SPECIAL CALLS 

Other calls

I. Educational Role of Language at the level of SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DETERMINANTS

We seek papers addressing questions such as the following: (1a) What function of language is assigned by educational systems of different countries? (1b) What approach to language do teachers of different nationalities represent?, (2a) How is children’s language activity valued and assessed in educational systems of different countries?, (2b) What hinders the development of pupils’ language competence in different societies and cultures?, (3a) How do children of particular nationalities experience their contact with and use of language?, (3b) What differences can be observed in pupils’ approach to their native and foreign languages?, (4a) To what extent does children’s language use reflect national (stereotypical) characteristics?, (4b) What image of the world is reflected by textbooks used by pupils in particular countries?, etc.

II. Educational Role of Language at the level of LANGUAGE SKILLS, especially SPEAKING

We also seek papers addressing problems such as: What objectives are assigned to four language skills?, What sources do teachers implement for practising L1 and L2 skills?, What means are recommended in official documents to maximise pupils’ language production?, How much sense of freedom do schools advocate with regard to pupils’ choice of books and other texts?, What type of texts do pupils read/write most frequently/willingly?, By what means is creative writing encouraged?, What types of speaking skills are most representative in different cultures?, Which genres prove most conducive to pupils’ motivation to read (and thus to general education)?, Which elements of pupils’ native language prove most fossilised in their written texts?, What general abilities does effective writing require and foster?, etc.

III. ‘HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THE EDUCATIONAL ROLE OF LANGUAGE?‘, answered from different perspectives from around the world.

This overall question has been broken into the following four problems relating to language vs. beliefs, activity, affect and thinking, which we encourage authors to present their position on: (1). What theories and studies shape your understanding of the educational role of language? (2). What concepts and findings drive and support your students’ language-based practices? (3).Which educational events and methods affect the way students feel about their language(s)? (4). What language images and representations are recommendable for educational purposes?These questions are only exemplary and papers addressing the said general question can propose its different interpretations.

THEMATIC RANGE

LANGUAGE AND SCHOOLING

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

LANGUAGE AND METHODOLOGY

LANGUAGE AND PERSONALITY

LANGUAGE(-)BELIEFS

LANGUAGE(-)ACTIVITY

LANGUAGE(-)AFFECT

LANGUAGE(-)THINKING

Note that ERL Journal has come into existence upon a number of classifications to be reflected by the structure of each of its volumes:

1. issues to be raised: educational issues through the prism of (applied) linguistics & linguistic issues examined from the pedagogical perspective,

2, problems to be posed: factual (i.e. on facts, situations, circumstances), reflective (i.e. on personal beliefs, preferences, convictions), phenomenal (i.e. on phenomena, processes, regularities, etc.), argumentative (general arguments, ideas, values), etc,.

3. disciplines to be capitulated on: inter alia, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, language anthropology, methodology of teaching foreign languages, etc.

4. specialists to be consulted: applied linguists, educational anthropologists, L1 and L2 teachers, cognitive science, discourse analysts, etc.