Modern Language Journal

Aims & Scope

The editorial mission of The Modern Language Journal is to publish “research and discussion about the learning and teaching of foreign and second languages.” The MLJ is an international refereed journal that is dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among researchers and teachers of all modern foreign languages and English as a second language.

The journal is particularly committed to publishing high quality work in non-English languages.

Its publication focus is further defined by linking the findings of research to teaching and learning in a variety of settings and on all educational levels.

Article contributions are expected to meet the highest standards of scholarly excellence, advance theoretical knowledge, and explore clearly stated and well supported implications for teaching.

In each of the four regular issues that comprise a volume, The Modern Language Journal publishes 8-10 research studies.

At times, a regular issue may also be guest edited, in which case it focuses on a particular topic.

A supplementary issue of the journal, usually published in January, offers a variety of formats, from guest edited issues to monograph-length publications.

Guidelines for proposing guest edited issues and monographs are posted here on the journal’s Web page.

The MLJ also offers Perspectives, a column that appears in the summer issue and presents timely professional concerns for discussion from various perspectives.

From time to time, the MLJ also publishes invited critical review essays that consider topically related publications written in any language (e.g., monographs, edited volumes, empirical research articles, essays, reports, policy documents) by placing them into a broad context of scholarly inquiry.

The journal is indexed in “Linguistics” and “Education and Educational Research.”

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Impact Factor

Year	Value
2025	4
2024	4.70

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	2.394

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q1

h-index

Year	Value
2024	123

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	1033

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	854

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar
• Web of Science

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

  Citation: 2139

  Authors: ELAINE K., MICHAEL B., JOANN

• Translanguaging in the Bilingual Classroom: A Pedagogy for Learning and Teaching?

  Citation: 1224

  Authors: ANGELA, ADRIAN

• Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A Situational Model of L2 Confidence and Affiliation

  Citation: 1042

  Authors: PETER D., RICHARD, ZOLTÁN, KIMBERLY A.

• On Discourse, Communication, and (Some) Fundamental Concepts in SLA Research

  Citation: 802

  Authors: ALAN, JOHANNES

• A Transdisciplinary Framework for SLA in a Multilingual World

  Citation: 774

  Authors:

• Codemeshing in Academic Writing: Identifying Teachable Strategies of Translanguaging

  Citation: 744

  Authors: SURESH

• Interaction and Second Language Learning: Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together

  Citation: 731

  Authors: MERRILL, SHARON

• Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom

  Citation: 616

  Authors: ZOLTÁN

• Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language: The Japanese EFL Context

  Citation: 601

  Authors: Tomoko

• Negative Feedback as Regulation and Second Language Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development

  Citation: 500

  Authors: ALI, JAMES P.

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