Comments on the Inaugural Edition of PacCALL Journal

This inaugural edition of PacCALL Journal emerges from nearly two years of dedicated effort by a group of academics. Its contributors echo the voices heard at PacCALL 2004, the association’s first international conference. PacCALL 2004, part of CLaSIC 2004, was giftedly hosted by the faculty and staff of the Centre for Language Studies at the National University of Singapore. PacCALL Journal Volume 1 Number 1 presents contributions resulting from keynote, presentation, and workshop sessions at PacCALL 2004. Our appreciation also goes out to fellow members of the PacCALL Journal Editorial Board, reviewers, and everyone involved in the creation of this first edition.

Volume 1 Number 1 begins with a Keynote Paper resulting from Carol Chapelle’s well received keynote address in Singapore , Hints About CALL from Research. PacCALL was honoured to welcome a scholar of Carol’s renown to give our first keynote address, and is equally so to open our first journal volume with her paper.

The Articles section of the edition comprises papers originating in parallel session presentations at the Singapore conference. They represent ongoing research, theory-building, and reflection in CALL instruction and professional development.

The final section of this inaugural edition, CALL in Practice, features yet another aspect of PacCALL 2004: its workshops. These papers are of a very practical nature and result from workshop type presentations at PacCALL 2004. They discuss implementation and evaluation of practical approaches in CALL and share practitioners’ experiences.

Collectively, the contributors in PacCALL Journal’s inaugural edition echo the accomplishment of our first international conference and suitably announce the establishment of our association’s academic journal. We hope the journal will engage CALL practitioners from around the Pacific in a fruitful dialogue.