Editorial

I am pleased to share with you two important accomplishments of the editorial team this year. Firstly, after a rigorous evaluation of the quality of the Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal it has been indexed in two academic indices that contribute to make scholarly research visible globally. SciELO Colombia and Redalyc (Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe, Portugal and Spain). Secondly, CALJ is now an open access journal through the use of the Open Journal System (OJS) proposed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP).

But, what is the PKP? The Public Knowledge Project is a partnership between different American and Canadian Universities and Libraries dedicated to improving the scholarly and public quality of research. "Its research program is investigating the social, economic, and technical issues entailed in the use of online infrastructure and knowledge management strategies to improve the scholarly quality and public accessibility and coherence of this body of knowledge in a sustainable and globally accessible form".¹ It provides the leading open source software for journal and conference management and publishing.

While the work of the Public Knowledge Project is focused on improving the scholarly quality of publishing processes, it also seeks to expand the realm of public education by improving the contribution of Social Science to public knowledge, in the belief that such a contribution is critical to academic freedom, the public use of reason, and deliberative forms of democracy.

Being part of the Public Knowledge Project through the Open Journal System has been a challenging experience for the editorial team. The institutional decision to become an open access publication was a very positive initiative and we are in the process of learning the new roles and ways of communicating through the OJS. Using this system implies changes in the way authors, the editorial team, the editor and reviewers carry out our roles. Authors need to register and follow the steps to upload the manuscript, reviewers need to access the evaluation form through the system, as well as fill out the evaluation form online, section editors need to be informed of the activity that occurs in the journal section and the main editor has to be able to follow, supervise and organize the whole process. Institutionally we are convinced that joining the PKP to provide access to the content of the journal worldwide is part of our social mission to make information and scientific knowledge available to the academic community globally.

In this issue we offer our readers 11 articles in four sections: 6 research articles on different issues related to young learners learning English, 8 and 9 year olds using figural patterns in math classrooms, Nonnative ELL teachers culturally responsive, first year experiences of pre-service teachers, and uses of the mother tongue with EFL University students, the construction of an ESP curriculum for doctoral students. There is also a theoretical discussion article that proposes the use of the genre-based approach to promote oral communication in the Colombian English classroom. Our section on reflections on praxis includes two articles that discuss ways to improve discussion skills with business students and the processes of comprehension, meaning and pedagogy. Finally, the theme review section contains an article on Blended Learning and the Language Teacher and a proposal considering TEFL Educational Principles for changing times.We hope the diversity of topics in this issue will fulfill your expectations.

Endnotes

¹Text taken from http://pkp.sfu.ca&about

Amparo Clavijo Olarte PhD
Editora