Author Guidelines

To ensure a successful submission, please adhere to the APA 7 referencing style. Non-compliance can hold up the process: we may ask you to correct and resubmit before we can send the manuscript for review.

Page fees

R3,000 up to 20 pages (including the cover page and the last page with author's contact details). The cost for subsequent pages will be R300 each.  Once your article has been approved for publication by the editor, you will be invoiced for the above fees. Stellenbosch University authors are exempt of page fees. SAALT members receive a 20% discount on page fees. 

Kindly note that the publication of your article is dependent on full payment beforehand.

Submissions: upload 2 documents please

1. A cover letter which includes

1. TITLE. Title of the paper.
2. AUTHOR(S).
   • All contributing authors in the right order. The name of the corresponding author (also responsible for the payment of page fees) must be marked with an asterisk (*).
   • For all authors, please supply the following details:
   • Title  (Mr/Ms Dr Prof.)
   • Mailing address 
   • Email 
   • Institutional affiliation
   • Biosketch of 50-60 words, in narrative form 
   • ORCiD if available (Authors are strongly advised to register for one: https://orcid.org/register.  An ORCiD is your unique academic identifier connecting your names with your work throughout your research career.
3. REVIEWERS. A proposal with the titles, names, full addresses and email addresses of three scholars who would be able to provide impartial and informed reviews of the quality of the manuscript would be helpful, but is not essential.

2. A copy of the manuscript

• The paper must contain the title of the paper, an abstract (not exceeding 1,400 characters with spaces), up to six keywords/keyword phrases, and then the manuscript must follow. Please do not include references in the abstract, and avoid acronyms where possible. 
• Ensure a blind review:
  (a) No contributing authors should be indicated on this copy and references to particular institutions should be removed from the paper. For review purposes, refer to University X instead of the name of the institution. 
  (b) Remove personal details in the file properties, here's how:
        File>>Info>>Inspect Document>>Check for issues>>Document and Personal Information>>Remove all. 
• Submission of a paper is taken to imply that it has not been published elsewhere and that it is not under consideration elsewhere.
• Submission of a paper also implies that it was language edited.

The review process

A process of double-blind peer review is used. The Editor receives and integrates reviews and communicates with the corresponding author/s.

Word processing

MAIN TITLE OF THE ARTICLE: The main title of the article is in sentence case:

This is sentence case.
THIS IS UPPERCASE.
This is Title Case. 

HEADINGS: Headings should be in sentence case. 

Length of manuscripts:  6000–8000 words. Contact the editor if you have a strong case to deviate from this. 

Length of abstract: Abtracts may not exceed 1,500 characters with spaces.

All manuscripts must have an English abstract and a translated title in English. An additional abstract in one other language is optional.

Number of keywords/keyword phrases:  Please limit to a maximum of six, totalling approximately 12-14 words.

The main points of the citation style chosen for the Journal for Language Teaching are summarised below.

References

The Journal for Language Teaching follows the APA 7 referencing format. You can find examples on this page and more detailed examples on the official APA website: APA Style Examples. Another excellent APA 7 resource can be found here: APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition) - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

If you’re short on time, our recommended expert copy-editors can help prepare your manuscript. Please contact the journal manager for assistance.

OF SPECIAL NOTE: According to APA 7 guidelines, you should include the publisher’s name without specifying the place of publication.

Examples

JOURNAL ARTICLE
Grady, J. S., Her, M., Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(3), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185
• Parenthetical citation: (Grady et al., 2019)
• Narrative citation: Grady et al. (2019)

BLOG POST
Maimela, L. (2025, January 23). The education system in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for growth [blog post]. twinkl. https://www.twinkl.ie/blog/the-education-system-in-south-africa-challenges-and-opportunities-for-growth

BOOKS AND E-BOOKS
Davies, A. (1990). Principles of language testing. Blackwell.
Fulcher, G., & Harding, L. (2021). The Routledge handbook of language testing (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003220756
• Parenthetical citation: (Davies, 1990; Sapolsky, 2017).
• Narrative citation: Davies (1990), and Fulcher and Harding (2021)

WHOLE EDITED BOOK
Weideman, A., Read, J., & Du Plessis, T. (Eds.). (2021). Assessing academic literacy in a multilingual society: Transition and transformation. Multilingual Matters. https://doi/org/10.21832/WEIDEM6201

MULTIVOLUME WORK
Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Urdan T. (Eds.). (2012). APA educational psychology handbook (Vols. 1–3). American Psychological Association.

BOOK CHAPTER
Dillard, J. P. (2020). Currents in the study of persuasion. In M. B. Oliver, A. A. Raney, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (4th ed., pp. 115–129). Routledge.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
Evans, A. C., Jr., Garbarino, J., & Bocanegra. (2019, August 8–11). Gun violence: An event on the power of community [Conference presentation]. APA 2019 Convention, Chicago, IL, United States. https://convention.apa.org/2019-video
• Parenthetical citation: (Evans et al., 2019)
• Narrative citation: Evans et al. (2019)

THESIS (PUBLISHED)
Du Plessis, C. L. (2016). Developing a theoretical rationale for the attainment of greater equivalence of standard in the Grade 12 Home Language exit-level examinations [Doctoral thesis, University the Free State]. KovsieScholar Repository. http://hdl.handle.net/11660/6421
Note: A dissertation or thesis is considered published when it is available from a database, an institutional repository, or an archive.

THESIS (UNPUBLISHED)
Harris, L. (2014). Instructional leadership perceptions and practices of elementary school leaders [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Virginia.

SOUTH AFRICAN ACTS, NOTICES AND REGULATIONS
Act
National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996
• First narrative citation: The National Education Policy Act 27 of 1996 (hereafter NEPA) stipulates that ...
• Subsequent narrative citation: NEPA clause 3 states that …
• Parenthetical citation: (NEPA, 1996)

Constitution of South Africa
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996.
• First narrative citation: The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 (hereafter the Constitution) stipulates that ....
• Subsequent narrative citation: The Constitution (1996) stipulates that …
• Parenthetical citation: (Constitution, 1996)

Notice/regulation by a department
Department of Higher Education and Training, South Africa. (2020). The Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions. Government Gazette 43860, Notice 1160, 30 October. Government Printer.
• First narrative citation: The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) published the Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions (hereafter the Policy Framework) in 2020 to address the underutilization of African languages …
• Second narrative citation: With the Policy Framework, the DHET (2020) aims to …
• Parenthetical citation: The Policy Framework (DHET, 2020) will ensure that …