ICPLTL 2025🇹🇷

I suppose I am now about halfway through the data collection in Japan. I had never imagined that collecting data could be this enjoyable, nor that I would be able to make discoveries I had never even thought of. I really must thank my supervisor for this I suppose 😃

Less than a month after returning to Japan, I travelled from Japan to Istanbul to give a presentation at the International Conference on Psychology for Language Teachers and Learners (ICPLTL) 2025 (which felt almost like being back in the UK XD). The conference itself was not particularly large in scale, but since most of the participants, both scholars and students, shared similar research interests, I found it extremely enjoyable. Moreover, I had the great pleasure of having a meal and many conversations with professors who are very well-known in this field, which was truly wonderful.

Some people also showed interest in my research, perhaps especially in my research methods (?), and I had many discussions with different professors, some of whom I might be able to collaborate with in the future. For many reasons, I really feel that taking part in the conference was well worth it!!

Around this time next year, I will probably be in Istanbul again (?), so I will most likely take part in next year’s conference as well.

More than anything, I was deeply moved by how kind the students who were helping with the conference organisation were. Of course, they carried out the organisational tasks very carefully, but after the conference ended, I was waiting for the bus to the hotel at the same stop as some of them. When I asked for recommendations on where to buy souvenirs, they all discussed it together for me and kindly wrote down suggestions on my phone’s notes app. They were so kind. Even just those few minutes of interaction made me feel from the bottom of my heart that I was really glad I had attended 😃