Independent Learning Association Conference 2018

We invite you to join us for Independent Learning Association Conference at Konan Women’s University in the beautiful port city of Kobe, Japan.

The conference starts from the premise that language learning does not entail a static, one-way acquisition of knowledge, but is rather a more dynamic and collaborative process, where “knowledge” is constructed by individuals and/or groups working together - what David Little has referred to as “the inescapably dialogic nature of language and learning.” (Little, 2007:10)

At ILA 2018 — Whose Autonomy? Voices and Agency in Language Learning — we would like to focus on the different voices engaged in this co-construction of knowledge in autonomous language learning, and explore issues relating to agency within the autonomous learning process.

Within this overarching theme, we will be welcoming presentations, symposia, workshops and posters related to (but not restricted to):

• identity
• assessment
• critical thinking
• motivation, affect
• learner training
• curriculum and material design
• technology
• teacher/learning advisor autonomy
• young learners
• learner/teacher beliefs

The contexts for the research would include the classroom, self-access learning spaces, social learning spaces, and virtual learning spaces.

We hope will join us and our plenary speakers – James Lantolf, Jo Mynard, Leena Karlsson and Chika Hayashi – in making this another memorable ILA.

For more information, contact us.

We look forward to seeing you all in Kobe in 2018!

Conference Chairs: Steve Brown, Ann Mayeda, Hisako Yamashita

Little, D. (2007). Introduction: Reconstructing Learner and Teacher Autonomy in Language Education. In A. Barfield and S.H. Brown (eds.) Reconstructing Autonomy in Language Education. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.