I'm writing this, my first introduction to The Language Teacher as Editor, in early April. April in Japan is traditionally one of change: the cherry blossoms come and go, new students and employees start their respective careers, and some people retire. TLT is changing as well: Steve Cornwell is "retiring" as Publications Board Chair to work on his many other JALT projects, and Bill Acton is taking his place; and Tony Cominos is moving on to become Research Grants Committee Chair, and I am moving up as Editor. We will also have a short-term shuffle of column editors and staff while we look for new associate and assistant editors: Tricia Thornton has agreed to do the Bulletin Board and Randy Davis has taken on the Conference Reports column editorship vacated by Bill Lee. Laura MacGregor's name was omitted in April's welcome to new staff: she has been editing the Book Reviews column for several months. All of these people and others volunteer a great deal of time and energy to The Language Teacher, and their efforts make the Editor's job possible. With their help, I hope in the next year to maintain the quality The Language Teacher has achieved over the last several Editors.
In keeping with the winds of change, in this issue we see the last article in the "Language Teaching and the Internet" series, but in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" department, this year we are continuing the many excellent occasional series begun by Tony Cominos, including Creative Course Design, Educational Innovations, In Translation, and The Region. One new addition to our lineup is a six-part series which will relate what current research in second language acquisition has to tell teachers in the classroom.
I hope you enjoy my first issue as Editor.
Steve McGuire, Editor