Wednesday and Thursday, 23-24 November, 2022
The Programme
The conference will run all day on
Wednesday 23 - Thursday 24 November 2022
with a pre-conference workshop on Tuesday 22 November.
Conference Theme: Strategic Learning in an Uncertain World
SSU4 takes a hybrid format, including both online and onsite presentations. All presentations will be accessible both online and onsite. However, there are several different formats for participants to be aware of, which are outlined here.
Tuesday
22nd November
4:30-6:00pm
Online Pre-conference Workshop
Wednesday
23rd November
9:00am-5:30pm
Pre-recorded Presentations
*All sessions will have live Question and Answer sessions.
Thursday
24th November
9:00am-5:30pm
Onsite presentations
*Onsite presentations will be live streamed via Zoom.
Preconference workshop
One preconference workshop delivered by María Blanco-Hermida from the University of Westminster will be held from 4:30pm-6:00pm (NZDT) on Tuesday 22nd November. This workshop will be in synchronous online format via Zoom. This workshop will not be recorded or available to watch at another time. All participants who would like to attend the workshop should sign in to Zoom and attend the workshop online.
Pre-recorded presentations
Presenters who register to present online will pre-record their presentations in advance of the conference. These pre-recorded presentations will be played for 20 minutes at the time specified in the programme. The subsequent 5 minutes will be for Q&A or discussion. Presenters are encouraged to join Zoom for a live Q&A session at the end of their 20 minute presentation. Even if the presenter is unable to attend, a live discussion session about the presentation will take place. Participants can watch these pre-recorded presentations at the time specified in the programme and join the Q&A session which follows online or onsite.
Keynote presentations
Two keynote presentations will be pre-recorded with a live question and answer session at the end. The first keynote presentation on the second day of the conference (Dr. Awanui Te Huia) will be face-to-face. It will be live streamed via Zoom. All keynote speakers will speak for approximately 45-50 minutes, with the final 10-15 minutes allowed for live Q&A. The pre-recorded keynote presentations will be played onsite at the time specified in the programme. At the end of the recording, each of these two keynote presenters will join us via Zoom for a live Q&A session. Participants are welcome to watch the keynote presentations and join the Q&A sessions either online or onsite.
Onsite presentations
Onsite presentations will be held live at the time specified in the programme and livestreamed via Zoom, allowing online participants to watch them and to join the Q&A session at the end.
Invited symposia
Invited symposia will consist of contributions by symposium presenters and a Q&A session. The symposia will be pre-recorded and available to watch prior to the conference. One hour is set aside in the programme for a live Q&A session based on each symposium. Participants can join the Q&A session either online via Zoom or onsite in MCLT101. All participants should watch each symposium they are interested in before joining the Q&A session.
Pre-conference Workshop
4:30pm-6:00pm, Tuesday 22 November (NZDT), fully online
“A four-step simple, effective approach to strategy training”
Abstract:
This session is an interactive workshop for teachers of any foreign language. We will start by briefly discussing the rationale for strategy training in foreign language courses. After that, we will discuss which language learning strategies to teach and how to teach them using a simple and effective four-step approach that I have used extensively in higher education. We will look at samples of work produced by students, and samples of typical feedback from students who have undertaken the strategy training. We will also discuss challenges I experienced and insights I gained whilst conducting the training sessions. The training approach presented is informed by over 25 years of language teaching experience as well as current research into applied linguistics, cognitive psychology, and educational neuroscience.
María Blanco, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, University of Westminster (London, UK), Founder and Language Learning Strategies Coach at www.forlearningspanish.com
María has more than 20 years of experience teaching Spanish as a foreign language, as well as coaching students and training language teachers in language learning strategies. She is the author of “How to Learn Spanish: A guide to powerful principles and strategies for successful learning and self-empowerment” (Hikari Press, 2021) and “How to Teach Language Learning Strategies” (Lightwork Press, 2021).
Plenary Talk 2:
9:00am- 10:00am (NZDT), Thursday 24th November, Room AMLT 105
"Strategies for learning te reo Māori: Indigenous language learning challenges in a colonial context"
Abstract:
This presentation focuses on some of the Māori language learning strategies that Māori second language learners have applied to reach high levels of proficiency. This research involves perspectives from Māori who have engaged with a range of learning options, including formal tertiary institutions, community based whānau language programs (such as Te Ataarangi), and more intensive language learning courses. Many Māori heritage language learners have fewer opportunities to use te reo Māori outside of formal language spaces, our research highlighted the need for multiple learning options, as learners tended to find a range of techniques necessary over one standardized approach. The research comments on the necessity to have real life interactions that are included in language learning environments in contexts where colonization has impacted on the availability of the language outside of the classroom setting.
Awanui Te Huia, Victoria University of Wellington (see Awanui's homepage)
Awanui Te Huia has been working with Te Kawa a Māui since 2011 lecturing mainly in the Māori language programme. She has a PhD in Psychology that focuses on factors that support heritage language development for Māori learners of te reo Māori. Awanui's research interests centre around Māori language learning, the development and use of Māori language resources, and the normalisation of Māori language use. She is also interested in researching the ways in which Māori and Pākehā come to know more about our colonial history, and how such knowledge contributes to concepts of biculturalism in Aotearoa. Most recently, Awanui has lead a team of researchers to understand the motivations, for Māori language acquisition and use by Māori heritage language learners. This national mixed methods research (n = 1037) demonstrated the importance of connectedness, and having community language support for te reo Māori learners and speakers.
Plenary Talk 1
11:00am- 12:00pm (NZDT), Wednesday 23rd November, Room AMLT 105
“Researching Learning Tactics and Strategies with Modern Software Technologies”
Abstract:
Modern software technologies offer new opportunities to help researchers and learners examine learning. With learners’ consent, software can track in fine-grained and extensive details the information on which they operate, traces of cognitive and metacognitive operations they apply to information as they learn, and timing. I illustrate how nStudy, one example of these modern technologies, can support investigations of learning tactics and strategies. I outline theory and models that are foundations for nStudy’s features, and how these guide interpretations of data learners create alongside other data nStudy gathers. Systems like nStudy can collect big data needed to advance learning science developed by the community of “professional” learning scientists and the important case of learning science each learner develops via self-regulated learning when N=me
Philip H. Winne, Distinguished SFU Professor & FRSC, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada
Phil Winne is Distinguished SFU Professor of Education at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Struggling to contain his curiosity, Phil’s research ranges over self-regulated learning, metacognition, learning analytics, designing software technologies to advance research and help learners boost achievements, and research methodologies in the learning sciences. He is honored to be an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Canadian Psychological Association.
Plenary Talk 3:
3:00pm-4:00pm (NZDT), Thursday 24th November, Room AMLT 105
"Learning to Learn Effectively in Today’s Hyperconnected World: Essential Strategies for Students and Teachers"
Abstract:
Today’s students and teachers inhabit a world that has been dramatically transformed by digital technologies. These technologies have given rise to the hyperconnected environments in which students and teachers now live and work. Yet, the amazing speed and pervasiveness of this transformation have left teachers, students, parents, and policymakers with little opportunity to reflect on the pedagogical, psychological, or personal costs and benefits that have arisen at the individual, institutional, or societal level. It is the aim of this presentation to provoke such reflection by considering salient educational costs and benefits for today’s students and teachers. Specifically, Dr. Alexander will explore the positive and negative effects of these digital transformations on students’ learning and on their socioemotional well-being and on the effectiveness and welfare of the professionals who guide their learning and development. Following this provocation, Dr. Alexander forwards recommendations for students and teachers that can help reduce the costs that come with living and learning in this transformed world, while enhancing the potential benefits for all who populate these hyperconnected learning environments.
Professor Patricia Alexander, University of Maryland
Patricia A. Alexander is an educational psychologist who has conducted notable research on the role of individual difference, strategic processing, and interest in students' learning. She is currently a university distinguished professor, Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy, and Distinguished Scholar/Teacher in the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology in the College of Education at the University of Maryland and a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Featured Symposium 1
9:30am-10:30am (NZDT), Wednesday 23rd November, Room AMLT 105
“Assessing learning strategies”
Abstract:
In this symposium, we bring together a group of researchers who have been keenly interested in the assessment of learning strategies. We will showcase different ways in which learning strategies have been defined, operationalised, elicited, analysed, presented, and used for research and instructional purposes. We contend that the assessment of a central construct in a research field represents the maturity of research in the field. It is hoped that this symposium will raise the awareness of scholars about the need to strengthen and diversify our efforts on the assessment of learning strategies.
Rebecca L. Oxford (Ph.D), Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland
Rebecca L. Oxford is a language learning strategy (LLS) specialist. Her books on LLS were published in 1990, 1996, 2011, 2017, and (with Carmen Amerstorfer) 2018. She is grateful to have learned from and worked with some of the founding scholars in the LLS field. Naturally she is thrilled with the great talents -- younger stars and veteran researchers -- now contributing to the "third wind of language learning strategies," to use the phrase coined by Heath Rose and Nathan Thomas. She is particularly interested in quantitative and narrative assessment of LLS use. In addition to her passion for LLS, she has been deeply involved in the area of peace. Of her 15 books, some (including collaborative works) are on topics of peace language, peace cultures, peacebuilding in language education, ecological peace, and the nexus of peace, spirituality, and higher education. She co-edits two book series: Spirituality, Religion, and Education (Palgrave Macmillan) and Transforming Education for the Future (Information Age Publishing).
Peter Yongqi Gu (PhD), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Peter Yongqi Gu (PhD) is currently Head of School, School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has extensive teaching and teacher education experience in New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong (SAR China), and mainland China. Dr Gu received the 2004 Thomson Heinle Distinguished Research Award from TESOL International Association. He served as Vice President (2012) and Co-President (with Catherine Elder, 2013-2014) of the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ) (http://www.altaanz.org/). Dr Gu has published extensively on learning strategies, vocabulary acquisition, and language testing and assessment. His latest book, Classroom-based formative assessment, focuses on helping language teachers develop assessment literacy in classroom-based formative assessment.
Featured Symposium 2
2:00pm-3:00pm (NZDT), Wednesday 23rd November, Room AMLT 105
“Teacher Education for Strategic Learning”
Abstract:
Strategic Learning is the ability to use a strategy/strategies in an appropriate and effective manner. When teachers are successful in facilitating Self Regulated Learnng (SRL) their students are able to manage or regulate their own learning. Teacher Educators have begun to research some of the most effective techniques to enable teachers to promote SRL. The presenters in this symposium will discuss the efficacy of some techniques identified to develop teachers’s skills in promoting SRL. It will include research that can inform the development of subject teachers’ pedagogical strategies that facilitate learners’ strategic language learning and use in English medium instruction. Other presentations will explore research aimed at developing teacher candidates’ understanding of SRL and ways to support them in translating SRL into their practice.
Joan Rubin, Joan Rubin Associates
2011 Hermitage Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20902 USA; e-mail: Joan1234@gmail.com
Dr. Rubin pioneered the recognition and promoted the importance of learning strategies used by expert language learners. Her research was first published in the now classic TESOL paper “What the Good Language Learner Can Teach Us”. Her co-authored book, How to Be a More Successful Language Learner has been translated into several languages. Rubin also produced an award-winning interactive videodisc “The Language Learning Disc” promoting greater student control of their learning. She conducted two major research projects determining whether teacher promotion of learner strategies would enhance language learners’ success. Rubin has presented courses and workshops for teachers in more than 30 countries. A major objective of these courses was to develop teachers’ ability to promote Learner Self-Management (called “Self-Regulation” by educational psychologists). Her collaboration with Claudia Acero continued development of Self-Management concepts and included her work as Action Research mentor for several years in Acero’s Master’s program in ELT for Self-Directed Learning at the Universidad de La Sabana, Bogota, Colombia,. Rubin and Acero published a teacher education article “Empowering Teachers to Promote Learner Self-Management” in the 2019 volume Learner Strategy Instruction in the Language Classroom. More recently, as Fubright Scholar, National University, Quito, Ecuador, she gave courses to teachers on promoting Learner Self-Management.
Featured Symposium 3
3:30pm-4:30pm (NZDT), Wednesday 23rd November, Room AMLT 105
“Tangible insights from current and future research in the strategizing of language learners and users; Meta-reflections on the development of the field”
Abstract:
The intention of the symposium is to get brief (8-minute) pre-recorded statements from key players in the LLS field. Major contributors to the field will be invited to provide meta-reflections on a specific area for which they have particular expertise. Ideally, such statements will deal with meaningful instances where links between research and successful language learning and use practices have already borne fruit, as well as with timely speculation regarding future research that is likely to contribute to strategizing in a productive manner. This current “Third Wind of LLS” includes, among other things, both a continued interest in surveys of learner self-reported strategy use, as well as studies focusing on how learners actually use strategies to accomplish language learning and use tasks.
Dr. Andrew D. Cohen Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota
1555 Lakeside Drive #182, Oakland, CA 94612. USA. Email: adcohen@umn.edu
Andrew D. Cohen, Professor Emeritus U Minnesota, Peace Corps Volunteer, Bolivia (1965-67); ESL Section, UCLA (1972-1975); Language Education, Hebrew University (1975-1991); Fulbright Lecturer/Researcher, PUC, São Paulo, Brazil (1986-87); L2 Studies, U Minnesota (1991-2013); Visiting Scholar, University of Hawaii (1996-7) and Tel Aviv University (1997); Visiting Lecturer, Auckland University, New Zealand (2004-5). He co-edited Language learning strategies (OUP, 2007), co-authored Teaching and learning pragmatics (Routledge 2nd ed., 2022), authored Strategies in learning and using a second language (Routledge, 2011), authored Learning pragmatics from native and nonnative language teachers (Multilingual Matters, 2018).
Dr. Isobel Kai-Hui Wang (Corresponding author), The Moray House School of Education & Sport, University of Edinburgh (Holyrood Campus)
Charteris Land, Holyrood Road Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ. Email: isobel.wang@ed.ac.uk
Isobel Kai-Hui Wang is Assistant Professor in Language Education at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Her research interests lie in the areas of language learner strategies, second language vocabulary acquisition, and learner engagement. She is the author of Learning Vocabulary Strategically in a Study Abroad Context, published by Palgrave Macmillan. Her recent publications include a co-authored article on strategy instruction (with Andrew Cohen, System, 2021) and a book chapter on self-regulation in the Routledge Handbook series (2022).
