Dear Tao Rui

Thank you such an inspirational quotation at the outset of your account. You help me to understand the underlying values that informed more traditional teaching methods in Japan by sharing Confucius' words. I wonder if Confucius intended the student to be passive - do you know (and please can you share) any insights into how he regarded the student's role as learner and teacher?

I can see you have always been a caring teacher who is determined to enable your students to learn as best they can I suspect that many of the techniques you have been using in the past are still useful - but can usefully supplement and complement new approaches to language learning that you communicate in your action research account. I have enjoyed reading your writing immensely!

Clearly, Dr Laidlaw has had an enormously productive influence and it is wonderful to see how her work is inspiring so many teachers to reconsider their approaches to language teaching at Guyuan. What is even more inspiring is that through the Internet and the posting of your account and others in your group on http://wwwactionresearch.net and http://www.TeacherResearch.net 1000s of other teachers, globally now, can appreciate the work you are doing together! What exciting times we live in. With the need to communicate your ides as clearly as possible I invite you to add an abstract the beginning of your account so reader can tell at a glance what your intentions are and the scope of your project and your findings - do look at Ling Yiwen's abstract for guidance.

You demonstrate a beautifully clear engagement with literature on action research approaches to improving practice and I enjoy seeing your understanding juxtaposed and informing your own account of your practice as a teacher at Guyuan College. I sense your delight where you write 'What I later found through observation is amazing" I want to celebrate your breakthrough with you!

I do advise you not reject every aspect of your former language leaching - students have very different language learning styles from one another (do take a look at Howard Gardner's writings on Multiple Intelligences and associated writings on Learning Styles -I can send you more information if it interests you. I am currently working with a teacher researcher at the John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge near bath who is looking at how she can assist students to learn better by helping them to broaden the range of learning styles that they use to learn a language. The key to success is variety.

I do applaud the way that you have used appropriate literature to inform and contextualise your own learning on language teaching approaches. The way you set out your hypotheses and explore them in your writing enables me to 'see where you are coming from' and engage creatively with the suggestions you offer me (and the 1000s of other readers of your work, without doubt - an awesome thought isn't it, that as we post up our ides on the Internet we are interacting potentially on a global scale!) With that in mind I do encourage you to incorporate photographs into your research. Perhaps you could detail some of the group work activities you undertook and keep a note of which students found this approach enabled their learning - that way you could build up a learning profile for each member of your class to ensure that you provide a variety of learning activities to meet everyone's needs over time. I do encourage you to situate your research in terms of the New Curriculum as well.

I do enjoy your account of learning moments in your class - like the one when Tian Xing read out a funny story - I can just imagine everyone's laughter ringing out - what a wonderfully affirming class!

Yours is such a broadly informative account and the questions you tackle as you seek to improve your teaching in your class will be shared by language teachers in so many other educational contexts. As you so rightly say, the role of questions in language teaching is crucial - how often we help students to answer questions to respond with an answer but we overlook the need to enable them to ask questions too. I think you could usefully engage with language teaching literature on the role of questions - do take a look at some of the texts that I have suggested - especially the Pathfinder series.

I thoroughly agree with your observation that a variety of teaching methods and teaching resources support better learning than sticking to one approach. I wonder if you can encourage your students to become action researchers now as they ask How can I identify my own best ways of learning and how can I broaden the variety of ways in which I learn? They could co-enquire with you, couldn't they?

The detail of the materials and strategies is fascinating! If you find that you want to include ore detail you can always add a well referenced appendix section to your action research accounts in future.

In my opinion, the section that is central to a breakthrough in your learning is the one where you describe your interaction with Ji's 'His words remind me of what I had done to him in class. Whenever I asked him to answer my questions, he did a bad job. Furthermore. I was afraid I wouldn't fulfill the teaching schedule and syllabus since I had to spend lots of time correcting his mistakes. Therefore I often avoided asking him questions and usually commented on his answers with simple words such as ,'OK. Well, sit down, please.' As a result, my conscious behaviour possibility made him feel ignored by me and consequently;y he seemed to lose his confidence and learning interest. This led me to believe that a teacher's encouragement to students and personal communication with them, especially the slow ones, are extremely significant factors in their development.'

We have a saying in English which I am sure you know 'Give a dog a bad name ...' If we label a person we may well unwittingly be condemning them to act down to label that we have assigned them. Your own sensitive awareness of Ji's needs is so important for the improvement of his learning and your own as a teacher. It is not easy to admit we are living contradictions, as Jack Whitehead often says!

Your questionnaire raises some interesting feedback from your students - which you might usefully use as a basis for semi structured interviews and focus group work with your future language classes?

You have created a wonderful account of your learning which deserves the highest acclaim as a an authentic and communicative piece of teacher research. I particularly like the detailed conclusions you offer and the way that you offer new ways of language teaching and educational approach which go far beyond subject teaching. Your reflections, with Moira's assistance, about reframing your research question, fill me with interest and anticipation to read your forthcoming accounts! What a wonderful question! I strongly advise you to pursue and offer for publication in the Language Learning Journal.