OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 73-75

From the Editors...
Friends and Colleagues,
The theme for the CUE 2007 Conference in Nagoya was curriculathat Promote Lifelong Learning, student and teacher motivation, student
self-assessment, along with critical thinking in the university classroom.
Along with the invited speakers Deryn Verity and Heidi Evans, there
were about 40 different presentations focusing on the conference
theme and we would like to extend a big thanks to everyone involved.
We believe the majority of the over 100 total participants left theconference with enhanced knowledge on the theoretical aspects ofrelating the craftwork of teaching to the conference theme.
Taferner
The first paper that appears in the Special Proceedings Issue is byRobert H. Taferner, who focuses on student beliefs regarding peer
editing in a university writing class. This quantitative study will help
readers come to understand students’ perceptions and actions during
process writing tasks. Taferner’s informative research permits teachers tobetter comprehend the type of feedback and revision students believe
they need.
Wakabayashi
Reina Wakabayashi, also exploring peer feedback regarding EFLwriting, found that explicit and supportive instruction is necessary forthe facilitative role played by the teacher. Wakabayashi examines theeffects of peer feedback on learners’ writing quality, revision behavior,and perceptions of the task, all of which support the notion that peer
revision is a viable assessment method.
Gunning and Quasha
John R. Gunning and Steven E. Quasha utilized an expectancy
model—to help determine student motivation—developed by Pintrichand DeGroot (1990) and applied it to a receptive skills music lesson
based on task-based learning. Although this lengthy research project
may appear highly theoretical at times, the authors sincerely hope73Quasha & Gunning

From the Editors

readers will focus on the practical applications of the four corners music
listening lesson and try it out in their own classes. Our experience andfeedback is that students become more motivated completing this task.
More importantly, they really enjoy it!
LeeLast, using an experiential approach toward professional development,
Nancy Lee employs four strategies to improve SLA teacher motivation.
While the field of applied linguistics has certainly produced
numerous studies concerning student motivation, research regarding
teacher motivation is lacking. Lee discusses important issues such asteacher autonomy within EFL curricula, professional development
participation, and the continued commitment by teachers to benefit
student learning.
John’s Ramblings and Reflections
If you would have asked me 5 years ago about me being one of theco-editors of this journal, I would have thought you were joking orcompletely insane. It has been a great journey getting to a place whereI have met so many wonderful people, and just about every one of themwanting to see me succeed in becoming a more qualified researcher
and teacher. I started to get involved with professional development
about 5 years ago and have kept on seeking out new challenges at avariety of different levels. Lucky for myself, I was able to meet Steve
Quasha and Matt Apple who suggested I try volunteering some time
helping out with the publicity for the CUE 2007. I reluctantly acceptedknowing full well I have never had any experience in the organizationof a conference. Thankfully, I got a ton of support from the CUE officers
and other active members. It seems that the small contributions I made,along with all the hard work of the CUE officers and volunteers atSugiyama, CUE 2007 was a huge success.
After the CUE Conference, I got an email from Steve Quasha asking
me if I wanted to co-edit this proceedings journal with him and I
replied, “yeah…uh…sure…but…uh…dude, I have never done beena part of an academic journal editing team! What if I mess (not theexact term) up?” But with guidance and advice from Dexter Da Silva,
Matt Apple and Steve Quasha, I think we have produced an academic
journal of high research and writing quality. As co-editor of the CUE
2007 Conference Proceedings Special Issue, I myself became a much74

OnCUE Journal, 2(2), pages 73-75

more astute learner of the editing process, although I have much moreto learn. I hope you all enjoy the collection of articles and are inspired
to contribute your research ideas in the future at either the conference
itself or in some other form, i.e. as an article in the next CUE 2008
Proceedings Journal. I am looking forward to seeing you all at CUE
2008 and until then, as they say—”Sayonara.”
We look forward to seeing you at the CUE 2008 Conference at Kinki
University in Osaka.

Steve Quasha
John Gunning
OnCUE Journal
CUE 2007 Conference Proceedings
Special Issue Editors
Acknowledgments
We would like to say “THANKS” to everyone who made theconference at Sugiyama Women’s University in Nagoya sucha rousing success and to those who offered the many hours of“volunteered time” necessary for the publication of the OnCUE
Journal, 2(2): CUE 2007 Conference Proceedings Special Issue.
We would specifically like to extend a special thank you to theresearchers and presenters who contributed their articles to thispublication. Putting together a project of this size requires assistancefrom many dedicated professionals and we remain indebted to“Young Skywalker,” a.k.a. Matt Apple, for his guidance and hisadvice regarding APA formatting and editing, as well as to Dexter Da
Silva for his insightful and thorough comments on so many papers.
Last, we appreciated all the wonderful help from the proofreaders,reviewers, and technical support by individuals that made our lives
easier navigating this project from beginning to end.

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