ABOUT THE ILC
WELCOME TO AYBU INDEPENDENT LEARNING CENTRE (ILC)!
AYBU Independent Learning Centre (ILC) is a special learning space designed and operated as a self-access centre. Our main goal at the ILC is to assist learners in enriching their language learning experiences and taking better control of learning. We offer learners a wide variety of resources, colourful learning activities, and constant learning support.
If you wish to improve your English or practice foreign languages in a stress-free environment without any concerns like earning grades, the ILC is where you should be! You may speak with ILC instructors, read magazines, attend various social activities, and enjoy the fun side of learning with us. All the services, in-house resources and learning activities are completely free!
Want to learn more about the ILC?
LOCATION & WORKING HOURS
The ILC is located in AYBU Etlik East Campus Block C, Room 509. The centre is open between 09:30 and 16:30 on weekdays. ILC resources are also accessible via our Moodle class open to the students at AYBU School of Foreign Languages.
HISTORY
The ILC was founded in 2011 under the supervision and guidance of the Director of AYBU School of Foreign Languages of the time, Prof. Dr. Sinan Bayraktaroğlu. Since the ILC first opened its doors to learners, it has consistently kept growing by renewing and updating its resources and services.
MISSION
At the ILC, our main goal is to help learners become more independent learners who can set learning goals, lead learning activities using suitable strategies and analyse the whole process to modify any steps if necessary. The self-study resources, fun and colourful learning activities and a direct contact point to Learning Advisory Program (LAP) are the basic components of our ongoing efforts to address learner needs most effectively. Along with all of these, the ILC will keep contributing to academic knowledge base of foreign language learning and teaching, and more specifically, to self-access language learning, at a national and international level.
WHO IS WHO AT THE ILC
Dr. Tarık Uzun, ILC Coordinator
Stephanie Lea Howard, ILC Assistant Coordinator
Part-Time Student Staff
Selected every academic year.
RESEARCH
At the ILC, research and practice go hand in hand. Developments and recent trends in the academic field of self-access learning are closely followed at the ILC. We contribute to the field with our very own academic research and publications as well. Below can be seen the ongoing or completed academic research projects and studies at the ILC:
Projects
Project Title: Independent Learning Centre Cooperation Development Project
Funded by: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Scientific Research Projects Unit
Project Number: 1628
Project Date: 22/10/2014 - 25/02/2015
As part of the project conducted by Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University School of Foreign Languages, Mümin Şen, Director of AYBU School of Foreign Languages and ILC Coordinator Tarık Uzun paid an official visit to Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) and its Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) with an aim to improve the services offered at the ILC and set the academic background of Learning Advisory Program (LAP). The official cooperation talks between the two institutions were first initiated with this visit. Upon return, a needs analysis study was carried out in AYBU School of Foreign Languages to better understand the local needs and expectations of learners in our own context. Based on the findings, materials design and development projects were implemented with a broader goal to offer learners more comprehensive and informed guidance in language learning. In August 2015, Director of KUIS SALC Dr. Jo Mynard and the Assistant Director Yuko Momata visited AYBU School of Foreign Languages and the ILC for further meetings and observations.
Dissertations
Uzun, T. (2013). Learning Tendencies and styles of English preparatory class students using an independent learning centre in higher education [Unpublished Masters Dissertation]. Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Nasöz, M. (2015). Turkish EFL learners’ readiness for autonomy and attitudes toward self-access center [Unpublished master’s dissertation]. İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Academic Presentations and Talks
Event: III. European Conference on Social and Behavioural Sciences
Speaker(s): Tarık Uzun
Title of the Presentation: Learning Styles of Independent Learning Centre Users
Venue and Date: Sapienza University in Rome, 6-8 February 2014.
Event: Learners & Teachers as Companions on the Road to Autonomy; A Local Conference by IATEFL LASIG (Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group)
Speaker(s): Tarık Uzun
Title of the Presentation: Learning Styles of Independent Learning Centre Users
Venue and Date: Sabancı University, İstanbul, 29-30 May 2014.
Event: The Self in Language Learning (SILL) International Conference
Speaker(s): Tarık Uzun, Dr. Hatice Karaaslan, Mümin Şen
Title of the Presentation: Going Beyond the Regular Curriculum: Towards the Development of a Language Advisory Program (LAP)
Venue and Date: Çağ University, Mersin, 17-19 September 2015.
Event: Self-Directed Learning and Advising in Language Education Online Conference
Speaker(s): Dr. Tarık Uzun, Gamze Güven Yalçın
Title of the Presentation: The Digitalization of Self-Access and Advising Services in Times of Covid-19
Venue and Date: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Online, 24 April 2021.
Event: Landmarks in SALC Contexts. Thinking Back, Moving Forward (6th LAb Session)
Speaker(s): Dr. Tarık Uzun
Title of the Presentation: A Decade of Self-Access Experience: The Story of the Independent Learning Center at AYBU
Link to the Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BehZ1RiAkDc
Venue and Date: Kanda University of International Studies, Online, 25 June 2021.
Publications
BOOKS (Published by International Publishing Houses)
Howard, S. L., Uzun, T., & Guven-Yalcin, G. (2021). (2022). The forest, the tree, the leaves, and me: Practical tools for advising in language learning. Candlin & Mynard. (Forthcoming)
PAPERS (Published in National / International Journals, Proceedings of Academic Events)
Uzun, T. (2014). General tendencies of English language learners in using an independent learning centre within the Turkish higher education context. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 5(2), 98-111.
Uzun, T. (2014). Learning styles of independent learning centre users. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 5(3), 246-264.
Uzun, T., Karaaslan, H., Şen, M. & (2016). On the road to developing a learning advisory program (LAP). Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 7(1),84-95.
Uzun, T., Karaaslan, H., Şen, M. & (2016). Going beyond the regular curriculum: Towards the development of a learning advisory program (LAP). Proceedings of the Self in Language Learning (SILL) Conference, 1-11.
Karaaslan, H. (October/November, 2016). [Review of the book Reflective Dialogue: Advising in language learning, by S. Kato & J. Mynard]. Independence Newsletter of the IATEFL Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group (68), 44-47.
Şen, M., Karaaslan, H., Akgedik-Can, M., Uzun, T., Güven-Yalçın, G., Arslan, G., Okutucu, E. S., Howard, S. L., & Güllü, A. (2018). Learning advisor transformation: A collaborative and reflective collage. Relay Journal, 1(1), 113-127.
Uzun, T. & Güven-Yalçın, G. (2021). The digitalization of self-access and advising services in times of a global pandemic. Studies in Self-Access Learning Journal, 12(3), 248-265.
For three times so far, the ILC has appeared on the cover page of SISAL Journal, the world’s only academic journal in the field of self-access language learning.
