Dear All,
Great opportunity in many respects for language researchers.
Phil
Call for Papers V.4
TESL-EJ Special Issue
Doing Language Education Research in International Contexts
Date of publication: September, 2006
Proposals due: October 15, 2005
Guest Editors: Greta Gorsuch and Bill Snyder
Language education remains an active area of research and inquiry on a
global scale. Many language educators in international contexts
undertake advanced study in their own countries and abroad. Many seek
to establish and expand research done in their own contexts, and are
sensitive to the many issues faced by learners, communities, and
national education systems concerning language learning and education.
Such research is relevant to areas of inquiry generated and reported in
“inner circle” countries such as the United States, Australia, and the
United Kingdom, where the international language of research reporting,
English, is most thoroughly used. Yet research conducted in
international contexts, such as Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Vietnam, and
Columbia (what have been termed “outer circle” and “expanding circle”
countries) is often not widely disseminated. The struggle of
researchers in outer and expanding circle countries to get published
in English-language language education journals is widely reported;
however, other, probably more fundamental and less reported causes have
not been systematically treated in international forums. Impediments to
research may include the kinds of literature researchers have or do not
have access to, the degree to which quantitative and qualitative
research methods are valued, the ways in which research methodology and
reporting are taught, whether or not researchers have adequate
mentoring or networking opportunities during data collection and
analysis, the degree to which research is rewarded by researchers'
institutions or educational cultures, and other constraints posed by
heavy teaching schedules, or limited access to assistance or other
physical resources such as computers or dependable electrical service.
Choices of research topics and methodology may also reflect different
value systems or priorities which may not be well known outside the
researchers' contexts.
We therefore solicit original data-driven research in language
education from researchers in outer and expanding circle countries with
a focus on how doing research in these contexts influences the kinds of
research questions that are posed, how these questions are
investigated, and how the results and interpretations are reported, or
in some cases, not reported. We also invite research on how young
scholars are introduced to research and apprenticed into the research
community in language education. Research topics may include language
acquisition in formal and informal settings, effects of innovative
teaching methodologies on language learning, language testing,
technology in language learning, task-based learning, minority language
revival, influences on instructional change, processes and politics of
developing locally appropriate textbooks and educational materials,
language teacher problem solving, and program evaluation. Proposals are
welcomed from both native and no
n-native users of English in outer and expanding circle countries.
Submissions by researchers currently engaged in language teaching and
teacher education at established institutions are strongly encouraged.
Proposals in the form of a 300 - 500 word abstract are due no later
than October 15, 2005. Successful proposals will describe original data
driven research, either quantitative or qualitative, with a rationale
for the research and with specific research questions posed and a
clearly described design for data collection and analysis. Authors must
address how they plan to describe influences of their contexts and
circumstances on their proposed research.
Proposals should be sent no later than October 15, 2005 to both:
Greta J. Gorsuch (gorsuch@tesl-ej.org)
Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures
Texas Tech University
Box 72071
Lubbock, Texas 79409-2071
U.S.A
Bill Snyder (snyder@tesl-ej.org)
(address good through June 28th)
Senior English Language Fellow
Yabanci Diller Yuksekokulu, Yeni Bina
Anadolu University, Yunus Emre Kampusu
Eskisehir Turkey
on leave from:
(address good through July 31st)
MA TEFL Program
Bilkent University
Faculty of Humanities and Letters
06800 Bilkent
Ankara, Turkey
address from August 1st:
TBA
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