Paper short abstract:

This presentation describes/outlines a collaborative learning project based on the concept of "acquisition-oriented lessons" and the principles of CLIL. I discuss the potential of such a project to raise participants' awareness of democracy and forge democratic relationships among participants.

Paper long abstract:

After World War II, European countries began to collaborate in order to achieve permanent peace. The founding of the Council of Europe in 1949 represented one of the first steps in this project, and it has been playing a very important role, especially in the area of culture and education, where it has argued for the importance of nurturing a democratic culture for the fostering of mutual understanding and peace. (Council of Europe 2016).

I was introduced to the concept of "acquisition-oriented lessons" and "dramatic knowledge" advocated by Jun Watanabe (Watanabe 2014) through workshops held in Paris in 2017. His model focuses on developing "independent and democratic learners", encouraging students to deepen their learning through the use of drama work. I acknowledge its worth and potential and have been practicing it in my classes.

This presentation describes/outlines a collaborative learning project based on the concept of Watanabe and the principles of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning: Thomson & McKinley, 2018) at a graduate school in Italy, using Japanese as a lingua franca with Japanese university students. CLIL is highly valued in foreign language education because the language one is learning is used authentically and directly. This project emphasizes an engagement with social phenomena occurring outside the classroom, viewing learners as democratic citizens in a broad social context, who build democratic relationships with peers and teachers. After the Italian students presented a social problem using drama work, they and the Japanese students reflected on it together and learned from each other. We used the internet to allow interactions over large geographical distances. At the beginning and at the end of the project, a self-assessment and a descriptive questionnaire were conducted and I analyzed the transformation of the participants. The self-assessment table and questionnaire were prepared by the Italian students and me in reference to the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (2018) and CEFR (2001) by the European Council. I discuss the potential of such a project to raise participants' awareness of democracy and the role of teachers in forging democratic relationships with students.

Paper short abstract:

To examine identity construction, synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration was implemented in Japanese courses in the US and Sweden over a semester. Analysis of data underscores the value of NNS-NNS interaction in enhancing identity (re)construction and improving intercultural competence.

Paper long abstract:

Recent studies of Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) demonstrate that authentic intercultural contexts can be achieved by the use of online tools so as to enhance students' foreign language learning and identity development. While previous research on telecollaboration and identity has mainly focused on NS-NNS interactions, this study investigates various stages of identity construction through NNS-NNS telecollaborative interactions using Japanese as lingua franca.

The study (which was conducted together with a researcher in the U.S.) examines two sets of NNSs with different L1 backgrounds, namely NNSs of Japanese from universities in the US and Sweden. The project combines telecollaborative activities consisting of both asynchronous written (blogs) and synchronous verbal (online discussions) communication.

The Intercultural Dialogue (ID) model (Houghton, 2012) was used to evaluate the outcome. The model consists of five stages: 1) Analysis of Self; 2) Analysis of Other; 3) Critical analysis of value similarities (or differences) between Self and Other; 4) Critical evaluation of the values of Self and Other relative to a standard; and 5) Identity development.

Our findings indicate that through their written and oral discussions in Japanese, the students' choice of words constructed images of the person they are or wished to be perceived as while building an understanding of their own identities. This shows that language use does not necessarily reflect who one is but is used to contribute to the construction of one's identities. It was also observed that there exists a stage prior to the first stage in the ID-model, namely a "no-awareness" stage. Furthermore, our findings indicate that Stage 1 "Awareness of Self" occurs as two sub-stages: 1-a) Awareness of single identity; and 1-b) Awareness of having multiple identities. Our data also suggest that at one point, several students were offering different critical evaluations of Self and Other as a result of their own and the Japanese cultural standard not fitting the standard identity development model, suggesting that the multicultural nature of NNS-NNS interactions involving different L1 backgrounds can accelerate identity development.

In this presentation, possibilities of multimodal analysis of intercultural telecollaboration will also be discussed.

Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the project of building a learning community across cohorts with the aim of fostering learner autonomy, involving 10 students of Japanese at a university in UK, and presents what types of learning occurred in the discussion on their learning methods.

Paper long abstract:

Since the importance of learner autonomy was asserted by Holec (1981) in the 1980s, a number of attempts have been undertaken aiming to provide learners with resources and opportunities to use a target language (Benson, 2013). Nowadays, however, the challenge of language education has shifted from providing resources to supporting autonomous language learning because the development of information and computer technology (ICT) has enabled learners to gain linguistic resources easily.

In order to facilitate autonomous language learning, I conducted a project to build a learning community involving students across cohorts, consisting of 10 volunteer students from Year 1 to Final Year who studied Japanese at university in the UK. In the language classes, students tend to create connections among themselves. However, opportunities to discuss learning among senior and junior students are usually limited, despite the possibility that senior students could give junior students useful advice that teachers might not provide.

This project was conducted in the spring semester 2019, consisting of an individual meeting with each participant and three discussions. This paper presents the outline of the project and focuses on the first discussion on learning methods. Analysing the video and the observation notes on the discussion, it was found that: 1) although senior students tended to provide more information than juniors, the latter occasionally took the role over, for example, introducing new learning tools; and 2) questions from juniors triggered seniors' reflection on their learning experiences. In addition, the interviews conducted after the project revealed that the participants evaluated this project positively because it enabled them to gain information about new learning methods as well as to review their language learning and their Japanese courses in an objective way. Based on these findings, this paper will also discuss how to build a supportive community across cohorts to facilitate students' autonomous learning.