Self-access language learning

Making the transition from classroom language learning to a self-access center (SAC) can be a daunting prospect for many learners. This study examines the discomfort experienced by learners transitioning into a SAC and the different cognitive, social, and symbolic resources (Zittoun, 2007) that can help to scaffold this environmental change. Based on observational and interview data collected from a longitudinal ethnography of the Learning Community (LC), a SAC-based student-led learning community, this study determined sources of anxiety for new SAC users and the ways in which the learning community attempted to address these issues. This study’s findings revealed how gaps in knowledge between exam-focused English study in secondary education and communication-focused English in SAC social learning spaces contributed to learner anxiety in addition to insufficient social scaffolding for SAC newcomers. The LC members responded to these problems by operationalizing learners’ existing skills, proactively engaging new members, and providing low-anxiety modes of access to new knowledge. This study highlights the various sociocultural obstacles that SAC newcomers must negotiate and the valuable role of student learning communities as socializing agents bridging the gap between learners’ past and future worlds.

Advising in language learning (ALL) is an effective way to support English language learners. More and more universities offer an advising service in Japan. In order to improve quality of an advising service, ongoing training of language learning advisors is necessary. In this paper, which is a summary of a study, a series of professional development programs for language learning advisors are introduced. Eight advisors participated in the research which involved completing reflection reports about the training and participating in semi-structured interviews. The implications of the research are discussed which are to develop a more effective professional development program for advisors.

The present study focuses on the use of Motivational Synergy as means to ameliorate the comprehension of ESL Learners at various campuses of the University of Education. The study is correlational. The survey method was adopted to carry out the research.  A convenient purposive sampling technique was used to collect the sample which is comprised of 100 public sector university students including 33% males and 67% females studying in the M.A. English program. This study focused on reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The results show that bottom-up training had a negative impact on comprehension. In contrast, top-down training positively affected fluency but had no impact on comprehension. Further, the results do suggest that fast-paced reading may potentially lead to improved comprehension. These findings have implications for the type of language instruction used in classrooms and, therefore, for teachers of adult ESL learners.

The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL) held its 15th annual conference event on the 5th of December, 2020. Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the event was conducted online via the Zoom teleconferencing application, marking JASAL’s first “virtual conference” and requiring an impressive feat of innovation from organizers. The conference, attended by more than 50 participants in total, featured 20 presentations on a variety of topics relevant to self-access learning and supporting language learner autonomy. Highlights of the day included a plenary talk by Satoko Kato and Hisako Yamashita and a virtual tour of Tokyo International University’s English Plaza. In this conference report, 17 English-language presentations are summarized and arranged according to three themes: autonomy-supportive learning projects; SALC development via research and reflection; and reflections on the transition to emergency remote self-access in 2020.

Scheduled class time for students in tertiary language classes is limited, and is likely insufficient in itself to enable students to attain second language mastery (Nunan, 1989). Provision of language practice can be expanded outside regular class time through various means, including self-access centers. However, without effective marketing and management, and effective teaching staff, such facilities risk low participation rates. The current paper discusses the provision of an English language conversation lounge facility at a Japanese university in the light of a 69% increase in student attendance for the year 2015-16. The discussion is initially situated in the need for extra language study outside regular class time. A brief description of the language center is then given. The focus of the present paper is to note recent changes, and to consider effective practice for increasing attendance and for improving participation.

The field of self-access language learning (SALL), which is an established way of supporting language learners outside the classroom through the provision of resources and spaces, spans more than five decades and is currently in a phase that Mynard (2019a) refers to as the 'basic psychological needs and wellbeing' phase. This is a turning point in SALL wherein the focus has shifted towards the need for (more explicitly) facilitating an autonomy-supportive environment outside the classroom. This focus supports language learners' needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence, and as such, aims to provide the conditions needed to foster language learning in an environment in which they can thrive and grow in psychologically healthy ways (Ryan & Deci, 2020). In this theoretical article, the authors make a case for using self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017) as an overarching framework for future developments in the field of SALL. The article gives an overview of four key SALL support systems, showing how they can fulfil students' basic psychological needs. These four key support systems are: advising in language learning; structured awareness raising; conversation lounges; and interest-based, student-led learning communities.

Reflection is the examination of our experiences, thoughts and actions with the purpose of learning about ourselves and is a necessary component of language learning. Reflection enhances the learning experience and improves learning outcomes as learners develop self-awareness and increase and redefine their understanding of what they are learning. Decades of research in the fields of education and beyond have shown benefits and language educators are generally supportive of the idea of promoting reflection on learning. Despite this, the application of reflective practice for learners in the field of language education remains peripheral (Huang, 2021). In addition, where reflection does occur, it may be ‘ad-hoc,’ unstructured, superficial or vague so is unlikely to result in any conceptual change (Malthouse & Roffey-Barentsen, 2013).

In this talk, I will examine what we can do to help learners to intentionally reflect on their language learning. This could be by using tools and activities designed to help learners to document, plan, notice, self-assess, compare or take action. However, in order for the reflective process to be more powerful, dialogue with other people is necessary (Brockbank & McGill, 2006; Kato, 2012; Kato & Mynard, 2016, 2022). The aim of this practice is to help our learners to develop a deeper sense of awareness and control over their language learning. I will also look at how we can research this process and contribute to the growing and much-needed body of knowledge.

Emergencies have a way of changing the orientation of faculty from academic projects to surviving the unknown and coping with change. Many faculty members, because they frequently work independently, often lack support structures through which they can engage in mutual aid during times of crisis. The authors recently discovered that having a community of colleagues with whom to share ideas has made them more resilient to changing circumstances. While the Civility Community of Practice at IUPUI has been meeting since 2014 as an interdisciplinary research collective, it transitioned to a weekly online teaching and support seminar in response to the university's unexpected move to online course delivery on account of the pandemic. This reflective essay will examine the transformative possibilities of a teaching collective in the face of crisis. From the onset of the crisis, each of the authors had personal and teaching challenges that the group's Zoom meetings resolved. The wee...

The field of self-access has spanned 50 years, and in this report, the authors give a brief overview of a recent event organized by the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE) with the theme of ‘Landmarks in self-access’. The authors also make reference to some landmark and recent publications in learner autonomy and self-access that have influenced the field.

The integration of high technology in education has been the topic of many conferences. Being a new concept, many teachers feel anxious when having to use it, whereas students show much excitement. When choosing to integrate technology in their LES (Learning Evaluation Situation), teachers need to have their pedagogical goals established. As Peter Lindsay puts it, “we do not decide on the technology and let that decision dictate the experience” [1].This paper explores the importance of using technology in a constructive way in ESL (English as a Second Language) or EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classes. Most often the teacher does not manage to provide each student with feedback. Such feedback represents the building blocks in students’ learning process. Most often they become demotivated because they have no idea of how they could improve. Not only is feedback through technology a way to save teachers’ and students’ time, but it also gives the latter the opportunity to use met...

This paper is aimed at managers, teachers and advisors who are involved with language learner advising. It will first give a historic background to autonomy and advising (Benson & Voller, 1997; Crabbe, 1993; Holec, 1981) , then discuss what advising means and what skill set is required for this. The paper will also look at how autonomy is linked to advising, strategies for effective language learning (Oxford,1990), and self-regulation while using these strategies (Oxford, 2011; Ranalli, 2012; Rose 2012). It will then touch on more recent ideas around processes for helping students become more effective and more autonomous through advising (Mynard & Carson, 2012). Some practical approaches for advising (Kelly, 1996; Mozzon-McPherson, 2002 2007; Riley, 1997) will be referred to, as will the all-important differences between teaching and counselling approaches. Finally, the article will briefly discuss reflection as a useful professional development tool.

This article reports on the JASAL Forum held at the JALT Conference in Hamamatsu on October 13th, 2012. JASAL, the Japanese Association of Self Access Learning, was set up in 2005 by Garold Murray and Lucy Cooker to provide a support network for educators and administrators involved with self-access language learning centers (hereafter SACs) in Japan. It holds a forum annually at JALT (the Japan Association for Language Teaching) conference. It has been a great success and providing information and support to those who are involved with SACs in Japan. I am also blessed with all the information and support from the JASAL Forum as I work for a SAC as the director. The 2012 JASAL Forum consisted of a poster session, three paper presentations and an open forum discussion, with the theme of ‘Making a difference through Self Access.’ The presentations this year focused on how to foster autonomy, how to develop understanding of the value of self-access among faculty and administration, and...

Through the application of self-determination theory (SDT) to research and practice, this book deepens our understanding of how autonomous language learning can be supported, developed and understood outside of the classroom. The chapters deal with learning environments and open spaces, communities and relationships, and dialogue and interaction.

The aim of this study is to reveal the differences in the process of learning reading strategies by EFL learners whose English proficiency levels differ. For this purpose, portfolios made by 10 Japanese female college students learning English (five in the higher proficiency group and the other five in the lower) were analyzed. The results found six prominent differences between the two groups. The first difference is the amount of description recorded in each portfolio. The second, third, and fourth differences concern the understanding of the purpose and the merit of each strategy use, of the conditions in which each strategy is used effectively, and of the combined use of strategies. Also, the timing for and the method for evaluating efficacy of strategy use are different between the two groups. After the full descriptions of these six differences with samples from portfolios, some pedagogical and research implications for strategy instruction are made.

Adopting a feminist perspective, this exploratory and empirically based study of face-to-face advising dialogue will put into question two related aspects of advising that have seldom been discussed in the literature on advising: the gendered dimension and the psychological support. Based on the general and rarely discussed assumption that women's speech is more emotional and best suited for establishing and maintaining more equal relationships than men's speech, and on the fact that many language learning advisors in the world are women, this study examines the ways in which female and male advisors working in different educational contexts verbally establish a relationship where a learner's autonomy can emerge. The preliminary results suggest that psychological support is provided through a wide range of verbal strategies and that gender seems less significant than work context to explain individual differences.

This research aimed to investigate: (1) the teachers’ perceptions regarding the teacher and the students’ language choices in EFL classroom; (2) the reasons that the teachers give for the language choices they have made in the EFL classroom; and (3) the students’ perceptions of the teacher and the students’ language choices used in the EFL classroom. This research applied qualitative research design. The participants of the research were the lecturers and the students of second semester English education in STKIP YPUP Makassar who were chosen through purposive sampling. The data were collected by nonparticipant observation, interview and documentation. The data obtained were analyzed in thee phases, namely data reduction, data display and conclusion or verification. The result of the research showed that (1) the lecturers’ perceptions of the language choice indicated that the lecturers employed bilingual approach for monolingual was considered useless. Their ideal language choice wa...

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW A. THEORETICAL REVIEW ………………………………………………… 8 1. A quest for meaning ..…………………………………………………… 8 2. Speaking ………………………………………………………………… a. Features of a spoken discourse ………………………………………… b. The functions of speaking ……………………………………………… c. Speaking skills …………………………………………………………… 3. Learning ………………………………………………………………… 21 a. Learner-centeredness and learning-centeredness ……………………… b. Learning speaking ……………………………………………………….. 23 c. The role of interaction and negotiation of meaning in learning speaking .. d. The role of cognitive styles and learning strategies …………………… 4. The language learners ..…………………………………………………… a. The successful learners ………………………………………………… b. The students involved in the study ……………………………………… 5. The place of speaking course in the curriculum of the EED of YSU ……… 6. Review of related researches ……………………………………………… B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK …………………………………………… 34 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI ix CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. OVERVIEW OF THE METHOD …………………………………………….. 37 B.STUDY DESIGN ……………………………………………………………… 39 1. Nature of data …………………………………………………………… 39 2. Setting …………………………………………………………………….. 40 3. The participants of the study ……………………………………………… 40 C. TECHNIQUE OF DATA COLLECTION …………………………………… 45 D. TECHNIQUE OF DATA ANALYSIS ……………………………………… 47 E. ETHICAL ISSUE …………………………………………………………… F. TRUSTWORTHINESS……………………………………………………….. CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS A. Researcher's diary …………………………………………………………… 51 B. Participants' background stories …………………………………………… 1. Deto …………………………………………………………………….. 53 2. Dee ………………………………………………………………… …. 3. Alfa ……………………………………………………………………… 55 C. The Interviews ………………………………………………………………… D. Findings and Discussions …………………………………………………… 1. Learners' efforts in learning ……………………………………………… a. Seeking opportunities to practice speaking ……..…………………… b. Self-talk ……………………………………………………………… 64 c. Engaging in self-study ………………………………………………… 65 d. Learning from failures ………………………………………………… 2. Learners' shared accounts ………………………………………………… 67 a. Self-recognition ……………………………………………………… b. Self-fulfillment ……………………………………………………… 3. Essential theme ………………………………………………………….. CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, AND RECOMMENDATION A. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………… 81 B. Implication ……………………………………………………………… C. Recommendation ………………………………………………………… BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………… APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………… Appendix 1. Interview data numbering …………………………………………. 90 Appendix 2. List of interview questions ………………………………………… 114 Appendix 3. Data classification for themes and sub-themes of the finding ……. Appendix 4. The teaching diary …………………………………………………. 117

The International Conference on Self-Access (Encuentro Internacional de Centros de Autoacceso, EICA) was held at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) from the 4th to the 5th August, 2016. The conference theme in Spanish was Nuevos escenarios en torno a la autonomía del aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras which translates as ‘New scenarios in autonomy for foreign language learning’ and was attended by approximately 280 delegates. Most delegates were based in Mexico and were mainly working in one of the numerous university or school-based self-access centres around the country. Others were classroom teachers interested in learner autonomy and how it can be fostered in their contexts. In this short paper, each of the plenary speakers will share a summary of their talks and this will be followed by some brief reflections on the event in general.

The present study focuses on the use of Motivational Synergy as means to ameliorate the comprehension of ESL Learners at various campuses of the University of Education. The study is correlational. The survey method was adopted to carry out the research.  A convenient purposive sampling technique was used to collect the sample which is comprised of 100 public sector university students including 33% males and 67% females studying in the M.A. English program. This study focused on reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The results show that bottom-up training had a negative impact on comprehension. In contrast, top-down training positively affected fluency but had no impact on comprehension. Further, the results do suggest that fast-paced reading may potentially lead to improved comprehension. These findings have implications for the type of language instruction used in classrooms and, therefore, for teachers of adult ESL learners.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created disruption in many of the institutions we regularly rely on, including universities. While disruption may often bring with it a myriad of possible pitfalls, it affords potential opportunities for change and development by reflecting on and modifying practices. In this article, a group of learning advisors and administrators from a self-access center at an international university in Japan reflect on the ruptures we experienced as a result of changes due to unexpectedly working remotely and our attempts to find stability, the pitfalls we sought to avoid, and the opportunities that we found amidst the disruption. Specifically, we illustrate our experiences related to student-led learning communities, self-access curricula, and learning advising, considering the effect on students and advisors alike. We advocate that self-access practitioners actively promote the use of language, encourage the development of communities of learners who focus on th...

This small-scale exploratory study investigated a group of French university students' beliefs about the English language and English language learning, and the impact these beliefs had on the learners' L2 attitudes and motivation. The study employed a three-phased research paradigm. The first phase consisted of a mind-showering activity and group discussions, which aimed to elicit the initial information. The second phase comprised a questionnaire whose items were formulated by using the information elicited during the first phase. Finally, focus-group interviews were employed to provide in-depth information and, explain and cross-check the questionnaire data. The data obtained indicated that, although these learners had fairly negative dispositions towards the English language and English language learning, the great majority perceived English as a requisite for their studies and for their future careers. The findings also suggested that the participants mostly had lower perceived L2 competence and lower perceived willingness to communicate in the L2.

The theme of this special issue is self-access and young learners as the editors felt that bringing these two active areas of research and practice together was long overdue. In recent years the theme of ‘learning beyond the classroom’ has received an increasing amount of attention (e.g. Benson & Reinders, 2011; Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, 2015), and the editors take this as a starting point for exploring what support might be appropriate for young learners beyond the classroom. Institutions investing in self-access support for language learners tend to be at the tertiary level, yet there could be benefits for learners if such support were available in schools, public spaces, and community centres. Surely, if we are to equip our learners with skills for autonomous learning beyond the classroom, then the earlier we start, the better? In order to be able to make suggestions on directions for the most appropriate kind of support, it is necessary to explore how young lan...

This paper reports on challenges that the new Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) has faced since it moved in to a new building in 2017, and actions taken by learning advisors as SALC managers. Before moving to the new two-storey building, language policies were decided by SALC managers in collaboration with university staff, students, teachers, and administrators. The first floor is a multilingual space and the second floor is an English-only space. However, since we opened the new SALC, although the number of students has increased, it seems that they do not interact with others using their target languages in the space. Thus, by analysing a survey conducted by the SALC team, and also drawing on casual observations, and discussions, learning advisors as SALC managers took actions such as changing the furniture layout, making language policies clearer, and raising awareness of language use in order for learners to increase their engagement in language learning, especially in relatio...

Whilst previous researchers commonly report on the effect of portfolio-based instruction on L2/EFL (second language/English as a foreign language) learners’ language performance, very few studies examine its impact on their learning motivation. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, the current study examines how the implementation of a portfolio-based listening course may affect language learners’ L2 motivation and skill development. This study adopted a mixed method approach with Vietnamese EFL learners in higher education as its participants who were administered a motivation questionnaire, listening comprehension tests, and semi-structured interviews. Both quantitative statistics and qualitative content analysis were applied for data analysis purposes. The results indicated that the portfolio-based program in this study had a significant positive impact on the participants’ motivational orientations, especially their expectancy components (i.e., their self-efficacy and learning con...

Welcome to the 31st issue of SiSAL Journal which is Issue 8, Volume 4. This is a general issue organized into two key themes: leadership, and academic support. There are also two book reviews, details of three relevant events coming up in 2018 and a call for papers for a special issue.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between MA students' autonomy and their reading comprehension ability. To this end, a 32-item questionnaire and a 20-item multiplechoice reading comprehension test were given to a sample of 68 participants. The collected data were analyzed using the Correlation procedure, one way ANOVA and Regression analysis. Results of the correlation procedure indicated that there was a positive relationship between learners' autonomy and the reading comprehension ability but the oneway ANOVA showed that the differences among the scores of low, mid and high autonomy-level students on the reading comprehension test were not statistically significant. Regression analysis showed that, of the factors considered in the questionnaire, only the Nature of Language Learning was a reliable predictor of reading comprehension ability of the participants.

The contemporary developments in the sphere of teaching English as second language have introduced some significant alternatives to the evaluation and assessment approaches of language classrooms. As a result, educators have started focusing on the implementation of the alternative assessment (AA) to empower their learners. This paper aims to explore the current status of the practice of AA and its effectiveness in tertiary level ESL classroom in Bangladesh by conducting a research among the participating students and teachers. For this paper, researchers will evaluate the strategic outcomes and productiveness of three different tools of AA: portfolio, project-based learning, and oral presentation. They have applied both the qualitative and quantitative approaches for collecting and analyzing the data. nbsp

In the 2017-2018 academic year, the Self-Access Learning Center, Kanda University of International Studies moved into a new purpose-built building. This new building has afforded many opportunities to rethink the place of resources in the center, as well as what constitutes resources and how we can facilitate their use. The move has also presented numerous challenges to which advising team and other support staff have had to react rapidly. This report reflects on the tasks and approaches of the two resource coordinators and resource teams for the 2017-2018 academic year. It additionally provides further commentary on our expanding definitions of resources, as well as how they are being approached by resource teams and others, both within the limits of resource coordination and without, and in addition to future directions.

The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL) held its 15th annual conference event on the 5th of December, 2020 Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the event was conducted online via the Zoom teleconferencing application, marking JASAL's first "virtual conference" and requiring an impressive feat of innovation from organizers The conference, attended by more than 50 participants in total, featured 20 presentations on a variety of topics relevant to self-access learning and supporting language learner autonomy Highlights of the day included a plenary talk by Satoko Kato and Hisako Yamashita and a virtual tour of Tokyo International University's English Plaza In this conference report, 17 English-language presentations are summarized and arranged according to three themes: autonomy-supportive learning projects;SALC development via research and reflection;and reflections on the transition to emergency remote self-access in 2020

The contemporary developments in the sphere of teaching English as second language have introduced some significant alternatives to the evaluation and assessment approaches of language classrooms. As a result, educators have started focusing on the implementation of the alternative assessment (AA) to empower their learners. This paper aims to explore the current status of the practice of AA and its effectiveness in tertiary level ESL classroom in Bangladesh by conducting a research among the participating students and teachers. For this paper, researchers will evaluate the strategic outcomes and productiveness of three different tools of AA: portfolio, project-based learning, and oral presentation. They have applied both the qualitative and quantitative approaches for collecting and analyzing the data. nbsp

A current concern in writing theory and practice is with the new pedagogical orthodoxy of process writing and communicative language teaching where the main interest is in what writers do when they write. This approach sees writing as explanatory, generative, and recursive. Therefore, writing portfolio assessment as an alternative to traditional assessments has gained popularity in writing pedagogy. The present investigation was designed to study a group of thirty eight Iranian EFL learners with the aim of investigating the possible effects of using writing portfolio assessment on improving writing proficiency of Iranian EFL learners. The learners were asked to perform some writing tasks. Then they edited their own papers and corrected their writing products using the five categories of content, organization, grammar, spelling, and mechanics while they were engaged in a continuous dialogue with the teacher. The results indicated that portfolio writing was effective in developing sub...

The Covid−19 pandemic has resulted in a re-evaluation of all aspects of life and human interaction. Social learning spaces and self-access centres, which rely to a great extent on bringing learners together in a physical space, are no different, and in March 2020 English Café at Otemon E−CO had to rapidly reassess its functions to be able to keep supporting students at Otemon Gakuin University effectively. This paper documents the actions that were taken in Spring 2020 to move E−CO's activities online, and the challenges that were faced in doing so. Affordances for future operations, facilitated by this forced move online, are also highlighted.

Beliefs about language learning have turned out to be a growing subject of concern within educational contexts specifically in relation to other variables such as language learning strategies. The aim of the current study was to compare EFL and ESL beliefs about language learning strategies using a mixed method research design. A total number of 229 participants, 115 EFL and 114 ESL upper-Intermediate English language learners were selected to complete Beliefs about Language learning Inventory (BALLI) questionnaire. Further, 10 volunteer participants, five from each contexts, were also interviewed about their attitude on language learning strategies. The results of the study revealed that there was a significant statistical difference between EFL and ESL beliefs about language learning strategies. Moreover, the analysis of the qualitative data showed that context had a great influence on shaping learners’ beliefs about learning a language.

The article deals with a very actual problem of shifting the responsibility from teachers to learners while language education. The author gives a rich background to autonomous language learning, describes ways of organizing a learning process in computer orientated environment, outlines the contents of Self access Language Centre (SALC), that was designed by the author as a component of computer orientated environment of future IT specialists language training.

Writing performance is essential for academic success at all levels. To help elementary school students become better and motivated writers, educators need to help them have functional writing self-efficacy beliefs that slightly exceed what a learner can actually accomplish. A suggested way to achieve this is having students create process portfolios to: a) document the writing process and their progress monitoring, b) have access to peers' work and c) receive feedback. This multiple case study explored the development of students' writing performance and writing self-efficacy beliefs through a one-academic-year implementation of process portfolios in three fourth grade elementary school classes (N=63 students) in Cyprus. The students of two fourth grade classes (n2=23, n3=20) created paper-based process portfolios, while in the researcher's class (n1=20) students created digital portfolios. The study explored how process portfolio affordances, such as a process approach...

The present study focuses on the use of Motivational Synergy as means to ameliorate the comprehension of ESL Learners at various campuses of the University of Education. The study is correlational. The survey method was adopted to carry out the research.  A convenient purposive sampling technique was used to collect the sample which is comprised of 100 public sector university students including 33% males and 67% females studying in the M.A. English program. This study focused on reading comprehension and listening comprehension. The results show that bottom-up training had a negative impact on comprehension. In contrast, top-down training positively affected fluency but had no impact on comprehension. Further, the results do suggest that fast-paced reading may potentially lead to improved comprehension. These findings have implications for the type of language instruction used in classrooms and, therefore, for teachers of adult ESL learners.

Autonomy in language learning is a desirable goal for philosophical, pedagogic and practical reasons. However although many language programmes claim to be learner-centred and supportive of learner initiative, much classroom practice appears to subvert this goal. This paper discusses ways in which mechanisms for promoting learner autonomy have been incorporated into one English language programme. It also discusses the crucial role which teacher-student dialogue about learning plays within the classroom, and considers the implications for materials, task design, and time management.

Learner autonomy has been an important issue in English Language Teaching since the 1960s. In language teaching it is of vital importance, since learning can only occur if the learners are willing to learn. So, the students have to realize that their role in the process of learning is crucial. Students have different needs, styles of learning and interests. In addition, there are psychological and personal factors, varying study habits and levels of motivation and a variety of cultural traits. When students are taught how to learn by themselves in 'self-access centres (SAC)', a great many language teaching problems can be solved. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of a SAC in terms of learners' attitudes, behaviours and practices in the light of the questions regarding what it is and what it should be. The results mainly show that the SAC at Izmir University of Economics (IUE) offers opportunities for learning, encourages learners to change their approaches to learning, and is being valued by both the teachers and the students, although in spite of these benefits, it does not necessarily lead to autonomy.

The aims of this research were: (1) to investigate the students’ motivations, (2) to investigate the language learning strategies (LLSs) that are used by the students, (3) to investigate the level of students’ LLSs usage, and (4) to investigate the influence of the students’ motivations and the level of students’ LLSs usage towards their English competence. This research gave descriptions about the students’ motivations, LLSs that are used by the students, and the level of students’ LLSs usage. The sample of this research was 111 students that were taken from three classes of the first year students from three study programs, i.e. Ilmu Ekonomi, Manajemen, and Akuntansi. This research revealed that the students were categorized into high motivated to learn English where 70 students (63%) had high motivation, 25 students (23%) had very high motivation, 13 students (12%) had medium motivation, and 3 students (3%) had low motivation. This research also found that the students were domin...

Adult learners on Access to Higher Education courses struggled with institutional and social structures to attend their courses, but transformed their identities as learners through them. Although asymmetrical power relationships dominated the intentional learning communities of their courses, their work was facilitated by collaborative cultures and supportive tutors, and students gained the confidence to construct their own emergent communities of practice for learning. The students attended seven FE Colleges in the East Midlands of England. Data was collected by mixed methods within a social constructivist framework from students and their tutors.

Writing is a great challenge whether performed in the mother tongue or in a second or foreign language (L2/FL). Studies in L2 writing show that writing is a complex cognitive activity comprising a number of processes which includes the use of various strategies. This study aimed to examine strategies used in essay writing among 50 high-intermediate and low proficiency ESL upper secondary school students and to determine any significant differences in strategy use between the two groups. Data from the Writing Strategy Questionnaire indicate that the ESL students were moderate writing strategies users. The while-writing strategies were most frequently used whereas the revising strategies were least used. All students displayed approximately similar frequency use of strategies. They differed only in the type of strategies used. An implication of the study is that students need to be encouraged to use various strategies in improving their writing. Strategy training for ESL students is important to help them write successfully in the target language.