Preface This journal came out for the first time in 2015. It was founded on our belief that although Poland has a strong presence among second language acquisition and multilinguality researchers, which is demonstrated by the large number of conferences and also book publications appearing every year, academic journals like this one, concerned with both theoretical issues and the practical concerns of SLA, are not that numerous. The initial success of the journal is demon- strated by the fact that despite its short life, it is already indexed in several databases and made its first appearance in Scopus in 2018. Thanks to this, it is also recognized by the Polish Ministry of Higher Education as a scholarly journal in linguistics. It is of importance that the Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition journal is published by the prestigious Polish academic publisher, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego (University of Silesia Press). We can also ascribe the origins of our journal to the success of the International Conference on Second/Foreign Language Acquisition (ICFSLA), an academic event that has been organized for over thirty years by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia in Katowice (the Institute of Linguistics since 2020). ICFSLA regularly brings together many Polish and foreign academics every May. Its focus is on new trends in SLA research, but it also prides itself on promoting fairly under-researched and new issues in SLA. Although the con- ference always has a leading theme, scholars are also invited to present their research even if it falls outside the scope of the main topic. Our journal has become an accepted channel for the publication of selected conference papers of a high academic standard. At the same time, we warmly welcome other contributions, those not connected with the conference itself. In fact, in recent issues most publications were submitted by authors who did not participate in the conference, mainly because in 2020 it had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to theoretical and research-related papers, we also accept for inclusion in each volume reviews of academic books recently Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition vol. 7 (1), 2021, pp. 5–8 https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.11346 6 Preface published in Poland and abroad, which would be of interest to our readers. It is additionally an important vehicle for promoting SLA research carried out by Polish academics and published by Polish publishers, who maintain high academic standards, but whose work is not easily accessible abroad and so tends not to reach a wider academic audience. The whole process of paper submission is automated via an Open Journal System (OJS) and this embraces the article submission, referee assignment, and double blind-review processes as well as the revision, copyediting, and production stages. The production process is in the hands of a team of experienced professionals from the University of Silesia Press, who do their best to make the whole procedure smooth and effective. All the issues of our journal are available free via the OJS for reading and pdf download. The open access policy allows for the availability of the most recent research in the field at zero cost, thus presenting the articles published in its issues to global readerships. We strongly believe that our journal serves an important need in disseminat- ing new and interesting research projects and studies in SLA of both Polish and foreign scholars in the field. There has been a palpable increase in submissions from all over the world, which is reflected in contributions to the most recent volumes. The journal is published bi-annually and contributions can be uploaded by prospective authors continuously, without any calls for paper. The selection of articles and book reviews for the upcoming volumes is done on the basis of acceptance of the text on completion of the process of reviewing and revising. As mentioned earlier, each text is peer-reviewed in a double-blind reviewing process by referees selected by us from the Editorial Board, but also by other specialists when needed. The Editorial Board itself consists of Polish scholars and foreign experts in the area and represents the wide range of research in- terests of its members. All updated information on the journal is available on the journal webpage at www.tapsla.us.edu.pl. The present issue consists of texts which do not share any clear-cut com- mon denominator—they represent various themes and different points on the scale between the theoretical and the applied, although the first two are much broader in the scope of systemic solutions which they propose than the remain- ing four. The first paper, by Maria Villalobos-Buehner, titled “A Habermasian Approach to the Examination of Language Teachers’ Cognitive Interests,” reports on a very interesting qualitative study of nine pre-service teachers of ESL, focusing on their beliefs and interests related to language teaching and learning. This kind of perspective fills the gap in the overall picture of young pre-service teachers’ readiness for taking up the profession, since most studies concentrate on their conceptual knowledge and familiarity with recent meth- ods, neglecting the important attitudinal dimension. The study follows Jürgen Habermas’s theory on cognitive interests as a framework and reflexive essays followed by authentic assessment as data collection tools. 7Preface The following paper, contributed by Hanna Komorowska, takes a much broader and systemic perspective, as suggested by its title “The Role of Attention in Teacher Education: A Factor in the Quality of European Schooling.” The author reflects upon plausible reasons for the observable lack of correspondence between the level of effort invested by leading international institutions in the improvement of educational systems and the results visible in their reports. In the author’s opinion, too much emphasis is placed on organizational matters, to the disadvantage of psychological factors. The key variable seems to be learners’ attention, or to be more precise, its deficit and problems with sustaining it. In the contemporary world of information overload, overstimulation and ubiquity of distractors, significantly more consideration should be devoted to ways of arousing and maintaining learners’ attention throughout the lesson. The paper by Çağrı Tuğrul Mart entitled “Integrating Form and Content within Classroom Discussion of Literature” narrows down the focus to the long-standing dispute between the supporters of form-focused instruction and the devotees of content-based teaching. The author proposes a golden mean allowing for reconciliation of the potentially conflicting approaches and for making the best of the advantages of both. The integrating environment is pro- posed in the form of literature-based classes, which allow for the combination of meaningful language practice with contextualized exposure to frequently applied formal patterns. The author’s recommendations find validation in the results of a small-scale experimental study reported in the paper. The type and role of feedback is taken up in the following paper, by Meihua Liu, titled “Focus and Effects of Peer and Machine Feedback on Chinese University EFL Learners’ Revisions of English Argumentative Essays.” Rather than recommending one at the cost of the other, the author highlights the advantages of both and points to the areas where each of them might pro- vide useful information for learners, allowing them to improve their written performance in English as a Foreign Language. The quantitative findings were further confronted with the answers gathered by means of more qualitative data collection tools, such as questionnaires and interviews, allowing for inclusion of the learners’ perspective in the overall results reported in the paper. Electronic media of communication are the focal point of the next paper, submitted by Daria Pańka, “Polish-English Code-Switching in the Language of Polish Facebook Users.” The author sees Facebook (and social media in general) as an environment in which advanced learners of English can practice their L2 skills, even though their profiles are based in Poland. The English language is seen here as an additional resource providing users with a more varied means of communication, a display of in-group membership and an inventive application of humor. On the basis of self-accumulated language material, the author identifies the main types and strategies of code-switching, juxtaposing her findings with the results of other studies of forms of code-switching involving English on Facebook. 8 Preface The final research paper in the present issue, “Jordanian University Students’ Awareness of the Different Phonetic Alternates of the English Plural Morpheme,” is authored by Hana Asaad Daana and Qadri Farid Tayeh. The contributors demonstrate the positive impact of exposure to English for the students’ L2 competence and performance, during their study period at the Princess Alia University College at Al-Balqa Applied University in Amman. The strength of L1 transfer was additionally shown to decrease as the students progressed in their English language proficiency. The present issue continues the tradition of presenting two reviews of very recent book publications in SLA. The first one, Teacher Wellbeing (2020), au- thored by two very well-known experts on applications of positive psychology in language teaching and learning, Sarah Mercer and Tammy Gregersen, is reviewed by Danuta Gabryś-Barker. This recent publication is a resource book for language teachers who appreciate the significance of emotions and good relationships in the process of language learning and teaching, that is, those who hold a more open vision of education, catering for the whole person and not just the target skills. The second volume, reviewed by Anna Mystkowska- Wiertelak, takes the reader on a reflexive trip through the territory of motivation in language learning. The publication in question is Contemporary Language Motivation Theory. 60 Years since Gardner and Lambert (1959), an anthology edited by Ali H. Al-Hoorie and Peter MacIntyre (2020). It contains numerous contributions by followers of Gardner and Lambert’s seminal work, attesting to the significance and influence of the social psychological framework proposed by the original authors for the study of language learning. We sincerely hope that readers will find the present issue of interest and value for their own research in the field of second language acquisition, foreign language teaching and learning. At the same time, we would also like to ask Polish and foreign academics to keep supporting the journal by sharing their scholarly research with us, by submitting their original work and book reviews of recent high level publications for upcoming volumes. Danuta Gabryś-Barker Adam Wojtaszekhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-4337 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-0703