About
About Issues in Applied Linguistics
Issues in Applied Linguistics (IAL) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal established in 1989 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dedicated to advancing scholarship in applied linguistics, IAL provides an interdisciplinary forum for research, theoretical inquiry, critical perspectives, pedagogical innovation, and scholarly dialogue.
IAL welcomes contributions that explore language in educational, social, cultural, cognitive, and institutional contexts. The journal embraces diverse theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and forms of scholarly expression, with particular interest in innovative research and emerging directions that contribute meaningfully to the field.
A distinguishing feature of IAL is its commitment to supporting emerging scholars. We particularly encourage submissions from graduate students, recent graduates, and early-career researchers, alongside contributions from established scholars, independent researchers, and practitioners. Our editorial philosophy combines rigorous scholarly standards with constructive engagement, and we are committed to working with authors to develop promising manuscripts into high-quality scholarly publications.
IAL publishes a wide range of contributions, including original research, reviews, theoretical and conceptual scholarship, critical perspectives, scholarly interviews, conference proceedings, and pedagogical contributions. This breadth reflects the journal's longstanding commitment to interdisciplinary exchange and its recognition that valuable scholarship can take many forms.
Published through the University of California's eScholarship platform, IAL makes its content openly accessible to readers worldwide, supporting the dissemination and exchange of applied linguistics scholarship across institutions, disciplines, and professional communities.
We invite scholars at all stages of their careers to contribute to IAL and join an ongoing conversation about language, learning, communication, and society.
For information about the journal's scholarly interests and publication categories, please visit our Focus and Scope page.
For manuscript preparation and submission instructions, please consult our Submission Guidelines.
Volume 17, Issue 1, 2009
Volume 17 Issue 1 2009
Copyeditors and Proofreaders: Laura Amador, Eun Young Bae, Hongwen Cai, Bahiyyih L. Hardacre, Hye Ri, Stephanie Kim, Soyeon Kim, Jinhee Lee, Andrea Olinger, and Valeria Valencia
Additional Readers: Claire Bowern, Dong-Ho Kang, Silvia Pessoa, John Read, Keren Rice, Kata Wein, and David Wray
Contents:Articles
- L2 Learners' Self-Appraisal of Motivational Changes Over Time
This study is an interview-based grounded theory investigation that explores the phenomenon of the changes in L2 motivation over time and across contexts. Two Taiwanese international students who studied at a higher educational institution in the U.S. were interviewed about their motivational orientations prior to and after the study abroad transition and about how their study abroad experience over one academic year subsequently shaped their L2 motivation. Data analysis of the two participants’ self appraisal of their L2 motivational changes indicated that the study abroad transition had a great impact on the development of the participants’ L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009). The participants’ L2 goals, attitudes toward the English-speaking community, and self concept changed as a result of their study abroad experience. Several interacting internal and external factors shaped and reshaped the changes in their L2 self images, and these changes varied intra-person and across individuals, depending upon the individual learner’s self-determination and action control associated with specific contextual challenges. Furthermore, the changes in the participants’ ideal L2 self as a competent English user appeared to be temporary, and long-term stability of the ideal self images was observed.
- What Linguists Need to Know About Child Care: Access, Service, and Ethics in Community-Based Research
The purpose of this paper is to draw the attention of language researchers to the potential value of conducting research from a position within a child care program in a community of interest and to the ways in which this degree of subordination might mitigate inequalities of power between researcher and researched. Child care centers are community hubs of rich and complex interactions of interest to field linguists, and linguists have skills which can benefit child care programs. Characteristics of child care programs are described in relation to linguistic interests, program and community interests, and potential roles for researchers within a center or program. The suggestion is made that linguistics graduate programs might encourage students to take courses in child development and early childhood education to enhance logistical resources for new community-based field researchers.
- The Effects of Video Media in English as a Second Language Listening Comprehension Tests
The emergence of powerful computers in language testing permits the use of video media in second language computer assisted listening comprehension tests. Little research is available on what the effects of the video media are in listening comprehension test tasks. The present study examines two video formats (close-up view of the head of the lecturer, and full body view of the lecturer) and compares these to the audio-only format in a listening comprehension test setting. A simulated UCLA classroom lecture was videotaped and used, and one hundred and one students took the test. The aim of the research was to explore whether there were any performance differences when students took these tests in the different formats. The results of the present study show that the addition of the visual channel does not contribute to or take away from the performance in English as a second language listening comprehension test.