Defining Experience through the L-café

Abstract

In this narrative, an international exchange student, a young man from Guam, tells how his adaptation to his host country was facilitated through his participation in a social language learning space located on the campus of a national university in Japan. In his story, he recounts how his anxiety about being alone far from home was relieved by the opportunities it afforded him to make friends in a comfortable, relaxed environment. His story provides a glimpse of the affordances generated by students being mutually supportive, helping each other with their learning and social issues. He concludes his narrative by suggesting that, perhaps most importantly, the L-café provided him with opportunities to learn about himself as a person; in other words, it provided him with insights into his sense of self.