CLELE Journal: New issue and volunteering opportunity

It is always a pleasure to return to the Children’s Literature in English Language Education (CLELE) Journal, both as a reader and as an occasional reviewer. Although I review for a few academic journals, I have found that CLELE¹ stands out for its rare and effective combination of scholarly rigour and practical relevance to classroom teaching. Each new issue offers valuable insights, and I make a point of browsing all the articles whenever a new issue is published —an effort that has consistently proved rewarding.² I am therefore pleased to share the latest issue (May 2025), along with information about a volunteer opportunity that may be of interest to those seeking experience in this area.

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Copyeditor volunteering opportunity

To maintain high production values academic journals rely on the expertise and labour or a large number of people: editors are more visible, but the production of every successive issue depends a lot on the skills of the copy-editing team as well. Larger publishers tend to outsource this work to academic sweatshops, and some of us know how that works out. But journals that are run by academic teams and are funded by university budgets need to rely on volunteer work. The production quality of the articles that CLELE has published is a testament to how effective this arrangement can be.

Following the graduation of one of the copy-editors, the CLELE team are inviting volunteers with a keen eye for detail and, ideally an interest or aptitude for layout design. While this is an unpaid position, it offers a unique opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a respected diamond open-access journal. For early career researchers, this role provides valuable experience in academic publishing and a noteworthy addition to any CV. More than that, it’s a chance to engage with a vibrant scholarly community and help shape the presentation of important work in children’s literature and language education.

If you are interested in joining the team and helping out with the publication of the journal, the editors would be delighted to hear from you at Clele.Elt [@] gmail [dot] com.

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Overview of the
May 2025 issue

This issue contains five articles, along with the editorial, reading recommendations and a helpful review of Language, Identity and Diversity in Picturebooks³ (Daly, 2024). Here’s a brief overview of the articles:

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Promoting Reading for In-Depth Learning for Critical Literacy and Interculturality

In the first article, Sunny Man Chu Lau, Nayr Correia Ibrahim, and France Destroismaisons introduce the Reading for In-Depth Learning (Ridl) framework, developed to support ESL teachers in integrating children’s and young adult literature into language instruction. The framework emphasizes four dimensions: textual, personal, critical, and creative/transformative, aiming to foster critical literacy and intercultural understanding. By applying the Ridl framework to the picturebook We Are Water Protectors, the authors demonstrate how literature can be used to engage students in discussions about social justice and environmental issues. The Ridl framework provides educators with a structured approach to selecting and teaching literature that promotes deep reading and critical thinking. It encourages the use of diverse texts to enhance language skills while also addressing broader social and cultural themes, thus preparing students to navigate complex global issues.

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Authenticity in Representation:
A Critical Analysis of Illustrations in Picturebooks for Elementary School Students

Educators should critically assess the visual content of picturebooks to ensure they provide accurate and respectful representations of diverse cultures. Incorporating texts that authentically portray different communities can foster inclusivity and help students develop a more comprehensive understanding of the world. In her contribution to this issue, Aniqa Shah critically examines the illustrations in six picturebooks authored and illustrated by non-Muslim creators, focusing on the representation of Muslims. The analysis reveals that visual elements often perpetuate stereotypes, depicting Muslims in a negative light. Shah emphasizes the importance of authentic and nuanced representations to combat these biases and promote cultural sensitivity.

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Child Empowerment and Safeguarding in the UAE:
The Role of Picturebooks for Emirati Children

Integrating culturally appropriate literature that addresses child safeguarding can be instrumental in educating students about their rights and personal safety. Teachers can use these resources to create a supportive environment that encourages open dialogue on important social issues. In their article, Sarah L. Nesti Willard and Fawzia Gilani-Williams discuss the development and implementation of picturebooks in the United Arab Emirates, designed to support child safeguarding in line with local legislation. The authors detail their collaborative process in creating books that address sensitive topics, aiming to empower children and raise awareness about their rights and well-being. These picturebooks serve as tools for bibliotherapy⁴ and facilitate discussions on child protection within the classroom.

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Promoting Literary Reading
in Lower Secondary English Language Classrooms

In the fourth article, Binder and Pirovino explore the challenges of incorporating literary texts in Swiss lower secondary English classrooms, where students often have varying levels of language proficiency. Through a design-based research study, they developed two teaching sequences using contemporary short stories to enhance students’ literary reading skills. The study found that students were able to make interpretative inferences and empathize with fictional characters, indicating successful literary comprehension across different proficiency levels. The findings suggest that with thoughtfully designed instructional sequences, students with developing language skills can engage meaningfully with literary texts. Educators are encouraged to incorporate literature into language teaching, using strategies that support students’ interpretative and empathetic abilities.

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A Pedagogical Framework
for North American Indigenous Multimodal Texts
in English Language Teaching

In the last article of this issue, Miralles-Alberola proposes a pedagogical framework for incorporating North American Indigenous multimodal texts into English language teaching. The framework emphasizes the use of tribally specific, well-researched texts authored by Indigenous writers to ensure accurate and respectful representation. By engaging with these texts, students can explore themes of sovereignty, identity, and social justice, while developing critical literacy skills. This framework supports the development of students’ critical thinking and empathy by exposing them to diverse perspectives and narratives.

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Publishing your work in
CLELE Journal

Before ending this post, I would like to add a couple of lines about publication opportunities, for anyone who might want to share their work on how language learning benefits from reading literature.

The CLELE Journal is published twice a year (every December and May), ensuring a relatively fast turnover. If you are aiming for publication in December, the submission deadline is July 1st, and articles received after that, but before January 1st, can be considered for publication in the May issue.

The editors welcome both brief thought-provoking pieces and more in-depth research papers or practitioner reports, hence word count is ranges between 3,000 to 7,000 words. You can find out more about how to prepare your article in the journal’s Information for Authors page.

All articles are peer-reviewed using a double-blind system. The journal is diamond open-access, which means that they charge no Article Processing Charges or subscription fees.

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Notes

1. As in ‘freely’. ↩︎
2. I am told to avoid em-dashes in writing, because apparently this is something AI generators do a lot. All I can say in my defence is that I have been liberally using them since my typewriter days. If you find it in your heart to trust my authorial authenticity, I am grateful <3 ↩︎
3. If you choose to purchase a book through an Amazon link on this blog, I may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. Supporting your local independent bookstore (e.g., https://biblio.co.uk/) is always a great alternative.
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4. I’d probably need to look this word up, if I weren’t Greek. It’s a type of therapy that involves storytelling. ↩︎

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