The editors welcome submissions concerned with all aspects of language education, particularly those with relevance to Japan. Feature Article and Readers' Forum submissions in English should be uploaded in MS Word or Rich Text Format through our online system (see Online Submissions below). Submissions to all other columns should be sent by email directly to the respective column editors. Manuscripts should follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition.

Note: JALT Publications do not charge author publication fees (e.g., APC). Membership in JALT is not required to submit to or publish in any of our publications.

The guidelines below apply to Feature Articles, Readers' Forum, and Interviews. Guidelines for column submissions can be found on the page for each column

Restrictions

Papers submitted to The Language Teacher must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere. The Language Teacher has First World Publication Rights, as defined by International Copyright Conventions, for all manuscripts published. If accepted, the editors reserve the right to edit all copy for length, style, and clarity without prior notification to authors.

Submissions must comply with the JALT Publications—Statement of Ethics and Malpractice. Manuscripts reporting research with human participants must state in the manuscript the nature of informed consent obtained (e.g., written, oral), including guardian consent where participants are minors, and, where the author's institution has an Institutional Review Board or equivalent, that the research was cleared by that board. Manuscripts in this category that do not include this information will be returned to the author. 

Feature Articles

Feature Articles should be well-written, and well-documented, research articles. Analysis and data can be quantitative or qualitative (or both). Manuscripts are reviewed and evaluated anonymously by members of The Language Teacher Editorial Advisory Board, based on reviewer expertise and interest. Papers are evaluated for degree of scholarly research, relevance, originality of conclusions, etc. Submissions should:

  • Be of relevance to language educators in Japan.
  • Be 3,000-4,000 words (including title, abstract, and references; not including appendices).
  • See Preparing Your Manuscript below for formatting and submission requirements.

Submissions: See the Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿 guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Readers' Forum

Readers' Forum articles are thoughtful essays on topics related to language teaching and learning in Japan. These may include reflective accounts of practice, discussions of pedagogical issues, or arguments about the field. Submissions do not need to be research based, but ideas should be supported with reference to relevant literature or practice. We cannot publish promotional materials. Manuscripts are reviewed and evaluated anonymously by members of The Language Teacher Editorial Advisory Board, based on reviewer expertise and interest. Papers are evaluated for relevance, quality of argument, and their contribution to knowledge or practice in language education. Submissions should:

  • Be of relevance to language educators in Japan.
  • Be between 2,000 and 2,500 words (including title, abstract, and references; not including appendices).
  • See Preparing Your Manuscript below for formatting and submission requirements.

Submissions: See the Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿 guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Preparing Your Manuscript (Feature Articles and Readers' Forum)

Please ensure your manuscript meets the following requirements:

  • Blind for review: remove your name, affiliation, and acknowledgments from the text. Refer to your own prior work in the third person, or, if that would identify you, replace the citation with "(Author, year)" in the text and "Author. (year)." in the reference list. Also remove author information from the file's document properties before uploading.
  • Include an English-language abstract of up to 150 words and a Japanese translation of it (authors are responsible for providing their own translation of abstracts). Both of these abstracts should be in the paper and entered into the Online Journal System (see Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿 below). Abstracts are used by reviewers to determine whether they wish to review the paper.
  • Format according to APA 7 manuscript guidelines (double-spaced throughout, indented paragraphs with no extra line between them, and APA heading levels, not numbered headings).
  • Follow APA 7 guidelines for citations, references, tables, figures, and any necessary appendices. On acceptance, authors will be asked to supply figures as separate high-resolution image files (JPEG or PNG) and tables in editable form.
  • Include the DOI for every reference that has a DOI. Preface the DOI https://doi.org/.
  • Include a separate, supplementary file, including the article's title, the author's name, affiliation, contact details, and word count at the top of the first page, submitted along with the blinded paper. This will not be made available to reviewers. 
  • Include a statement of AI use. TLT requires that any use of generative AI tools in preparing the manuscript (e.g., drafting, revising, translating, generating or checking references) be disclosed at submission. If no AI tools were used, state that. Place this statement in the supplementary file with the author's details. Disclosure is not in itself grounds for rejection. However, undisclosed use may be. TLT will update this requirement as JALT Publications develops guidance on AI use. 
  • Include a file with a 100-word biographical background. This will not be made available to reviewers. 

Interviews

Interviews. If you are interested in interviewing a well-known professional in the field of language teaching in and around Japan, please consult the editors first. Lengths range from 1,500-2,500 words.

Submissions: See the guidelines at the bottom of this page.

Online Submissions オンラインでの投稿

Materials in English should be sent in either Rich Text or Microsoft Word Format (NOT PDF) via our website here: http://www.jalt-publications.org/content/. Manuscripts should follow the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition style. 

Please note that we can only consider one submission at a time for Feature Articles and Readers' Forum articles.

If you do NOT have an account in our system, follow these steps:

  1. Visit http://jalt-publications.org/content/.
  2. Select REGISTER in the top right corner.
  3. Complete the personal information.
  4. Click REGISTER.
  5. Select The Language Teacher. You will see a MAKE A SUBMISSION link on the right. Follow the steps.
  6. Follow the steps to complete your submission.
  7. You can check on the progress of your review and on the editing process through your author page in the journal.

If you already have an account registered in the system, follow these steps:

  1. Visit http://jalt-publications.org/content/.
  2. Log in.
  3. Select The Language Teacher. You will see a MAKE A SUBMISSION link on the right. Follow the steps.
  4. Follow the steps to complete your submission.
  5. You can check on the progress of your review and on the editing process through your author page in the journal.

日本語論文投稿要領

The Language Teacherでは日本語で書かれた語学教育に関する論文・記事の投稿を募集します。原則としてEメールにMS Word形式の添付ファイルで、日本語編集長（jaltpubs.tlt.ed.j@jalt.org）および副編集長（jaltpubs.tlt.ed.j2@jalt.org）の両方にお送りください。論文は未発表で、他機関に投稿中でないものに限ります。採用された場合、本誌は出版される原稿を編集する権利があります。倫理規定の遵守および生成AI使用の申告など、上記「Preparing Your Manuscript」に記載された要件は、日本語論文にも適用されます。

Feature：　日本の語学教育に関する、実証性のある研究論文を募集します。和文8,000字以内（題名と参考文献を含み、図表は除く）で、図表は別ファイルにして下さい。書式はアメリカ心理学協会（APA）スタイル最新版に基づき、ページ番号を入れ、小見出し（太文字またはイタリック体）を付けて下さい。最初のページに題名、著者名、所属、連絡先を和文と英文の両方で書き、字数も記入して下さい。要旨（400字以内の和文と150ワード以内の英文の両方）、著者略歴（250字以内の和文と100ワード以内の英文の両方）もご提出下さい。原稿は匿名のTLT査読委員により、研究水準、関連性、研究の独創性やTLTの読者に合っているか等で評価されます。

Readers’ Forum：　日本の語学教育に関する論文や実践報告を募集します。和文6,000字以内（題名と参考文献、図表を含む）で、図表はメインファイルに含めて下さい。その他の形式は上記Featureに準じます。

Interviews：　日本国内外の言語教育分野における著名な専門家へのインタビュー記事（和文6,000字以内）を募集します。希望される場合は、先に編集者に意見をお尋ね下さい。