The Language Teacher

Introduction

The
Language
Teacher

The Language Teacher seeks well-written, well-documented articles with a strong pedagogical focus for publication in 1997. In January 1996 The Language Teacher became a refereed publication with all feature article submissions passed on for blind review by two members of our Editorial Advisory Board. The members of the Board are asked to evaluate manuscripts within three weeks of receipt, ensuring that feedback can be provided to contributors in a timely fashion. Contributions are sought on a wide variety of topics from anyone with knowledge and experience in language education. See page two for submission guidelines.

In addition to our refereed feature articles by Ahmad Abu-Akel and Vernon Chun, this issue introduces three new special features. Part one of the four part Teacher Education series includes short papers by Gordon Wilson, Junko Okada, Tim Murphey, Paul A. Beaufait and Daniel T. Kirk. The first installment in our new Educational Innovations occasional column features a Steve McCarty introduction to a recent on-line conference. Our occasional Research in Progress column debuts with a preliminary report on a new research project being undertaken by Gregory and Hiromi Yoshioka Hadley. Bill Lee also presents our third Employment Issues Forum for the year. Finally, Gerald Couzens reports on his recent experiences at the 1996 IATEFL Conference in England, while seven presenters of JALT96 pre-conference workshops outline some of the ideas they will be sharing with us in Hiroshima on November 1st.

With our work continuing on a monthly basis we are very fortunate to be able to introduce several new members of the TLT production team. A belated welcome to Tomoko Yamamoto who has been co-editing the Bulletin Board since June and is working hard to increase the number of Japanese language announcements in this column. Welcome also to Harumi Oishi who joined us in August as co-editor of JALT News. Patricia Thornton, Diane Pelyk, Paul Lewis and Jim D'Angelo have added much needed support to our proofreading department. A very special welcome to Bill Lee who adds Assistant Editor responsibilities to his already considerable TLT workload. Bill's duties will include actively seeking out and developing new manuscripts for 1997 and beyond.

In closing, it is perhaps worth noting here that our October issue will feature the debut of our seven part Language Teaching and the Internet series, as well as a three part series on finding employment in Japan. At the time of writing, work has also begun on our new TLT World Wide Web Home Page. Look for more details on this project in a future issue.

- Antony Cominos, Editor