The journal provides an international forum for theoretical and empirical research on the structure, use, acquisition and processing of language. It aims to bring research on less widely studied languages, Turkish and the languages spoken in Türkiye in particular, to the international literature. Submissions are welcome from researchers anywhere in the world.
The journal was founded to cover both linguistics and language teaching. In recent years its editorial profile has been redefined around a core of linguistics. The expectation of linguistic analysis in submissions from the field of language teaching is applied more firmly with each issue.

 

The journal covers theoretical, descriptive and empirical work in the following areas: phonetics and phonology; morphology; syntax; semantics and pragmatics; sociolinguistics, language ideology and language policy; cognitive linguistics; psycholinguistics, experimental linguistics and language processing; corpus linguistics; discourse analysis; historical and comparative linguistics; linguistic typology; sign language linguistics; first and second language acquisition, bilingualism and interlanguage analysis.

Work in language teaching

The journal accepts studies that treat language teaching as an object of linguistic inquiry. In such submissions linguistic theory is expected to occupy the centre of the analysis. If the argument of a study survives the removal of its theoretical framework, that study lies outside the scope of the journal.

Interlanguage analyses based on learner corpora, studies testing the acquisition order of a particular grammatical structure, work relating morphological and syntactic patterns in learner production to theoretical models, and pragmatic analyses of classroom discourse all fall within scope.

What the editors are looking for

The editors accept manuscripts that develop theoretical, conceptual or methodological approaches to language and linguistics; present empirical findings that advance the understanding of language and linguistics; analyse phenomena of language teaching in integration with linguistic theory; describe and evaluate strategies for future action and propose innovative programmes and policies; and analyse issues of current interest.

Outside the scope

The following submissions fall outside the scope of the journal, irrespective of their scholarly merit, and are returned at the initial screening stage. General studies of education and instruction that contain no linguistic analysis. Studies measuring the effectiveness of educational technology applications. The development or adaptation of scales of attitude, motivation, self efficacy and the like. Evaluations of curricula or textbooks that involve no analysis of language data. Research on teacher training and professional development. Studies limited to describing a classroom practice without discussion of its linguistic implications. Authors working in these areas are encouraged to consider journals in the field of education.

Article types

The journal publishes two types of work. A research article presents original data or an original theoretical analysis. A review article offers a critical assessment of the state of knowledge in an area of linguistics, opens a line of discussion and proposes new research questions; submissions that report the literature without such engagement are not considered under this heading. Review articles undergo the same peer review process as research articles.

Book reviews, short communications, thesis abstracts and conference papers are not accepted.