Who We Are?
The Workshop Initiative for Learning Language is a general incorporated association established in 2020. In addition to running the SMILE project, it is involved in a variety of language learning-related projects, including hosting a seminar series on language learning, the SPICE International Conference, and the I-WIT Workshop. Furthermore, the association is also involved in research on language learning and IT, and has achieved many accomplishments since its establishment.
Contact
WILL email is currently unavailable, so please contact us at swkbys37 at gmail.com or iiojun at aol.com (replace at with @).
Board Members
Shigenori WAKABAYASHI, Ph. D. (Representative Board Member)
Professor Wakabayashi obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. His academic interest lies in applied linguistics, particularly in generative approaches to second language learners’ knowledge of morphology and syntax. He was the Japan Second Language Association (J-SLA) foundation member, Secretary, and President. He serves on the editorial board of Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, among other journals. One of his most recent publications is Shigenori Wakabayashi (2021). “A Principle of Economy in Derivation in L2 Grammar: Do Everything in Narrow Syntax.” Second Language Research, 37 (4), 521-545. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658319879969. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658319879969 (Open Access).
He actively provides new ideas and practices in English Language Education in Japan and Asia as the Representative Director of the Workshop Initiative for Language Learning (WILL). A recent research paper, including reports on practical international collaboration courses based on the SMILE project, is Wakabayashi, Shigenori, Jun Iio, Kumaraguru Ramayah. Rie Komoto, and Junji Sakurai, (2023). “How ICT Tools Support a Course Centered on International Collaboration Classes,” in Keane, T. Lewin, C., Brinda, T., and Bottino, R. editors, Towards a Collaborative Society through Creative Learning, Springer.
From 2011 to 2014, he was Vice President of Chuo University and led the university’s globalization.
Message from Dr. Shigenori Wakabayashi
Have fun chatting with people from other countries and open up your world — you might make a lifelong friend!
Jun IIO, Ph. D.
Dr. Jun Iio was born in Gifu in 1970. He received his master’s degree in mathematical engineering and information physics from the University of Tokyo in 1994 and joined Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. in the same year. He has been a visiting associate professor at the International Center of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology since 2009. In 2013, he became an associate professor at the Department of Socio-informatics, Faculty of Letters, Chuo University, a research fellow at the Institute of Science and Engineering, Institute of Social Science, Chuo University, and a professor at the same department at the same university from 2014. He has been a professor at the Faculty of Global Informatics at the same university since 2019. He is engaged in research on the interaction between humans and information systems. His research keywords are image processing, user interface, optimization of information systems, etc. He is an HCD-Net certified human-centered design expert, a professional engineer (information engineering), and has a Ph.D. in engineering.
Message from Dr. Jun Iio
Through the SMILE project, not only students but also teachers can acquire international communication skills.