Building a Culture of Self- Access Learning at a Japanese University An Action Research Project Clair Taylor Gerald Talandis Jr. Michael Stout Keiko Omura

Problem Action Research

English Central

Spring, 2010 CYCLE 1

Lounge use increased 150 113 75 38 Spring 2009 Spring 2010 0

82% failed to complete any part all of the card! part none Classes: 15 Students: 317 OPTIONAL APPROACH

55% completed all or part of the card! all none part Classes: 12 Students: 263 MANDATORY APPROACH

Make it part of the grade!!! 60 45 30 part 15 part all 0 all Optional Mandatory

Effects of collaboration

Effects of collaboration The more collaboration the better!

Fall 2010 CYCLE 1

Semester 2 lounge use increased 160 120 80 40 0 Fall 2009 Fall 2010

More cards were partially completed 60 51 43 34 26 17 9 Semester 1 Semester 2 0

Spring 2011 CYCLE 2

!! Self-study Card! Name: Class: Lounge time/ event/ Self-study Support! Graded Readers! CDRom! Quizlet! EnglishCentral! 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 10 20 30 40 50 100 200 300 400 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

20%

New Resources 21

22

23

More students engaged in self-study 600 450 300 none none part 150 part all 0 all Spring 2010 Spring 2011

Photo of lounge

Fall 2011 CYCLE 2

Continued success of the approach 400 none (17%) 300 none (18%) 200 part (53%) part (50%) 100 all (30%) all (32%) 0 Spring 2011 *Fall 2011 *Total is lower because one teacher s data is missing

Do students continue to study independently when they move into their sophomore year?

Survey Studying English Survey: Semester 1 2012 2012 This is a survey about studying English outside class. It will help us improve English language education at Togaku. Please check one box for each question. 1a! How many times have you been to the lounge to chat / do self-study / go to an event this semester?!! 0!! 1-3!1-3!! 4-10 4-10 More than 10 times 11!!!! 1b! Was going to the lounge part of a course requirement? (i.e. did you get points towards your grade for a second! year elective class for going to the lounge?)! YES!!! NO! 2a How many graded readers have you read this semester?! 0!! 1-3!1-3!! 4-10 4-10 More than 10 11 2b! Was graded reading part of a course requirement?! YES!!!! NO 3a! How many times have you used the Headway CDROM this semester? Headway CDROM! 0!! 1-3!!! 4-10!! More than 10 times 11 3b! Was the CDROM part of a course requirement? CDROM! CDROM!! YES!!!! NO 4a! How many times have you used English Central this semester? English Central! 0!! 1-3!!! 4-10! More than 10 times 11

Lounge Never 1-3 times 4-10 times More than 10 times 8% 4% 20% 68%

Graded Readers None 1-3 4-10 More than 10 17% 8% 1% 74%

CDROM Never More than 10 times 1-3 times 4-10 times 10% 1% 2% 87%

EnglishCentral Never 1-3 times 4-10 times More than 10 times 5% 5% 15% 75%

Quizlet Never 1-3 times 4-10 times More than 10 times 6% 4% 13% 77%

More than half of students continued at least one stamp card activity No SC activity At least one SC activity 47% 53%

Other independent English study Music Book (Vocabulary, TOEIC etc.) Personal study / review Movies /TV Talk / use it Internet (blog etc.) Other 0 10 20 30 40 50 Number of students

The way forward...