key role in strengthening institutional support for language learning and global initiatives.
The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 