JASAL Journal Volume 6, Issue 2 is soliciting papers for the JASAL Journal for December 2025, with a submission deadline of August 31, 2025. The theme of this issue will be Supporting Language Learner Identity and Agency,but we will consider all proposals related to self-access language learning. Please refer to the journal guidelines and send submissions by email (jasalorgATgmail.com), indicating if your paper is a research, practice, reflective, or review article. In the subject heading, please write “Issue 6(2)”. Feel free to make enquiries to the editorial team by email if you are considering whether to submit a paper.
Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
Student leadership and peer support
Student ownership of self-access spaces
Supporting language learners from diverse backgrounds
Identity construction in self-access contexts
Narratives of learner transformation
Creation of self-access spaces which support identity and agency
The theme of this issue is the power of collaboration in self-access language learning. This issue covers a variety of topics of interest to self-access researchers and practitioners, and reports from recent JASAL events.
Thank you to all the contributors for their valuable insight and research in the field of self-access!
A big thank you to the authors, reviewers, the editorial team for their hard work in curating this enriching collection!
Name of space: English World Terrace Location: Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University Affiliated Elementary School, Japan Website: None Contact: Clair Taylor, taylor@gifu.shotoku.ac.jp
English World Terrace is an outdoor social language learning space for children located at Gifu Shotoku Gakuen University Affiliated Elementary School. It is staffed by a team of university student volunteers and the elementary school’s two Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs).
The playground-style space has an “English Only” language policy which provides the children with opportunities to freely and spontaneously use their developing English with children from other classes and year groups. It is open only during designated lunch breaks. Use of the space is entirely optional—children decide whether to visit English World Terrace or play in one of the other school recreation areas during their recess. When they visit, they can choose to stay until English World Terrace closes, or to leave at any time to enjoy another play area.
Our mission is to immerse the children in English as they play so that language is acquired effortlessly and becomes associated with positive experiences.
The children enter the space by passing through “passport control”, where they have a brief chat in English with the “immigration officials” and receive an entry stamp in their passports. As they walk through the door, a bubble machine fills the air with bubbles. The children move around the space freely, choosing to play in any area. There is an open space with juggling balls and poi sets, a ring toss game, and a Twister® mat, so that children can enjoy physical movement in the fresh air. There are also tables and benches set out with tabletop games such as Dominoes and Jenga®. Some of the games have been designed specifically for English language learners, such as AGO®, Crazy Chefs®, and The Shopping Game®. There are soft bright yellow mats in one corner with a small library of picture books. There are also soft toys and glove puppets. The walls are decorated with animal stickers and a large mural which was painted by a team of university students. The windows are decorated with useful phrases such as: “Can I play with you?” Some of the activities have been designed specifically to develop positive self-talk. There are targets drawn on one wall with washable sidewalk chalk containing positive statements (including: “I can do it!”, “Let’s speak English!” and “This is easy!”) which students throw balls at. There is also an Affirmation Hopscotch Mat—as they play, the children chant “I am…” followed by adjectives (such as “kind” and “brave”) as they hop and jump.
As the children enjoy English through play, the university students gain valuable work experience which stretches their own English and develops a range of soft skills.
Challenges
As an outdoor space, there are unusual challenges in the day-to-day operations, such as dealing with hornet invasions and bat droppings in addition to extreme heat in the summer. The passport control desk, tables, and toys are set up in the school hall during inclement weather.
During the coronavirus pandemic, ordinary activities were suspended (as it was not safe for children to cluster around and touch the same toys). Instead, we operated “English World Dance” in which the student volunteers taught dance routines using only English using a microphone and speaker, maintaining a fun atmosphere with a disco lights machine and the bubble machine.
If you would like to have your self-access center showcased please complete this form and mail it to: jasalorg@gmail.com.
Thank you for joining our forum at PanSIG 2025 that took place on Sunday, May 18th 10:05 – 11:05.
In this 60-minute forum, the Japan Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL) invited SALC practitioners and those interested in learning more about self-access to share their reflections and discuss issues arising from Saturday’s SALC Showcase.
The forum took the form of small group discussions on popular SALC topics and provided opportunities for networking and collaboration.
As usual, as a domestic partner of JALT, we are able to run a forum at their international conference. This year’s forum will take place on the weekend of 1-2 November, in Tokyo.
If you would like to give a short presentation on SALL-related research or practices at this year’s JALT conference, please consider submitting a proposal for the JASAL Forum.
As per the conference rules, the forum has a maximum of 6 presenters, so submissions will be vetted for quality and relevance to JASAL members. Relevance to the JALT2025 conference theme may also be considered. Please submit your proposal to JASAL using this form by Friday, 16 May 2025.
The exact format of the forum (length of presentations etc.) will be decided once we have vetted the proposals and finalized the line-up.
This year’s JALT theme is: JALT2025: LanguageS: Learning, Teaching, Assessing
Saturday, October 11, 2025 JASAL2025 Conference at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Oita. (Approx. time: 09:00–18:00) Followed by Evening Networking Reception (details to follow, approx. time: 20:00–22:00)
Sunday, October 12, 2025 Beppu Tour & Post Conference Reflection over Lunch(Approx. time: 10:00–14:00)
Plenary Talk
Addressing affect in self-access learning settings Dr. Maria Giovanna Tassinari Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
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.
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.
Research presentation (on-site or online) (20+5 mins)
Practices presentation (on-site or online) (15+10mins)
Workshop (on-site only) (45 mins)
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.
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.
We are proud to announce our 6th annual JASAL Student Forum 2025!
This event is a unique opportunity for SALC student staff, volunteers, and students who regularly use their SALC and want to make a difference to come together with peers from various universities for a lively and meaningful discussion.
Whether you’re supporting your SALC as a staff member or just love using the space to improve your language skills and connect with others, this is your chance to: – Share your ideas and experiences – Learn how other students run their SALC and engage with language learners – Feel inspired by new ideas and creative approaches
Teachers, advisors, and administrators are also welcome to join as listeners or supporters, but please note that this forum is designed especially for students to speak and lead the conversation.
Date: Saturday, June 14th Time: 10:00-12:00 Format: Online (Zoom meeting)
We look forward to seeing you there! Colin Mitchell & Hisako Yamashita JASAL Student Involvement Coordinators
※ Please note that this is a student conference. We only accept submissions from students. For more information on the JASAL National Conferences please see this page.
JASAL is delighted to announce our new board, who will be in place from April 2025-March 2028. We’re excited to drive JASAL forward over the next 3 years! See here for more information about the board.
A big thank-you to everyone who presented and participated in our 8th JASAL Student Conference on Saturday, December 7th! Although virtually it was so lovely to see so many students, and to hear many of their inspiring presentations about all the amazing projects they are involved in through their university SALCs across Japan and Canada.
We hope the participants of the conference enjoyed it as much as we organizers did. We had around 30 students presenting and taking part in discussions as well as more than 10 teachers and administrators to support and learn from these student-presenters and student-participants.
It was a wonderful event with many inspiring ideas shared among students and teachers! We, conference organizers, once again would like to say a huge thank-you to all the wonderful presenters who prepared very thoroughly and shared their SALC stories with all of us.
We wish all the best to all the conference participants in realizing their action plans drawn towards the end of the conference.
The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning 