







































 Douglas i 

BC TEAL Journal Volume 6 Number 1 (2021): i–iii 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465 

Editorial 

 

Multidisciplinary Breadth: The Many Facets of English as an 

Additional Language Teaching and Learning 

 

Scott Roy Douglas 

University of British Columbia (Okanagan School of Education) 

 

Abstract 

 

This editorial celebrates the longest issue of the BC TEAL Journal published to date, with nine 

articles covering 141 pages and reflecting the multiple settings and contexts of the journal’s 

readership. It also conceptualizes the field of English as an additional language (EAL) teaching 

and learning as the bringing together of applied linguistics and education to highlight the nexus 

of scholarship and practice and the positive impact this connection can make on transforming 

EAL teaching and learning. With this understanding, the editorial describes three major themes 

in the current issue related to identity, additional language writing, and post-secondary EAL 

supports. These themes, along with the journal’s growing readership and meaningful volunteer 

opportunities, are offered as evidence of the journal’s dedication to supporting BC TEAL’s 

mission and strengthening the field of EAL teaching and learning.  

 

From the Editor 

 

The Association of British Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language (BC 

TEAL) is a big tent, with members coming from K-12 education, post-secondary institutions, 

private language schools, language instruction for newcomers, settlement services, and adult 

basic education—to name a few. The 2021 issue of the BC TEAL Journal is the longest issue 

published to date, with nine peer-reviewed articles covering 141 pages of scholarship related to 

English as an additional language (EAL) teaching and learning. Looking through the range of 

topics in this year’s issue reveals the dynamic breadth of EAL teaching and learning and 

highlights the importance of regional organizations, such as BC TEAL, in maintaining scholarly 

journals that foster and provide an outlet for quality peer-reviewed work that might not otherwise 

find its way into publication. What’s more, this issue illustrates the multifaceted nature of EAL 

teaching and learning as reflected in BC TEAL’s membership, with articles borrowing from an 

array of fields and research approaches while focusing on a variety of contexts and situations.  

 

 Despite the range of disciplines and settings represented in the journal, commonalities 

arise through these differences to point to defining traits related to the field of EAL teaching and 

learning. One commonality is a kinship with Brumfit’s (1995) broad conceptualization of applied 

linguistics as scholarly inquiry that takes into account the wide range of linguistic and other 

factors connected to practical language-related issues and draws on a variety of interdisciplinary 

understandings and research traditions to investigate those issues as they unfold in the real world. 

Another commonality is an embracing of the scholar-practitioner identity, with scholar-

practitioners seeing themselves as ongoing students of learning, exploring what and how to 

teach, supporting and being supported by their communities, articulating and strengthening their 

educational practice, and engaging with the intellectual life of teaching, research, and theory 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465


 Douglas ii 

BC TEAL Journal Volume 6 Number 1 (2021): i–iii 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465 

(Macintyre Latta et al., 2017). Thus, the disciplines of applied linguistics and education come 

together in the field of EAL teaching and learning, and the papers in this issue of the BC TEAL 

Journal live in the nexus of scholarship and practice, blurring the lines between the two to 

promote the free movement of knowledge and insight with the goal of positively impacting and 

transforming teaching and learning.  

 

 The articles in the 2021 issue of the BC TEAL Journal generally fall into three broad 

themes related to identity, additional language writing, and post-secondary EAL supports. The 

first theme touches on gender, sexual orientation, race, and labour. For example, Derichsweiler 

(2021) identified how gender issues and understandings of sexual orientation impact academic 

success and pointed to key considerations for planning EAL lessons in K-12 settings. Whiteness 

and English language teaching (ELT) were also explored in another paper, with particular 

attention to disrupting power dynamics and colonial legacies in ELT (Mortenson, 2021). In a 

third paper, teacher identity was discussed in connection to employing critical pedagogy in 

English for academic purposes (EAP) classrooms, and how the conceptualization of EAP on the 

margins of higher education and the precarity of EAP instructor employment negatively impacts 

the potential for using critical pedagogy with EAP students (Walsh Marr, 2021). 

 

 Another theme in the current issue focuses the spotlight on additional language writing in 

post-secondary contexts. First of all, how instructors can help EAP students overcome the 

cultural challenges of writing in their additional language was examined by Bhowmik and 

Chaudhuri (2021), revealing some key supports that can be implemented in the EAP classroom. 

Next, Uludag, Crawford, and McDonough (2021) created a corpus of 1027 texts written by EAP 

students and used this corpus to identify how reporting verbs are used in argumentative and 

cause-and-effect essays. Finally, Mao (2021) reoriented understandings of EAL writers in post-

secondary contexts away from a focus on EAL writers’ perceived deficits and towards a focus on 

EAL writers’ agency and resourcefulness when writing in their additional language. 

 

 The third theme emerging from this issue relates to how to support EAL learners in post-

secondary contexts. Surtees and Yamamoto (2021) theoretically contextualized and described the 

creation and implementation of an online orientation module for international students new to 

Canadian post-secondary studies, with particular attention paid to creating inclusive, accessible, 

and multimodal learning experiences. Another paper in this issue focused on a student support 

centre for EAP students at a Canadian university and the motivations of the mostly graduate 

student volunteers in this centre (Dobson, Freimuth, & Rodriques, 2021). Also related to EAP 

settings was a third paper connected to supporting EAL learners and how to implement universal 

design for learning as a teaching framework that provides multiple means of engagement, 

representation, and expression (Khatri, 2021).  

 

 All in all, the BC TEAL Journal remains dedicated to supporting BC TEAL’s mission to 

raise awareness, provide professional development, and share expertise in support of EAL 

teaching excellence (BC TEAL, 2021). The journal’s contribution to BC TEAL’s mission is 

evident in the meaningful volunteer opportunities it offers as advisory board members, peer 

reviewers, and editors. It is also evident in the growing readership of its articles (over 44,000 

abstract views and 27,000 downloads to date), and its unwavering commitment to the free and 

open access to knowledge without charges for submitting, publishing, or reading the journal’s 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465


 Douglas iii 

BC TEAL Journal Volume 6 Number 1 (2021): i–iii 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465 

articles. As another issue of the BC TEAL Journal closes and the editorial team looks forward to 

a new year of encouraging and sharing the work of scholar-practitioners who explore issues 

related to applied linguistics and language education, this issue is an example of what regional 

teaching organizations can achieve when their members come together to support the 

strengthening of teaching, research, and theory to grow the field EAL teaching and learning. 

 

References 

 

BC TEAL. (2021). Mission and vision. About BC TEAL. https://www.bcteal.org/about/  

Bhowmik, S., & Chaudhuri, A. (2021). “I need my instructor to like sit with me”: Addressing 

culture in L2 writing instruction. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 11–28. 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.387  

Brumfit, C. J. (1995). Teacher professionalism and research. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), 

Principle and practice in applied linguistics (pp. 27–41). Oxford University Press. 

Derichsweiler, S. (2021). Gender-oriented topics in teaching English as an additional language. 

BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.373  

Dobson, J., Freimuth, H., & Rodriques, I. (2021). Student volunteer motivations in a student 

support centre for English for academic purposes students. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 59–

77. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.389  

Khatri, R. (2021). Universal design for learning: Its application to English for academic purposes 

classrooms in Canada. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 94–105. 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.447  

Macintyre Latta, M., Cherkowski, S., Crichton, S., Klassen, W., & Ragoonaden, K. (2017). 

Investing in communities of scholar-practitioners. Teacher Learning and Professional 

Development, 2(1), 32–47. Retrieved from 

http://journals.sfu.ca/tlpd/index.php/tlpd/article/view/31  

Mao, J. (2021). Thriving through uncertainties: The agency and resourcefulness of first-year 

Chinese English as an additional language writers in a Canadian university. BC TEAL 

Journal, 6(1), 78–93. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.390  

Mortenson, L. (2021). White TESOL instructors’ engagement with social justice content in an 

EAP program: Teacher neutrality as a tool of white supremacy. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 

106–131. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.422  

Surtees, V., & Yamamoto, M. (2021). Creating an interactive online orientation to academic 

practices for international students. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 29–41. 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.378  

Uludag, P., Crawford, W. J., & McDonough, K. (2021). English for academic purposes writers’ 

use of reporting verbs in argumentative and cause-and-effect essay exams. BC TEAL 

Journal, 6(1), 42–58. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.388  

Walsh Marr, J. (2021). The promise and precarity of critical pedagogy in English for academic 

purposes. BC TEAL Journal, 6(1), 132–141. https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.449  

 

 
The BC TEAL Journal is licensed under a 

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 

Copyright rests with the author(s). 

https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.465
https://www.bcteal.org/about/
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.387
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.373
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.389
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.447
http://journals.sfu.ca/tlpd/index.php/tlpd/article/view/31
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.390
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.422
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.378
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.388
https://doi.org/10.14288/bctj.v6i1.449
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

