Beyond Crisis: Activating Discourse Analysis for Literacy Teaching and Learning

CALL FOR PAPERS

Journal: English Teaching: Practice & Critique

Publisher: Emerald Publishing

Submission Opens: 1 May 2026

Submission Deadline: 1 September 2026

Introduction

Contemporary literacy education is shaped by politicized discourses circulating through policy, media, and everyday talk. This discursive culture constructs a persistent sense of crisis for teachers and learners alike. Discourse analysis offers powerful tools for interrogating the impact and impetus of how language shapes activity — including fidelity checks, book bans, and social surveillance on topics and texts. Yet, critiques persist that discourse analysis remains detached from action.

This Special Issue seeks to bridge that gap by mobilizing ethical and situated responses beyond analysis. It invites scholarship that demonstrates how discourse analysis can be leveraged for actionable change in language arts and literacy education across PreK–12 and beyond.

The editors envision submissions moving beyond discursive critique to show how teachers, researchers, and students collaboratively reframe and enact discourses in ways that promote justice, curiosity, and care.

Scope & Significance

Priority will be given to work that activates discourse analysis as an ongoing, responsive approach to examining how language works in and on practice. This may include studies that:

Trace discursive trajectories over time
Highlight participatory and teacher-led inquiry
Offer concrete tools or examples for addressing politicized discourses in English language arts classrooms

This Special Issue especially welcomes studies that:

Engage pluralistic approaches
Feature analyses conducted alongside teachers
Provide methodological insights for challenging polarizing language in language arts and literacy education

The editors encourage submissions that will equip readers — both scholars and practitioners — to contend with politicized discourses in their own local contexts.

List of Topic Areas

Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:

Discursive constructions of crisis, achievement, and authority in literacy policy
Coaching conversations and reflective dialogues amid curricular narrowing
The relationship between curricular materials and literacy production
AI-mediated discourse and the politics of digital literacies in instruction
Research–practice partnerships and teacher inquiry as sites of discursive reconstruction
Languaging of empathy, identity, and belonging in classrooms
Discourse analysis as a tool for social justice in literacy education
Book bans, censorship, and politicized discourse in language arts
Teacher-led inquiry and participatory approaches to discourse analysis
Polarizing language and its effects on literacy teaching and learning
Pluralistic and multilingual approaches to discourse in literacy classrooms

Guest Editors

Prof. Melissa Mosley Wetzel University of Texas at Austin, USA 📧 mmwetzel@austin.utexas.edu

Prof. Kerry Alexander University of Maryland, USA 📧 kha57@umd.edu

Prof. Molly Marek University of Texas at Austin, USA 📧 mollymarek@utexas.edu

Key Deadlines

📅 Manuscript Submission Opens: 1 May 2026

⏰ Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 September 2026

Submission Guidelines

Submissions are made through ScholarOne Manuscripts, the official submission platform of Emerald Publishing. Authors must strictly follow the journal's author guidelines.

When submitting, select "Beyond Crisis: Activating Discourse Analysis for Literacy Teaching and Learning" from the special issue drop-down menu at the appropriate step in the submission process.

⚠️ Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review for this journal.

For author guidelines and to submit your manuscript, visit the official English Teaching: Practice & Critique journal page on the Emerald Publishing website and access via ScholarOne Manuscripts.

About the Journal

English Teaching: Practice & Critique (ETPC), published by Emerald Publishing, is a leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing research and practice in English language arts and literacy education. It provides an international platform for scholars, teacher educators, and practitioners exploring the intersections of language, literacy, pedagogy, and social justice across diverse educational contexts.

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