MITESOL 2009 Fall Conference Call for Papers

MITESOL invites presenters at the 2009 conference to submit a paper based on their session to be considered for inclusion in the Selected Proceedings of 2009 MITESOL Conference. Before submitting a paper, please read these instructions carefully and refer to the last four year's published proceedings for examples.  Samples of each type of paper are also available on-line at MITESOL's website.

Submissions:

Manuscripts must be typed and suitable for inclusion in a professional academic journal. Although presenters are expected to submit a clear, readable, and proofread paper, all authors should anticipate working with an editor to refine their manuscript and render it suitable for this type of scholarly publication. The editors reserve the right to make non-substantive changes in the interests of clarity, conciseness, and consistency, but will work with authors on questions of content.  Copyright issues will be determined by which publishing firm the editors decide to use.

For all submissions, prepare the following materials:

1. A separate cover page with contact details: name, address, telephone, fax, email, article title, author name(s) with institutional affiliation(s), article type, and abstract (150 word maximum).
2. The manuscript with all graphics, charts, and tables included. All charts and graphs must be "camera ready" (that is, they must print clearly in black and white and in normal margins).
3. All graphics and charts as separate files. Please use widely accepted file formats.

Please send files in RTF (RichText) format as email attachments to the lead editor. Do not send hard copies.

Copies of the 2008 Selected Proceedings of the MITESOL Conference will be on sale at the 2009 conference and will soon be available for ordering from the MITESOL website:

www.mitesol.org

Article Types and Word Lengths:

1. These are the categories for manuscripts. Please select one and include this information on your cover page:

a.     Research Studies (quantitative research, qualitative research, descriptive studies, pilot studies, and action research)

b.     Materials Development/Teaching Techniques

c.     Issues in TESOL (professional development, areas for study, socio-political concerns, etc.)

2. Word limit: 5,000 words, including footnotes and appendices, but excluding references.

An example of each category of paper is available online at www.mitesol.org

General Submission Guidelines

Format of Paper

MITESOL uses the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition, 2001 (note that online and condensed versions are not always accurate). Consult recent issues of TESOL Quarterly or Language Learning for examples of APA documentation and references, as well as the 2008 MITESOL Proceedings.  Please make sure to use APA format for your reference section as well as your in-text citations, but follow the specific stylistic guidelines below. Papers that are incorrectly formatted will be returned to the authors for revision before the editors will consider them.  This delay may decrease chances of acceptance, depending on the number of submissions and date of original submission.

• Write up the cover page following the guidelines set forth in the call for papers.  This is a separate page.
• Start the manuscript with Title, Author, Affiliation (use separate lines for each writer), and Abstract (150 words max).
• Use 12 point Times throughout, except within tables where smaller font sizes may be necessary.
• Single space the document.
• Double space between paragraphs (i.e., skip a line between paragraphs).
• Do not use any headers or footers.
• Do not include page numbers.
• The whole manuscript should be left justified, including subtitles.
• Allow one blank line (double return) between the preceding paragraph and a new subtitle.
• Level 1 headers should be in bold, level 2 headers in bold italic, and level 3 headers in plain italic (see APA style manual, along with sample papers, for examples). Allow one blank line (double return) after level 1 and 2 headers only. Do not number subtitles.
• Do not use underlining for subtitles; use italics and plain text only.
• If you are using Excel graphs or figures, include the original file as an attachment, as well as inserting it in your article (or clearly identifying where it is to be placed). Do NOT use Excel for tables. Use the table feature of your word-processing program. Do not use color.
• Likewise, any graphics must also be included as separate files in TIFF, PICT, GIF, or JPEG format on the disk. You must have sole copyright over any tables, graphs, or graphics used in your paper. Do not reproduce tables, graphs, or graphics from any copyrighted source. Avoid color graphics; they will be returned.

References:

• Use APA hanging indent format.
• Single space reference material.
• Do not leave lines between reference entries (everything is single spaced).
• Be aware that the APA 2001 Edition manual does not use underlining anywhere.
• Capitalize titles correctly (it differs for articles, journals, and books), and use italics appropriately (especially in references to journals).  Sample papers are in correct format; use them as a guide along with the APA manual.

General Advice:

• Ask a colleague to review your work for clarity of writing, grammar, and typos.
• Check out articles in TESOL Quarterly, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, or Language Learning for style of writing and format of submissions. Also, please read at least the sample articles from the Proceedings at www.mitesol.org . You can also purchase previous year's proceedings from MITESOL.
• Manuscripts with poor grammar, multiple typographic errors, and a confusing, verbose, or incoherent style cannot be accepted.

Specific Format of Different Submission Types

Research papers should include the following sections:

• abstract
• introduction
• literature review
• method
• participants
• results
• discussion
• conclusion/implications/limitations/further research (as appropriate)
• references

Material Development/Teaching Tips should include the following:

• abstract (in most cases)
• subskill being targeted
• age/proficiency level appropriate to methods/materials
• theoretical background for method/material/tip
• clearly articulated goals
• objectives
• procedures
• assessment (where appropriate)
• evaluation, limitations, implications for future study (as appropriate)
• references

Issues in TESOL should include the following:

• abstract
• clearly articulated issue
• a rationale for why this issue is important in the field
• brief history of the issue and literature to contextualize it
• brief discussion of alternative views on issue
• exploration of issue, including strengths/weaknesses of argument being made by the author
• concluding statements
• references

Important advice to all writers

• Do not make claims that you cannot support. Please do not claim that you have "proven" something if you've only shown a trend in a small sample.  Note that theories cannot be proven; they can either be disproved or supported.
• Do not use the word "significant" unless you have conducted statistical significance tests.
• Be sure to understand the difference between the "results" and "discussion" sections. Present the results of your analyses in the former; interpret and discuss them in the latter.
• Please do not submit lesson plans. Please do submit a description of and rationale for a particular teaching technique.
• Expand all acronyms at their first use, thus: "In second language (L2) writing ..."
• Avoid culturally insensitive or inappropriate terms. For instance, not all Americans are native speakers of English, nor do they live in the United States; similarly, an "English interlocutor" hails from the southern part of Great Britain. Use "native English speakers" or refer to "North American English," for example.
• In the interests of space, avoid lengthy appendices unless requested. If you used a questionnaire or other data-collection instrument, please describe it in the text and/or provide a reference to a website. Please contact the editors if you need help with this.
• It is each author's responsibility to uphold the strictest standards of academic integrity with regard to quotation, paraphrase, citation, and correct reference.
  
  

Thank you for being a part of the 2009 Proceedings. We look forward to reading your papers!

Christen M. Pearson
Kay Losey
Rachel Anderson