Editorial

Phillip Bennett, Kanda University of International Studies, Japan
Maria Giovanna Tassinari, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Bennett, P. A., &  Tassinari, M. G. (2019). Editorial. Relay Journal, 2(2), 251-256. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/020201

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We are excited to present you Volume 2 Issue 2 of Relay Journal published by the Research Institute of Learner Autonomy Education at Kanda University (KUIS), Japan. The Relay Journal aims to foster a dialogue spanning the globe discussing topics related to learner autonomy. This issue of Relay Journal is dedicated to teacher and advisor education for learner autonomy. The topic is particularly important, since –– apart from some exceptions –– autonomy is not always integrated into curricula for teacher education, and in addition, very few programmes exist for advisor education. Therefore, it is crucial to include opportunities for in-service professional development and reflection on how to foster autonomy and how to support language learners as teachers or as advisors. This can be done in the form of teacher training, mentoring and/or tutoring programmes, action-research, or reflection in- and on-practice.

The lack of systematic education in this field appears in many of the contributions of the present issue: innovative steps are sometimes implemented by single teachers out of personal initiative; teachers try to find room for autonomy-fostering approaches within institutional constraints; advisors adopt various strategies to reflect upon their role and their practice, such as sharing experiences with their peers and drawing on the potential of communities of practice.

In addition, these contributions show that experiencing personal and professional autonomy is essential for teachers and advisors in order to embrace an autonomy-fostering education approach.

Despite the differences, the experiences reported in these contributions underpin understandings of teacher autonomy from the literature. An overarching definition of learner and teacher autonomy by Jiménez Raya, Lamb and Vieira (2017) describes these as “The competence to develop as a self-determined, socially responsible and critically aware participant in (and beyond) educational environments, within a vision of education as (inter)personal empowerment and social transformation” (Jiménez Raya, Lamb & Vieira, 2017, p. 17).

Teacher autonomy exerts itself in the fields of both teaching practice –– professional action –– and professional development. In both these fields, teacher autonomy is a capacity for self-directed, responsible action in the language classroom and in the teacher’s own professional development (“teacher-learner autonomy”, Smith, 2003, pp. 3-4). The extent to which this capacity can be exerted is also related to contextual constraints, in particular to the extent of freedom from control by others offered by the institutional and social environment as well as the wider cultural context. However, the capacity to deal with constraints, find one’s own space to maneuver –– the “space of possibility” (Jiménez Raya, 2017, p. 15) –– and extend it with the support of others is crucial in developing one’s own teacher and/or advisor autonomy.

As the contributions to the present issue show, many practitioners are looking for more space of maneuver in their language classroom, in their institution, and in their social environment, initiating / taking ownership of their professional development in form of initiatives for teacher in-service training, mentoring and/or tutoring programmes, action-research or reflection in- and on-practice. We hope that the Relay Journal can be a further platform for dialogue and innovation.

This Issue

Featured articles

Peter Harrold and Andrew Gallacher’s article illustrates the findings of a small-scale study on teachers’ perspectives on their own autonomy while teaching in a higher education institution in Japan. They find that despite the constraints of a standardised curriculum, teachers seek spaces of autonomy via adaptation and expansion of the curriculum.

 Huw Davies’ article addresses a still under-investigated field of research on learning advising: advisors’ professional development. Within the frame of a realist perspective, he briefly describes the structure of the advisors’ professional development programme at Kanda University of International Studies and investigates its effectiveness as a form of learner support. By means of interviews with advisors and other stakeholders, the author compares initial theories of the programmes with the advisors’ perception of its implementation. Thus, he identifies the strengths of the programme as well as advisors’ needs in the specific context of KUIS. Although the research is related to the specific context of KUIS, the results also outline core elements helpful to design advisors’ professional development programmes at other institutions.

Reflective practice column

The reflective practice column of this issue is edited by Fergal Bradley. The column opens with the column editor’s introduction of the contributions in this section.

 Curriculum-based approaches column

Mostafa Nazari reports on a study investigating learners’ and teachers’ perceptions on implementing learner-centred pedagogy in a private language school in Iran. The research findings indicate that, despite the cultural context in which education is traditionally teacher-centred and curriculum-oriented, learner-centred pedagogy approaches have the potential to satisfy/meet some of the learners’ needs, and increase learners’ participation in negotiating learning decisions. In addition, some of the teacher’s initial concerns regarding the implementation of such an approach (i.e., personal-epistemological, pedagogical, and curriculum concerns), diminished along the teaching and reflection process. Positive aspects and challenges also enhance the teacher’s motivation to open to more innovation.

Case studies

Henry Foster analyzes the development of motivation in two narratives of learners or English as a foreign language. Drawing on the L2 motivational self-system (Dörnyei, 2009), he finds out that while looking at relatively short timescales motivation show rapid fluctuations, in the long term, motivational development follows a more stable trajectory. Among the factors that enhance motivation in the two case studies, key persons – a teacher, a parental person – and studying abroad experience are the most striking factors.

Airi Ota presents a study based on her experience and observations as a student tutor while studying at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. In this paper she investigates the process of becoming an effective student tutor incorporating self- reflections from peer student tutors and her own self-reflection. This paper opens a window into peer supported learning allowing the reader––notably teachers and advisors––to get a close look at students’ motivations and approaches when tasked with tutoring their peers. This up and close perspective which Airi shares is without a doubt beneficial to those interested in learner autonomy.

Perspectives

Eduardo Castro reflects on relationships between language advising and language teaching; he highlights that although research on advising for language learning mainly focuses on advising and learners, some research has also been done on how advising impacts teaching, both when teacher students undertake a language advising process as advisee and when teachers become advisors. While reflecting on the impact of a training on advising in his own educational path, he advocates for further research on how advising may influence teaching practice.

Guillermina Arias-Sais, Esperanza Espejo-Regalado, Laura Gabriela Sagástegui Rodríguez and Laura María Zurutuza Roaro write about their experience in the challenging and rewarding development from teachers to learner advisors while taking part in the Diploma in Language Learning Advising at ITESO University in Guadalajara, Mexico. In their personal narratives they describe their approach to learning advising and report with openness and honesty. They express the profound transformations they undergo both at a professional and personal level while letting go of the teacher role and the beliefs and attitudes related to it; embodying a new role, the advisor role, learning to use cognitive and metacognitive tools to enhance reflection, decision-making and transformation in full respect of the learner. This transformation was supported also by a strong sense of community––a mutual help––which allowed the authors to become part of a community of practice.

Tim Murphey shares his perspective on sustained flow theory’s three active components: post hoc visualization, facilitative structures, and positive-affect through three personal narratives. He suggests that in order to effectively use the three components one should have past experiences as a base (i.e., a conceptual structure) to construct the facilitative structures, intended as a means by which something can be accomplished. Using three narratives as facilitative structures, he advocates that teachers/advisors make use of and/or create learner experiences which can be useful for learners.

Project summaries

Ewen MacDonald and Nicholas Thompson provide an analysis of data which was collected from the Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport Initiative at Kanda University of International Studies. In brief, the Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport Initiative is a small booklet which provides various linguistic risks (i.e., tasks designed to facilitate language use) which was developed by the University of Ottawa 2018. The researchers’ findings explore the kinds of linguistic risks students pursued, the impacts of taking linguistic risks, as well as highlight student comments based on their (the students’) experience doing so. Additionally, the authors share a detailed analysis on the limitations and subsequently the future directions of the initiative.

 Research in progress

Larisa Enriquez Vázquez and Iolanda García report on a doctoral project in progress which aims developing and testing an instrument to self-assessment of learner progress in argumentative and autonomy skills. Basing on their hypothesis that the development of argumentative skills in foreign language learning is tightly related to/ with the development of autonomy skills, the authors adapt existing instruments to design a “Self-Assessment of Progress in Argumentative Autonomy” tool which they intend to validate with learners of English in a higher education context.

Ward Peeters and Jo Mynard summarize an ongoing research project which investigates online interaction between students taking a self-directed learning course. In addition to researching the communicative functions and how the students use the online space, the researchers also detail how this research supports the goal of the Japanese Ministry of Education in regard to digital literacy.

Interviews

In an interview by Sam Morris, Sarah Mercer makes a profound case of the importance and, unfortunate, lack of focus on well-being for language teachers. An array of topics are discussed touching on the interconnectedness of learners and teachers well-being and flourishing, teacher-learner autonomy, the relationship between institutions and teachers, and more. Also, a number of resources are provided for those who wish to learn more about well-being.

References

Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The L2 motivational self system. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 9-42). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Jiménez Raya, M. (2017). Teacher autonomy and agency: The space of possibility overcoming external obstacles and internal resistances. In M. Jiménez Raya, J.-J. Martos Ramos, & M.G. Tassinari (Eds.), Learner and teacher autonomy in higher education: Perspectives from modern language teaching (pp. 15-35). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Jiménez Raya, M., Lamb, T., & Vieira, F. (2017). Mapping autonomy in language education. A framework for learner and teacher development (second edition). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Smith, R.C. (2003). Teacher education for teacher-learner autonomy. In J. Gollin, G. Ferguson, & H. Trappes-Lomax (Eds.), Symposium for language teacher educators: Papers from three IALS Symposia (CD-Rom). Edinburgh, UK: University of Edinburgh. Retrieved from www.warwick.ac.uk/~elsdr/Teacher_autonomy.pd