The objective of this volume is to gather the voices of teachers/researchers based in Asia to help define what makes the Asian experience unique, and how that experience can help to inform ELT theory, practice, and methodology.
The EFL context, including Asia, has tended to be defined by outsiders looking in. From Hofstede’s (1991) research into cultural differences, and Kachru’s (1992) depiction of different circles of language influence, to leading ELT theories and methodologies such as those associated with TBL, ideas about the EFL context are generally disseminated from Inner Circle countries outward.
Yet there are a number of dedicated and professional teachers/researchers based in Asia who are likely better placed to help define the Asian EFL experience: how its needs are different from ESL contexts and therefore uniquely EFL. However, those voices have been intermittent in their representation in the literature, with occasional articles in internationally refereed journals or scattered chapters in books hidden among the many voices from Inner Circle countries.
As co-editors, we are calling for abstracts that deal with research both based in the Asian context, and about the Asian context; research that helps to inform and interpret theory and practice in our context. We are interested in articles which deal with some of the following issues:
1. Establishing the context*: Papers which define or explain the Asian context, or facets of it.
2. Innovating practice*: Papers which describe and explore how Asian-based practitioners drive methodological innovation.
3. Innovating theory*: Papers which describe and explore how Asian-based practitioners interpret and reinterpret ELT theory to fit their regional or local contexts.
4. Other topics related to teaching English in Asia that don’t necessarily fit easily into the above three categories.
*Some subtopics that could be appropriate include: motivation, learner autonomy, 4-skills, Extensive Reading, learning strategies, Extensive Writing, learner identity, input/output hypothesis, vocabulary acquisition, consciousness raising, washback, functional grammar, task-based learning and classroom discourse analysis.
This is a proposed volume, and after receiving abstracts we will screen in appropriate proposals, then invite the short-listed contributors to send their full papers. After receiving the full papers, we will send the proposal package to a major publisher for consideration. While we’ve had some expression of interest from a publisher, the volume must go through the regular vetting cycle, and so there is no guarantee that the volume will be published. That being said, we are quite confident that a volume of this nature would be a significant and needed contribution to the field.
If you are interested in contributing to this proposed volume, please send your abstracts to <researchingasia@eltresearch.com> by February 28th, 2009. Abstract authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection of the proposal by March 31st, 2009, and contributors will be asked to send their complete articles by November 30th, 2009. We intend to submit the proposal to publishers by December 31st, 2009, for hopeful publication in 2010.
Abstracts should be up to 500 words in length, and should include information about the specific, local context being explored, and how observations from that context could potentially inform other teacher/researchers in similar contexts. Again, we hope to define and explain what it means to teach English in Asia, and to disseminate our collective understanding of our contexts to the rest of the ELT community. We hope this volume will help to inform teacher education and practice in Asia for some time to come.
Thanks for your time and consideration. We are looking forward to receiving your abstracts and/or expressions of interest.
Please feel free to forward this call to potentially interested colleagues, or to post it to appropriate mailing lists.
All the best,
Theron Muller <theron@theronmuller.com>
Noah Learning Center
Asian ESP Journal Associate Editor
Steven Herder <steven.herder@gmail.com>
Seibo Jogakuin Girls High School
