Social Spaces For Language Learning

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-café, 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.

"This book presents an in-depth look at a social language learning space within a university context. Drawing on the literature from identity in second language learning, communities of practice and learner beliefs, it demonstrates how psychological phenomena shape a space and how a learning space can contribute to a wider learning ecology"--

This book examines how autonomy in language learning is fostered and constrained in social settings through interaction with others and various contextual features. With theoretical grounding, the authors discuss the implications for practice in classrooms, distance education, self-access centres, as well as virtual and social learning spaces.

How do we intentionally design physical environments for language learning and teaching? How can we build spaces that are inclusive, accessible, safe and equitable? While the Covid-19 pandemic has advanced notions of online education, it has also revealed the benefits and affordances of human-to-human interaction in physical learning spaces. This book explores the design of physical spaces intended for language learning specifically. From residential learning spaces to active classrooms, from social and experiential spaces to zoom rooms and language centers, from mobile community-based learning to hybrid makerspaces, language learners and educators have more choices than ever regarding their possible learning environments. Changing pedagogies and new technologies provide ever more alternatives to the normalized technology of the classroom. With a focus on creating new awareness of the affordances and benefits of physical spaces as active agents in the language learning and teaching processes, this book takes a practical approach to introduce readers without any prior knowledge of design or architecture to the topic. As language learning spaces need to consider stakeholders from diverse cultures, Felix Kronenberg provides examples from language centers around the world, including Asia, Europe and the United States. Readers will learn how to conceptualize and create supportive, resilient, flexible, inclusive, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and safe physical learning spaces. The book is an interdisciplinary introduction to this emerging field, drawing from research in disciplines such as architecture, learning spaces design, second language acquisition, pedagogy, history, and sociology.

poetics of belonging in the region. --Book Jacket.

This book provides an in-depth exploration of psychological phenomena affecting language learning within a social learning space. Drawing on the literature from identity in second language learning, communities of practice and learner beliefs, in conjunction with other individual difference factors, it uncovers perceptions and assumptions that language learners have of the space and how they affect their relationship with it and the people within it. Readers will gain a greater understanding of how psychological phenomena shape a space and how a learning space can contribute to a wider learning ecology. This book will appeal to researchers interested in language learning beyond the classroom and psychological aspects of language acquisition, as well as to practitioners and professionals who are supporting learners outside the classroom.

Second-language Discourse in the Digital World illustrates a new, practice-driven approach to technology in second-language (L2) learning that begins with what L2 users do when they connect with others online. With its rich set of examples from a number of different languages and a variety of digital platforms, in and beyond the classroom, this book provides a structured account of L2 computer-mediated discourse. The book is divided into four sections. Section I considers how new media have changed language learning. Section II is about L2 participation in digital forms and practices in online communities. Sections III centers around L2 linguistic and other semiotic practices, including the use of multimodal and multilingual resources while section IV analyzes social practices to explore how networked L2 users build, maintain and challenge relationships. Written in accessible style, the volume will be an important read to anyone interested in L2 use and learning in Web 2.0. Finalist for the AAAL 2019 book award.

This book explores theories of space and place in relation to autonomy in language learning. Encompassing a wide range of linguistically and culturally diverse learning contexts, this edited collection brings together research papers from academics working in fourteen countries. In their studies, these researchers examine physical, virtual and metaphorical learning spaces from a wide range of theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives (semiotic, ecological, complexity, human geography, linguistic landscapes, mediated discourse analysis, sociocultural, constructivist and social constructivist) and methodological approaches. The book traces its origins to the first-ever symposium on space, place and autonomy, which was held at the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) 2014 World Congress in Brisbane. The final chapter, which presents a thematic analysis of the papers in this volume, discusses the implications for theory development, further enquiry, and pedagogical practice.