Timeline1

Les Cahiers de l'APLIUT

In December 1980, this journal was created by Anne Pradeilles, founder of the Association des Professeurs de Langues des Instituts Universitaires de Technologie (APLIUT – University Institutes of Technology Language Teachers Association) in 1977.

this was to be a place of meetings and discussions, a way to come together and a learned society with two objectives:
- disseminating the results of considerable teaching research from many colleagues, as a one-off or over the course of a year; yet, lacking publication, these resources remain ignored instead of benefiting the students of all their lecturers and helping the latter to advance in their teaching methods;
- disseminating applied research on more specific themes by examining the enriching part that cutting across disciplines can play for language for specific purposes.

Anne Pradeilles was the manager and only chief editor of the Cahiers de l’APLIUT until 1987, when she was assisted by Leo M. Carruthers. Starting from issue no. 34-35 (September 1989), Michel Prum dealt with all things editorial. Monique Mémet became deputy chief editor in 1992. Gradually, an editorial team was formed. In 1995, Anne Pradeilles ceased to teach and was succeeded by Michel Prum and then Mireille Hardy in 2001. Mirelle Hardy was chief editor for 14 years and gave the journal a new lease of life in the process. She was on the lookout for relevant scientific themes for readers and led the (onerous) task of placing the materials on line on revues.org, and also worked with Persée for the digitisation of all issues between 1980 and 2000. In 2015, having mastered the art of online publishing and how to manage a journal over the course of the year, Linda Terrier took over from Mireille Hardy as scientific director and chief editor of the journal. From 2022, three associations co-managed the journal: Apliut, Ardaa and Ranacles, the last two having coordinated several issues at the invitation of Mireille Hardy since 2014. Back then, the objective was to pool research results in language teaching and learning and to extend the journal’s scope to other sister associations in the field. That way, links could be created to promote valuable joint work. Increasing momentum over the years led to the scientific co-management of the journal in 2022. Marco Cappellini, vice-president in charge of research at Ranacles, Danielle Joulia, president of Apliut and Pascale Manoïlov, president of Ardaa, are co-managers.

Researching and Teaching Languages for Specific Purposes – Cahiers de l’APLIUT

The journal, Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité (Researching and Teaching Languages for Specific Purposes), has been on line on revues.org since October 2011. Cahiers de l’APLIUT became its subtitle.

In 2023, following an editorial shift, the title changed to Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues (Researching and Teaching Languages), Ex Cahiers de l’APLIUT and the journal accepted themes of language teaching and learning from primary school to university level and from the most general to specific language for specialists, not forgetting language for specific purposes.

Mireille Hardy gradually posted the January 2001 to June 2011 volumes on line. Previous volumes from 1980 to 2000 were handled by Persée and are now available in digital format on its website: http://www.persee.fr/collection/apliu. The journal became entirely digital in 2016.

Collaboration had led to the reorganisation of the publishing process. In the 2014-2021 period, the journal’s editorial committee was assisted by a coordination committee for each issue. The journal’s management dealt with the publication of the issues produced by each coordination team, and remained available at each stage to help smooth double-blind evaluation of articles.

Since the journal had become a joint one, publication frequency became biannual, with the possibility of a one-off October issue from 2016. It was prepared by joint editorial committees, comprising the associations and researchers involved in research on language teaching and learning in higher education. The journal accepted invited or special issues if the theme complied with the editorial line.

Since 2022, scientific management has centred on three advisers who are members of Apliut, Ardaa and Ranacles. They have constituted a board, which ensures the coherence and quality of the journal and establishes scientific guidelines. They suggest editorial committees for the monitoring of issues, liaising with their respective adviser. Each issue is dealt with from start to finish, with the exception of Varia issues. Papers are produced after a conference or study day, and calls for contributions are drafted by the issue coordinators and validated by scientific management.

Printing the journal

The first issue of the Cahiers de l’APLIUT had been bound in decidedly amateur fashion and the cover, in A4 format, had been lettered by hand (as one would a notebook). (https://www.persee.fr/issue/apliu_0248-9430_1980_num_1_1). The cover of the following issue looked more professional but print runs were not standard at all and some pages even included numbers such as “3A”! At the time, ownership of a personal computer was rare and authors typed their work manually, giving them a hand-made appearance. Up until 1996, regional managers had to affix an adhesive tape on each copy of the Cahiers to bind the pages before sending them to subscribers. A more attractive adhesive tape was later automatically added in the printing department.

Gradually, the journal evolved from home-made to quasi-professional. Since 1993, manufacturing the Cahiers has been almost entirely computerised: the documents to be published, which used to be sent to the editors via floppy disks, were revised and laid out. Rapid transformations were subsequently achieved. The growth of the Internet and electronic messaging made it easier for authors and reading committee members to discuss submissions, which have been exclusively electronic since.

The journal was posted on the revues.org website in 2011. Paper issues continued to exist until 2015 and the journal became entirely digital in 2016.

Publications

The Cahiers first addressed its initial needs and aims: to publish its annual conference proceedings and to disseminate the reports of teaching experiments and research undertaken over the past year. A reading committee was set up from volume XV (September 1995). Since the February 2011 issue, the words “conference proceedings” no longer featured on the cover, as contributions from communications to the annual conference are subject to a double-blind evaluation, as are all the articles received by the journal.

From the second year of publication and issue no. 2, September 1981, the Cahiers became a regular quarterly publication with issues in September, December, March and June. From 2003 to 2014, the journal was published three times a year and volumes match the year in question. From 2015, it became biannual, with the possibility of additional invited or special issues.

Special issues were also published throughout these years:

• Fichiers périodiques des langues de spécialité (Regular files on language for specific purposes), supplement to XI/3 (no. 44) March 1992 (1^st ed.) and XII/3 (no. 48) March 1993 (2^nd ed.), compiled by Monique Mémet;

• Mémento (Memento), supplement to Cahiers XIV/1 September 1994, written by Georges Guerrier, an update of the first Mémento de l’enseignement des langues en IUT (Memento of language teaching in University Institutes of Technology) (Cahiers no. 9, June 1983), produced by Georges Manceau;

• In order to reach three annual publications from February 2023, a special issue (the fifth in volume XXI) was published in October 2002.

• L’APLIUT, Histoire, Mémoire (The APLIUT, history and memories), a special issue on the history of APLIUT and its journal, a supplement to volume XXIII/3 (October 2004);

• 25 ans de Cahiers, 25 fiches pédagogiques, (Twenty-five years of the Cahiers and twenty-five notes on teaching experiments) vol. XXIV/3 which marked the journal’s anniversary – this issue bore a blue cover (October 2005);

• 40 ans de Cahiers (Forty years of the Cahiers), vol 40/2: to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the journal (June 2021).

The journal has evolved over the years and its numbering system and graphic design/visual identity has been revised, as has its presentation.

Numbering

The Cahiers numbering changed over time: the first publications only had an Arabic numeral (from no. 1 to 26). From 1987, numbering turned into academic journal numbering; in other words, the volume number featured in it (for example, no. 27 vol. VII/2). For smoother transmission, the two numbering systems were kept until 1994. In the March 1995 and following volumes, only the volume number remained (for example, vol. XIV/3).

As Recherche et pratiques pédagogiques en langues de spécialité followed on from the Cahiers de l’APLIUT, the decision was taken to continue numbering the volumes, when the title changed.

Since 2016, numbering has been kept with fully digital numbering but in a different format: volume numbers are in Arabic and no longer Roman.

Visual identity and presentation

The journal’s visual identity and presentation have improved over the years. The logo, created in 1977 by APLIUT member Jean-Marie Dessaux, was designed using the Stop font from the Letraset company; the then recently invented fonts mirrored technological innovation.

A visual identity redesign was undertaken with the March 1998 XVII/3 issue, which had improved shaping – with a full-colour perfect bound cover – and a more modern and readable logo, thanks to a better combination of capital and lower cases – APLIUT’s initial letter was amended and the space between letters modified. The Cahiers cover also underwent major transformation, which was undertaken by an agency, Graphic Design. The title of the journal (previously also in Stop letters) was separate from the journal, while taking into account publication requirements (meaning the A4 format and the binding method comprising a black strip). The recently designed fonts, The Mix and Frutiger, were chosen to keep the title’s visual impact. The drop initial called to mind the black strip and the general effect (in colour for the XVII/3 issue, https://www.persee.fr/issue/apliu_0248-9430_1998_num_17_3), brought Mondrian to mind and greater impact. Variations in colour palettes had been thought of, however the cover stayed in one colour for a while because of technical and budgetary constraints.

In September 2000, the long awaited change in format took place: the journal was now of a standard size (16.5 cm x 24.5 cm). The cover had a glossy film, acquired one colour (black) with shades of grey and a perfect bound cover.

The visual identity was again modified when the journal went on line on revues.org and changed its title. Marie Blanchard designed the new logo, layout for the site and the new cover, while striving to keep to APLIUT values. The cover of paper volumes remains in shades of grey.