Flipped Classroom (FC) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) are inseparable. In the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, the interaction between the two may lead to more successful instruction. To provide effective SRL, interactive media might be essential, as they can boost students’ motivation, which is often a problem when students work on homework or pre-class tasks. In addition, teachers’ needs must also be considered. While FC benefits EFL learners, it often increases workload. Thus, finding a platform that is not only effective but also efficient is necessary. Moreover, free access can reduce financial constraints for teachers. This article presents my exploration and experience with the interactive slides on Wayground, formerly known as Quizizz. This writing also provides a comparative reflection between Wayground and other interactive presentation tools used in my teaching practice since 2020.
This qualitative case study examines how self-access student staff (SASS) experience their participation in a self-access language center (SALC) community of practice (CoP) at a private university in Japan. Focusing on six SASS members working in a recently relaunched SALC over one academic year, the study draws on data from multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis. Findings are presented through the CoP dimensions of domain, community, and practice, illustrating how participation supported developing identities, a sense of belonging, and both role-specific and transferable skills. At the same time, participants reported challenges related to workload, fluctuating motivation, low attendance, and uncertainty arising from high levels of autonomy combined with limited early scaffolding. The findings highlight the emotional and developmental demands placed on student staff and suggest that autonomy-supportive environments require carefully negotiated forms of guidance. Implications are discussed for SALC administrators seeking to design sustainable student staffing structures that balance learner agency with appropriate institutional support.
This paper proposes the Semantic Reception and Innate Generation (SRIG) model as a complementary explanatory lens for understanding second-language learning and acquisition in self-access and advising contexts. Rather than presenting a framework prescribing new directions for self-access practices, the model seeks to clarify why established practices such as reflective dialogue, personalised learning pathways, autonomy support, and learner-centred strategy development may work differently for different learners. Instead of focusing on a single explanatory factor, the model emphasises the interaction of three interconnected dimensions. The first is a semantic reception, through which learners interpret explicit and implicit meaningful input via multiple communicative channels within socially, culturally, and affectively mediated contexts. The second is an innate generation, in which an oriented generative capacity enables learners to produce infinitely novel utterances, guided primarily by meaning rather than explicit rules. The third is an overarching dimension of individual “habitus” (Bourdieu, 1990), encompassing the learner’s accumulated social, cultural, and symbolic capital, which shapes the selection of input, the construction of internal semantic representations, and the development of personalised, self-discovered learning strategies. The paper finally discusses implications for self-access learning, learner autonomy, strategy-based instruction, and future empirical research.
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has gained prominence in education as a framework for understanding motivation, well-being, and flourishing, yet many language educators are still exploring how to apply it in self-access and related contexts. This paper reports on the 16th RILAE LAb Session, “Getting Started with Self-Determination Theory,” which also served as the inaugural online symposium of the IAPLL SDT Special Interest Group. The authors provide a brief summary of the sessions and discuss how the event framed SDT as a practical and research-informed lens for language education.
This exploratory qualitative study examines how students and teachers perceive AI-assisted self-access writing in a Vietnamese university context. Here, self-access writing refers to writing carried out independently beyond classroom feedback cycles. Data were collected through open-ended and Likert-scale surveys from 49 Japanese language students and 11 writing instructors. Across both student and teacher responses, similar concerns appeared repeatedly. AI had become part of routine revision for many learners, yet this convenience did not remove uncertainty. Participants described difficulty deciding whether AI-generated expressions actually matched the intended situation, and also raised concern about becoming too reliant on AI during writing. Taken together, these responses suggest that AI is changing more than the speed of revision; it is reshaping how learners make sense of feedback and decide what to trust.
