We
present 10 articles in the 2004 edition of the Journal. We thank
all authors for their dedication to the EFL/TEFL profession.
The
first article article is presented by
Dr. Hidea Oka who argues that some of the so-called "universal"
aspects in ELT are not compatible with the Asian context, not only
for linguistic, but also cultural and historical reasons.
The
second article is presented by Niu Qiang,
Ph.D., Martin Wolff, J.D., Teng Hai, Anne-Marie Gregory, M.Sc. The
learned authors report on college education in China and note that
change is essential for students to receive first class education.
The
third article is presented by Krishna Kondaiah.
This research considers metaphorical systems as an approach to teach
polysemous words to foreign language learners. The foreign language
learner is faced with the polysemous use of words. To be able to adequately
grasp and use these words the learner requires a methodology that
follows a systematic and reliable approach. This study into the nature
of metaphorical systems and their pervasive nature in languages has
shown that it may be one such approach.
The
fourth article is presented by George Mann.
This article provides an account of a small-scale evaluation study
in the area of initial teacher training in ELT. While evaluation of
this sort has a clear accountability function, this paper advances
the view that it is the developmental potential of an evaluation study
of this sort that renders it of real value to the teacher trainer
or trainee. This applies equally to evaluation studies conducted in
European settings such as this one, or to those carried out in any
part of the very wide AsiaTEFL constituency.
The
fifth article is presented by Ping Duan
and Weiping Gu. The authors report that English for technical communication
(ETC) is a novel development of English for specific purpose based
on the demands of society for improving students' ability in communicating
technical information. A specially designed ETC course was delivered
to five classes of postgraduates, and questionnaire and test analysis
were carried out at end of the course. The results showed that the
ETC training significantly developed students' skills in technical
reading and writing.
The
sixth article is presented by Kemal
Sinan Özmen. This article aims to discuss
a way of strengthening the awareness on and through learning and self-esteem
in adult language classes. The cognitive therapy technique emphasizes
the importance and necessity of informing the learners of basic aspects
of learning and language learning in order to aid them to build up
their learning strategies effectively and consciously.
The
seventh articleis presented
by Mingsheng Li. This paper reports findings of a qualitative study
conducted from December 2002 to March 2003 at two New Zealand English
language schools. Forty Asian students participated in the survey.
The study reveals that, in spite of the positive learning experiences
in the schools, there also exists a significant mismatch with Asian
students' learning expectations.
The
eighth article is presented by Dr. Nenden
Sri Lengkanawati. The students' learning strategies, as has been reported
by some research undertaken, have powerful impact on the students'
learning outcome. The study reported here tries to focus on how the
learners from different cultural background learn a foreign language
using their language learning strategies.
The
ninth article is
presented by Mr. Colin Toms. The author
argues that mass produced course books are
not appropriate for English teaching except
in broad based language programs. This article
complements the articles of the March 2003
edition which focused on dictionary development.
The
tenth article is
from Dr. Michel Englebert who considers
cross cultural issues and notes that we
as teachers must become trusted cultural
informants as well as teachers of syntax,
structure and usage. Those of us who live
abroad must make the intellectual adjustment
to think "out of the box," and
develop a non-judgmental attitude when it
comes to behavior that seems, to us, inappropriate.
