Exploring Teaching in The PAC Journal ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Thomas SC Farrell  National Institute of Education, Singapore

Invited Papers

What My EFL Students Taught Me ................................................................................................................................................... 7

Kathleen M. Bailey Monterey Institute of International Studies

There is nothing so practical as a good theory ......................................................................................................................... 33

Penny Ur

Exploring Teachers ’ Beliefs and the Processes of Change .................................................................................................. 41

Jack C. Richards, Patrick B. Gallo, and Willy A. Renandya SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, Singapore

Action Research Section
Hong Kong Secondary School Teachers ’ First Experiences of Action Research ............................................................ 65

Andy Curtis Queen’s University, Canada

The Value of Action Research in Exploring Methodology: A Case of Instruction on Questioning in Debate .............. 79

Timothy Stewart Miyazaki International College, Miyazaki, Japan

Exploring L1 use in an English Discussion Class: An Action Research Approach ........................................................... 93

Steve Cornwell Osaka Jogakuin Junior College, Japan

Self-development of Counselling Micro-skills of a Self-access Counsellor .................................................................... 109

Jintana Suttanu Prince of Songkla University, Thailand

A Formative Evaluation of a Task-Based Conversation English Program ........................................................................ 125

Andrew Finch Seoul National University of Technology, Korea

Input Versus Instruction -- Facilitating Successful Task Completion in the EFL Classroom ....................................... 147

Trevor H. Gulliver, Erik Newson, and Colleen Chapco Chongju University, Korea

Compensation Strategies by Korean Students ....................................................................................................................... 163

Douglas Paul Margolis Dong Seoul College, Korea

Review Essay: Perspectives on Action Research .................................................................................................................. 175

Robert J. Dickey Kyongju University, Korea

This, the PAC Journal, is a result of many long discussions among leaders of the member organizations regarding the necessity, potential and feasibility of a forum for presenting research on language teaching in the region. It was determined that there is indeed a necessity for a journal, since there will be an increasing amount of grassroots action research generated in Asia as teachers realize that they can work together to solve the challenges they face in the classroom. As it turns out, this is also logically where the potential for the PAC Journal lies. As the number of collaborative research projects and the volume of research increase, and the abilities for research of the teachers increase, so the potential for the PAC Journal will increase. The feasibility for this endeavor has been a much more difficult matter, as the participating organizations have primary responsibility to their respective memberships. Respectful of this, the PAC Council has decided that the association that sponsors each PAC conference, from which the contents are derived, will take on the responsibility for the journal. In the case of the present, inaugural issue of the PAC Journal, Korea TESOL is providing the production support. To get an idea of the PAC Journal's evolution, it would be useful to take a brief look at the Pan Asian Consortium (PAC), which serves as the foundation for the journal.

PAC is a series of conferences, publications (proceedings and journals) and research networks that was created and signed into agreement by JALT, Korea TESOL and Thailand TESOL in 1994. The English Teachers Association of the Republic of China joined PAC in 1999. The main aim of PAC is to initiate, promote and support cross cultural and collaborative research in the field of ELT in Asia.

With Asia set to be a focal point on the world stage in this century, ELT in the region will continue to play an important role in Asia's development. Recognizing this IATEFL and TESOL Inc. support the development of PAC and have sent leaders and main speakers to the conferences and have been actively involved in Pan Asian Consortium meetings to plan for future conferences, publications and other activities in Asia.

Other Asian countries in which teachers of foreign languages are interested in communicating with teachers outside their home country and possibly collaborating on a research project include Australia, Cambodia, China (PRC), Fiji, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Khazakstan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

There is a need for improved English education in Asia. There is a need for teachers in Asia (as well as other parts of the world) to become more self-reliant, to understand that they can produce solutions to the problems they face in the classroom, and then provide the tools. There is a need to explore English education across cultures, to find out what methodologies work best in which culture/setting and why. There is a need for a medium to communicate and exchange ideas and network with teachers in the region. The PAC conferences help to satisfy this need and the PAC Journal is a natural complement, as it will stand as a more permanent resource for teachers.

As a way to record the tremendous effort of everyone involved in PAC and provide ideas and insights into the trends of TEFL in Asia, proceedings of the first two PAC conferences have been produced and will continue to be produced for future conferences. We also feel we are at a stage of development where an academic journal would naturally augment information dissemination for the growing amount of research being generated. This journal will be called the PAC Journal and will feature papers by leading authorities on the teaching of English in Asia. However, the core of the journal will consist of papers resulting from action research in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and the Republic of China, as well reports on research being carried out in other countries in Asia. The journal will also include reviews of literature pertinent to EFL in Asia. This first issue of the PAC Journal includes articles from three of the main speakers at the PAC2 conference: Jack Richards, Penny Ur and Kathleen Bailey.

This first issue of the PAC Journal would not have been possible without the energy and patience of each country editor. Specifically, Gene van Troyer in Japan, Park, Joo Kyung in Korea, Nick Dimmit in Thailand and Nathan Jones in Taiwan. Each country editor coordinated a call for papers, assembled a team of reviewers from their specific country (thank you to each and everyone of you for your time and patience), and delivered a number of final papers for the PAC Journal. As KOTESOL is the host editor for the publication of this first issue, we hope that the next host (JALT) will meet with the same wonderful level of cooperation from each member country.

KOTESOL asked me to represent them as the editor-in-chief for the first issue. Although I am honored to edit this first issue, I should mention that the whole idea of a PAC Journal would not have been possible without the tireless work of Carl Dusthimer. Dusty coordinated the PAC Journal and worked to make sure the journal would be published once the article were collected. I am indeed grateful to have worked so closely with Dusty on this project and so want to have him co-sign this editorial as coordinator of the first PAC Journal.

As mentioned before, there were many people whose input, research and writing was essential to ensure the success of this first issue. And we would like to thank all of the contributors for investing the time necessary to get this project ready to fly, off the ground, and soaring through the skies over Asia. We (KOTESOL sponsors) sincerely hope you enjoy and benefit from the contents you find herein. Cheers!