In This Issue
Articles
This issue contains three full-length research articles in English, two full-length research articles in Japanese, and two articles as part of our new Expositions section. In the first article, Kelly Cargos evaluates the practicality of the Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) framework as a guide for curricular innovation by examining in-service teacher views about innovation feasibility. Secondly, Tomohisa Machida explores the impact of an enhanced pre-service training course on student teachers’ preparation for teaching English to elementary school students, with a focus on instructional strategies through team teaching. Thirdly, Paul Wicking applies a theoretical framework of learning-oriented assessment (LOA) to explore six teachers’ beliefs and practices related to language assessment.
In our Japanese-language articles, Yusuke Okada discusses teachers’ post-performance feedback practices given for students’ academic presentations in EAP classrooms through the microanalysis of actual EAP classroom feedback practices. Yumi Tanaka’s study examines the effects of intercultural experiences on English communicative competence and learning motivation of students studying at three public elementary schools in the Kanto region of Japan.
Expositions
The following two essays in our new Expositions section were written by two of our current Editorial Advisory Board members. Yuko Goto Butler argues that the purpose of language education is to assist learners in developing communicative competence for digital technology, and that language educators should use digital technology as a pedagogical tool, adapting it to learners’ own linguistic behaviors and cognitive styles. Jeremie Bouchard, in his discussion of the core principles of critical Applied Linguistics (AL) research, reminds us of the importance of criticality to AL as a branch of the social sciences.
Reviews
This issue features nine reviews looking broadly at (a) professional development, teacher efficacy, and foreign female teacher identity; (b) teaching morphology, grammar, and in online contexts; and (c) the research into motivation and silence. Sue Brennan begins by exploring language teacher efficacy in Japan from a book of that very title. Second, Xin Chen reviews Bauer and Nation’s overview on teaching English morphology. Next, Alina Friel relates personal experiences in her summary of a collection of narratives from foreign female English teachers published by Candlin & Mynard. Marc Jones then critiques a guide to professional development for early-career faculty. Brendan R. B. Plummer covers a title on motivation by Dörnyei in the new Innovations and Challenges in Applied Linguistics series from Routledge and edited by Ken Hyland. Jonathan Shachter lends his voice to an edited volume on silence in language education. Quite fittingly, Richmond Stroupe and junior colleague Riya Kartha collaborate to synthesize the common themes found in a multi-chaptered anthology titled Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching. Bill White offers a timely summary of a book focused on developing online language teaching with blended learning and flipped classrooms. And, finally, Kam Yin Wu presents insights on an accessible guide to linguistics for language teachers based on Virtual Grammar.
From the Editors
As the spring season ushers in a new beginning for many of us in Japan, we, the JALT Journal (JJ) editorial team, would like to announce several new and exciting developments.
Firstly, we welcome several new Editorial Advisory Board members: Keita Kikuchi, Elizabeth Lavolette, Nicola Galloway, Thomas S. C. Farrell, Ryuko Kubota, and Christopher Nicklin. Their combined research expertise will continue to help us ensure that the output of the journal is of the utmost quality. We could not be more excited to have them on board!
In addition, we proudly announce that JJ is now officially indexed, and recognized by Scopus, which is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including books, scientific journals, and conference proceedings. As it is a database that is used by about 3,000 academic, corporate, and governmental institutions, it raises the opportunity for JALT Journal’s articles and reviews to be viewed and cited by a wide variety of researchers worldwide. This is a major achievement for the journal. We sincerely thank the numerous editorial board members, proofreaders, production editors, additional readers, and past editors for their role in making this milestone possible.
Finally, we are excited to launch a new article format in JJ entitled Expositions. This section will include authored essays by invited experts in our field that will survey current research trends and practices in language learning, teaching, and acquisition in Japan and worldwide. Articles in this section may also be written by members of our JJ staff (editors, Editorial Advisory board members) to further engage with the JJ readership and encourage dialogue about a wide range of issues. We sincerely hope that you enjoy the inclusion of this new section on our journal!
If there are any of you interested in volunteering with us, please contact Gregory Paul Glasgow at jaltpubs.jj.ed@jalt.org, or Dennis Koyama at jaltpubs.jj.ed2@jalt.org, especially if you have experience conducting research and/or writing and publishing academically.
— Gregory Paul Glasgow, JALT Journal Editor
— Dennis Koyama, JALT Journal Associate Editor
