Articles

The L2 Journal is seeking submissions of previously unpublished manuscripts on any topic related to the area of language learning and teaching at all levels of instruction. These articles may have (1) a theoretical orientation and contribute to building educational theory and/or (2) a pedagogic orientation and contribute to understanding and improving curriculum design and teaching innovation. Submissions will contribute to both the theory and the practice of language teaching and learning. In both (1) and (2), articles should link previous research, educational theory, and language teaching practices. Authors are expected to review the existing work done on the topic, choose a theoretical framework that will justify their use of a given research methodology or pedagogic innovation, give a clear rationale for the gathering and analysis of empirical data, provide a thorough description and documentation of the research or pedagogic activity, as well as an evaluation of the findings (results of the empirical study or outcome of the pedagogic activity). Articles are blind peer-reviewed with particular attention paid to originality, clear linkage between theoretical framework and analysis of the data, and quality of writing. Articles should be written in English, with an average length of approximately 8,000 words, including references. Once published, all articles are directly downloadable for free from the L2 Journal website.

There are no article processing charges and no publication fees.

Please refer to the Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.

Teachers' Forum

This section of the journal invites reflections on the theory and practice of language teaching as well as language instructors’ identities and trajectories. These reflections should take the form of personal essays, so rather than follow the traditional format of research articles (introduction, literature review, methods, etc.), contributors should aim at describing how personal experiences and/or books have influenced their teaching. Essays will be peer-reviewed by language lecturers and will be evaluated with particular attention to their general interest, relevance, and value to a broad readership of language educators, style, and quality of writing. Submissions to Instructors' Perspectives should be no longer than 4,500 words, not including bibliography, appendices, and supplementary materials, and should follow the APA style sheet.

Please refer to the Final Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.

Brief Reports

This section is for short papers on any aspect of second/foreign language learning theory and practice. The editors encourage manuscripts that either present preliminary findings or focus on some aspect of a larger study. In all cases, the discussion of issues should be supported by empirical evidence and collected through qualitative or quantitative investigations. These brief research reports should present key concepts and results in a manner accessible to our diverse readership. Submissions to this section should be no more than 2,000 words (including references, notes, and tables).

All Manuscripts

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the “Submit article” link. Once received, there is a two-step review process.

Step 1: Internal Review. The editors of the journal first review each manuscript to ensure that it meets the basic requirements for articles published in the journal. In the case of articles, the basic criteria include considerations of the originality of the research or framework that links previous research, applied linguistics, and teaching practices, and that it is of sufficient quality to merit external review. Manuscripts that do not meet these requirements are not sent out for further review, and authors of these manuscripts are encouraged to submit their work elsewhere. This internal review takes about 1-2 weeks. Following the internal review, authors are notified if their manuscript will not be sent out for external review with an explanation for the decision.

Step 2: External Review. Submissions that meet the basic requirements are then sent out for double-blind peer review from 2-3 experts in the field, either from the journal's editorial board or from our larger list of reviewers. This second review process takes 2-3 months. Following the external review, the authors are sent copies of the external reviewers' comments and are notified as to the decision (accept as is or with minor revisions, accept with major revisions, revise and resubmit, or reject). Most manuscripts fall under the "Revise and resubmit" category. Revisions may take a few months and final acceptance may require that the revised manuscript be sent out to one or the other of the original reviewers. But all in all, the editorial process is faster than with paper journals.

Special Issues

On occasion the L2 Journal also publishes special issues on a broad range topics of relevance to language educators. Please see the Call for Papers section of the journal website for further information on any upcoming special issues.

If you are interested in guest editing a special issue for the L2 Journal, please contact the managing editor for more details on special issue proposals.