Educational research is increasingly paying attention to students' out-of-class learning. Students' out-of-class learning is linked to improved class performance and constitutes an important part of learner development. Prior research has argued that learning-resources provision should encourage students' autonomous learning both in and out of the…

The design of innovative learning spaces currently affects different educational sectors, including university teaching and learning. A parallel can be identified between the weakening of the specialisation of spaces for formal, informal, life-long learning, social interaction, and leisure and the blurring of the boundaries between work/learning…

Learner autonomy has become a central concern in the recent history of language learning. Self-Access Centres (SACs) play a critical role in fostering learner autonomy specifically in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) settings. As SACs aim at enabling learning to occur independent of teaching, in these centres, language learners are given more…

Internationalization has become an important strategy for many Japanese universities as they face falling enrollments. While some have successfully attracted students from overseas, others seek different means by which to promote their international appeal, primarily as an attractor of domestic applicants. One way that this is highly visible is in…

The Language Centre at the University of Padova provides language courses for students of all disciplines and with a wide range of needs. Over the years, the number of students having to deal with a language requirement has increased exponentially, while the teaching personnel and general resources have struggled to keep up. Catering to all of the…

Since CercleS was created in 1990, language resource centres, or language centres, have offered learners various means to improve their language skills. They are often places where new pedagogical approaches and innovative learning environments are proposed (Rivens Mompean 2011). As the names of some of the associations belonging to CercleS…

Over 10 percent of all students in K-12 schools in the United States are English Language Learners (ELLs) today, and, according to the Educational Testing Service, that number is expected to grow to 25 percent by 2025. Much of that growth is happening in communities (and in schools) that do not have a history of large immigrant populations. Given…

The Language Resource Centers (LRC) program provides grants to institutions of higher education to establish, strengthen, and operate resource centers that serve to improve the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages. Eligible applicants are institutions of higher education. Duration of the grant is four years. Center activities…

This report from the California Postsecondary Education Commission considers the request by the Governors of the California Community Colleges and the MiraCosta Community College District (MCCD) to secure approval for the Community Learning Center in Oceanside. The MCCD serves a traditionally affluent, white region that has recently become far…

Four self-access centers (SAC) are described, as well as their rationale, human resources, and end users. A framework for establishing a SAC is proposed; an informed decision about the type of self-access system, based on the rationale of the institution and the human resources available, will ensure a system suited to end users. (Contains 13…

This is a survey of the organization and materials production of the Nuffield Foreign Languages Teaching Materials Project. Development and structure are covered, noting important cooperation between writers and teachers. Writing, checking, duplicating and producing materials are surveyed, revealing the concept of teamwork and cooperation thought…

The document contains the final report of the establishment of instructional centers for schools of Arizona's Gila River Indian Community. The project was made possible through Title III funds of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and was intended (1) to provide programs, services, and materials for making learning experiences more…

Discusses four objectives that guided the design of the teaching and learning areas of the Language Learning and Resource Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These objectives are classrooms contiguous to the language lab, accommodation of small-group work, a flexible facility, and access to the outside world. (CK)

Eight volunteers reported their experiences with a self-access center, trying out new machines and materials and producing materials about a specific area of the center. Benefits of their involvement included improving the infrastructure, providing support to other users, and publicizing the available facilities. (Contains 18 references.) (Author)

Examines reasons for Arab student use of a student resource center, and particularly the computers located there. A discussion focuses on the factors involved and the philosophy on which computer-assisted language learning (CALL) development was based, the programs used, and student attitudes toward using the computers for self-access learning.…