Author Guidelines

Literary Criticism publishes articles of more or less 5,000 words that report on rigorous, original empirical, conceptual and research articles that explore the application of any language teaching and learning on a first, second and foreign language learning.

 General Guidelines

1. The Journal operates a single blind peer-review process. To facilitate this process, the author’s names (without academic titles), institutional affiliations, and the email address of the corresponding author should appear only on a detachable cover sheet.
2. Articles should be written in English in single space, using Microsoft Word, font size 11, Calibri, top and bottom 4.2 cm, left and right margin 2.75 cm, printed in A4.
3. Insert a header on even page indicating the name of the Journal, Volume, Number, month, and year, and page number of the publication by using the article template.
4. The page number should be inserted at the footer, placed on the right for odd numbers and on the left for even numbers.

The manuscript

Title

1. The title should be 8 - 15 words, proper-cased, left-justified, with font size 14, Verdana.
2. Major keywords are reflected in the title.
3. It is free of jargon, abbreviation, and unnecessary terms.

 Abstract

1. Articles submitted to the Journal should be normally with 1.15 space and should be accompanied by an abstract of not more than 200 words, containing the importance of the topic, the gap between theory and practice or between reality and expectation, or lacks of studies, objectives of the present study, method, findings, and conclusion.
2. On the abstract, explicitly write Introduction, the objective of the papers, method, findings, and conclusion with the font size 9, Calibri.
3. Besides the abstract, about three to five keywords should appear together with the main body of the article with the font size 10, Calibri.
4. The abstract is no more than 200 words.
5. It is free of jargon, abbreviation, and unnecessary terms.
6. It reflects the main objectives and importance of the study.
7. It describes the methodology and main findings in brief.
8. it discusses the practical implication and contribution of the study.

 Introduction

1. The introduction should consist of the background of the study, research contexts, literary review, and research objective. All introduction should be presented in the forms of paragraphs, not pointers, with the proportion of 15-20% of the whole article length.
2. It is no in-text references except when replicating a study.
3. It defines and explains the major variables of the study.
4. It provides background information about the academic setting in which the study has been conducted.
5. It discusses the problem and incentive (reasons) to conduct the study.
6. It indicates the most important gaps, inconsistencies, and controversies in the literature that study addresses (significance of study).
7. It  clearly state objectives, research questions, and hypotheses.
8. The references (mostly journal articles) are up-to-date, preferably in the last 5 years.
9. It is in the form of critical evaluation of previous studies, and digestion of others’ research not just summary.
10. It describes the theoretical framework, possible relationships, possible gaps, and differences between groups.
11. It is free from redundancies.
12. It includes conceptual definition, possible relationships, where the specific topic fits into a bigger picture, possible gaps, differences between groups, background theories.
13. Avoid redundancy, difficult terms, direct quotations widely.

 Method

1. The methodology section consists of description concerning the research design, data sources, data collection, and data analysis with the proportion of  10-15% of the total article length, all presented in the form of paragraphs.
2. It elaborates and explains the research design well.
3. The population and sample profile/size are clear enough.
4. The sampling procedure  is explained and justified.
5. It elaborates and justifies the applied instruments appropriately.
6. The data collection procedure  is clear and comprehensive, including time allocated, order, data collector
7. Data analysis  is elaborated and justified for each research question.

 Findings and Discussion

1. The findings and discussion section consist of a description of the results of the data analysis to answer the research question(s) and their meanings are seen from current theories and references of the area addressed. The proportion of this section is 40-60% of the total article length.
2. Findings presented  is in accordance with the order of research questions.
3. Findings  are supported by relevant statistical tables/figures to make it reader-friendly, and it explains the main findings not all findings.
4. Findings  are discussed as statistically or just descriptively significant.
5. Use only horizontal lines when using tables. Put table number and the title of the table on top of it.
6. It provides the results in summarized form without redundancy from results
7. It compares and contrasts findings with relevant/similar studies done by other researchers
8. It provides any possible reason provided for differences/similarities
9. It provides possible reasons and justification as well as discussion for his/her own findings
10. It provides practical implications for findings ( this can be reflected in conclusion based on journal format)

 Conclusion

1. The conclusion section consists of the summary, restatement of the main findings.
2. It discusses the limitations, implications and possible prospective research while stating the findings holistically

 References

1. It uses reference managers such as Mendeley or Zotero.
2. Every source cited in the body of the article should appear in the reference, and all sources appearing in the reference should be quoted in the body of the article.
3. The sources cited should at least 80% come from those published in the last ten years. The references cited are primary sources in the forms of journal articles, books, and research reports, including theses and dissertations. Citations from the journal should be at least 80% of the total references cited. The minimal number of references is 20.
4. The citation is done using the bracket (last name and year of publication). When the sources are cited verbatim, the page number is included (p. 78 or pp. 78-89).
5. Quotation and references follow the latest APA style and the latter should be included at the end of the article in the following examples.

References

Braine, G. (2010). Non-native speaker English teachers: Research, pedagogy and professional growth. London: Routledge.

Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. New York: Pearson Education.

Chamcharatsiri, P. B. (2010). On teaching creative writing in Thailand. Writing on the Edge, 21(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43157412

Denzin, N. (1978). Sociological methods: A sourcebook. New York: McGraw Hill.

Grubbs, S. J., Chaengploy, S., & Worawong, K. (2009). Rajabhat and traditional universities: Institutional differences in Thai students' perceptions of English. Higher Education, 57(3), 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9144-2

Hickey, M. (2014). English for ASEAN!: African and Asian Teacher Migration in Response to Thailand's English-language Education Boom.

Intachakra, S. (2004). Contrastive pragmatics and language teaching: Apologies and thanks in English and Thai *T. RELC Journal, 35(1), 37–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/003368820403500105

Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Methanonppkakhun, S., & Deocampo, M. (2016). Being an English language teacher: A narrative analysis of foreign teachers in Thailand. The New English Teacher, 10(1), 1–19.

Minegishi, M. (2011). Description of Thai as an isolating language. Social Science Information, 50(1), 62–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018410389107

OECD-UNESCO. (2016). Education in Thailand : An OECD-UNESCO Perspective. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Songsirisak, P. (2017). Non-native English speaking teachers: Uncovering Thai EFL teachers' instructional practices in an international program of Thai university. Journal of Education, 11(4), 125–138.

Sung, C. C. M. (2012). Non-native speaker teachers of English: Challenges and prospects – An interview with George Braine. The Language Teacher, 36(2), 23–26.