SiSAL Journal Special Issue: ‘Online advising and consultations in self-access.’
Editors: Jo Mynard and Adelia Peña Clavel
Submission deadline: December 20th 2022. Publication date: March, 2023.
In March 2023, we will publish a special issue on online advising and consultations in self-access. Online advising and consulting became the usual way to support students for extended periods during the COVID-19 pandemic when schools and campuses were closed and students were studying at home. However, some institutions had already been offering such support for many years, even before the pandemic. We are hoping to learn from our collective experiences and answer questions such as:
- What are some of the ways, features, benefits and challenges of offering online advising and consultations for self-access learners?
- How are students’ (and staff!) attitudes towards online support services changing? If so, what role did the pandemic play?
- How does one-to-one advising and consulting differ in online / face-to-face / synchronous / asynchronous modes?
- How can we manage issues related to equity and technology use?
We encourage researchers and practitioners working in self-access facilities and other outside-class learning support roles to consider contributing a paper for publication. For example, contributions could incorporate the following:
- Features, affordances and challenges of using online audio and web conferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom, Skype, Teams or similar) for advising or consultations with language learners.
- Features, affordances and challenges of using text-exchange platforms (e.g., chat, email, text messages, shared documents, apps, social media or similar) for advising or consultations with language learners.
- Learner and educator perspectives on using online platforms for advising and consultations.
You may find these definitions and references helpful when submitting your paper:
Advising in Language Learning
By advising we mean the reflective dialogue that focuses on supporting language learners to become autonomous and take charge of their learning (c.f., Kato & Mynard, 2016; Kelly, 1996; Mozzon-McPherson, 2001; Mynard, 2020; Mynard & Carson, 2012; Shelton-Strong, 2022; Shelton-Strong & Tassinari, 2022). This process is also known as language counselling (Karlsson et al., 2007). Papers might include an exploration of one-to-one advising between a learning advisor and an individual learner, peer advising, group advising, or written advising.
Consultations
Consultations could be other self-access support offered by teachers/tutors such as one-to-one language tutoring (Aydın & Tütüniş, 2021; Ireson, 2004), writing center consultations (Thonus, 2001), conversation practice, or other services offered by self-access centres.
Peer consultations
Peer consultations could include services offered between students within self-access centers, such as, peer-tutoring (Kwan, 2022; Mynard & Almarzouqi, 2006; Ruegg et al., 2017), peer mentoring (Curry & Watkins, 2016; Everhard, 2015), and tandem language exchanges (Batardière & Jeanneau, 2015).
The deadline for submissions is December 20th 2022 and we welcome contributions from colleagues around the world in the following categories:
- Research papers (around 6000 words)
- Theoretical explorations (around 5000 words)
- Descriptions of practice (3000 words)
- Research summaries/work in progress (2000 words)
- Perspectives and reflections (1500 words)
- Reviews of resources (books, websites, applications etc.) that are particularly useful for facilitating self-access advising and consultation services online.
Please note, for this special issue, we are only interested in receiving submissions for self-access / outside-class support in line with the scope of the journal. Papers outside this scope, for example focussing on classes and teaching, or on unsupported independent learning, are likely to be rejected.
Please follow the usual guidelines for authors (https://sisaljournal.org/for-authors/) and submit your paper via Scholastica https://sisaljournal.scholasticahq.com/for-authors before December 20th. We accept submissions in any language (please include a summary in English). Please indicate in your cover letter that you are submitting a paper for the special issue. Following an initial editorial review, suitable submissions will be blind peer reviewed. Please carefully proofread and format your paper before submission. Ensure that you use APA7 for references and include DOI numbers where available.
References
Aydın, D., & Tütüniş, B. (2021). Incorporating advising strategies into one-to-one tutoring: Effects on the awareness towards vocabulary learning. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 12(1), 4–20. https://doi.org/10.37237/120102
Batardière, M-T, & Jeanneau, C. (2015). Facilitating a face-to-face tandem language exchange on a university campus. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(3), 288–299. https://doi.org/10.37237/060305
Curry, N., & Watkins, S. (2016). Considerations in developing a peer mentoring programme for a self-access centre. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 7(1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.37237/070103
Everhard, C. J. (2015). Implementing a student peer-mentoring programme for self-access language learning. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(3), 300–312. https://doi.org/10.37237/060306
Hobbs M., & Dofs K. (2015). Essential advising to underpin effective language learning and teaching. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 6(1), 13–31. https://doi.org/10.37237/060102
Ireson, J. (2004). Private tutoring: How prevalent and effective is it? London Review of Education, 2(2), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/1474846042000229458
Kato S., & Mynard J. (2016). Reflective dialogue: Advising in language learning. Routledge.
Karlsson, L., Kjisik, F., & Nordlund, J. (2007). Language counselling: a critical and integral component in promoting an autonomous community of learning. System, 35(1), 46–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.10.006
Kelly, R. (1996). Language counselling for learner autonomy: The skilled helper in self-access language learning. In R. Pemberton, S. L. Edward, W. W. Or, & H. D. Pierson, Taking control: Autonomy in language learning (pp. 93–113). Hong Kong University Press.
Kwan, Y. H. (2022). What do Chinese learners of English want from a university writing centre? A Chinese tertiary student’s views on writing centre peer tutoring. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 13(3), 389–394. https://doi.org/10.37237/130306
Mozzon-McPherson, M. (2001). Language advising: Towards a new discursive world. In M. Mozzon-McPherson & R. Vismans (Eds), Beyond language teaching towards language advising (pp. 7–22). CILT.
Mynard, J (2020). Advising for language learner autonomy: Theory, practice, and future directions. In M. Jiménez Raya & F. Vieira (Eds.), Autonomy in language education: Present and future avenues (pp. 46–62). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429261336
Mynard, J., & Almarzouqi, I. (2006). Investigating peer tutoring. Elt Journal, 60, 13–22. http://doi.org/10.1093/ELT/CCI077
Mynard J., & Carson L. (2012). (Eds.), Advising in language learning: Dialogue, tools and context. Pearson.Ruegg, R., Sudo, T., Takeuchi, H., & Sato, Y. (2017). Peer tutoring: Active and collaborative learning in practice. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 8(3), 255–267. https://doi.org/10.37237/080306
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