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BC TEAL Journal Volume 3 Number 1 (2018): i–iii  

Editorial 

 

Contributing to Open Access Journals with Peer Review:  

A Meaningful Opportunity for Engaged Continuing Professional Development 

 

Scott Roy Douglas 

University of British Columbia (Okanagan Campus) 

 

Abstract 

 

This editorial reinforces the BC TEAL Journal’s commitment to open access, opportunities for 

continuing professional development, and knowledge creation related to English as an additional 

language teaching and learning in British Columbia. In particular, it outlines how peer reviewers 

benefit from taking part in the intellectual life of their scholarly and professional community 

through access to new ideas, practical skill development, and reducing the separation between 

theorists, researchers, and practitioners. The editorial continues with a description of the six 

articles and one book review in the 2018 issue, and it ends with a friendly invitation to everyone 

interested in English as an additional language teaching and learning in British Columbia to 

become more involved in the journal.  

 

From the Editor 

 

The BC TEAL Journal is an open access peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on English 

as an additional language (EAL) teaching and learning, with implications for EAL teaching and 

learning in British Columbia. The journal does not charge readers to access articles, nor does it 

charge authors to submit and publish their work. Instead, a dedicated team of volunteers ensures 

it remains free for everyone. These volunteers are inspired by a variety of reasons, but one of the 

main reasons is perhaps an engagement in continuing professional development that is 

meaningful and relevant to a volunteer’s own scholarly practice.  

 

The largest cohort of journal volunteers are the peer reviewers. To create the current 

issue, 12 peer reviewers donated their time and energy to bring the contents to publication. The 

reviewers, who remain anonymous to the authors (and vice versa), look at the level of interest to 

the Association of British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC TEAL) 

members, the connections to teaching and learning in British Columbia, the originality of the 

work, the understanding authors have of the topic, the research plan, methods, and theoretical 

framework, the conclusions and recommendations, the formatting, and the quality of writing. 

The peer reviewers offer comments and feedback to the authors, and if the authors meet the basic 

journal requirements, they then have the opportunity to incorporate that feedback to strengthen 

their work for publication. 

 

While authors benefit in a number of ways as they receive feedback and suggestions to 

prepare the next draft of their work, peer reviewers also benefit from the opportunity for 

continuing professional development. Peer reviewers are taking part in the wider intellectual life 

of their professional and scholarly community, and they have the chance to access the latest ideas 

and research before it is broadly available. They get to consider how these ideas and research 



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BC TEAL Journal Volume 3 Number 1 (2018): i–iii  

apply to the local context while contemplating core issues related to EAL teaching and learning. 

These considerations may, in turn, encourage reviewers to come up with new ideas, identify 

areas for further study, and lead them to engage with theory and research they may not have 

encountered otherwise. There is also the opportunity for practical skill development. Peer 

reviewers can enhance their critical understandings of scholarship and gain a greater familiarity 

with a range of research methods. They can hone the ability to identify logical arguments and 

understand the reasonable connections authors should make between their methods, findings, and 

conclusions. Being a peer reviewer can also have a positive washback effect on the reviewer’s 

research skills, academic writing ability, and delivery of constructive feedback. Thus, the process 

strengthens local scholarship and contributes to improving EAL teaching and learning in the 

province and wider region. The process further encourages stronger connections between theory, 

research, and practice while blurring the demarcation lines between theorists, researchers, and 

practitioners. In effect, knowledge creation in the field of EAL teaching and learning becomes a 

shared endeavour in which BC TEAL Journal reviewers and authors bi-directionally benefit from 

each other’s scholarship and professional knowledge.  

 

The benefits of the peer review process, for both reviewers and authors, are evident in the 

current issue of the BC TEAL Journal. The 2018 issue starts with an investigation of student 

perceptions of portfolio-based language assessment (PBLA) in government funded EAL 

programs (Drew & Mudzingwa, 2018). The issue then turns to elementary school English 

language learners (ELLs) and the importance of having a strong instructional focus on 

vocabulary (Roessingh, 2018). Next, Findley (2018) looks at the role of belongingness in 

achieving academic success in higher education, and Chang (2018) explores academic 

misconduct and integrity as it relates to multilingual university students. The fifth article in the 

2018 issue presents how a high school in British Columbia transformed its English as a second 

language (ESL) program into a culturally responsive English for academic purposes (EAP) 

program (Li, 2018), and the last full article investigates how accurately EAP students use words 

from the Academic Word List in their writing (McDonough, Neumann, and Hubert-Smith, 

2018). Finally, the issue concludes with a book review by Naismith (2018) of The Lazy Teacher 

Trainer’s Handbook (Coney, 2017).  

 

As preparations begin for the 2019 issue, the journal remains committed to open access, 

providing opportunities for continuing professional development, and fostering knowledge 

creation related to EAL teaching and learning in local contexts. Many thanks go to the team of 

volunteers who contributed to making the 2018 issue a success, and a friendly invitation is 

extended to everyone who is interested in EAL teaching and learning in British Columbia to 

become more involved in the journal and consider it a meaningful opportunity for engaged 

continuing professional development. 

 

References 

 

Chang, D. (2018). Academic dishonesty in a post-secondary multilingual institution. BC TEAL 

Journal, 3(1), 49–62. Retrieved from https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/ 

article/view/287 

Coney, M. (2017). The Lazy Teacher Trainer’s Handbook. (n.p.): the round. 

https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/287
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/287


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BC TEAL Journal Volume 3 Number 1 (2018): i–iii  

Drew, R., & Mudzingwa, C. (2018). The portfolio-based language assessment model: 

Perceptions of adult immigrant English language learners. BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 1–21. 

Retrieved from https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/267 

Finley, A. (2018). Fostering success: Belongingness pedagogy for English language learners. BC 

TEAL Journal, 3(1), 37–48. Retrieved from https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/ 

article/view/273 

Li, G. (2018). From stigma to strength: A case of ESL program transformation in a greater 

Vancouver high school. BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 63–76. Retrieved from https://ojs-

o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/303 

McDonough, K., Neumann, H., & Hubert-Smith, N. (2018). How accurately do English for 

academic purposes students use academic word list words? BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 77–

89. Retrieved from https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/293 

Naismith, B. (2018). Review of Coney, M. 2017. The Lazy Teacher Trainer’s Handbook. (n.p.): 

the round. BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 90–92. Retrieved from https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/ 

index.php/BCTJ/article/view/292 

Roessingh, H. (2018). Unmasking the early language and literacy needs of ELLs: What K–3 

practitioners need to know and do. BC TEAL Journal, 3(1), 22–36. Retrieved from 

https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/276 

 

 

 

The BC TEAL Journal is licensed under a 

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 

Copyright rests with the authors. 

 

 

https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/267
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/273
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/273
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/303
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/303
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/293
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/292
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/292
https://ojs-o.library.ubc.ca/index.php/BCTJ/article/view/276
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

