２０１２年度の学習者デイベロプメント研究会
Learner Development SIG Grant Awardees for 2012
May 2012 Update
It’s our great pleasure to share with you these self-introductions from the first group of Learner Development SIG grant awardees in 2012. In addition to the people listed below, Akiko Awa and Theron Muller are LD SIG Membership Awardees. For more details about the 2012 SIG Grants, please visit http://ld-sig.org/grants2012/.
助成金にご応募いただきありがとうございました。本年度の助成金受給者（グループ１－５）の自己紹介を掲載させていただきます。 また、アワ・アキコさん、セロン・ミュラーも会費助成を受けLD SIGに参加できることになりました。皆さん、おめでとうございます。
尚、２０１２年度、学習者デイベロプメント研究会助成金に関する詳細は下記ホームページをご覧ください。http://ld-sig.org/grants2012/.
LD SIG Subscription Awardee: Tanya Clarke
My name is Tanya Clarke. I have been teaching English at two senior high schools in Saitama through the JET programme for the last nine months. While not new to teaching, I’m new to EFL so I am pleased to have been awarded an LD SIG subscription grant. By networking with other educators and understanding the theories behind learner autonomy, I look forward to improving the quality of my classes and increasing student participation.
LD SIG Subscription Awardee: Debjani Ray
I am Debjani Ray. I was born and brought up in India (Calcutta/Kolkata). Since a scholarship brought me to Japan about 20 years ago, Japan has become my second home. (Although I have gone out of Japan and lived in some other countries for some time, I finally came back to Japan. I have lived in a few different places in Kanto and taught at several schools and universities.) Currently I live in Tokyo and teach at 3 different universities. In the past I have joined LD-SIG meetings and conferences several times as a non-member, now I'm looking forward to joining LD-SIG as a subscriber. I am interested in all aspects of learner development, but I am especially interested in small scale in-class projects/presentations.
LD SIG Subscription Awardee: Mayumi Takizawa
Mayumi Takizawa has been teaching English for 15 years. Currently, she works at a private language school as an instructor and an NPO as a teacher trainer for foreign language activities in elementary schools. She received her MA in TESOL from Columbia University Teachers College in 2011, and the subject was the effects of different early EFL learning contexts (West and East Europe, and Japan) on SLA of young learners. Her current interests are Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and thematic English education.
First-time LD SIG Subscriber Grant Awardee: Joyce Wang
Hello everyone! My name is Joyce Wang, and I am a high school English teacher in Nagoya. I came to Japan last August; before that, I was a teacher in Los Angeles. Teaching in Japan has definitely been an amazing experience so far. Currently, I am interested in the development of students' oral communication skills and confidence in speaking English, as well as effective teaching practices in the EFL classroom. I'm really looking forward to being a part of this SIG and learning from others' experiences.
First-time LD SIG Subscriber Grant Awardee: Satomi Yoshimuta
Satomi is an English teacher at universities in Greater Tokyo. Her interests include collaborative learning and remedial education at Japanese university settings and extensive reading as well. She just started an MA in TESOL at Temple University in Tokyo. She is looking forward to meeting members of the Learner Development SIG and other groups in JALT.
LD SIG Membership Awardee: Caroline Ross
Having skied, snowboarded, and taught English (in that order) in the Savoie region of France for three and half years, my husband and I decided to move to Japan. Two years on and I'm thrilled to be starting my second year in a high school which has an international programme allowing students to spend 10 months of senior high living and studying in an English-speaking country. I am interested in the role that group membership affects individual learner identities.
LD SIG Membership Awardee: Yukiko Shimizu
My name is Yukiko, and I am very pleased to have been awarded a Learner Development SIG Grant. I have been working for a private girl’s junior and senior high school in Tokyo for 15 years. My current interest is a focus on to what extent teachers can help develop learner autonomy. I am looking forward to taking part in the SIG as an active member.
LD SIG Membership Awardee: Mizuka Tsukamoto
Mizuka Tsukamoto teaches at various universities in the Kansai region. She became interested in classroom research and teacher education after completing CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Her research interests have expanded to the use of language in the EFL classroom and learner autonomy.
LD SIG Pan SIG Conference Grant Awardee: Nathan Ducker
Nathan Ducker is a teacher / researcher at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita, Kyuushu. His interests in autonomy and other student-centered aspects of language learning stem from his own difficulties and successes from trying to learn French at university and Japanese on his own. He is currently working on incorporating / formalizing requirements for autonomy and student development in two courses at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
LD SIG Pan SIG Conference Grant Awardee: Masashi Nakamura
My name is Masashi Nakamura. I graduated from Meisei University, and will begin my MA in TESOL at Temple University, Japan from May 2012. I am currently working as teaching assistant and conducting a study in a learner autonomy development class, within a CALL learning environment, at Meisei University. My research interests include learner autonomy development and other socio-cultural theories and practice in second language acquisition.
LD SIG Research Grant Awardee: Gretchen Clark
Hello! As a newbie LD SIG member, I am thrilled to win the scholarship grant and plan to put it to good use by adding to my expanding library of learner and teacher development books. I currently teach senior high school students at Ritsumeikan Junior and Senior High School but have been involved in ELT at the secondary level since I came to Japan in 1998. My research interests include strategy instruction and how to develop learner metacognitive skill within the rigorous test-driven secondary context. I’m looking forward to working more closely with the SIG and exploring new areas of interest!
LD SIG Research Grant Awardee: Jason White
Jason is a high school English teacher from Arizona, currently teaching at Himeji High School through the Phoenix Sister Cities Teach Abroad program. Jason’s research interests include motivation and anxiety in EFL/ESL students. He is especially interested in the effects of the Japanese exam system on junior and senior high school students, and the negative implications on motivation for foreign language learners at the university level.