The Language Teacher

This issue opens with an article by James Porcaro on a writing program in which students translate extracts from works of Japanese literature. The next article, by Simon Cole, examines the advantages of using Japanese in the English class. Michael Critchley's article looks at ways in which teachers can foster vocabulary acquisition in their reading classes.

Hirayanagi Yukio presents four developmental tools which his students use to improve their analytical and organizational writing skills.

The 1998 Annual lndex appears in this issue, thanks to Bill Lee and Larry Cisar. Articles, reviews, reports, and special columns that appeared in TLT this year are listed by topic for easy reference.

Our Japanese language feature this month, by Ikeda Nobuko and Nakasono Hiromi, examines the relationship between the reading skills and reading comprehension ability of Japanese language learners.

In this month's Creative Course Design column, edited by Daniel McIntyre, Stephen Whitear describes a Japanese university English language course in which students use spoken English to create, plan, and perform their ideas using visual/physical drama.

Once again, there are several TLT staff changes occurring this month. We bid farewell to two EAB members, Greta Gorsuch and Jeanne Wolf. TLT is most grateful for the hours they volunteered, guiding new and experienced authors as they prepared their work for publication.

Welcoming two column editors this month: First, Katharine Isbell joins TLT as Book Reviews Co-Editor. Many thanks to Duane Kindt, who co-edited the column for the past year. An early welcome to Dave Dycus, who is shifting gears from proofreader to co-editor of the Bulletin Board column, beginning with the January 1999 issue.

Wishing all readers a very pleasant winter break and Best Wishes for a happy holiday season.

Laura MacGregor, Editor