This book presents an in-depth look at a social language learning space within a university context. Drawing on the literature from identity in second language learning, communities of practice and learner beliefs, it demonstrates how psychological phenomena shape a space and how a learning space can contribute to a wider learning ecology.

The authors are all researchers working at Kanda University of International Studies, Japan. The research team is led by Jo Mynard, Professor and Director of the Self Access Learning Center. The co-authors, Michael Burke, Daniel Hooper, Bethan Kushida, Phoebe Lyon, Ross Sampson and Phillip Taw, are all lecturers within the English Language Institute at the university.