Comparative Insights into LOTE Teaching: Asia Pacific and Beyond

This special issue invites new research that adopts a comparative approach to examine the most critical issues and significant developments surrounding the Teaching of Languages Other than English (LOTE) in the Asia Pacific and beyond. While extensive research has explored LOTE teaching in European and North American contexts, there remains a lack of understanding regarding the dynamics and emerging trends in the Asia Pacific region. Home to 60% of the world's population, the Asia Pacific comprises countries from both the Global North and the Global South, with hugely diverse education systems and linguistic environments, alongside uneven progress, changing motivations, and policy orientations towards LOTE teaching and learning.

Against the backdrop of major shifts in curriculum, policy, technology, geopolitics, and their profound impact on language teaching following the pandemic years, this special issue aims to attract timely research on a wide range of critical topics within LOTE education. Its mission is to encourage dialogue and research collaboration among scholars from diverse LOTE programmes in the Asia Pacific and beyond, employing a comparative approach to deepen understanding of the intricate dynamics of LOTE teaching and multilingualism across borders and cultures. By offering cross-case insights into the challenges and uncertainties confronting LOTE education, this special issue aims to foster a boundary-breaking mindset among practitioners and researchers in the field.

Manuscripts are expected to embrace a comparative approach. This includes, but is not limited to, comparing the teaching of a specific LOTE language across different locations, countries, and educational systems; comparing different LOTE languages in a specific context; examining differences and similarities among various theoretical domains related to LOTE teachers, learners, assessments, and policies across languages, borders, and countries; or comparing critical topics in LOTE and English teaching. Empirical studies are given priority. Each manuscript should clearly highlight how comparative approaches are adopted, areas of innovation, and new contributions to LOTE research.

Overall, we aim to invite research papers that:

Provide timely insights on the most significant issues surrounding LOTE teaching and learning, with the potential to influence policy.
Adopt comparative approaches to encourage collaboration among LOTE teachers and researchers, thereby strengthening dialogue among practitioners.
Enhance the research leadership of scholars in the Asia-Pacific region and foster transnational identities in LOTE teaching and research.

Submission Instructions

1 June 2024, the call for abstracts begins

1 September 2024, abstract submission closes

1 November 2024, notification of acceptance of the abstract

1 September 2025, the deadline for full paper submission

We invite researchers to submit a 500-word abstract (excluding references) to [email protected] and [email protected] by 1^st September 2024. The special issue is scheduled for publication in late 2025 or early 2026, with individual papers being published online immediately upon acceptance. For any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to contact the guest editors at the email addresses provided.

Instructions for Authors Submit an Article

Language, Culture and Curriculum