Editorial
Adam Burns
University of Leicester
The final edition of 2015 also marks my final edition of The Bridge as editor, and next year the journal will be passed over to the stewardship of Shane Payne (University of Leicester) a contributor to, and reviewer for, previous issues of the journal. I would like to thank the original editorial board for putting so much time into the journal over the past two years, despite the fact that all of them are busy with their own academic studies as well as holding down full-time jobs in education. I hope that what we have helped to produce is proving an asset for educators as well as an accessible outlet for postgraduate researchers. The editorial board will also be undergoing changes in 2016 and we welcome emails from any doctoral students in the field of Education interested in getting involved in the journal’s future.
This issue is a special edition, showcasing the modified versions of the work of Master’s students who have received distinctions for their Master’s theses. The six articles here bring together work from students of different universities, based in different countries, and working within different educational settings. The first four articles explore a number of different facets of the provision of language education. Geraldine Royds-Betz explores the nature of English language learning in Germany and the differing linguistic strategies used when discoursing with either native or non- native speakers of English. Preeya Daby continues this theme of language education when considering the efficacy of native language education in improving learning outcomes and second language proficiency in the East African nation of Mauritius. Keehwan Kim considers the issues raised by corrective feedback between native English-speaking teachers and Korean university students in South Korea. Finally, Paul Kavanagh continues upon the language theme in his article, which explores the reliability of language assessment experts by comparing their work with that of their peers.
In the second half of this issue, two more education professionals offers insights into practice- based research that they undertook while studying for a Master’s degree in Education. Stephanie Maggi-Pulis brings to light the issues faced by school leaders in Malta when attempting to introduce Professional Learning Communities, with particular attention to the use of PLCs to improve Physics teaching. Lastly, Stephen Cornes considers the lessons educationalists can glean from exploring the nature of professional role-play strategies, perhaps by incorporating these into school-based behavioural learning workshops or working with professional actors in an educational setting. Although language learning/acquisition is a theme that connects a number of the articles in this edition of the journal, the matters and contexts explored are incredibly diverse. We hope that, though in some cases the approaches of the authors can be a little specialist, there is something that non-experts can take away regarding the nature of learning, teaching and assessing from every article in this Master’s special edition.
The Bridge: Journal of Educational Research-Informed Practice 