Language Teaching Research Quarterly

When the editors of the Language Teaching Research Quarterly, Christine Coombe and Hassan Mohebbi, suggested to me that I organize a special issue in my honor, my first reaction was that it would be immodest for me to take on such an activity. Even though I identified a series of topics about which I really wanted to create a special volume, it was with some trepidation that I reached out to colleagues that I really wanted to hear from on these topics. Consequently, it was most gratifying for me to see how easy it actually was to recruit these colleagues to take part in this venture. The five themes that they have written about are ones that have engaged my interest over many years. 

It has been an ongoing concern of mine to find ways to enhance the experiences of language learners, primarily because of my lifelong passion to continue learning languages. I am currently working on my 13th, Mandarin. I use five languages professionally and have modest-to-minimal skills at this point in the other languages that I have learned. Experience with so many languages over the years has given me an opportunity to experience everything from surprising success to abysmal failures, both with regard to my handling of basic language skills, as well as with regard to the pragmatics associated with the specific language communities involved.

In my brief introduction to this collection of papers, I will share with you my rationale for why the 5 topics addressed by my colleagues in this special issue are of concern to me. I will consider this special volume a contribution to the field if it activates in your minds as readers new or renewed interest in one or more of these topics, leading either to research on your part and/or to instructional efforts both in the classroom and beyond.