Full Description
Social spaces for language learning, places where learners can come together in order to learn with and from each other, have an important role to play in foreign language acquisition and L2 identity development. In this book, sixteen students, teachers and administrators tell how they experience the L-cafe, a social language learning space located on the campus of a Japanese university. As part of a narrative inquiry, their unabridged stories are framed by background information on the study and an in-depth analysis informed by theories of space and place, and complex dynamic systems. Addressing practical as well as theoretical concerns, this book provides advice for language professionals developing and managing social language learning spaces, pedagogical insights for teachers exploring their role in out-of-class learning, and direction for researchers examining the various facets of language learning beyond the classroom.
Contents
Introduction 1. Exploring a Social Space for Language Learning; Garold Murray and Naomi FujishimaPART I: ADMINISTRATORS' PERSPECTIVES 2. Creating the L-cafe: An Administrator's Standpoint; Makoto Tahara3. Five Years at the L-cafe: The Secret of Its Success; Mariko Uzuka4. Management of L-cafe; Masumi FujimotoPART II: TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES5. What I Learned From Working at the L-Cafe; Bob Lamitie6. Writing Tutorials at the L-cafe; Masumi Igarashi7. Providing Study Abroad Advice as a Viable Use of Social Learning Spaces; Thomas Fast8. Optimizing Affordances: Developing a 'Digital Habitat' for the L-cafe; Claire UchidaPART III: STUDENTS' PERSPECTIVES9. The Door to the L-cafe, the Door to the World; Naoko Nakamoto10. My Life in the L-cafe from Different Angles; Kanako Miyake 11. L-cafe: The International Home; Kelly Ho12. Defining Experience through the L-cafe; Daniel Tangonan13. The Dark Side of L-cafe; Yosuke Hino14. My Critical Thoughts on English-Cafe and the L-Cafe; Saburo Fukuba15. How I Got Involved with the L-cafe; Yu Miura16. Fulfilling Time at the L-cafe; Yuya Tanimoto17. L-cafe: The Source of My Motivation to Study English; Kazunori Kuwada18. Understanding Social Spaces for Language Learning; Garold Murray and Naomi Fujishima
