Editorial.

Orton, Jane

This issue appears at a turning point for Babel due to the loss of our Production Manager, Sub-editor, Subscription and Advertising Manager, David Vale, who died quite suddenly in early November. In just that week, the AFMLTA awarded David its Medal for Outstanding Service to Language Teaching in Australia. The Citation accompanying the medal appears in this issue. All involved in Babel over the years acknowledge their debt to David for his decades of unstinting work on the journal, and extend their heartfelt sympathy to his family. He will be irreplaceable.

The truth of that statement is already evident in the new production arrangements we have quickly had to make for Babel. I would like to thank Steve Holden at ACER for his ready collegial assistance in helping to get this issue out, and apologise to subscribers and advertisers for the delay in its appearance.

There has been great speculation in Australia in the past 12 months about the promise of new money for Asian languages and studies (NALSSP), so our first article, from Yvette Slaughter, is particularly timely. She presents a clear-eyed assessment of the last such effort (NALSAS), focussing especially on Federal-State roles in implementing a viable and successful program.

Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou then presents a useful study of electronic dictionary resources and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each in comparison with one another, and with hard copy versions. While her sample language is Japanese, the article is highly relevant to all teachers of language, especially as she shows just how influential teachers are in what their students choose and how they use it.

Intercultural language learning is a commonly embraced framework in our field today, but exactly how this abstract, macro-level term might be realised in the micro-level life of a class is not so often made evident. Our third article details just this process as it unfolded in Pascale Sobolewski's university French course. Meticulous sequential scaffolding in the preparation phase is shown as key to achieving the goal.

Then follows the report of a groundbreaking program at primary level now entering its fourth year, which has been established and run collaboratively by staff at Wesley College, Melbourne and Community Elders from the Bunuba and Walmajarri tribes in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. I first heard of the program while in Bunuba country and thought it would be of interest to Babel readers. I am most grateful to Kim Anderson and June Oscar for agreeing to write it up.

The issue concludes with a review from an Australian educational perspective of a new international Chinese curriculum published by the Chinese government's Hanban, written by Andrew Scrimgeour and Philip Wilson.

This issue is my sixth and last as Editor. After two years I feel confident as I hand over to Matthew Absalom that the excellent work being done in our language teaching and learning field will keep Babel filled with useful and interesting articles for many years to come. I thank the AFMLTA for giving me the chance to have this marvellous professional experience and I wish Babel readers a very good 2009.