Disability and Second Language Learning

Special Issue of Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2025

Call for Proposals

Guest Editors:
Caitlin Cornell (Michigan State University, USA)
Robert A. Randez (Western Michigan University, USA)

Studies in Second Language Acquisition has dedicated its 2025 special issue to the topic of disability, recognizing not only the timeliness of inclusive topics within second language research but also a need for greater representation of scholars whose work focuses on the language learning of disabled learners. 

Researchers’ and educators’ recognition of the growing population of disabled language learners is increasing (Randez & Cornell, 2023). The guest editors’ intention behind this special issue is to amplify the voices of scholars who are engaged in this important work as it continues to gain interest–particularly disabled scholars, junior scholars, researchers of color, women, and all intersectional combinations thereof–and share it with the SSLA audience well-positioned to undertake its advancement. In order to remain as inclusive as possible, we take a balanced approach: in addition to solicited contributions, we are soliciting more contributions through this call. We are particularly interested in receiving proposals for empirical studies. 

Although it is true that not every learner with a disability will struggle in learning an additional language, disabled students often face additional difficulty due to inaccessibility and lack of inclusion (Berberi, 2008; Scott et al., 2014). Systemic ableism in educational institutions and their policies further complicate disabled learners’ experiences (Dolmage, 2017) and disabled language learners’ experiences in particular (e.g., Kangas, 2021). Despite persistent and thoughtful attention from scholars in the field (e.g., Kangas & Cook, 2023; Kormos & Smith, 2023; Sparks, 2023) and rapidly growing populations of disabled learners, language learning with a disability remains an underexplored area of second language research.

Proposals must include the following:

1. The name and email of the primary author along with names of contributing authors.
2. Manuscript type (see article categories published in SSLA). We are particularly interested in empirical studies related to the language learning of disabled people.
3. Indicate what stage the study is currently in.
4. Include an abstract of not more than 500 words, double spaced, size 12 font (excluding references).

Manuscript and production deadlines are as follows:

• May 3, 2024 Proposal submissions are due by email to SSLAdisability@gmail.com.
• May 24, 2024 Final decisions reached.
• Oct. 15, 2024 Submission of first-draft manuscripts to SSLA via ScholarOne.
• Jan. 24, 2025 All final manuscripts due, submitted via ScholarOne.

Please feel free to distribute this announcement to interested colleagues. If any questions arise, please feel free to email the guest editors at SSLAdisability@gmail.com or SSLA at ssla.journal@gmail.com.

A pdf of the call, including references, is available here.