01 Editorial.qxd Editorial Ibérica no. 14 bears evidence of the “global spread” (quoting Ferguson’s paper in the preceding issue) of the journal of AELFE. Indeed, this is a truly international issue, with articles from different (mainly European) countries, which boosts the presence of Ibérica in the field of Languages for Specific Purposes among scholars worldwide. Ibérica no. 14 also stands out because of the increased and varied number of reviews submitted. This shows not only that LSP is proving to be a promising area of research as a whole, but also that there is an increased quality of works, many of them published in relevant international publishing houses, edited by Spanish scholars, and hosting pieces of research from authors and institutions worldwide. In this respect, Ibérica no. 14 comes to support John Swales’ generous, complimentary and encouraging words in his preface to the book edited by Pérez-Llantada & Ferguson reviewed in this issue: After all, in recent years, Spain has emerged on the world stage as an ESP powerhouse and, in terms of investigations currently being undertaken, it may be second to none (…) Spanish ESP practitioners are not only publishing locally, as in that excellent journal Ibérica, but internationally, as recent issues of English for Specific Purposes and the Journal of English for Academic Purposes attest. While these practitioners are often housed in traditional-sounding departments of “filología”, they go about their business, and speak and write about their business in ways that are fully and importantly representative of the “New Spain”. (Swales, 2006: 16) Ibérica no. 14 opens up with a paper by Murray, Hourigan & Jeanneau addressing blogs and their implementation among University students to perform their academic tasks more effectively and efficiently. As a part of a larger ongoing project, Murray et al. examine the role of micropublishing in general, and blog writing in particular, in promoting successful academic writing and language learning strategies. They survey an array of English written students’ blogs (32 in all) from the point of view of self-expression and reflection and provide a sample list of blog entries which are assessed in terms of structure, cohesion and organisation. The second paper in this issue deals with scientific discourse and hedging. The context of Morales, Cassany & González-Peña’s work is dental review articles published in Iberoamerican journals over a 10-year period. Morales IBÉRICA 14 [2007]: 5-8 5 01 EDITORIAL.qxp 17/10/07 20:26 Página 5 et al. classify the different hedges dental experts use and study the relationship of hedging as a discourse strategy related to the position of authors in the scientific community. Next, Botella Rodríguez & González Rodríguez provide a historical overview of the teaching and learning of French and English for specific purposes at their own university, and hence, shed light on the possible origins of LSP in the Spanish education system. Based on a legacy catalogue of grammars and dictionaries, this paper claims and proves that the current educational concern about LSP is not exclusive to the last few decades of the 20th-century but rather a target teaching issue which goes further back in time. The fourth paper deals with assessment. García Laborda & Magal Royo depict an Internet-based multilingual testing platform for oral and written exams (known as PLEVALEX) with particular reference to its potential implementation for the testing of ESP. Metaphorical medical language is the focus of Mungra’s contribution. By determining the frequency and types of metaphors in a corpus of titles from a medical journal Mungra analyses the role of metaphors in titles and reaches the conclusion that, although syntactically simple, medical journal titles are endowed with a highly communicative meaning which can positively contribute to enhancing academic literacy, especially among ESP beginners. The sixth paper is an example of how common research interests can prevail over different nationalities and different mother tongues into a successful piece of research. Cole, Pritchard & Trenkner map out the results of a two- year international research project carried out with the aim of profiling the various types of Maritime English instructors presently employed at higher institutions and suggest a set of actions in view of successful maritime education and training. The last paper in this issue comes from two Lithuanian universities and is concerned with Portfolios as an alternative assessment tool for performance at tertiary level. Kavaliauskienė, Kaminskienė & Anusienė highlight self- assessment as an efficient option to evaluate ESP language learning and focus on portfolios as a comprehensive tool for reflective practice which, at the same time, helps ESP teachers assess learners’ knowledge and skills. Finally, the six book reviews included herein are varied in scope (i.e., LSP branches) and reference/target languages. As stated before, most works reviewed are collections of essays of an international nature –i.e., published by relevant domestic or international houses, edited by Spanish practitioners, and ANA BOCANEGRA VALLE IBÉRICA 14 [2007]: 5-86 01 EDITORIAL.qxp 17/10/07 20:26 Página 6 hosting works from scholars around the world. This, once again, contributes to the “global spread” of Spanish research on LSP worldwide, and at the same time, it backs up and reinforces Swales’ comparison of Spain as “an ESP powerhouse”. Reviews will be of interest to readers intrigued by legal language from the standpoint of German research (Forés’ review on Bungarten & Engberg’s bibliography); metaphorical language in civil engineering (Fuertes’ review on Boquera’s glossary); Information technology and LSP (López’s review on Arnó et al.’s volume); current issues regarding the four language skills (Gilabert’s review on Usó-Juan & Martínez-Flor’s collection); globalisation of English versus world Englishes (Fortanet’s review on Pérez- Llantada & Ferguson’s co-edition); and, finally, interculturality and its role in business communication (Lario’s review on Palmer-Silveira et al.’s work). In pursuance of Ibérica’s regulations, the editorial board has been renewed. I would like to acknowledge the professional and thorough reviewing work carried out by Pilar Durán (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Concepción Sanz (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha), Ángel Felices (Universidad de Granada) and Pedro Fuertes (Universidad de Valladolid) throughout these years and wish them well in their future endeavours. Likewise, the editorial board has been enhanced to cover the demands of the increasing number of submissions and, particularly, the reviewing process of works written in French and German. I take the opportunity to welcome new editorial members: Theo Bungarten (Universität Hamburg), Joseba González Ardeo (Universidad del País Vasco), Esther Hernández Longas (Universidad de Alcalá de Henares), Claus-Peter Neumann (Universidad de Zaragoza), Juan Carlos Palmer Silveira (Universitat Jaume I), and Ramón Plo Alastrué (Universidad de Zaragoza). I am also pleased to announce that Gibson R. Ferguson (University of Sheffield) has kindly accepted to join the International Advisory Board. My sincere appreciation to Ibérica’s editorial board for the work done and, particularly, to the external reviewers who have shared their knowledge and expertise with us in this period reviewing some of the papers submitted: Santiago Posteguillo (Universitat Jaume I), Antonio García Morilla (Universidad de Cádiz), Mª Ángeles Orts (Universidad de Murcia), Elena López Torres (Universidad de Cádiz), Elisabet Arnó (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), and Ester Usó Juan (Universitat Jaume I). Ana Bocanegra Valle Universidad de Cádiz (Spain) Editor of Ibérica EDITORIAL IBÉRICA 14 [2007]: 5-6 7 01 EDITORIAL.qxp 17/10/07 20:26 Página 7 REFERENCES ANA BOCANEGRA VALLE IBÉRICA 14 [2007]: 5-88 Ferguson, G.R. (2006). “The global spread of English, scien- tific communication and ESP: questions of equity, access and domain loss”. Ibérica 13: 7-38. Swales, J.M. (2006). “Preface” in C. Pérez-Llantada & G.R. Fer- guson (eds.), English as a Glo- Calization Phenomenon. Obser- vations from a Linguistic Micro- cosm, 15-17. Valencia: Publica- cions de la Universitat de Valèn- cia. 01 EDITORIAL.qxp 17/10/07 20:26 Página 8