Call for Proposals

About Applied Linguistics Forum

An international, biannual newsletter housed in the Applied Linguistics Interest Section (ALIS) of the TESOL International Association, Applied Linguistics Forum (hereafter AL Forum) is devoted to examining language as a communication system from both theoretical and practical perspectives, applying research and theory to real-world contexts, and exploring implications for the enhancement of language learning, teaching, and communication. Interdisciplinary and international in nature, AL Forum publishes high-quality articles, whether research-oriented or pedagogy-oriented, from contributors across a wide range of (linguistic) disciplines and/or perspectives within and across different contexts. The readership consists of TESOL practitioners and researchers—broadly defined. We welcome submissions from researchers and practitioners at any stage of their careers (particularly graduate students and early career professionals) and encourage submissions that bring attention to underrepresented topics as well as theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical innovations in applied linguistics.

Understanding Submission Types

AL Forum accepts submissions in the following categories:

• Keywords in Applied Linguistics

• Feature Article

• Book Review

• Author/Reader Response

Keywords in Applied Linguistics, a new section launched in 2026, is dedicated to introducing important concepts in applied linguistics to help our practitioner readers and newcomers to the field (particularly graduate students) develop a general understanding and expand their research interests. Submissions should pay special attention to the accessibility of language so as to make it easy and interesting for readers to follow. Though current articles are by invitation, we welcome submissions from interested contributors, especially early-career scholars, in partnership with Ph.D. candidates and students. 

Feature Article includes three subtypes: 1) research-based, with a strong focus on pedagogical implications related to the target readership of AL Forum; 2) pedagogy-based, with a theoretical background in applied linguistics and applicable practices for different teaching contexts; and 3) theoretical or methodological innovations. All subtype submissions should closely discuss and highlight their potential impacts on the broad TESOL community.

Book Review welcomes reviews of books published in the last three years. The review should be critical, engaging, and well situated within recent publications of similar titles in the field. Instead of formatting a formulaic chapter-by-chapter analysis or summary, the reviewer should emphasize the personal experience/connection (e.g., language teaching and learning experience) with the book and provide personal comments/opinions about the book.

We now particularly solicit reviews for the following open-access titles and welcome other titles proposed by interested reviewers:

[1] Fuentes, A. C., García, M. R., & Burns, L. F. (Eds.). (2024). Exploring open science in applied linguistics: Reviews and case studies. Applied Linguistics Press. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17kJr060bs06kUfUERji6bBQbdrkaDVKa/view 

[2] McCallum, L., Tafazoli, D., & Al-Hoorie, A. H. (Eds.). (2025). Research cultures in applied linguistics and TESOL. Applied Linguistics Press. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_K3Xtp-BjYRiVzPI4j_4hqNBKHsUnLRB/view 

[3] Plonsky, L. (Ed.). (2024). Open science in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics Press. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HiS0rFcOT2G3_9LcABd3qcxGrm8YQjnK/view 

[4] Requena-Ramos, C. (2025). Towards consensus building in second language acquisition: A sociophilosophical perspective. Applied Linguistics Press.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k-59iiAZm4NxnrzDPgQXKM0BIjE1DWK3/view

[5] Wood, M., Larsson, T., Plonsky, L., Sterling, S., Kyto, M., & Yaw, K. (2024). Addressing questionable research practices in applied linguistics: A practical guidebook. Applied Linguistics Press. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CIWWTmlxwvMqfcTGb3oqC0jBsYV518RR/view

Of particular note, we are now unable to secure the review copy for your proposed book from book publishers, though we will strive to do so in the near future. To facilitate your preparation, you can also read Hints on Writing a Book Review for Academic Journals—an open-access article published in the RELC Journal.

Author/Reader Response is a new initiative launched in 2024 to invite responses from the author(s)/editor(s) of the reviewed book to continue the conversation with the book reviewer(s); the response in this type is directly solicited and invited by the co-editors. We now also invite responses from interested readers of the latest articles published in AL Forum to share and interact with our contributors. 

We strongly encourage authors to consult previous issues of AL Forum for examples to better understand different submission types and their writing expectations. 

Proposing Your Submission

Interested contributors to the AL Forum should submit their proposals via this Microsoft Form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/s6PHPWFaA1. In your proposal, please include the following:

• [Keywords in Applied Linguistics] Please prepare a 200–250-word proposal that briefly introduces the keyword of interest and outlines the writing structure. In particular, please highlight the relevant expertise you have on the topic. 

• [Feature Articles] Please prepare a 200–250-word proposal that briefly introduces your research/teaching practice. In your proposal, you should pay attention to the connection between your proposed submission and the scope and readership of AL Forum.

• [Book Reviews] Please prepare a 150–200-word proposal and answer the following questions: 1) Why are you interested in the proposed title? 2) What relevant experience do you have with the book (you may support that with a one-page CV, if you prefer)? 3) What additional relevant knowledge do you bring to the book for improvement?

• [Author/Reader Responses] Please indicate which article you are interested in writing a short response to. 

After expressing your interest, please expect a decision notification from the co-editors within seven working days. If selected, you should follow the Author Submission Checklist below to prepare the full manuscript.

Author Submission Checklist

While preparing the full manuscript for review, all contributors MUST:

• Follow the style guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition (APA Style)

• Prepare the manuscript in .doc or .docx format and name the file Surname_TESOL AL Forum_Submission Type

• Example: Liu_TESOL AL Forum_Feature Article

• Submit the manuscript with NO more than 1,750 words (exclusive of references, including teasers, tables, and bios) and NO more than five citations

• List a byline below the article title: Author’s name with hyperlinked email, Affiliation, City, Country

• Example: Andy Jiahao Liu, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA 

• Prepare a 2–3 sentence teaser (typically 50–80 words) at the beginning of the manuscript 

• Have the (sub)title(s) in ALL CAPS with the following considerations:

• Article title: THIS IS A SAMPLE ARTICLE TITLE

• Level-1 heading: This is a Sample Level-1 Heading

• Level-2 heading: This is a Sample Level-2 Heading

• Level-3 heading: This is a sample level-3 heading

• Include a 2–3 sentence author biography (typically 30–50 words) at the end of the manuscript

• Provide photos, figures, charts, and tables as separate files and include captions for the said multimodal resources (except author photos)

• Provide a clear, professional, appropriate author headshot

• Headshot dimensions: 120pixels (width) x 160pixels (height)

Reviewing Process and Policy

Unlike the traditional peer-review policy adopted in journal articles, AL Forum follows an interactive review style to create a space for conversation and discussion between editors and authors. In detail, editors primarily use marginal comments and track changes to read and comment on submission copies. Authors are then encouraged to treat the feedback critically and share their thoughts through comments. Normally speaking, a manuscript accepted for publication will undergo two rounds of review and revision to be completed within three months.

In our review process, we are committed to following and engaging in anti-racist practices as articulated in Anti-Racist Scholarly Reviewing Practices: A Heuristic for Editors, Reviewers, and Authors.

Publication Promotion Support

Aiming to broaden the impact of your publication and help your manuscript get the attention it deserves, we usually offer promotion flyers on the official social media platforms of ALIS (e.g., Facebook, X), send promotion emails to professional listservs, or push notifications to MyTESOL. We also strongly encourage you to advertise your publication with AL Forum within your social circles.