Introduction

Writer(s): 
Steve McGuire, Editor

This is the last issue before the JALT97 Conference in Hamamatsu. This month, we bring you articles from Main Speakers Penny Ur and Devon Woods and Special Guest Speaker Alastair Pennycook which are based on the presentations which they will be giving at JALT97. The third article in the Second Language Acquisition series this month is by Patricia Dunkle on the use of computer adaptive testing for listening.

Although the article topics cover a broader spectrum than we had in the September issue, many of the features this month provide ways to evaluate the classroom and our teaching from a variety of perspectives. J.B. Brown presents an approach to evaluating textbooks; Robert Long offers a rationale for, and a way to use student evaluations to improve our teaching; and Muramatsu Mieko takes a look at cultural issues in providing feedback on writing by students and colleagues. Among the other articles this month are a "Creative Course Design" article by Paul Stapleton offering a syllabus to teach intercultural awareness and what I hope will be a regular occasional feature: longer reports of presentations and seminars offered at educational insitutions offered throughout Japan. This month's seminar report is about a presentation at Temple University by Dr. Stephen Gaies looking at Japanese educational history and Japanese educational philosophy which may give us insights into the current state of education in Japan.

The column editors, proofreaders, and other staff of TLT volunteer a great deal of time and energy every month, but the larger conference issues (September, October, and November, this year) are the most challenging for us. I would especially like to thank Paul Lewis, Craig Sower, and Patricia Thornton, who have taken on extra proofreading and editing duties over the summer above and beyond their job descriptions in order make these larger issues possible.

There have been several staff changes over the summer. Randy Davis has "retired" as first proofreader to be replaced by Craig Sower. Lisa Hodgkinson has accepted a new position at Prentice Hall Japan and, in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, is handing over to Angela Ota the duties of Publishers' Review Copies Liaison they previously shared. Bob Gettings is taking over as editor of TLT Online, TLT's online Web site, from Scott Rule. Scott has spent over a year developing the TLT Web site (his most recent addition is the ability to search the site for key words) and is now moving on to other projects. Larry Davies has been contributing short occasional features about the Internet called "Net Nuggets" and I hope he will continue to do so. Also, Robyn Najar has had to resign her position as associate editor because of heavy additional duties suddenly assigned her at her university. An announcement calling for application for this position ran in September.

Finally, I'd like to invite anyone interested to attend a session during the conference, "Getting Published in JALT," which will take place on Sunday, October 12th from 12:15 to 2:00. Editors and staff of both publications will first give an overview of the process of getting published in JALT and will then answer questions and give feedback on any ideas you may have for articles or on articles in progress. You are, of course, also welcome to visit us at the publication table during the conference.

- Steve McGuire, Editor