JALT Journal - Issue 36.1; May 2014


Volume: 36
Issue No. 1
Date of publication: May 2014
https://doi.org/10.37546/JALTJJ36.1
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In this Issue

Articles 

In this spring issue, we are pleased to present five full-length research articles. The first is by Eric Hauser, who, drawing on conversational analysis, examines university students’ embodied uses of electronic bilingual dictionaries. In the second, Rie Koizumi and Yo In’nami use structural equation modeling to examine the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of English speaking proficiency among junior and senior high school students. The third is by Kazunari Shimada who also looks at Japanese junior and senior high school students’ spoken English, exploring their use of discourse markers by way of contrastive interlanguage analysis. Our fourth article was written by Judith Runnels, who used Mokken scaling to determine the reliability of can-do statements from the five skills of the Common European Framework of Reference-Japan. In the fifth article, a Japanese-language contribution, Hiroaki Tanaka did quantitative and qualitative analyses of a 15-week intervention to increase intrinsic language-learning motivation in university students.

Reviews

In this issue of JALT Journal we provide seven book reviews on a range of titles of interest to both teachers and researchers. In the opening review, Keith Adams covers an edited volume on replication research. The second review, by David Beglar, looks into the future direction of SLA research presented by the editors of Language Learning in their latest biennial supplement. In the third review, Howard Brown addresses an academic text on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) of interest to program directors and teachers who are dealing with language of, for, and through learning. The next review, written by Tyler Burden, is on the third edition of a title on trends in teaching practice, methods, and materials. Robby Caughey then examines a book from the Routledge ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series on teaching and learning listening with a metacognitive focus. In the sixth review, Gilbert Dizon Jr. explores an edited collection on computer-assisted language learning (CALL) drawn from both research and practical points of view. In the final review, Nick Doran highlights Simon Borg’s title on teacher cognition research and practice.

From the Editor

I would like to dedicate this issue of JALT Journal to the memory of Kevin Cleary who, while President of JALT, was taken from us suddenly in January of this year. To tell the truth, I didn’t really know Kevin very well, but he made a very strong and lasting impression on me. He emanated, among other things, strength, solidity, kindness, humility, and fairness. His leadership skills were exemplary. He surrounded himself with qualified people and allowed them to do their work. And, because he put such faith and trust in us, we wanted and tried our utmost to live up to his expectations.

In my mind’s eye, I see Kevin, tall and dapper, in the middle of an Educational Materials Exhibition hall at any JALT conference. He’s never alone, approached by a constant stream of frantic conference workers with questions, friends with comments and compliments, plenary speakers needing to know where to go and when, and so on and so on, and so on. Always busy, always in demand, Kevin always had time for a word, a smile, or an encouraging hand on a shoulder.

We are all of course bereft, but Kevin touched and had such a positive impact on so many of our lives, that we must believe that he did the work he was put here to do. Kevin taught us to stand tall, to be strong, to help others, to be kind, to have humility, to trust others to do their work well, and that JALT is something worth devoting oneself to. He also taught us that it doesn’t hurt to dress up and that there’s always time for a beer with friends. He has left us his legacy; it’s up to us to carry it on.

 Melodie Cook

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JALT Journal