Volume 3 (2012) Issue 1
pp. 7-8
Editorial
In the present issue of
the Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching, we are happy to
publish the first article from Australia America , Asia and Africa , the fifth continent is now represented in JLLT.
This completes the continental range of the journal and represents an important
milestone in its development.
In terms of the
journal’s reception, we are proud to state that JLLT is read in large
parts of Europe, (North) America
and large parts of Asia, inclusive of South-East Asia .
Australia and Africa are, however, still comparatively underrepresented
as far as the reception of JLLT is concerned despite the fact that the
journal is also read in these continents. These facts indicate that JLLT
is well received in those parts of the world in which the majority of linguistic
and methodological research is done.
These facts also reveal
that there exists a close link between those continents in which the journal is
read and those from which articles have been submitted. What is even more
interesting is the fact that in terms of its reception, JLLT covers
large parts of the world. This rapid upward development was out
of the realm of expectation when the journal entered the academic world early
in 2010.
Nevertheless, in order
to strengthen the representations of the continents so far underrepresented, I
would hereby like to invite authors from Australia ,
Africa and South-America to submit more
articles to JLLT in the future. In this way, the journal would be able
to mirror the research activities going on in the world in the fields of
linguistics and language teaching even better than has been the case up to the
present day. Closely linked to this point is the distribution of languages in
the journal.
In the first five issues
of JLLT, there have only been two languages of publication: English and
German. Taking into account that the official languages of JLLT comprise
three more - French, Spanish, and Italian -, I would like to cordially invite
authors whose mother tongue one of these languages is to submit their articles
in French, Spanish or Italian. As is generally agreed, English is the number
one language in science (and not only in science). Yet, other languages should
receive due attention. Thus, having more publications in these three languages
will represent an enrichment to JLLT and increase the reading pleasure
for multilingual addressees.
Apart from this positive development, I feel obliged to inform our readers of a very tragic and unexpected incident which I have learnt about just now: Professor Torsten Schlak, whose article written together with Dr. Mathias Schoormann is presented in this very issue, passed away on April 11, 2012. Although I did not know Professor Schlak personally and had been in touch with Dr. Schoormann for the publication of their present article in January 2012, this sad piece of news came to me as a great shock and mournful surprise. I first came into contact with Professor Schlak in 2004 in the context of his article published in the German methodological journal Fremdsprachen und Hochschule (Foreign Languages and Universities), which I co-edited back then. Despite the fact that Professor Schlak and I had never met in person, a cordial e-mail relationship commenced and developed between us and was later on transferred to JLLT. I was therefore very happy to have him as one of the authors of this journal. I had hoped that one day, we would meet personally so as to talk about some of his ideas which could - and can - be so fruitful for the teaching of languages. In his short but prolific career, Professor Schlak has succeeded in giving new impulses to his field - the teaching of German as a Foreign Language - and would certainly have had a great impact on it, had he only had the chance of working and publishing for a longer period of time. His impressive publication list, which comprises a variety of fields and a considerable number of questions tackled, reflects the richness of his thinking and the potential of his research. For these - but not only for these - reasons, he will, scientifically, academically and personally, never be forgotten.
Referring your attention to Professor Schlak's article in particular, I wish all our readers an informative reading of the present issue
and look forward to the manuscripts which will be submitted
to JLLT in the near future.
Thomas Tinnefeld
JLLT
Editor