Your Opinions & Perspectives: What is The Language Teacher?

Page No.: 
5
Writer(s): 
Malcolm Swanson, TLT Editor

TLT Readership Survey Results and Analysis

In late 1999, JALT's monthly publication, The Language Teacher, conducted an online survey to better understand the needs and hopes of its readership. Following is a breakdown of the feedback we received from almost 40 of our readers up to the end of November 1999, along with comments from our TLT perspective. Many thanks to all those who took the time to provide us with this valuable feedback. The full text of all the responses received is also at the same URL.

The Responses

Most/Least Read: clear winners for most widely read sections were: English Feature Articles, My Share Column, and the contents page. Most other sections scored very similarly. For the question "What sections of TLT do you never read?" no particular section scored noticeably differently from the others. Individual responses were quite different for both questions. However, it is clear that, overall, TLT is read in a fairly balanced manner.

The next section was a series of statements, each with a scaled response, plus a comment box. Below are the statements, the response scores, and a selection of the comments.

a) TLT meets my needs as a JALT member; it is a valuable part of my membership.

Responses:
Strongly Agree 7 Agree 11 No Opinion 2 Disagree 3 Strongly Disagree 0

Comments:

"From my viewpoint, JALT usefully consists of TLT, the JJ [JALT Journal], the yearly conference, and the bookkeeping aspects of the central office."

"TLT is stuck between being semi-academic, newsy and academic, and it ends up being institutionalised. It's lost the voice of the average teacher, and personally I find it increasingly boring to read and look at, though when I read it, I enjoy some of it. It does serve some of my needs but I prefer more and more SIG newsletters for their teachers' voices."

"I think the greatest problem is this feeling of academic and yet not academic and trying to appeal to all groups in JALT. Maybe it would help the JJ if TLT switched to a less academic style, and asked for shorter pieces (max 1500 words?)."

"The is the cornerstone of my JALT membership. It is an amazing feat to produce 12 quality issues per year. That is something that NO OTHER organization in the world is doing."

"JALT needs this TLT publication. As a JALT member who wants JALT to have a professional profile, TLT is vital, and so is JALT Journal."

"Valuable? Well, occasionally useful, I'd say."

"No. I feel that it could be doing a lot more than it does and it would be nice if the TLT kept the entire JALT membership in mind, not just those at the tertiary and some at the secondary level in mind!!!"

"It certainly used to be, but in the past couple of years, the articles seem to be heading towards themes which are more ideological and less educational in value."

"As an AM I feel that more should be done to attract readers. TLT is a good voice of JALT, but I would be much happier if it were a quarterly and had higher submission standards"

"Good when wanting background but not so practical for JHS/ES on a regular basis."

"The quality, especially the practicality of the articles has gone down in recent years."

b) TLT should focus more on being a research journal by publishing more feature articles.

Responses:
Strongly Agree 4 Agree 6 No Opinion 2 Disagree 7 Strongly Disagree 4

Comments:

"The JALT Journal is the research journal, TLT should focus on news and things that are more classroom oriented."

"I have seen bad research in the TLT and that bothers me a lot. I don't want to see big statistical articles as in TESOL Quarterly (isn't that JALT Journal's job?), but it would be nice to see a little more action research."

"Agree, yes, but with a wider variety -- a lot of the articles seem to be by the same people: a recent issue even contained more than one article by the same person."

"What do you mean by research? If you mean action research and teacher research, reflections on the classroom, lively pace and enthusiasm, then I strongly agree. I think this is really important. Teachers want to enthuse about teaching and learning."

"It's difficult to do a good research article in 3,000 words. I would also hate to see the practical applications aspect of TLT be sacrificed. TLT is not JALT Journal. Having said that, it would be good to see more of the research-oriented articles. . ."

"The quality of research, as well as the focus of research, is often of such dubious value that the more-free-range editorial approach of TLT is my preference."

"I don't think the quality of submissions is high enough to be a real research journal. Also I think it meets the needs of the JALT public by addressing more practical concerns."

"Quite the opposite -- the main reason many articles are not useful is that they are written by individuals trying to do research to move up the teaching ladder and not out of pure interest in helping students to learn which should be the focus."

"It should focus on what the teacher can take into the classroom tomorrow. The Journal is for research."

c) TLT needs to provide members with more news and organisational information.

Responses:
Strongly Agree 2 Agree 8 No Opinion 7 Disagree 5 Strongly Disagree 0

Comments:

"I think that it is doing a good job now, so 'more' is not really the question."

"JALT needs to do a better job of informing its members but I don't think that the TLT is the right place. I think that information gets lost in the TLT. I think that the April Supplement is the best thing that JALT puts out."

"I'd like TLT to expand, not to get smaller, and not to be combined into double issues. I think one of TLT's functions should be to make JALT a lot more transparent by telling the ordinary JALT membership what's going on with JALT, what's under consideration, what decisions are being made, why, and so on."

"TLT should be more along those lines (of IATEFL's newsletter) in design and have some zappy pieces in it, as well as longer more considered articles. The heavy stuff should come later in the TLT, though, and as you open the pages of the TLT, you want a feeling of WOW! WOW! WOW!"

"Maybe more news (what SIGs and chapters are doing to make JALT grow and be vital) but definitely not more organization news (since it seems to consist of a lot of turf warfare). We can get enough of that on the email lists."

"The 2 month lead makes news a bit of a misnomer."

"Agree with the statement, but feel that the TLT does a good job of this now. Perhaps the SIG and Chapter columns could be presented in a different way to collectively present information, a tabled calendar and then contact information. A table version of a SIG/Chapter Calendar would be very helpful and far more practical."

"I think there is a fairly good balance of this material now."

"Certainly there needs to be a page devoted to educational policy issues as they affect ELT in Japan."

d) TLT should focus on building its on-line presence, e.g. online databases, e-zine type publications, etc.

Responses:
Strongly Agree 4 Agree 12 No Opinion 3 Disagree 2 Strongly Disagree 0

Comments:

"Somebody else should do that in tandem with the print version."

"Yes, absolutely, but we should not do it at the expense of the basic TLT, at least not until more members are on line."

"Definitely. Especially the newsletter (JALT news) aspect of the TLT."

"No, TLT's one of the things I really like to hold in my hand, browse through and read."

"Yes, yes, yes. Just ask the Internet TESL Journal how many thousands of hits they get per day."

"Databases and e-zines are the trend of the future. A paper journal should be maintained for those in academia who will not accept e-zine publications as valid."

"Make the print version a quarterly and use the Internet to keep the organization current."

"Why should it do that?"

e) Once a month is too much-- less frequently would be better.

Responses:
Strongly Agree 2 Agree 1 No Opinion 2 Disagree 12 Strongly Disagree 5

Comments:

"People need to be reminded that they are members of JALT. A frequent tangible thing like TLT is necessary."

"TLT is JALT's life blood. An interruption in the flow may cause a stroke or even paralysis of the organization."

"Strongly agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"If not once a month, where are members going to get the information and updates about JALT, news, events, etc. Not all the world uses email, yet."

"If we got something bigger 4 times a year, that would be OK. However, what would we do about the newsletter function of TLT."

Following this, we asked for comments on the layout and design of TLT. Here is a sample of what the respondents had to say:

"I liked it better before the recent cost cutting changes."

"Well of course there isn't enough white space but you work around that pretty well. I can always find what I need in an issue, but nothing ever jumps out at me. For the most part it is easy to read and I like it."

"I like the contents on the cover. I hate (I really mean this) the new JENL -- like cover. Right or wrong, appearances are important. Although there has been no sacrifice in quality between the covers, people are still influenced by these cosmetic changes. At a time when IATEFL is making their publications look even more spiffy this is not the time to start looking like the poor cousin."

"I don't like how articles are continued onto remote areas of the magazine."

"Hate article continued on page so-n-so."

"As good as can be for the price and payment!"

"It is easy to find contents listed explicitly on the cover and the departments no longer require a secret decoder ring to understand."

"Get rid of the stuff on the first few pages -- guidelines etc. That should go in the back. Should open up to the feature article and go from there."

Finally, we look at the future directions respondents would like to see TLT heading in. Here are some of the suggestions and comments offered:

"The focus should be on news and articles with practical information about teaching (theoretical and research articles should be for the JJ). I would appreciate more space being devoted to "the Calendar". Information about conferences, training, and such is hard to come by."

"I would REALLY LIKE to see matters of importance within JALT in there. It would be nice if TLT served to tell people what's actually going on in JALT and why."

"Continued excellence 12 times a year both hard copy and on-line."

"I think the current course (ignoring, of course, the recent development to cut issues to save money) is heading in the right direction.

"A newsy magazine for the common reader in the field."

"More applied teaching ideas/articles as presented in the My Share section would be good. More information on what different chapters are doing . . ."

"Take up with issues in the profession, such as: job insecurity -- the backbone of foreign language education in Japan."

"We need to figure out ways to get people outside the normal channels to participate."

"TLT should probably be a little more diverse and be not only a venue for foreign college teachers to publish articles, but also a resource for new teachers coming into Japan."

"I think all articles in TLT should be in English. English should be the lingua franca of JALT."

"When I first joined JALT, 5 years ago, I found TLT very useful and interesting. Gradually, it seemed to loose whatever it had had. Looking back now, I thought perhaps I had just outgrown it. But a look back at the first year or two confirms that it was a lot better back then."

"With the focus of English education changing in Japan, rather than remain stuck in the mud, TLT could take on a fresh look, open itself to all members of JALT, pre-kindergarten through to tertiary and also laterally, home schools, jukus, institutes. If our main representative publication does not represent the full cross-sections of JALT, how are we to offer JALT to prospective members and make JALT appealing to the widest possible audience?"

The Editor Replies:

Well, if you've got this far, you will be sensing something of the dilemma that faces us as we try to create a publication that meets the needs of you, our readers. What exactly are your needs? Unfortunately, there is no neat little answer to this; no tidy bundle we can wrap up each month and send out to our very satisfied readers, because every one of you has an entirely different expectation of TLT. However, having said that, there are general areas of agreement that help guide us, plus a few misconceptions I hope to clear up here.

As the responses illustrated, our readers do feel that TLT is a valuable part of their membership or subscription, and if you've been following any of the debates on the various mailing lists over the past year, you'll know this is a widely held conviction. It is also generally felt that it should continue to be published monthly, and that, even though TLT's online presence should be developed, people still like paper in their hands. However, there is also a perception (admittedly from the few who openly express it) that TLT is not fully meeting the needs of its readers.

So, what can we do? How can we make the reader experience a better one? Some ideas follow about steps we intend to take, though a solely TLT-initiated reformation is probably a misguided approach. Riding the current wave of learner autonomy, we should be putting some of the responsibility for the life of the publication back onto our readership. The Peer Support Group described later in this issue is a step in that direction.

TLT cannot survive without input and material from outside -- the most obvious source being our many readers -- and this brings us to a large problem we face every month. I well remember sitting in on a discussion between a previous editor and a reader who was bemoaning the fact that SIGs and non-university educators have no outlet for material in TLT, and that TLT is only interested in focusing on material related to the tertiary level. This is a common misconception, and an easily made one, as a quick glance through back issues will show. The reality is that, apart from material we successfully solicit, we can only publish what we receive. As most of what we receive is from the tertiary field, this leads to a natural imbalance. For the record, TLT is VERY interested in publishing material related to EVERY area of language learning and teaching! We sincerely hope that potential writers take advantage of this openness, and look forward to receiving a flood of manuscripts and ideas from every level and interest group in the language education field.

Another message from the survey was that TLT is not JALT Journal, so shouldn't be running similar material. There is no real surprise there, but the fact that this is generally understood allows us to define the material we seek for publication more accurately. As has been the move in recent years, we will be trying to focus on running articles that have more of a pedagogic flavour: classroom reflections, action research reports, peer-model profiles, and the like. We are encouraging more freedom in length as well. If something can be written in 1,000 words, why use 3,000? We want more articles in each TLT, with greater variety in the type of material published, and we are dedicated to encouraging new writers. It's impossible for us to please every reader, every time (though we do try), but we sincerely hope to give all readers something of interest in every issue. If we don't, let us know. Better yet, please have a go at writing material yourself!

In terms of layout, you'll already be noticing some changes trickling in, with many being in response to feedback from the survey. We've put the submission and personnel information in the back for easy reference, we'll aim to keep articles intact, and we're hoping to stretch our legs a bit as we slough off the financial shackles of 1999, allowing a bit of breathing space back into the pages. The cover has a new look, and tee-shirts sporting our new logo will be on sale soon. . . maybe! Look for more changes in coming issues.

I'd like to close this column by reiterating what has been said before in this issue. If you have ideas and suggestions for improving our publication, we want to hear them. If you have material you want to submit -- even unconventional ideas -- please forward them to us for consideration. And, if you would like to help out the rest of our volunteer team who quietly and efficiently put The Language Teacher in your letter-boxes each month, please contact any member of the editorial staff.