Self-Access Centers and Autonomous Learning: Report on the Japan Association for Self-Access Learning (JASAL) Conference, 2017

Abstract

JASAL (The Japan Association for Self-Access Learning) held their 12th Annual Conference/Forum on December 16th, 2017 at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) in Chiba. JASAL is a non-profit organization that fosters learner autonomy and self-access learning to a cross-section of educational institutions in Japan. This article contextualizes the plenary talk and selected presentations that captured the underlying themes of this conference: 1) necessity to become a social learning space for language learners, 2) necessity of structured support, and 3) necessity to assess and modify.

Keywords

• centred
• learner autonomy
• learning spaces
• scaffolding
• self-access learning
• self-access center