Editor's Note

What do you see when you view the picture on this issue's cover page? An old peeling wall panel on which sits a picture on a frame?

What if someone were to say to you that the object hanging on the wall is not a static picture but is in fact a looking mirror reflecting the breathtaking scenery outside?

Like the moral of the cover picture, this issue is about the importance of not losing sight of the fundamentals where the use of language in education is concerned.

Proverbially speaking, we can sit in the room and insist that the object hanging on the wall is a static picture, just as we can choose to ignore English as a global language.

Or we can choose to get up, step out and discover the beautiful outside; which is the equivalent of saying that we can choose to master (rather than dismiss) English, which to me seems like an infinitely more fruitful thing to do.

We hope the features in this issue will serve as food for thought for all OUM tutors at the frontline implementing the transition to English.

Write to us if you would like to share constructive perspectives on the views offered. Last but not least, we would like to wish you a productive new year.