STRINGER Thomas
Organization
Language Center Instructor of English as a Foreign Language
Date of Birth
1986
Research Fields, Keywords
Language learner autonomy, Language learner development, Professional development for language teachers, Self-Access Language Learning, TESOL
Teaching and Research Fields
Thomas Stringer has been involved with English language teaching in Japan for 16 years. He is a doctoral candidate in TESOL at the University of St Andrews, UK, a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and a full-time Instructor of English as a Foreign Language at the Language Center of Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. He is Administrative Intern at Professional Development in Education journal, Co-Editor of the Annual Research Report of the Language Center (ARR), and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the St Andrews Journal of International and Language Education (SAJILE). Thomas is Social Media Manager for the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG, and also created the Language Learner Autonomy Research Portal. His research interests are broadly on language learner and teacher development, focusing on autonomy, and his work has appeared in peer-reviewed international journals such as Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, Educational Action Research, and Learning: Research and Practice.
Special Affairs
Thomas Stringer
Syllabus information URL
SDGs Related Goals
External link
Graduating School 【 display / non-display 】
-
Graduating School:The University of York
Faculty:Faculty of Philosophy
Course / Major:Philosophy
Kind of school:University
Date of graduation:2008.07
Completion status:Graduated
Country location code:United Kingdom
Graduate School 【 display / non-display 】
-
Graduate school:University College London- Institute of Education
Department:TESOL
Course:TESOL
Course completed:Master's Course
Date of completion:2016.11
Completion status:Completed
Country:United Kingdom
Degree 【 display / non-display 】
-
Degree name:MA（TESOL）
Classified degree field:Humanities & Social Sciences / Linguistics
Conferring institution:University College London
Acquisition way:Coursework
Date of acquisition:2016.11
Career 【 display / non-display 】
-
Affiliation:Kwansei Gakuin University
Department:Language Center
Title:Instructor of English as a Foreign Language
Date:2021.09 - -
Affiliation:Konan University
Department:Institute for Language and Culture
Title:Instructor of English as a Foreign Language
Date:2017.04 - 2021.08
Association Memberships 【 display / non-display 】
-
Academic society name:IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)
Academic country located:Japan -
Academic society name:JALT (Japan Association for Language Teaching)
Academic country located:Japan -
Academic society name:JASAL (Japan Association of Self-Access Learning)
Academic country located:Japan
Research Areas 【 display / non-display 】
-
Research field:Humanities & Social Sciences / Foreign language education
Qualification acquired 【 display / non-display 】
-
Qualification title:Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Papers 【 display / non-display 】
-
Language: English
Title: A conceptual framework for Emergent Language Learner Autonomy – a complexity perspective for action research
Journal name: Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching (p.1 - 13)
Date of publication: 2024.07
Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)
Co-author classification: Single Author
-
Language: English
Title: Synthesisability and optimising exploratory action research for continuing professional development
Journal name: Educational Action Research (p.1 - 18)
Date of publication: 2024.06
Author(s): Thomas StringerDOI: 10.1080/09650792.2024.2362706
Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)
Co-author classification: Single Author
-
Language: English
Title: A protocol for a qualitative synthesis of practitioner research of language learner autonomy in Japan
Journal name: International Database of Education Systematic Reviews (p.1 - 8)
Date of publication: 2023.11
Author(s): Thomas Stringer, Eoin JordanType of publication: Research paper (other academic)
Co-author classification: Multiple Authorship
-
Language: English
Title: The Role of Metacognition in Mindfulness Interventions with Japanese EFL University Students.
Journal name: Learning: Research and Practice
Date of publication: 2020.12
Author(s): Thomas Stringer, Kathy LooneyDOI: 10.1080/23735082.2020.1818806
Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)
Co-author classification: Multiple Authorship
-
Language: English
Title: Flyin’ Solo: Evaluating Language Learner Autonomy in Undergraduate Slang Research
Journal name: Annual Research Report of the Language Center vol.28 (p.21 - 39)
Date of publication: 2025.05
Author(s): Thomas Stringer, Mina Sato, Nao ShimomuraType of publication: Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)
Co-author classification: Multiple Authorship
Awards 【 display / non-display 】
-
Prize: St Leonard's College Postgraduate Travel Award
Date awarded:2025.02
Country:United Kingdom
Award type:Award from publisher, newspaper, foundation, etc.
Awarding organization：St Leonard's College
-
Prize: St Leonard's College Postgraduate Travel Award
Date awarded:2023.12
Country:United Kingdom
Award type:Award from publisher, newspaper, foundation, etc.
Awarding organization：St Leonard's College
Presentations 【 display / non-display 】
-
Language:English
Conference name:PanSIG 2025 Agency & Autonomy in Language Learning
International/Domestic presentation:International presentation
Holding date：2025.05
Presentation date：2025.05.18
Title:Synthesising practitioner research on language learner autonomy in Japan
Presentation type:Oral presentation (general)
-
Language:English
Conference name:Second Language Teacher Education: Inspiring Creativity, Cultivating Excellence (SLTED 2024)
International/Domestic presentation:International presentation
Holding date：2024.09
Presentation date：2024.09.05
Title:Unveiling language teacher learning: professional growth through autoethnography.
Presentation type:Oral presentation (general)
-
Language:English
Conference name:The 4th Southeast Asian Conference on Education (SEACE 2024 )
International/Domestic presentation:International presentation
Holding date：2024.02
Presentation date：2024.02.15
Title:Synthesisability: Empowering Teachers, Promoting Research
Presentation type:Oral presentation (general)
-
Language:English
Conference name:JALT International Conference: Growth Mindset in Language Education
Holding date：2023.11
Presentation date：2023.11.26
Title:Learner Autonomy: A Castle on Conceptual Sand
Presentation type:Oral presentation (general)
-
Language:English
Conference name:20th Technology for Second Language Learning (TSLL) Conference: Advancing Technologies — Expanding Research
International/Domestic presentation:International presentation
Holding date：2023.10
Presentation date：2023.10.20
Title:Empowering EFL Learners and Teachers: Harnessing AI for Writing Instruction
Presentation type:Oral presentation (general)
Committee Memberships 【 display / non-display 】
-
Organization name:IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language)
Committee name:LASIG (Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group) Membership Outreach
-
Organization name:Professional Development in Education (Journal)
Committee name:Administrative Intern
Social Contribution 【 display / non-display 】
-
Title:Event Host - Being a Translator in the Age of AI
Date：2025.06 -
Title:Guest Judge - Kwansei Gakuin University English Speaking Society Spring Symposium
Date：2025.05 -
Title:Guest Judge - Osaka Prefectural High School Speech Contest
Date：2020.02 -
Title:Guest Lecturer- イギリスを理解するための重要な関係
Date：2019.10
Media Coverage 【 display / non-display 】
-
Title:Beyond The Abstracts: Supporting Autonomy-Supportive Communities - Satoko Watkins (S2e1)
Period：2025.05
-
Title:Beyond The Abstracts: Narrative Journeys – Daniel Hooper (February 2025, Episode 15)
Period：2025.02
-
Title:Beyond The Abstracts: Multilingual Advising
Period：2025.01
Description:Beyond The Abstracts: Multilingual Advising - Martina Šindelářová Skupeňová (January 2025, Episode 14)
In this episode of Beyond the Abstracts I speak with Martina Šindelářová Skupeňová. Martina is an English lecturer at the Masaryk University Language Centre in Czechia. She is interested in promoting autonomy in various teaching and learning scenarios. Martina has contributed to the English Autonomously project from its beginning. Her Ph.D. research project investigates the influence of language advising on learner autonomy development.
We begin by discussing Martina’s work at the Language Centre - a hub for learning support for the Masaryk University community. Martina first reflects on her own dual-language background, how the Language Centre has evolved, and ongoing shifts in the Czech educational landscape. We then turn to her 2024 article Fostering Students’ Self-Directed Language Learning: Approaches to Advising, published in Studies in Self-Access Learning (SiSAL) Journal. The article explores inclusive methods of language advising for learners of English and German as a second or third language. Martina highlights how the Language Centre caters to these learners’ varying levels of preparedness and motivation. She next explains her survey and case study findings. Martina reaffirms the importance of accommodating different levels of readiness for self-regulated learning, ability to engage in target language reflection, and needs for active guidance. Learners valued the support and reassurance provided by language advisors. Finally, Martina shares the Language Centre’s plans for expansion, including for learners of Czech as a foreign language. She also reveals details about her ongoing PhD research. This conversation will be of interest to those engaged in optimising learning advising in multilingual settings.
-
Title:Beyond The Abstracts: Learning Processes as Learning Contents
Period：2024.12
Description:Beyond The Abstracts: Learning Processes as Learning Contents - Lienhard Legenhausen (December 2024, Episode 13)
In this episode of Beyond the Abstracts I speak with Lienhard Legenhausen. Lienhard is professor emeritus of Language Pedagogy at the University of Münster, Germany. He underwent teacher training in the late sixties to become a teacher of English. After a short teaching period at a German Gymnasium (grammar school) he accepted a post at the Institute of Linguistics in Stuttgart. The title of his PhD thesis was Error Analysis and Error Evaluation the data basis of which included 26 000 errors made in so-called Abitursarbeiten (A-level exams). In 1975 he became a professor of English Linguistics at the University of Düsseldorf where he stayed till 1992. From 1992 onwards up to his retirement in 2006 he worked at the University of Münster where he was responsible for Language Pedagogy (Sprachlehr- und Sprachlernforschung). After his retirement he was invited as a visiting professor to the National Bohdan Chmelnitzkij University in Ukraine. For twelve consecutive years he taught linguistic and methodology courses there in the Spring Terms.
His research interests include English linguistics, the study of learner language, technology-enhanced language learning as well as learner- centred approaches to classroom learning/teaching. In the late 80s and early 90s he conducted various research projects on The Computer in Foreign Language Learning with Dieter Wolff, which were funded by the German Research Foundation. He also started the LAALE project (Language Acquisition in an Autonomous Learning Environment) together with Leni Dam, in which they systematically observed the linguistic development of a class of Danish mixed ability learners who were taught according to the principles of autonomous language learning over a period of four years.
And now, here is my conversation with Lienhard Legenhausen:
https://learnerautonomy.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/researcher-interviews/#processascontent
We begin by talking about Lienhard’s own academic background and how he first came into contact with Leni Dam’s autonomy classroom. We then turn to our key question – does autonomy work? Lienhard is convinced, and to that end, we discuss the evidence presented in chapters 5 and 6 of Language Learner Autonomy: Theory, Practice and Research (2017) by David Little, Leni Dam and Lienhard Legenhausen. He gives a detailed overview of the LAALE project, explaining the rationale for its research design. We discuss the evidence presented: improvements in vocabulary and grammatical acquisition, growth in pragmatic competence, and finally the reliability of learners’ self-assessments. Addressing the evidence in turn, Lienhard concludes that the implicit gains in the Danish autonomy classroom outstripped those made under explicit instruction in the German classroom. Their own learning processes were made the content of their learning. As a counterpoint to the statistical evidence, we also cover case studies of two learners. Dennis and Susan, facing challenges with behaviour and dyslexia respectively, but who bloomed in the inclusive, peer-supportive environment of the autonomy classroom in the LAALE project. We also cover the role of teacher reflection with logbooks, technology in the classroom, among other topics. The conversation will interest those in the research evidence behind the autonomy classroom.
Learn More:
English Linguistics:
(1972) (with E. König). Englische Syntax I. Komplexe Sätze. Frankfurt/M.: Fischer Athenäum
(1985). "Die SF/EF-Distribution in englischen Rundfunkreportagen". In: Hüllen, W./Schulze, R. (eds.) (1985). Tempus, Zeit und Text. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, pp. 117-135.
(1988). "Lexical causatives and transitional relations to non-causatives". In: Klegraf, J./Nehls, D. (eds.) (1988). Essays on the English Language and Applied Linguistics. Heidelberg: Groos, pp. 131-146.
(1989). "Grammatical fuzziness im Englischen". Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik 14. 73- 88.
(1997). "Metaphorical and metonymic extensions of lexical phrases with hand -
linguistic analyses and didactic implications ." In: Dow, J.R. / Wolff, M. (eds.). Languages and Lives - Essays in Honor of Werner Enninger. New York: Lang, pp. 241-253.
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL):
(1990). (with D. Wolff). "CALL in use - use of CALL: Evaluating CALL software". System 18. 1-13.
(1990). (with L. Dam / D. Wolff). "Text production in the foreign language classroom and the word processor." System 18. 325-334.
(1991). (with D. Wolff) "Zur Arbeit mit Konkordanzen im Englischunterricht." Der Fremdsprachliche Unterricht 25. 24-29
(1995). (with A. Eck / D. Wolff). Telekommunikation und Fremdsprachenunterricht:
Informationen, Projekte, Ergebnisse. Bochum: AKS-Verlag.
Learner Languages / Autonomous Language Learning:
(1991). "Code-switching in learners' discourse." International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 29. 61-73.
(1996). "The identification of over- and underrepresentation in learner languages through
frequency lists and concordancing." In: Rüschoff, B. / Wolff, D. (eds.). Technology-enhanced Language learning in Theory and Practice. Szombathely: Balogh & Co, pp. 222-238.
(1996). (with L. Dam). “The acquisition of vocabulary in an autonomous language learning
environment - the first months of beginning English.” In: Pemberton, R. et al. (ed.). Taking Control - Autonomy in Language Learning. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 265-280.
(1999). "Language acquisition without grammar instruction? - The evidence from an autonomous classroom." Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses (RCEI) 38. 63-76. (2000). “Principles of authenticity and the autonomous classroom.” In: Plag, I, / Schneider,
K.-P. (eds.) Language Use, Language Acquisition and Language History. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, pp. 200-212.
(2001). "Discourse behaviour in an autonomous learning environment." AILA Review 15. 65 - 69.
(2009). "Autonomous language learning." In: Knapp, K. / Seidlhofer, B. (eds.). Handbook
of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 6: Foreign Language Communication and Learning. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 373 - 400.
(2010). (with L. Dam). "Testing versus evaluation in autonomous language learning."
In: Paran, A. / Sercu, L. (eds.). Testing the Untestable in Language Education. Oxford: Multilingual Matters, pp. 120-139.
(2017). (with D. Little & L. Dam) Language Learner Autonomy. Theory, Practice and Research. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
(2018). “Learner Autonomy as a response to the challenges of educational inclusion.” In: Schwienhorst, K. (ed.) Learner Autonomy in Second Language Pedagogy and Research: Challenges and Issues. Hong Kong: Candlin & Mynard ePublishing, pp. 29-49. Also: IATEFL: Canterbury, UK. (E-book from Amazon and Kindle).
(2019). “The development of a dyslexic learner in the autonomy classroom – A case study.” In: Burkert, A. / Dam, L. / Ludwig, Ch. (eds.). The Answer is Learner Autonomy: Issues in Language Teaching and Learning. Hong Kong: Candlin & Mynard ePublishing, pp.118-134. Also: Canterbury: IATEFL e-Book; pp. 95-108.
-
Title:Beyond The Abstracts: Rethinking Language Teaching
Period：2024.11
Description:In this episode of Beyond the Abstracts I speak with Professor David Little. David Little is a Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin and was director of the College’s Centre for Language and Communication Studies from 1979 to 2005. His principal research interests are the theory and practice of learner autonomy in language education, the management of linguistic diversity in schools and classrooms, and the use of the CEFR to support the design of L2 curricula, learning programmes and assessment. David has published more than 70 articles and book chapters and authored/co-authored/edited several books on language learner autonomy. Starting in 1998, he played a leading role in the development and implementation of the ELP(European Language Portfolio) at national and European levels. From 2000 to 2008 he was non-stipendiary director of Integrate Ireland Language and Training, a not-for-profit campus company that was funded by the Irish government to provide intensive English language courses for adult refugees and to support the teaching and learning of English as an Additional Language in Irish schools. And now, here is my conversation with David Little
In this wide-ranging conversation we cover David’s own experiences learning French and German with the grammar-translation method, and his early encounters with self-access learning in the 1970’s. We then turn to our main focus - his 2022 paper Language learner autonomy: Rethinking language teaching. David reveals what it was like to attend Leni Dam’s seminar in 1985, and the roles of the dialogic classroom community, endless written and spoken production in the target language, learner control of learning and resource creation, reflection and self-expression, and evaluation in promoting language learner autonomy. David strongly affirms the importance of enacting this wholistic pedagogical choice in language classrooms. We also discuss relations to the principles of competence and relatedness in Self-Determination Theory. Lastly, we turn to David’s work in Ireland, with refugee, deaf, and EAL learners, and also Council of Europe projects on the ELP and plurilingualism. He explains how these long-term endeavours have deepened and confirmed his understanding of language learner autonomy, also describing desirable changes at the systemic level including to teacher education. Finally, David offers encouragement and advice to budding educational researchers – to engage in longitudinal projects that provide value to people above all else.
Learn More:
- Little, D. (2022). Language learner autonomy: Rethinking language teaching. Language Teaching, 55(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000488
- Little, D., Dam, L., & Legenhausen, L. (2017). Language Learner Autonomy: Theory, Practice and Research. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/doi:10.21832/9781783098606
- Little, D., & Kirwan, D. (2019). Engaging with linguistic diversity: A study of educational inclusion in an Irish primary school. Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/engaging-with-linguistic-diversity-9781350072046/
- The European Language Portfolio (ELP). http://www.coe.int/portfolio
- The Romani–Plurilingual Policy Experimentation. https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-policy/romani
Academic Contribution 【 display / non-display 】
-
Title:Peer reviewer for Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching (Scopus and SSCI indexed journal)
Activity type：Peer review
Description:https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-9647-4985
-
Title:Creator- Language Learner Autonomy Research Portal (website)
Activity type：Academic research
Description:Hi! I’m Thomas Stringer, and this page has empowering resources for learners, teachers, and researchers on language learner autonomy.
-
Title:Peer reviewer for Learning: Research and Practice (Scopus indexed journal)
Activity type：Peer review
Description:https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-9647-4985
-
Title:Peer reviewer for ‘SAJILE’ (St Andrews Journal of International and Language Education)
Activity type：Peer review
-
Title:Peer reviewer for ‘Annual Research Report’ (in house journal, KGU Language Center)
Activity type：Peer review