Popular Second Language Acquisition Journals
- Applied LinguisiticsAvailable in print and electronic formats.
- Language LearningAvailable in print and electronic formats.
- Modern language journalAvailable in print and electronic formats.
- Studies in Second Language AcquisitionAvailable in print and electronic formats.
- TESOL QuarterlyAvailable in print and electronic formats.
SLA Online Journals
- TESL-EJ Teaching English As a Second or Foreign Language.“Publishes original articles in the research and practice of English as a second or foreign language. Welcomes studies in ESL/EFL pedagogy, second language acquisition, language assessment, applied socio- and psycholinguistics, and other related areas.”
- Internet TESL Journal“A monthly web magazine for teachers of English as a second language. It includes lesson plans, classroom handouts, links of interest to ESL teachers and students, articles, research papers and other things which are of immediate practical use to ESL teachers.”
- Language Learning & Technology (LL & T)Publishes work that seeks to disseminate research to foreign and second language educators in the U.S. and around the world on issues related to technology and language education
- Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal“Publishes work in the fields of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. Seeks to disseminate research to educators around the world and is interested in exploring issues related to L2 reading, L2 literacy in a broader sense, and other issues related to second language learning and teaching.”
- English Teaching Forum“An international, refereed journal published by the U.S. Department of State for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The mission of English Teaching Forum is to contribute to the professional development of its readers around the world by offering articles that reflect current theory and practice in English language teaching.”
- Reading in a Foreign Language"Reading in a Foreign Language has established itself as an excellent source for the latest developments in the field, both theoretical and pedagogic, including improving standards for foreign language reading.”
Other helpful guides
Search for Articles using Multi-Database Search
Rather then going to individual databases to search for articles, you can now search several databases at one time using Articles - Multi-Database Search.
How to Access APU Library Databases
All APU Library databases can be accessed through the Libraries' web site. To get to them, go to the APU Libraries home page, then click on the "More Search Options" under the search box on the right side of the page. In the drop down box click on the "All Databases" link.
You can access databases by title using the alphabetical links, or you can use the subject menu to see a list of databases recommended for your topic.
Recommended Databases for Second Language Acquisition
- Academic Search PremierContains articles from all fields of study; offers a multi-disciplinary perspective on your topic.
- Communication and Mass Media CompleteArticles related to communication and mass media.
- Education Full TextArticles from education journals.
- ERIC (EBSCOhost)Highly-regarded database of journal articles, books, government reports, conference proceedings, dissertations, and more covering all aspects of education.
- JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections I-IVThe JSTOR archive holds the complete digitized back runs of core scholarly journals, starting with the very first issues, some dating as far back as the 1600s. The JSTOR Arts & Sciences Collections represent the building blocks of an interdisciplinary archive of over six hundred journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
- Linguistics and Language Behavior AbstractsCitations and abstracts covering all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.
- ProQuest Research LibrarySearch the full collection of journals, magazines and newspapers for information on a broad range of general reference subjects.
- Social Science FulltextAbstracts and some full text of articles from a broad array of social sciences journals.
- SocINDEX with Full TextArticles from journals in sociology and related fields.
SLA Online Databases
- ESL Resource Database“The documents in this database discuss research background to the field of adult ESL instruction; provide guides to current practice; and may point the way to further research. The materials are recent, meaning produced since the year 2000, although there are a few important works or statistical compilations from the late 1990s.”
- ERIC“Contains abstracts of documents and journal articles on education research and practice. The database contains more than 1,243,000 records and links to more than 224,000 full-text documents from ERIC.”
Finding Full Text
Often, databases will include the full text of the articles and documents that appear in your search results. However, database publishers may not always have the rights to reprint the full text of some articles, and you will have to do a bit of searching to locate the full text.
The Periodical Finder can save you time in this process--just click the "Periodical Finder" button under the article citation.
The Periodical Finder will show you how to access articles from that journal title:
If the Periodical Finder indicates that APU does not subscribe to the journal that you need, go back to the results page in the database, click the title of the article you want, and then scroll down the page until you see the following link:
Click the link to get a copy from another library. Note that there is a $2 per item fee for this service; the APU Libraries will send you a bill.
(from KS, 2009)
Finding Full Text in ERIC
The ERIC database contains two kinds of information: traditional journal articles, and "ERIC Documents," such as government reports, dissertations, conference papers, case studies, pamphlets, etc.
There are different steps involved in locating the full text of ERIC documents than are involved in locating full text journal articles from ERIC. Click the link below to learn more about locating ERIC documents and articles in fulltext:
- ERIC FulltextHow to find full text when ERIC only has an abstract
Subject Guide
Head of Collections & Technical Services
Librarian for the School of Nursing, Public Health, & ALCI (ESL)
Hugh & Hazel Darling Library #210
701 E. Foothill Blvd., PO Box 7000
Azusa, CA 91702
Articles on Second Language Acquisition
Note: You can read the full text of all of these articles through the APU Libraries' online subscriptions.
Latest TQ articles from IngentaConnect
Set up RSS Feeds
RSS feeds allow researchers to receive automatic updates in an RSS feed reader whenever new content is added to a library database on a particular topic, or whenever a new electronic issue of a journal is added to a library database.
To learn more about setting up RSS feeds within library databases, please see the following guide: "Using RSS Feeds From Library Databases."
(from KS, 2009)