Current Trends in ELT Educational Communication During Crises


Guest Editor 1: (corresponding guest editor for journal contact)
Jesús García Laborda
Universidad de Alcalá, Spain

Guest Editor 2: (corresponding guest editor for contributions)
Salvador Montaner Villalba
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

Special-Issue Focus, Scope, and Rationale

In the last 15 years the number of action researchers and small cases have increased after the demonstration of the importance of the different action research approaches were proved. Unfortunately, in not few cases, these studies are usually overlooked due to the prevailing trend in quantitative large-scale studies. It is the main focus of this special issue to pay special attention to smaller but more innovative research, if possible, taking into consideration the use of technology in education, as well as active educational methodologies, in this last case, whether technology-based or not. After all, innovation is not always technology.

Special interest will be put into studies that pay total or partial attention to the last crises in the world, not only to COVID-19 but also other issues due to a number of social and human reasons. However, this is not exclusive of other really innovative suggestions that might have been working during the COVID-19.

In conclusion, the idea is to bring forward innovative ideas from very different places of the world that address how communication in ELT and language in education, at any level- both non-university and tertiary-, not only in languages but also other disciplines, has addressed in those periods.

Articles could include any of the following type:

  • Case studies of ample scope and applicability
  • Descriptive articles of large scale (preferably national) measures put into practice
  • Empirical research

Possible topics could cover areas, such as:

  • Virtual communication issues,
  • academic writing,
  • English as an Additional Language (EAL),
  • English as lingua franca and multilingualism,
  • e-communication,
  • classroom paper writing,
  • learning logs,
  • journal writing conventions,
  • structural and thesis-driven aspects of scholarly writing,
  • research readability,
  • writing re-shaping as a substitute of person-to-person interaction (i.e. during COVID confinement),
  • self-awareness of writing confidence,
  • fostering academic writing skills,
  • writing-enriched university curricula.

2. Proposed Timeline of Special-Issue

Manuscript Submission Due Date: November 30, 2020
1st round Review Notification: February 28, 2021
1st round Revision Submission Due Date: April 15, 2021
2nd round Review Notification: May 15, 2021
2nd round Revision Submission Due Date: June 30, 2021
Final Acceptance Notification: July 15, 2021
Final Camera-ready Manuscript Due Date: September 20, 2021
Editorial Preface Submission: September 20, 2021
Estimated Publication Date: December, 2021

Submitted manuscripts must be written in English and use the template for papers for regular issues. Each submission must contain three files: a main document without authors’ information, а title page with authors’ information and a cover letter. The submitted main document must be anonymized for double blind review. Authors can consult for Ethics Policy and for Information for Authors. Papers which do not follow the guidelines will be returned to the author. Your cover letter must indicate “FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE”.

All the papers published in the special issue will be screened by the guest editors and then double-blind reviewed by at least two (usually three) external scholars in the field. High quality papers which will not be published in the special issue will be considered for publication in a regular issue. This will be recommended by the guest editor, agreed by the author, and decided by the Editorial Board. The journal will not charge any fee for review, processing, and publication.