Submissions

This page is designed to help you ensure your submission is ready for and fits the scope of the journal.

Before submitting you should read over the guidelines here, then register an account (or login if you have an existing account)

The Journal of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (JSLAT) is a publication of the University of Arizona Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT). This journal was conceived as a source for scholarly dialogue among SLAT students, SLAT faculty, and the second language research community at large. This journal is an opportunity for doctoral students in the field of second language studies to experience the publishing process as well as an outlet for established second language researchers to present completed research and work in progress.

JSLAT began publication in 1993 as El Two Talk (ISSN: 2377-1828). In 1995 the journal title changed to Arizona Working Papers in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching (ISSN: 2377-1704). In 2019, the journal title was changed to Journal of Second Language Acquisition and Teaching.

JSLAT is indexed in ERIC.

JSLAT publishes empirical studies, pedagogical reports, research in progress, or conceptual/theoretical studies. 

Possible topics include:

• language pedagogy and program administration (e.g., ESL/EFL and foreign language curriculum development, skills development, testing and evaluation, educational technology, current theoretical approaches to second/foreign language curriculum design, program design, language proficiency assessment, study abroad, and program administration)
• language use (e.g., discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, multimodal communication, semiotics, linguistic anthropology, rhetoric, language policy/language planning, pragmatics, multilingualism, identity, language variation, and sociocultural factors)
• language analysis (e.g., grammar, contrastive linguistics/interlanguage studies, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, computational linguistics, and historical linguistics
• language processes (e.g., psycholinguistics, cognitive studies, language processing, foreign language learning and research, and interlanguage)
• poststructural concepts and critical views within SLA (e.g., teacher and learner agency and identity, critical pedagogies, inequalities in language learning/teaching, social justice initiatives, etc…)

Papers from a variety of disciplines, including interdisciplinary papers, are welcome. First language studies with relevance to second language acquisition and teaching will also be considered. Submissions are accepted in English as well as other languages (e.g., Arabic, French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Russian, Turkish, etc.) if an abstract can be provided in English.

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The author(s) provide an abstract that effectively summarizes the submission. The abstract is of 100-250 words, and 4-6 keywords are included.
2. Manuscript adheres to APA formatting (APA, 7th ed.).
3. Every in-text citation is listed in the references section. Every source listed in references is cited within the text.
4. The submission adheres to the journal’s word limit. Book reviews are up to 4000 words, all included. Teaching or curriculum-oriented pieces are up to 5000 words, all included. Theoretically-grounded conceptual pieces are up to 8000 words, all included. Reflective pieces are up to 8000 words, all included. Empirical research studies are up to 10000 words, all included. 
5. There are no headers or footers other than page numbers
6. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
7. The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
8. Where available, URLs and DOIs for the references have been provided.
9. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of references and quotations. Authors should make sure they are correct, in substance and style.
10. The text is double-spaced; uses Times New Roman 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
11. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
12. Human subject research has been reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent governing body.

You can review sample publications to orient yourself to the JSLAT’s benchmark expectations. 

Submission Types:
● Book reviews
○ Reviews of recent authored or edited publications that are related to
teaching, learning, and use of second, foreign, heritage languages and
multilingualism
○ Please check with the editors of JSLAT about the eligibility of the book to
review
○ The review should include both a descriptive and evaluative summary of
the content and a discussion on the significance and implications of the
book in the context of second language teaching and learning.
○ Up to 4000 words, all included.

● Teaching or curriculum-oriented pieces
○ Provides clear descriptions of the objectives of the teaching
activity/activities or the curricular aspects and how they are/can be
implemented in specific teaching contexts. Submissions can include the
materials in the paper or hyperlinks to them.
○ Grounds the teaching or curricular activities/aspects in the second
language acquisition, teaching and learning approaches
○ Up to 5000 words, all included.

● Theoretically-grounded conceptual pieces
○ Provides a critical review of the concept/issue and deeply analyzes and
explores a concept or set of concepts
○ Draws heavily on established theories and frameworks
○ Provides a conceptual discussion rooted in theory and builds a coherent
argument by systematically connecting concepts and theories
○ Up to 8000 words, all included.

● Reflective pieces
○ Provides a critical analysis and reflection regarding a concept, issue,
teaching method/approach, etc.
○ Connects personal or professional experiences to relevant theories,
practices, or research in the field.
○ Articulates challenges faced, lessons learned, and actionable insights for
educators, researchers, or practitioners.
○ Up to 8000 words, all included.

● Empirical research studies
○ Systematically and ethically conducted, original, empirical work that
provides implications for second language teaching and learning.
○ Grounds the work in the existing literature
○ Provides a clear purpose and research questions
○ Provides detailed descriptions of methods, data collection, and analysis
and answers research questions as clearly as possible
○ Discusses how the study contributes to the conversations in the field
○ Up to 10000 words, all included. Bottom range for the word length for Empircal papers is maybe 7000 words.

Authors retain all rights to their work published by the University of Arizona Libraries' Publishing Program. The specific terms of our author agreements may vary slightly from journal to journal, but they all constitute nonexclusive licenses covering the rights required to publish, index, abstract, and preserve the content. Authors are free to reuse their work and to enter into other agreements as long as they credit the relevant journal as the site of first publication and provide a link to the journal website. We support the use of Creative Commons licenses by our journals and encourage them to allow further distribution and reuse of their content as appropriate.

JSLAT operates a blind peer review policy. Manuscripts should remove all references to author(s) or institutional affiliation during the review process. 

The peer-review criteria can be accessed here.

The following licences are allowed:

• CC BY 4.0 - More Information  
  Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Journals published or hosted by the University of Arizona Libraries' Publishing Program do not charge author publishing fees. All journals hosted by the University of Arizona Libraries are fully open access, with no charges to access or to publish.

JSLAT publishes once a year every September.