Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa, Kanda University of Intenational Studies
Isra Wongsarnpigoon, Kanda University of International Studies
Ambinintsoa, D .V., & Wongsarnpigoon, I. (2023). Editorial. Relay Journal, 6(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/060101
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We are pleased to present Volume 6, Issue 1 of Relay Journal. This journal promotes research and best practice in learner and teacher autonomy from practitioners and learners at all levels in contexts all over the world. Accordingly, in this issue, we are delighted to feature three articles addressing various forms of research related to learner autonomy. Additionally, the Reflective Practice column contains two reflections on mentoring, and the Perspectives column includes a review of another paper, itself a review, previously published in Relay Journal, Volume 5, Issue 1.
The first featured article, by Jessica Zoni Upton, Naoya Shibata, and Richard Hill, introduces the trialing of a self-access social learning space at a private Japanese university. The authors describe the process of introducing a space where students could engage in English conversation with faculty and peers, read and use materials and games, and meet with learning advisors. Rather than establishing a dedicated self-access center, the services were offered on a trial basis in an existing classroom. Upton, Shibata, and Hill report on the results of observations of the new center, including how and why students used the space and issues related to its management and design. They reflect on their experiences with this trial in light of several contextual constraints, and they discuss potential next steps for the fledgling center. This paper is remarkable as an example of how faculty members can facilitate a self-access learning environment using resources at their disposal. It can serve as an excellent resource for practitioners who are considering starting their own self-access space or for those also working in a center with limited resources.
In our second featured article, Kevin Clark and Hayo Reinders report on their research investigating self-directed learning (SDL) activities and strategies used by eight adult Japanese learners. As the learners had all left formal education and had no guidance from instructors, their learning settings were all beyond the classroom, and their engagements with SDL were utterly their own decisions, which makes the paper rather unique. Using Reinders’s (2010) SDL process framework, Clark and Reinders identified the SDL steps or strategies that the learners were using. They found that identifying learning needs, setting goals, planning, and evaluating their learning were strategies that most learners did not use, which indicates that the learners did not complete their SDL process, according to the authors. Additionally, the findings indicated that most learners chose resources and activities out of convenience or enjoyment rather than related to specific learning goals, which did not really help them improve their English. The authors give some suggestions and recommendations to address that issue.
Our third featured article contains a research synthesis conducted by Andrej Krasnansky and Jo Mynard. They adapted a procedure suggested by Chong and Plonsky (2021) in order to systematically review and synthesize publications over a 5-year period by members of the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education (RILAE; also the publisher of this journal). Krasnansky and Mynard clearly and thoroughly explain the procedure they followed, which can be replicated or adapted by researchers interested in implementing their own research synthesis. They also present their results, including the types of publications found and the major themes within. An infographic is used effectively to present the major findings in visual form. Finally, the authors discuss what the findings mean for RILAE and its future. This article demonstrates how a research synthesis can provide an overview of the nature of research coming out of an institution and help in identifying gaps or potential future directions for the institution.
With the purpose of encouraging reflections on advising and teaching practices, Relay Journal includes a Reflective Practice column. In this issue, we have two papers focusing on professional mentoring from different standpoints.
The first contains a shared reflection by Daniel Hooper and Alex Garin on relational mentoring, or critical friendships, as a means of continuous professional development. Hooper and Garin look back on a mentoring session which they had engaged in together. They each share the salient points which they took from their meeting, illustrating their realizations with excerpts. Hooper and Garin describe how although certain qualities of traditional, unidirectional mentoring were evident at the outset of the session, the dynamic evolved into one of relational mentoring, with both mentor and mentee engaging in reflective thinking and arriving at new understandings due to their dialogue. Their article not only demonstrates how educators and researchers can engage in mutual professional development through relational mentoring, but it also provides insights on the nature of professional development at various stages of an academic career and on the definition of “research” in our field.
In the second Reflective Practice paper, Prateek Sharma examines his mentoring session with a colleague with the aim of finding positive emotions that may have emerged from the session. Through the analysis of two excerpts, Sharma found that the session elicited altruism, contentment, and happiness in his colleague. Like the first Reflective Practice paper and other studies on a particular mentoring session (Several examples can be found in previous issues of Relay Journal), Sharma’s article demonstrates that even one session can raise awareness of positive emotions that may not be noticed otherwise.
The final article in this issue is a review by Stacey Vye. Her review is rather unique, in that it is a review itself of another previous review in Relay Journal, Everhard’s (2022) response to Gardner and Miller (2021). Relating her own challenging experience of coordinating a self-access center, Vye discusses Everhard’s and Gardner and Miller’s perspectives and arguments on the past, present, and future of self-access language learning (SALL). She expresses her surprise at some information in Everhard’s paper and empathizes with Everhard, as they both have common observations and/or backgrounds regarding SALL. Vye also recommends resources she has used to maintain the center she has been managing.
We would like to express our gratitude to the authors for sharing their work and reflections in Relay Journal. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their thoughtful responses to each article, which have inspired further reflection by the authors. These post-publication reviews, along with responses from the original authors, are public and can be viewed on the web version of each article. Readers are also welcome to respond to papers in Relay; if you have a comment, review, or question regarding a particular piece, feel free to post it at the bottom of the respective page. The editorial team will notify the authors of your post. Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Chrissy Pemberton for her assistance in copyediting, and to Kayo Hirono, who contributed to the publication process.
Notes on the Editors
Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa is a learning advisor and lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies. She holds a PhD in applied linguistics, focusing on learner autonomy (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and a Master of Education in TESOL (State University of New York at Buffalo, US). She has a particular interest in learner autonomy, self-access language learning, advising in language learning, and positive psychology in education.
Isra Wongsarnpigoon is a visiting lecturer in the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education and a learning advisor in the Self-Access Learning Center at Kanda University of International Studies. He holds an M.S.Ed from Temple University, Japan Campus. His interests include multilingualism in language learning, learning spaces and environments, and learner autonomy.
References
Chong, S. W., & Plonsky, L. (2021). A primer on qualitative research synthesis in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 55(3), 1024–1034. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3030
Everhard, C. J. (2022). There’s Something About SALL: A Response to Gardner and Miller. Relay Journal, 5(1), 19–30. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/050103
Gardner, D., & Miller, L. (2021). After “Establishing…”: Self-Access learning then, now and into the future. Relay Journal, 4(2), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/040202