FROM THE EDITOR
by Jarek Krajka
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University,
Lublin, Poland
jarek(dot)krajka(at)wp(dot)pl

In this issue’s editorial I would like to inform readers about some very important changes in the editorial team of Teaching English with Technology, A Journal for Teachers of English. After six and a half years of hard work, since the first issue in January 2001, Wojciech Korput steps down as the technical editor and webmaster of the Journal. We are grateful to Wojciech for the involvement in putting the articles in their final shape, maintaining the website and responding to readers’ suggestions. It also needs to be stressed that Wojciech Korput, himself an ICT trainer and a former trainer of the undersigned, was eager to share his wide expertise in the area of ICT and CALL, and the practical articles published by Wojciech in A Word from a Techie section were always of exceptionally high quality, bridging accessibility of presentation and technicality of description. We do wish all the best to Wojciech, hoping that he will continue to share his knowledge with TEwT readers.

A similarly important change in the editorial team of Teaching English with Technology is the appointment of Dr Christopher Alexander, a former TEwT contributor, as co-editor of the Journal. Christopher’s wide experience as a TEFL lecturer and CALL lab co-ordinator is sufficiently mirrored by his academic background and Ph.D. research. The Journal readers will surely benefit from the expertise of his, especially in the area of CALL lab design and maintenance, computer-based testing and Internet-based teaching. We welcome Christopher as the member of the team and wish him incessant enthusiasm for his work as an editor.

Other than that, the Journal continues its publishing, commenced in January 2001 as an undertaking of IATEFL Poland Computer Special Interest Group. The links with IATEFL Poland will be even strengthened owing to the involvement of the IATEFL Poland webmaster, Jan Bogusławski, in the editorial process as a technical editor and webmaster, replacing Wojciech Korput. We are grateful to IATEFL Poland management for the support in this matter.

The current issue of TEwT is composed of a blend of approaches and solutions, uncovering various areas of CALL and ICT in the language learning process. First of all, the article of our new editor, Christopher Alexander, co-authored with Salomi Papadima-Sophocleous, is a comprehensive discussion of the process of development and implementation of NEPTON, a New English Placement Test Online. The detailed analysis of the steps and decisions made while designing and running the software will surely be of interest to CALL lab co-ordinators wishing to relegate placement testing to the online mode.

The other contribution in the Articles section, “Webquests: How do students approach their integration in the foreign language classroom?” by Ma Victoria Fernández from Universidade de Vigo, Spain, takes up the well-known activity structure of a WebQuest and undertakes the empirical investigation of students’ attitude towards it as a mode of foreign language instruction. The conclusions drawn inspire language educators to reflect on sound pedagogical integration of teacher-made WebQuests in the foreign language curriculum.

The Internet lesson plans section features the contribution by Magdalena Mierzejewska, a graduate student of TEFL and CALL at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Poland, who undertakes to design a Web-based learning unit for English for Specific Purposes. What is most interesting about it is that the ESP area taken under consideration here is religion, and Magdalena’s lesson plans can be used in the language training of priests, monks and nuns.

As regards the Software section, Ferit Kilickaya from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, makes a review of Gerry’s Vocabulary Teacher, authoring software enabling teachers to create vocabulary review exercises through exposure to vocabulary in context. It should be interesting to compare this with major authoring environment such as Hot Potatoes, to indicate possible openings and limitations of both.

Finally, A Word from a Techie section features a contribution by Andrzej Zychla, from the University of Zielona Góra, Poland, who explores the opportunities for digitalised project work opened up by podcasting, from a more pedagogical than technical perspective. It is hoped that the rich mix of ideas, problems tackled and solutions proposed will inspire the readers of Teaching English with Technology to their own undertakings as far as the implementation of computer technology in ELT is concerned.

I wish you good reading.