Isra Wongsarnpigoon, Kanda University of International Studies
Phillip Bennett, Kanda University of International Studies
Curtis Edlin, Kanda University of International Studies
Wongsarnpigoon, I., Bennett, P. A., & Edlin, C. (2020). Editorial. Relay Journal, 3(1), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.37237/relay/030101
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We are pleased to present Volume 3, Issue 1 of Relay Journal. This journal’s purpose is to promote and disseminate research as well as practices related to learner and teacher autonomy, in various learning contexts around the world. The theme of this issue is research and learner autonomy, which corresponds with the general mission of RILAE (the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education). In late 2019, researchers affiliated with RILAE participated in a forum (Mynard et al., 2020) on this same theme at the 2019 JALT International Conference and subsequently discussed their work in an online LAb session. The enthusiastic response by participants at those events demonstrates the high level of interest in the topic, and the variety of the articles contained in this issue illustrates the diversity of potential research in our field. It is our hope that these articles inspire readers as examples of replicable research or by sparking new ideas for areas of investigation.
When we started working on this issue at the start of 2020, we could not have imagined the degree to which the then-emerging coronavirus outbreak would rock the world as a global pandemic crisis. As in nearly every other field, our colleagues in the realm of education were forced to adapt rapidly. In particular, in our home context of Japan, many of us are full-time teachers and practitioners, and the successive series of decisions to close campuses and move classes online upended many plans for the start of the academic year. The circumstances likewise affected the publication process of this issue, which we had hoped to release much earlier in the year. The fact that we were still able to assemble this collection of papers is due to the dedication of members of our community to advancing the field of learner autonomy. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the contributors, our editorial staff, and all reviewers for their generosity with their time during this extraordinary period in sharing their research, or in supporting their peers by providing valuable feedback. We encourage you to continue the discussion and interact with the authors by leaving your own comments on articles.
This Issue
Featured articles
In the first of our two featured articles, Gordon Myskow, Sina Takada, and Kazune Aida provide a concise yet thorough explanation of Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) in relation to materials designed for English textbooks for Japanese junior high schools. The description of the taxonomy is followed by summaries of their own reflective teacher diaries, which used Bloom’s Taxonomy as a reflective tool. Lastly, these summaries are analyzed, with three key themes among them highlighted. In the other featured article, Adrienne Verla Uchida introduces her application of the Four-Dimensional Education Framework (Fadel, Bialik, & Trilling, 2015) in her design for a university English course. After introducing characteristics of the framework as well as the course itself, Verla Uchida describes findings from her research on learners’ reflections on the course. She interprets the results, through connection with relevant literature, in terms of their implications for the learners’ critical thinking skills and their autonomy.
Reflective practice
This issue includes three reflective pieces about the authors’ practices. In the first, Albert Wong, an advisor and lecturer based in Hong Kong, provides an insightful account of a specific advising session. He reflects on his deliberate use of several advising strategies during the session, discussing their effectiveness as well as exploring his own perceptions as a new advisor. In the second paper, Hatice Karaaslan describes action research conducted on a remedial English preparatory course at a Turkish university. Learners in the course reflected on their experiences performing both online and face-to-face tasks, in terms of various factors. Karaaslan discusses the results of the reflections in light of their implications for further supporting the learners through advising and teacher practices. The final paper presented in the reflective practice section is a case study of events in language learning spaces. The authors, Mizuki Shibata, Chihiro Hayashi, and Yuri Imamura, share reflections based on their roles in regard to learner-led events about studying abroad, as an event organizer, administrative staff member, and learning advisor, respectively. These collaborative reflections could provide insight into holding such events for those who work in or with self-access learning environments.
Case studies
In an illustrative case study, Naoya Shibata focuses on teaching reflection diaries (TRD) in the context of a Japanese secondary school. The two participants in the study were one novice and one experienced teacher, who maintained their TRDs over a one-year period. The topics that are elicited in this study are teacher beliefs and motivations.
Perspectives
This issue features two papers from practitioner researcher perspectives. In the first, authors Phillip Bennett, Maria Giovanna Tassinari, Ena Hollinshead, and Fergal Bradley recount and reflect on their process and experience of editing an issue of a relatively new academic journal. The article contains multiple viewpoints, including those of managing editors, a column editor, and a layout editor. Each contributor highlights their individually salient points in the process, as well as what they were able to learn throughout. In the second article, Tim Murphey and Curtis Edlin propose that those in the education field consider acknowledging and attending to the biopsychosocial factors (i.e., students’ well-being) involved in the language-learning process. The authors contend that through maintaining awareness and responsiveness to the physiological, psychological, and social factors that impact students, teachers can engage with learners in a more holistic and supportive way as well as provide opportunities for learner autonomy.
Project summaries
The first paper in this section concerns learner autonomy in the context of universities in Vietnam. Son Van Nguyen and Anita Habók describe the initial stages of research on Vietnamese university students’ perceptions of learner autonomy and its contributing factors. The authors present a detailed explanation of education in Vietnam and note some significant difficulties in the promotion of learner autonomy there. After identifying a suitable construct for learner autonomy for their research, they report on the construction of a questionnaire for investigating their research question. Finally, Nguyen and Habók briefly chronicle the process of validating the instrument and outline the next steps in their project. The second paper is a pilot case study of a community of learners within a self-access center at a university in Japan. Using multiple sources of data, Daniel Hooper examines the group’s domain, community, and practice, with particular interest paid to the leadership succession processes. He both details the preliminary findings of this pilot study and identifies future avenues for research on the topic.
Notes on the Editors
Isra Wongsarnpigoon is a Learning Advisor and Co-Resource Coordinator 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 learner autonomy, learning spaces, multilingualism and learner identities, and L2 vocabulary learning.
Phillip Bennett has worked in a wide range of learning environments in Japan and the USA and is currently a learning advisor at Kanda University of International Studies. His interests are learner affect, empathy, and semiotics.
Curtis Edlin is a senior learning advisor working in the Self-Access Learning Center at Kanda University of International Studies. His current research interests include motivation, self-determination theory (SDT), and performance psychology in learning.
References
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York, NY: McKay.
Fadel, C., Bialik, M., & Trilling, B. (2015). Four-dimensional education: The competencies learners need to succeed. Boston, MA: Center for Curriculum Redesign.
Mynard, J., Ohashi, L., Peeters, W., Shelton-Strong, S. J., Tweed, A. D., Watkins, S., & Wongsarnpigoon, I. (2020). Understanding learner autonomy through research: A summary of a forum at JALT 2019. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 11(1), 53-63. doi:10.37237/110106