Readership
The Journal of English Language and Literature Teaching (JELT) is an internationally recognized journal with subscribers worldwide. Our readers are educators who teach English as a Foreign Language (EFL), English as a Second Language (ESL), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in diverse local contexts. They work in primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities, and in both state and private sectors. Our readers include teacher trainers and teachers in training, as well as professionals who manage English language programs and projects.
General Information for Submissions
We have implemented a web-based online submission system for articles, features, and reviews, and we only accept submissions through this platform. Full details on how to make online submissions can be found on the Manuscript Submission webpage.
Authors should avoid submitting the same article to multiple journals at the same time. We encourage you to write specifically for the readership of the Journal of English Language and Literature Teaching. Please do not submit your article to other journals until you have received a response from us.
Only one submission per author is allowed at a time, and JELT will only publish one article per author in each volume of the printed journal.
All submissions undergo a blind review by two experts: one from our Editorial Advisory Panel and another who is an external practitioner or academic. To maintain anonymity during the review process, please avoid mentioning your name in references to your own work. Instead, use ‘Author.’
Before submitting, please familiarize yourself with the Journal of English Language and Literature Teaching and the types of articles we publish. If you do not have access to recent copies, you may view a sample issue on our website.
Submissions Categories (Manuscript Types):
Articles
We welcome articles based on new methods, techniques, materials, syllabuses, assessment approaches, teacher training, and other areas of professional interest. Articles on the English language (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation) are also welcome, provided they do not require specialist knowledge of linguistics and focus on practical applications.
We are also interested in articles detailing well-planned experiments or research that provides new insights on relevant topics, as well as articles discussing issues in English language teaching, such as the impact of educational policy, management aspects, project development, evaluation procedures, and cultural considerations.
When writing articles, please consider the following:
- Articles should be relevant to JELT readers.
They should be clearly written with accessible language and coherent structure.
JELT is not a journal of primary research; there should be a balance between theory and practice.
Context-specific articles should have broader implications.
Articles must demonstrate awareness of existing research in the field.
Data presentation should not require more than basic statistical knowledge.
Limit references to 15, with no more than two relating to the author's own work.
Preparing Your Article
Authors
Due to space limitations, no more than two authors can be listed on the contents page, though all will appear on the first page of the article. Please provide names with the first name followed by the surname, along with your country and affiliation.
Length
Articles should ideally be around 3,500 words, with a maximum of 4,000 words. Include the word count at the end of your article, including tables and appendices.
Spelling
Please use standard American English spelling of words such as "center" or "color." Where American English has alternative spellings of words such as "recognize"/"recognise," please use the "z" form, e.g., "summarize." But note that in American English, "analyze" is spelled with an "z." Please use "for example" in the text and "e.g." in lists of tables/figures. There should be no comma after "e.g." or "i.e."
Please use:
cooperative, email (no hyphen); internet (capital letter not necessary, but please be consistent); online (no hyphen); percent (one word – only use % in tables/figures); sociocultural (no hyphen); website (no hyphen); learned (not learnt); focus, focuses, etc. (one ‘s’); nonetheless (one word); onto (one word).
Numbers
One to ten (in words), 11, 12, and so on in figures, unless these appear at the beginning of a sentence or when both a small and large number appear in the same sentence, e.g., “5 classes of 28 …” When using thousands, please use a comma separator, e.g., 2,500. Fractions should be written in words and hyphenated. Percentages in the text are normally given as whole numbers, e.g., 27 percent, but can be given with decimal points in tables/figures where necessary.
Lists
First-level lists should be numbered first, with lower-level lists being alphabetized.
Numbered and alphabetized lists should have no full points or brackets around the initial number/letter, e.g.,
1 The house they lived in was green.
a It used to be blue before it was green.
b It used to be red before it was blue.
2 The building they worked in was blue.
Alphabetized lists:
a The house they lived in was green.
b The building they worked in was blue.
Bulleted lists should have no punctuation at the end except for the final point:
houses were green
buildings were blue
garages were red.
Commonly used abbreviations
The following do not need to be spelled out in either the abstract or text:
EAP, EFL, ESP, ELT, ESOL, TESOL, NS (native speaker), NNS (non-native speaker), IATEFL, L1, L2, IT, CELTA
Countries and organizations: United States of America (USA, or US for descriptive purposes); United Kingdom (UK). (No periods.)
Foreign characters
These appear most commonly in names and should be marked up for the typesetters. Foreign language words should appear in italics without single quote marks, e.g., "... the word *platano* means 'banana' in English."
Title and abstract
Please give your article a brief, clear, and informative title. Titles should preferably be no more than 50 characters long, with an absolute maximum of 70, including spaces. Begin your article with an abstract of no more than 150 words summarizing your main points. Please do not make reference to other publications in the abstract; any abbreviations defined in the abstract (other than those listed above) should be spelled out again on first mention in the text.
Format
See the separate file JELT template for guidance on formatting your article with the correct layout. It is not necessary to format first submissions.
You can refer to this template to submit your article:
Download Here: Article Template
Headings and subheadings
Headings and subheadings should be on a separate line, ranged left. Underline main headings, but do not underline subheadings. Do not use a numbering or lettering system for headings. Do not try to format your submission in the style of a published article.
Page numbers
Please make sure that pages are numbered.
References in the text
If you wish to make references in the text to other publications, please do so clearly and in the following way: author’s surname, date, and page number in parentheses, e.g., (Karimi Garmsiri 1993: 35). If the reference is to a general argument or topic covered by the author, you may omit the page number. However, a quotation or a specific point de by an author must be supported by a page number reference. If you refer to the same publication twice (or more) in quick succession, please use the following form on the second or subsequent occasion, e.g., (Karimi Garmsiri ibid.: 156). If you refer to the same publication more than once, but not on the same page, then please use the following form on the second or subsequent occasion, e.g., (Karimi Garmsiri op. cit.). Please remember not to over-reference your article either in relation to specific points you make in the text (maximum of two references to support any specific point), or overall (maximum of 15 references overall). In your article, please make sure you refer to no more than two of your own previous publications.
As previously stated, to maintain anonymity during the peer review process, please avoid stating your name when making a reference to your own work, either in the text or References, and use "Author" instead. If a publication has two or more authors/editors, please list all names in the References and in the first instance in the text (then use et al. thereafter); if referring to two or more publications, please list these chronologically rather than alphabetically, e.g., (Waters 1998; Seedhouse 2004).
List of references
Please give full bibliographical details of references and list them in alphabetical order of the author, following the style of the examples given below. Page numbers for journal articles should be truncated where possible (e.g., JELT Journal 63/1: 25–9; JELT Journal 60/3: 213–21). However, no page ranges are required for books.
British Council. 2006. *Future Perfect-English Language Policy for Global Transition Conference Report*. Available to download as a pdf. (accessed December 18, 2007). [Note that for internet/web references, a full web address is required together with a date accessed.]
Donato, R. and F. Brooks. 1994. 'Looking across collaborative tasks: capturing L2 discourse development.' Paper presented at AAAL Conference, Baltimore, Maryland.
Johnson, K. 2008. *An Introduction to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching* (Second edition). Harlow: Pearson Longman.
Littlejohn, A. 1992. 'Why are ELT materials the way they are?' Unpublished PhD thesis, Lancaster University, UK.
Nunan, D. 1990. 'Action research in the language classroom' in J.C. Richards and D. Nunan (eds.).
Pennington, M.C. 1990. 'A professional development focus for the language teaching practicum' in J. C. Richards and D. Nunan (eds.). [Note this format when your list of references contains two or more mentions of an edited collection.]
Richards, J. C. and D. Nunan (eds.). 1990. *Second Language Teacher Education*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. 1989. 'Service English program design and opportunity cost' in R.K. Johnson (ed.). *The Second Language Curriculum*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Note this format when your list of references contains only one mention of an edited collection.]
Wenden, A. 1986a. 'Helping language learners think about learning.' ELT Journal 40/1: 3-12.
Wenden, A. 1986b. 'What do second language learners know about their language learning?' *Applied Linguistics* 7/2: 186-201.
Footnotes
Short notes can appear in the text within brackets; longer ones should be collected together at the end of the article. There will be no footnotes on individual pages. Please number your notes consecutively, giving clear superscript numbers in the appropriate places. You should not include more footnotes than are absolutely necessary.
Acknowledgments
Please do not include acknowledgments to colleagues or students who may have helped you during the writing of the article. It is often difficult to find space to credit all those who might be credited and we have therefore decided to leave it to authors to express their thanks personally.
Illustrations
If your article is to contain essential illustrations (including diagrams, tables, charts, etc.), please supply them in electronic form in a separate file from the main document, labeled Figure 1, Figure 2, etc. References to illustrations should be clearly indicated in parentheses in the text, e.g., (Insert Figure 1 here).
Figure accessibility and alt text
Incorporating alt text (alternative text) when submitting your paper helps to foster inclusivity and accessibility. Good alt text ensures that individuals with visual impairments or those using screen readers can comprehend the content and context of your figures. The aim of alt text is to provide concise and informative descriptions of your figure so that all readers have access to the same level of information and understanding, and that all can engage with and benefit from the visual elements integral to scholarly content. Including alt text demonstrates a commitment to accessibility and enhances the overall impact and reach of your work.
Alt text is applicable to all images, figures, illustrations, and photographs.
Alt text is only accessible via e-reader and so it won’t appear as part of the typeset article.
Detailed guidance on how to draft and submit alt text.
Here's the revised text for JELT with APA 7th edition style, as requested:
Reusing Copyrighted Material
As an author, you must obtain permission for any material used within your manuscript for which you are not the rightsholder, including quotations, tables, figures, or images. When seeking permissions for published materials, first contact the publisher rather than the author. For unpublished materials, start by contacting the creator. Copies of each grant of permission should be provided to the editorial office of the Journal. The permissions agreement must include the following:
- Nonexclusive rights to reproduce the material in your paper in the Journal of English Language Teaching (JELT).
- Rights for use in print and electronic format at a minimum, and preferably for use in any form or medium.
- Lifetime rights to use the material.
- Worldwide English-language rights.
Please refer to detailed Copyright and Permissions Guidelines provided by our publisher, Farhangian University. It is crucial to find the original rights holder for each image and avoid sources like Google Images, Wikimedia Commons, etc., unless there is a credit line pointing to the rights holder.
Biographical Note
It is not necessary to include biographical details with a first submission.
Data Collection Materials
JELT encourages authors to consider uploading their data collection materials to the IRIS database, an online repository for data collection materials used in second language research. This includes data elicitation instruments such as interview and observation schedules, language tests, pictures, questionnaires, software scripts, URL links, word lists, and teaching intervention activities, among many other types of materials used to elicit data. For more information and to upload materials, please visit the [IRIS webpage](https://www.iris-database.org). Any questions may be addressed to iris@iris-database.org.
Availability of Data and Materials
Where ethically feasible, JELT strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. For information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of recommended repositories by subject area, please see the section on “Choosing where to archive your data.”
Data Citation
JELT requires that all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), following the APA 7th edition style. Data citations should include the following information:
- Author(s)
- Year of publication
- Title of the dataset
- Publisher (repository or archive name)
- DOI or other unique identifier
For example:
Karimi Garmsiri, A. (2020). English language learner dataset. Language Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/abcd1234
Similarity Check Requirement
A similarity check is mandatory for all submissions to the Journal of English Language Teaching (JELT). Authors must upload a certification of similarity analysis from the Hamanandjoo system, which can be accessed at https://tik.irandoc.ac.ir/User/Login
The submitted manuscript must have an overall similarity index of no more than 20%. This percentage includes all text, tables, figures, and other content within the manuscript. A similarity index above 20% may lead to the manuscript being returned to the author for revision or rejected outright. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that all sources are properly cited and that the text reflects original contributions.
Please provide the certification of similarity check along with your manuscript at the time of submission to ensure timely processing and review.