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The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language
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  • Home
  • About TESL-EJ
  • Vols. 1-15 (1994-2012)
    • Volume 1
      • Volume 1, Number 1
      • Volume 1, Number 2
      • Volume 1, Number 3
      • Volume 1, Number 4
    • Volume 2
      • Volume 2, Number 1 — March 1996
      • Volume 2, Number 2 — September 1996
      • Volume 2, Number 3 — January 1997
      • Volume 2, Number 4 — June 1997
    • Volume 3
      • Volume 3, Number 1 — November 1997
      • Volume 3, Number 2 — March 1998
      • Volume 3, Number 3 — September 1998
      • Volume 3, Number 4 — January 1999
    • Volume 4
      • Volume 4, Number 1 — July 1999
      • Volume 4, Number 2 — November 1999
      • Volume 4, Number 3 — May 2000
      • Volume 4, Number 4 — December 2000
    • Volume 5
      • Volume 5, Number 1 — April 2001
      • Volume 5, Number 2 — September 2001
      • Volume 5, Number 3 — December 2001
      • Volume 5, Number 4 — March 2002
    • Volume 6
      • Volume 6, Number 1 — June 2002
      • Volume 6, Number 2 — September 2002
      • Volume 6, Number 3 — December 2002
      • Volume 6, Number 4 — March 2003
    • Volume 7
      • Volume 7, Number 1 — June 2003
      • Volume 7, Number 2 — September 2003
      • Volume 7, Number 3 — December 2003
      • Volume 7, Number 4 — March 2004
    • Volume 8
      • Volume 8, Number 1 — June 2004
      • Volume 8, Number 2 — September 2004
      • Volume 8, Number 3 — December 2004
      • Volume 8, Number 4 — March 2005
    • Volume 9
      • Volume 9, Number 1 — June 2005
      • Volume 9, Number 2 — September 2005
      • Volume 9, Number 3 — December 2005
      • Volume 9, Number 4 — March 2006
    • Volume 10
      • Volume 10, Number 1 — June 2006
      • Volume 10, Number 2 — September 2006
      • Volume 10, Number 3 — December 2006
      • Volume 10, Number 4 — March 2007
    • Volume 11
      • Volume 11, Number 1 — June 2007
      • Volume 11, Number 2 — September 2007
      • Volume 11, Number 3 — December 2007
      • Volume 11, Number 4 — March 2008
    • Volume 12
      • Volume 12, Number 1 — June 2008
      • Volume 12, Number 2 — September 2008
      • Volume 12, Number 3 — December 2008
      • Volume 12, Number 4 — March 2009
    • Volume 13
      • Volume 13, Number 1 — June 2009
      • Volume 13, Number 2 — September 2009
      • Volume 13, Number 3 — December 2009
      • Volume 13, Number 4 — March 2010
    • Volume 14
      • Volume 14, Number 1 — June 2010
      • Volume 14, Number 2 – September 2010
      • Volume 14, Number 3 – December 2010
      • Volume 14, Number 4 – March 2011
    • Volume 15
      • Volume 15, Number 1 — June 2011
      • Volume 15, Number 2 — September 2011
      • Volume 15, Number 3 — December 2011
      • Volume 15, Number 4 — March 2012
  • Vols. 16-Current
    • Volume 16
      • Volume 16, Number 1 — June 2012
      • Volume 16, Number 2 — September 2012
      • Volume 16, Number 3 — December 2012
      • Volume 16, Number 4 – March 2013
    • Volume 17
      • Volume 17, Number 1 – May 2013
      • Volume 17, Number 2 – August 2013
      • Volume 17, Number 3 – November 2013
      • Volume 17, Number 4 – February 2014
    • Volume 18
      • Volume 18, Number 1 – May 2014
      • Volume 18, Number 2 – August 2014
      • Volume 18, Number 3 – November 2014
      • Volume 18, Number 4 – February 2015
    • Volume 19
      • Volume 19, Number 1 – May 2015
      • Volume 19, Number 2 – August 2015
      • Volume 19, Number 3 – November 2015
      • Volume 19, Number 4 – February 2016
    • Volume 20
      • Volume 20, Number 1 – May 2016
      • Volume 20, Number 2 – August 2016
      • Volume 20, Number 3 – November 2016
      • Volume 20, Number 4 – February 2017
    • Volume 21
      • Volume 21, Number 1 – May 2017
      • Volume 21, Number 2 – August 2017
      • Volume 21, Number 3 – November 2017
      • Volume 21, Number 4 – February 2018
    • Volume 22
      • Volume 22, Number 1 – May 2018
      • Volume 22, Number 2 – August 2018
      • Volume 22, Number 3 – November 2018
      • Volume 22, Number 4 – February 2019
    • Volume 23
      • Volume 23, Number 1 – May 2019
      • Volume 23, Number 2 – August 2019
      • Volume 23, Number 3 – November 2019
      • Volume 23, Number 4 – February 2020
    • Volume 24
      • Volume 24, Number 1 – May 2020
      • Volume 24, Number 2 – August 2020
      • Volume 24, Number 3 – November 2020
      • Volume 24, Number 4 – February 2021
    • Volume 25
      • Volume 25, Number 1 – May 2021
      • Volume 25, Number 2 – August 2021
      • Volume 25, Number 3 – November 2021
      • Volume 25, Number 4 – February 2022
    • Volume 26
      • Volume 26, Number 1 – May 2022
      • Volume 26, Number 2 – August 2022
      • Volume 26, Number 3 – November 2022
  • Books
  • How to Submit
    • Submission Procedures
    • Ethical Standards for Authors and Reviewers
    • TESL-EJ Style Sheet for Authors
    • TESL-EJ Tips for Authors
    • Book Review Policy
    • Media Review Policy
    • APA Style Guide
  • TESL-EJ Editorial Board

Book Review Policy

Book Review Policy

TESL-EJ welcomes book reviews and review essays of scholarly works and textbooks dealing with English teaching, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, language assessment, applied socio- and psycholinguistics, literacy, language policy or related disciplines. Anyone interested in reviewing a book for TESL-EJ should take the following steps:

  • Choose a recent book in the field (published within the past two calendar years). You are encouraged to review previously published TESL-EJ issues to ensure that the book has not been reviewed already (duplicates will not be accepted). After confirmation from the Book Review team, you might be able to directly request a review copy from the publisher.
  • Contact the Book Review Editors about its suitability. They can be reached at reviews@tesl-ej.org.
  • If your book is approved, write a review following the Review Style Guidelines below. Explore and read past published reviews for an idea of the content and structure to which you should attend.
  • Submit your review to the Book Review Editors for its evaluation for publication in TESL-EJ.

In all cases, submitted reviews will be considered for publication on the basis of the quality of the evaluation and description of the book, as well as the relevance and importance of the book to the field and our readership. Simply submitting a review to the Book Review Editors does not alone ensure its publication.

Please see the Review Style Guidelines (below) before submitting a review.

All reviews must be emailed to the editors and submitted as a Word document. Please label your file as follows: Your last name, author’s last name.doc (e.g., Seng_Grosjean.doc).

TESL-EJ reviews are published on a rolling schedule. There are no deadlines. If accepted, reviews will be published in the next available issue.
The Book Review Editors reserve the right to edit for style, length and format, as well as reject unsuitable reviews. Substantive changes will be made only after consultation with the reviewer.

Content and Style Guidelines for TESL-EJ Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Book reviews should be 900-1,200 words long and should provide both a description and a substantive evaluation of the content, with the emphasis on the latter. We particularly welcome reviews of textbooks you have already used with students or have included in a syllabus for an upcoming course. Please make such uses evident in your review. Also, considering our broad international readership and readers’ varying backgrounds, please define or explain all terms only an ESL/EFL subfield specialist would be expected to know.

The typical published review provides an introduction to the book, its purpose, and its intended audience. Then, the structure of the book (e.g., themes, sections, chapters, etc) is usually provided. Descriptions of chapter contents, with illustrative examples and comments, are provided when possible; however, in the case that there are numerous chapters, summaries and/or details of select sections can be considered as part of your assessment. Book reviews typically end with a substantive evaluation of the book’s strengths and areas for improvement.

Include a full citation at the beginning of the review, including title, author/editor, edition, date of publication, place of publication, publisher, pagination (small Roman numerals for introductory pages + Arabic numerals for main text pages), ISBN number ( 13-digits), and price. A sample of the format follows:

Why Is English Like That?
Norbert Schmitt & Richard Marsden (2006)
Ann Arbor: U. of Michigan Press
Pp. x + 246
ISBN 978-0-472-03134-4 (paper)
$27.50 U.S.

The reviewer’s name, affiliation, and e-mail address should be included at the end of the review, flushed left, and on separate lines, as shown:

Joe Smith
Example University, USA
email@email.com

Review Essays

Review essays may be 1,500-2,000 words in length and should include discussion of two or more related books or one author of several books. Full citations of all books discussed, as well as reviewer’s name and affiliation, should be as described above.

All reviews should conform generally to the American Psychological Association format (7th edition), with the following adjustments made for computer-based dissemination:

Single space the text.
Double space between paragraphs (no indents).
Keep endnotes to a minimum. If used, number them, using square brackets, consecutively within the text. For example: . . . this unusual methodology [1] . .
Use APA 7th edition for citations and references.
For more details, please see the TESL-EJ Style Sheet for Authors

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Copyright of articles rests with the authors.