An Observation of a Learner’s Self-Directed Learning Experience through Implementation of a Structured Learning Plan: Refined Awareness and Its Translation into Action

Within the field of education, the fostering of learner autonomy has become an essential element of modern pedagogy and an established object of research. The Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at Kanda University of International Studies in Chiba, Japan, offers a range of self-study modules, which are designed to help students become more autonomous in their language learning. For the first and second year undergraduates, there are four sequential modules available. In the first module, the students receive training in the necessary skills of self-directed language learning such as setting goals, selecting appropriate resources and learning strategies, and evaluating and monitoring their learning process. By utilizing these ideas, the students, in the second and the following modules, create and implement an individual learning plan so as to continue on their practice of structured approach to self-directed language learning. In all modules, student reflections are considered a vital part of autonomy development. These reflections are facilitated by regular support from learning advisors, specifically through weekly written advising on their learning journals and verbal advising in interviews. This study investigates one particular learner’s implementation of a personal learning plan in her second module. This is conducted by a document analysis of her seven-week learning journal and three interviews. The specific questions for this research are as follows: 1. In what ways does the learner improve her learning experience through implementation of a structured learning plan? 2. How does the learner identify her weaknesses and respond? The analysis highlights that the learner gradually developed and refined her awareness of her own learning in response to the personal learning plan implementation. However, learner awareness did not always translate into learner action. Moreover, some actions were resisted as they required considerably more from the learner in terms of time and effort. This presentation will thus outline the module she practiced and its implementation, the challenges she faced and the actions she chose to take to overcome these.