Social spaces for language learning : stories from the L-cafe

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-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. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Exploring a Social Space for Language Learning (Garold Murray, Naomi Fujishima)....Pages 1-12 Front Matter ....Pages 13-13 Creating the L-café: An Administrator’s Standpoint (Makoto Tahara)....Pages 14-20 Five Years at the L-café: The Secret of Its Success (Mariko Uzuka)....Pages 21-30 Management of L-café (Masumi Fujimoto)....Pages 31-39 Front Matter ....Pages 40-40 What I Learned from Working at the L-café (Bob Lamitie)....Pages 41-49 Writing Tutorials at the L-café (Masumi Igarashi)....Pages 50-59 Providing Study Abroad Advice as a Viable Use of Social Learning Spaces (Thomas Fast)....Pages 60-68 Optimizing Affordances: Developing a ‘Digital Habitat’ for the L-café (Claire Uchida)....Pages 69-78 Front Matter ....Pages 79-79 The Door to the L-café, the Door to the World (Naoko Nakamoto)....Pages 80-85 My Life in the L-café from Different Angles (Kanako Miyake)....Pages 86-90 L-café: The International Home (Kelly Marie Ho)....Pages 91-95 Defining Experience through the L-café (Daniel Tangonan)....Pages 96-99 The Dark Side of L-café (Yosuke Hino)....Pages 100-104 My Critical Thoughts on the English Café and the L-café (Saburo Fukuba)....Pages 105-109 How I Got Involved with the L-café (Yu Miura)....Pages 110-113 Fulfilling Time at the L-café (Yuya Tanimoto)....Pages 114-118 L-café: The Source of My Motivation to Study English (Kazunori Kuwada)....Pages 119-123 Understanding a Social Space for Language Learning (Garold Murray, Naomi Fujishima)....Pages 124-146 Back Matter ....Pages 147-154