SLWIS Newsletters

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Call for Submissions
SLW News, Volume 5, Issue 1

SLW News is soliciting articles on second language writing theory, research, and pedagogy in all ESL/EFL settings. Deadline: December 31.

SLW News welcomes articles that focus on L2 writer and characteristics and text features, classroom materials and practices, placement and assessment issues, writing program administration, teacher development, and other related areas. SLW News encourages submissions related to any educational setting, especially traditionally underrepresented contexts (Pre-K through 12, two-year colleges, community programs, international K-12 schools, etc.). In light of the newsletter's electronic format, authors are encouraged to include hyperlinks.

Submission Guidelines

Articles should:

  • be no longer than 1500 words
  • include a 50-word (up to 500 characters) abstract and 2-3 sentence author biography
  • contain no more than five citations
  • follow the style guidelines in Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (APA)
  • be in MS Word (.doc(x)) or rich text (.rtf) format

Please direct your submissions and questions to

Margi Wald, SLW News Co-editor
E-mail mwald<at>berkeley<dot>edu
Tel. +1 510.642.2652


Book Review Policy
SLW News welcomes reviews of teacher resource books and student texts dealing with second language writing, teaching, research, and administration. Anyone interested in writing a review for SLW News may choose a recent book in the field and contact the editor for approval and review copies. Reviews will be considered for publication based on the quality of the reviewer's evaluation and description of the book, and the book's relevance and importance to the field.

Reviews should

  • be in APA format
  • be 600-900 words in length
  • include a 50-word (up to 500 characters) abstract and 2-3 sentence author biography

Further information and book review suggestions are available from Steven Bookman and Sharon Whitehead Loben Sels, Book Review Co-editors, at steven.bookman<at>lehman<dot>cuny<dot>edu and sharonwhitehead<at>sbcglobal<dot>net.


CALL Column Submissions

SLW News welcomes CALL-related articles, announcements, reports, and reviews in the following categories:

  • Software/Hardware (e.g., organizing systems or integrating software/hardware in learning environments to enhance writing instruction, assessment, or program evaluation).
  • Materials Design (e.g., using software such as Flash or MonoConc to design language-learning activities or materials that address specific language-learning goals, including discovery activities, practice exercises, storybooks, quizzes, or games).
  • Curriculum Design (e.g., using course management software such as Blackboard or eCollege to design e-courses, e-programs, or hybrids for second language writing).
  • Applied Writing Research (e.g., writing computer programs to identify lexico-grammatical features, discourse patterns, or errors/learner variation in writing, i.e., corpus linguistics).

Submissions should be in APA style and include a 50-word (500 characters or less) abstract and a 2- to 3-sentence author biography. Further information is available from Catherine Smith, CALL Column editor, at cs3377<at>gmail<dot>com.


EFL Column Submissions

This column welcomes both short and long submissions.

Topics for short submissions (under 500 words) include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Statements of instructional problems
  • Classroom tips that worked
  • Resources and how to integrate them in classroom instruction
  • A recent article review

Topics for longer submissions (up to 1,200 words) include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Summary of research
  • Literature review with pedagogical implications
  • Book review
  • Lesson plans
  • Handouts and activity sheets
  • Proposed joint research projects

In order to ensure diversity of interest and coverage of as many areas of instruction in the field of EFL writing as possible, the EFL column encourages submissions on the following themes:

  • University writing classrooms
  • Pre-K-12 writing instruction
  • Learner communities in the writing classroom
  • Computer and the Internet in the writing classroom
  • Writing for tests (TOEFL and IELTS)
  • Technical writing as a booming genre in the EFL context
  • EFL writing instructors' professional development

Submissions should be in APA style and include a 50-word (500 characters or less) abstract and a 2- to 3-sentence author biography. Please direct questions and send your contributions to Lilian Farag Allah, column editor, at lilian.mina<at>gmail<dot>com.


Four-Year, Private Liberal Arts Colleges/Universities Column Submissions

SLW News welcomes articles, brief reports, and information of interest to those working in four-year, private liberal arts university settings. Possible topics include research, pertinent teaching experiences, possible lesson plans, and observations on issues and trends that apply to this area.

Submissions should be

  • Short (500-1500 words)
  • Include a 50-word (500 characters or less) abstract and 2- to 3-sentence author biography
  • Contain no more than five citations
  • Follow APA guidelines
  • Be in MS Word (.doc(x)) or rich text (.rtf) format

Procedures for submissions:

  • Send via e-mail attachment to Marian Woyciehowicz Gonsior at mgonsior<at>madonna<dot>edu.
  • Use "SLW News Submission" as the e-mail subject.



Call for Column Editors

Context Column Editors

Given SLW News' goal of encouraging submissions related to a variety of educational settings, especially traditionally underrepresented contexts, we are seeking editors for our Context Column to ensure strong, broad coverage. Ideally, we will have several editors for this column, each of whom would represent a particular educational level or context. Possible contexts include, but are not limited to, elementary, secondary, 2-year or community colleges, community programs, professional institutes, and workplace programs; both ESL and EFL contexts should be represented. Editors will solicit articles of relevance to people working in the chosen context and coordinate with the SLW News editors to ready articles for publication. If interested, please note the context you would like to represent.

Research Forum Editor

The goal of this column is to provide a venue for researchers to share research questions, preliminary results, and areas of interest and for members to keep abreast of current research in the field. The research forum editor will compile a list of brief reports on recently completed or in-progress research projects by SLWIS members. This editor will also compile summaries of conferences and presentations on L2 writing outside TESOL. Furthermore, this editor will solicit reports and summaries from SLWIS members, as well as choose a format and a system of categorization for reports.

Candidates must be members of TESOL and SLWIS (primary or secondary). If you are interested or have questions, please contact Margi Wald, SLW News Co-editor, at mwald<at>berkeley<dot>edu.