Working	  Papers	  in	  Language	  Education	  and	  Research	  Vol.	  1	  No.	  2.	  February	  2013,	  1-­‐2	  Working Papers
in Language Education and Research
http://eliworkingpapers.org/
EDITORIAL
Publication date: August, 2013

ISSN 2187-4972

Editorial	  –	  Neil	  Johnson	  Welcome	  to	  the	  August,	  2013	  issue	  of	  the	  online	  Working	  Papers	  in	  Language	  Education	  and	  Research.	  	  In	  this	  issue	  of	  Working	  Papers,	  four	  articles	  provide	  insight	  into	  the	  research	  and	  practice	  being	  explored	  by	  members	  of	  the	  ELI	  from	  late	  2012	  through	  towards	  the	  early	  part	  of	  2013.	  	  These	  articles	  represent	  work	  presented	  in	  international	  forums	  and	  also	  ongoing	  research	  being	  conducted	  within	  the	  ELI	  at	  Kanda	  University	  of	  International	  Studies.	  	  The	  authors	  introduce	  a	  range	  of	  research	  and	  practice	  to	  hopefully	  inspire	  future	  work,	  collaboration,	  and	  classroom	  innovation.	  It	  is	  our	  hope	  that	  many	  of	  the	  pieces	  published	  in	  this	  forum	  will	  go	  on	  to	  stimulate	  discussion	  and	  collaboration	  and	  eventually	  develop	  into	  full	  research	  projects.	  The	  practice-­‐driven	  papers	  in	  this	  second	  issue	  should	  be	  of	  interest	  to	  practitioners	  in	  the	  Japanese	  university	  context	  and	  beyond.	  
Peter	  Harrold’s	  paper	  examines	  the	  issue	  of	  critical	  practice	  and	  its	  place	  in	  the	  Asian	  university	  classroom.	  	  Harrold	  problematizes	  easy	  and	  stereotypical	  notions	  about	  Asian	  students	  and	  the	  teaching	  of	  critical	  literacy.	  This	  paper	  attempts	  to	  explore	  what	  can	  be	  learnt	  from	  previous	  research	  on	  the	  impact	  that	  culture	  has	  specifically	  on	  Japanese	  students,	  within	  the	  context	  of	  three	  areas	  of	  tertiary	  study:	  oral	  participation,	  critical	  thinking	  and	  academic	  writing.	  It	  concludes	  with	  consideration	  of	  the	  philosophy	  of	  culturally	  responsive	  teaching.	  	  Elizabeth	  Lammons’	  paper	  introduces	  and	  discusses	  two	  classroom	  activities	  that	  have	  been	  developed	  at	  KUIS,	  in	  an	  elective	  self-­‐directed	  reading	  course,	  in	  which	  learners	  were	  able	  to	  choose	  authentic	  materials	  that	  they	  wanted	  to	  read.	  The	  activities	  were	  writing	  reading	  histories	  and	  examining	  how	  texts	  are	  read.	  These	  activities	  were	  implemented	  to	  assist	  learners	  in	  reflecting	  on	  their	  beliefs	  and	  experiences	  with	  reading	  in	  English.	  Lammons	  goes	  on	  to	  provide	  some	  preliminary	  evidence	  that	  learners	  were	  able	  to	  establish	  a	  learning	  community	  to	  foster	  and	  support	  each	  other	  in	  their	  self-­‐directed	  reading	  goals.	  

1Working	  Papers	  in	  Language	  Education	  and	  Research	  Vol.	  1	  No.	  2.	  February	  2013,	  1-­‐2	  	  Phil	  Murphy	  and	  Dirk	  MacKenzie	  report	  on	  a	  study	  based	  within	  the	  ELI,	  looking	  at	  factors	  related	  to	  the	  factors	  influencing	  student-­‐computer	  use	  in	  class,	  but	  ultimately	  their	  work	  addresses	  much	  broader	  administrative	  issues	  and	  it	  became	  clear,	  through	  analyzing	  the	  data,	  that	  both	  Internet	  and	  technology	  access	  were	  also	  problematic	  in	  this	  context.	  Accordingly,	  data	  were	  collected	  via	  a	  teacher	  survey	  (N=68)	  with	  questions	  covering	  classroom	  design;	  Internet-­‐connection	  speed;	  wireless	  Internet	  access	  across	  campus;	  mobile-­‐learning	  technology;	  performance	  of	  classroom	  computers;	  sharing	  of	  student	  computers;	  projection	  systems;	  and	  support	  for	  existing	  technology	  and	  technological	  innovation.	  Faculty	  perspectives	  were	  gathered	  (a)	  in	  order	  to	  gain	  a	  greater	  understanding	  of	  the	  technology-­‐related	  needs	  for	  the	  teaching/learning	  environments	  and	  (b)	  to	  help	  improve	  access	  to	  the	  Internet	  and	  technology	  across	  campus.	  	  Suggestions	  are	  made	  to	  improve	  practice.	  	  Jo	  Mynard’s	  paper	  begins	  with	  a	  brief	  review	  of	  the	  current	  literature	  in	  relation	  to	  computer	  mediated	  chat	  and	  digital	  literacies	  and	  the	  author	  argues	  that	  language	  educators	  have	  a	  responsibility	  to	  help	  students	  to	  understand	  the	  nature	  of	  this	  kind	  of	  interaction.	  Mynard	  then	  gives	  a	  brief	  overview	  of	  some	  of	  the	  benefits	  of	  incorporating	  chat	  activities	  into	  a	  language	  curriculum,	  along	  with	  some	  practical	  suggestions	  for	  implementation.	  	  	  	  The	  Other	  Papers	  section	  of	  this	  issue	  is	  also	  important	  as	  it	  highlights	  the	  publication	  profile	  of	  the	  ELI.	  	  This	  section	  features	  abstracts	  of	  papers	  that	  have	  been	  funded	  for	  international	  conference	  presentation,	  and	  have	  subsequently	  been	  published	  in	  a	  variety	  of	  conference	  proceedings,	  as	  well	  as	  in	  national,	  and	  international	  forums.	  	  	  2