PanSIG 2025

Agency, app development: Study abroad heterotopias

Not scheduled

25m

Kanda University of International Studies (神田外語大学)

Research-oriented Oral Face-to-face presentation Study Abroad

Speaker

Joff Bradley (Teikyo U)

Description

This presentation introduces a prototype app designed to inspire students studying abroad to explore their host environment on foot, and to foster collaborative knowledge creation. The app draws from insights shared by faculty and local peers, guiding students through their surroundings while encouraging them to document experiences through videos, photos, voice memos, and text notes. These recorded interactions serve as reflective materials for post-study abroad sessions, supporting continued language learning, cultural exchange, and intercultural communication. Methodologically, this approach integrates linguistic landscaping, semiotics, translanguaging, and multiliteracies, all emphasizing experiential, agential autonomous learning.
The app also features curated knowledge from local students, leading Japanese students to culturally significant sites. Interactive elements, such as quizzes and QR codes, enhance these “learning walks,” deepening engagement with local culture. It further promotes cross-cultural dialogue, allowing students to share aspects of Japanese culture with their hosts, thereby fostering agency and autonomy in language learning. Inspired by Freinet’s classe-promenade and Stiegler’s concept of a “journey of knowledge,” the project advances contemporary language education through art, research, computer-assisted learning, critical thinking, and intercultural exchange. It uses AI, augmented, and virtual reality technologies to enhance immersive learning and support meaningful engagement with language and culture in diverse settings.

KEYWORDS

App development, study abroad, linguistic landscaping, semiotics, translanguaging, multiliteracies

ABSTRACT

This presentation introduces a prototype app designed to inspire students studying abroad to explore their host environment on foot, and to foster collaborative knowledge creation. The app draws from insights shared by faculty and local peers, guiding students through their surroundings while encouraging them to document experiences through videos, photos, voice memos, and text notes. These recorded interactions serve as reflective materials for post-study abroad sessions, supporting continued language learning, cultural exchange, and intercultural communication. Methodologically, this approach integrates linguistic landscaping, semiotics, translanguaging, and multiliteracies, all emphasizing experiential, agential autonomous learning.
The app also features curated knowledge from local students, leading Japanese students to culturally significant sites. Interactive elements, such as quizzes and QR codes, enhance these “learning walks,” deepening engagement with local culture. It further promotes cross-cultural dialogue, allowing students to share aspects of Japanese culture with their hosts, thereby fostering agency and autonomy in language learning. Inspired by Freinet’s classe-promenade and Stiegler’s concept of a “journey of knowledge,” the project advances contemporary language education through art, research, computer-assisted learning, critical thinking, and intercultural exchange. It uses AI, augmented, and virtual reality technologies to enhance immersive learning and support meaningful engagement with language and culture in diverse settings.