Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa Razafindratsimba
Kanda University of International Studies
About
Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa is a learning advisor and a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan. She holds a PhD in applied linguistics, focusing on fostering learner autonomy in an EFL context (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and a Master of Education in TESOL (State University of New York at Buffalo, US). She is a co-managing editor of the Research Institute for Learner Autonomy Education’s Relay Journal and is a co-editor for an upcoming issue of the Learner Development Journal. She has a particular interest in learner autonomy, self-access language learning, advising in language learning, and positive psychology in education. In addition to Japan, she has had experience of teaching English in Madagascar, the United States, and New Zealand.Sessions
Learner Development Benefits of using Language Learning Histories (LLHs) in teacher training more
Fri, Jul 8, 17:15-17:40 Asia/Tokyo
Successful language learners need to learn beyond the classroom (Richards, 2015). These contexts enable learners to develop and exert their learner autonomy, as they decide what and how to learn. This presentation focuses on experiences with two Malagasy student teachers co-authoring a paper in which they tell their English language learning histories (LLH) beyond the classroom. Beyond the classroom, every learner has their own ways of learning, which may depend on their learning contexts and their motivation and interests. Through writing LLH, the student teachers realized how their interests constantly triggered their motivation to create opportunities to learn outside the classroom, a context where support is scarce. They also became aware of the disconnection between in-class and out-of-class learning content. These experiences helped them reflect on their future practice and how they would like to implement classes. Through the process of writing experiential narratives in the paper, we were able to make some significant insights on the potential benefits of the use of LLH in language learning and teacher training. Accordingly, participants will leave the presentation with a deeper understanding of learner experience and autonomy that can help them in developing practices to facilitate language learning beyond the classroom.
Learner Development Challenging Conventions: Opening up New Spaces in Learner Development (FACE TO FACE) more
Sun, Jul 10, 11:45-13:15 Asia/Tokyo
This forum will examine how new learning spaces can help learners grow beyond conventional education environments. Presenters will explore holistic and ecological perspectives on learners’ growth, taking into account multiple aspects of their experiences, their interactions with others, and different affordances in diverse learning environments and spaces. The forum will include both studies that shed new light on the impact of sociocultural and psychological factors on the development of learner autonomy, as well as practice-related accounts that explore learners’ practices in a range of learning spaces outside of conventional classroom settings. In the forum participants will have opportunities in pairs and small groups to discuss and reflect on different non-conventional environments, spaces, and processes that learners can access and/or use. The combination of these theoretical and practice-based perspectives will encourage us to think about learner development from fresh angles, not only under the current and post-pandemic situation, but also beyond, so that we can come away from the forum with fresh ideas for challenging conventions and opening up new spaces in learner development in our own learning, teaching, and research. Round One 11:50 to 12:20 Dominique Vola Ambinintsoa Razafindratsimba, Fanaperana Haingo Rajaonaritiana, Volatiana Olivia Rasoanindrina and Jenny Morgan Round Two 12:20 to 12:50 James Underwood, Gretchen Clark and Greg Rouault
