Final Text (New Version) -- Work Group One

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Subject: Final Text (New Version)

Author:
Luciano Valadares

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Date Posted: 13:35:05 08/14/10 Sat

That�s a new version of the final text:

1) But what exactly is a refereed journal?

A referred journal is a collection of scientific papers which has been thoroughly analyzed by a group of experts in the same field of knowledge and recognized background, before being published and distributed. This group of experts is called a peer group and are of extreme importance for this kind of journal once they analyze and give an assessment of the work which is being published. Most of the time, this process of reviewing is a blind one, as it states on the definition of Cabell's Directory of Publishing Opportunities. (http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/refereedarticle.html)

�The use of a blind review process means that the author of the manuscript is not made known to the reviewers. With the large number of reviewers and journals, it is also likely that the name of the reviewers for a particular manuscript is not made known to the author. Thus, creating a double blind review process.�

This procedure prevents the editor from publishing a work with no credibility and it is also a mechanism that foresees the relevance of the work presented.
Refereed journals are also considered scholarly because their articles are usually written by and addressed to experts in a discipline.

2) How does it differ from other common written media where one can also find scientific, specialized and discipline-specific information, such as newspapers, newsletters and magazines?

The difference between journal and other sources of knowledge such as magazine, newspaper and newsletters is the credibility.
The refereed journals are those which are submitted to several other experts for review and comment. These academics must agree on the article and testify that it is reliable and relevant. Their layouts usually have a serious look and presents graphs and charts. They also refer their source on footnotes or bibliographies.
The authors� affiliations are always listed, the language has to do with the discipline covered being, this way, more connected with the reader background. The main purpose of the refereed journal is to report original and valuable researches to the scholarly world.
The common written media, although important, serious or related to real facts is attached to general interests, and they are not always trustful as well. They can also be presented in a newspaper format. Most of times they have an attractive appearance and are heavily illustrated. The articles may be written by a member of the editorial staff, a scholar or even a free-lance writer. The vocabulary is meant to reach to any educated audience. They rarely cite their sources. They can be substantial, popular, or sensational. Being substantial, their purpose is to provide general information. Being popular, their interest is to entertain the reader and sell products with a lot of ads; being sensational, their main goal is to arouse curiosity among the readers and satisfy popular beliefs (common sense).

Comments to be written about the journal: http://www.readingmatrix.com/journal.html

1) Is it a good example of a refereed journal?

Concerning the media proposed for discussion �The Reading Matrix�, I believe, after having read some about the refereed journal, that it is, indeed, a good example peer-reviewed journal. It follows the very essential steps needed for being called so.
It seems to us that the subject of the journal is very relevant since it is related to the researches done in the field of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. The editorial board is listed on the front page as a reference.
It is also meant to be disseminated worldwide giving support to educators on L2 reading, L2 literacy and others subjects related to L2 learning and teaching.
It has a board of academics (experts) with a vast knowledge and background on the subject presented. They work together in order to review the articles before they�ll be released, supplying the spectators with a reliable work. It also provides a forum in order to get opinions and critics from all over the world. The articles are also lengthy, and covers details of a new practical application or a research in the field .It does not allow articles who have been published before. Its layout looks serious and the language used is technical. Finally, the sources are fully listed, giving more credibility to the media. For all these points mentioned above, �The reading Matrix� is a good example of a refereed journal.

2) What researchers interested in publishing in those journals should do?

Researchers interested in publishing in any refereed journals should first learn about the submission guidelines of the journal of their interest. In general, a submission guideline has all information and rules to publish articles. The common rules usually are:
a) be unpublished manuscripts;
b) be relevant topic related to the subject and issues in the field of the journal;
c) be focused and written clearly to make it accessible to a large audience including those who are �not familiar with the particular subject matter addressed in the article� and the vocabulary;
d) obey the minimum and maximum length for the article and the abstract;
e) if possible, send it in electronic format and hyperlinks, hypermedia links to multimedia material.
To publish in the specific journal "Reading Matrix" any author who has an unpublished work concerning the subject: �Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics�, may send it to the editorial board of the journal, so it can be evaluated by these peers. Being a relevant one, the article must be clear, well written; the vocabulary should be intended to reach an audience of reading and language educators as well. It must be original, connected with previous research, educational theory and teaching practices

3) Comments about a topic covered frequently in the articles published over the past twelve months.

A topic we can verify that researches are worried about and that is covered frequently in this journal is how new technologies are influencing not only language itself but its use and still its learning. For example there is a research that analyze how frequently symbolic expressions (e.g., �BTW,� �LOL,� �UR�) in an SMS text messaging are utilized and how they are utilized in terms of the language functions that they signal.
A corpus of messages was selected to be analyzed. They were students messages, the ones in Yahoo�s SMS chat website. Through this means the research conclude that it has also given rise to a new language form - its own language culture - in which abbreviated spellings, a investigate cronyms, and other shorthand notations are almost universally employed by its users. Text messaging symbols are most frequently used to identify people and their relationships to other things (including other people suggest that the text messaging community has developed its own language culture in which closing expressions, long-form dialog, and correct spelling and grammar are viewed as inefficient and impractical. Finally, the results suggest that text messaging symbols are often used to signal descriptions of things that are important to the message sender.
Still talking about how new technologies are influencing not only language itself but its use and still its learning. There is another article that is about an action research concerning about the use of technology in language teaching and learning. It tries to explore the effectiveness of blogs to promote frequent extra reading practice in a freshman EFL science and technology reading program at a public university. According to it, sociocultural theory and the revival of Vygostkys constructivism have made us rethink how to approach the learning-teaching process in the twenty-first century. The questions are: "Are we really helping our students acquire skills that will be crucial in their future? Are we using learning resources that will make them connect socioculturally and learn from the interactions among themselves and others?" Many of the low proficiency students in this program do not have regular access to a computer and have not worked with blogs before. There is not only a perceived socioeconomic divide but differences in skills and knowledge about computers are also quite noticeable
It remarks that the use of ICTs (Information and Communications Technology) has become increasingly important in our classrooms as part of the English Language Teaching practice. But some difficulties are faced:

- Little access to the Internet for those students who did not have this service at home. But they suggest: "teachers had several consultation hours so students could come to their offices to read the blog and write the corresponding comments. Online assignments also created additional pressure on students since there were extra tasks that limited their time to dedicate to other subjects."

- The lack of knowledge about these tools causes initial fear to use them, and some students take longer to learn how to handle them, others are cautious or shy when writing comments as these would be read by their classmates. Another limitation is the dedication and time teachers are required to devote to the blog not only to find materials that will be interesting and motivating for the students, but also giving continuous feedback to students comments in order to maintain their attention, curiosity and willingness to participate in the blog.

Results show that these online social environments are very well perceived by most students and that they are quite effective when new ways of learning outside the traditional classroom. So, the research points out the positive points os the use of blogs:
According to Grewling (2004) the biggest reason for using blogs in language teaching is the way they are set up because they invite participation and have the potential to democratize the classroom since each student is given the chance to participate equally. Grewling (2004) also brings up the fact that issues like shyness becomes less relevant in a blog than in face to face situations and, furthermore, that quieter students participation increases in online environments. Blogs can also be accessed practically anytime and anywhere so contributors can post and comment at their own convenience and determine their own pace and level of contribution (Grewling, 2004). This same author and Pinkman (2005) state that blogs give students more control over their own learning, and, when created by students themselves, blogs can also give students the ownership of a personal space, a sense of belonging that is not so easily achieved in face to face environments. Parashar Panday (2007) assures that blogs offer many benefits to our students since they help to enhance the skills of communicating, sharing, analyzing, reflecting, reading, writing, keeping records and promote collaboration among grown-ups. Then why not use blogs in our foreign language classrooms, even if the main skill to practice is restricted to reading?

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