Author Guidelines

Instruction to Contributors

The Linguistics Association for SADC Universities was established on November 26, 1984 at Chancellor College, University of Malawi by the representatives from SADC universities. The main aims of LASU were: (i) to foster cooperation with existing SADC structure by contributing to social development in the region through research in linguistics, literature, language education, and other language-related aspects; and (ii) to promote collaboration and coordination of research resources through the sharing of research materials between teachers and researchers. One of the ways of achieving this laudable objective is the dissemination of research activities through publications. LASU Journal is geared towards achieving this goal. It is intended primarily as a forum for publishing research work produced by LASU members, but submissions from linguists and other language specialists and practitioners throughout the world will be welcome.

Editorial Policy: LASU publishes original articles of a scientific nature focusing on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics issues, research notes and book reviews. The manuscript may be written in English, Portuguese, French, or any African language. However, the Abstract of all contributions must be written in English.

The editorial committee has the right to accept or reject any article submitted to the Journal without divulging the reasons for doing so. No copies of the manuscript or other materials submitted will be returned.

Copyright: LASU journal jointly with the author.

The views expressed in the journal are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of LASU.

Authors will receive a complimentary copy of the journal and five offprints of their contribution(s). This may however become redundant with ultimate online publication that enables the author get direct access to the journal.

Presentation and style format:

• All manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced, on one-side of A4 paper.
• Articles must not exceed 4000 words in length, including the bibliography.
• Abstract should be 100-150 words.
• A separate page should carry the title of the article, its author(s), and e-mail and postal address.
• Submission of the manuscripts should be done electronically in two copies: one in Portable Document File /PDF format and another in Microsoft Word format. This should be accompanied by a separate declaration (in PDF format) signed by the author stating that "the manuscript has not been accepted for publication or has not been published elsewhere".
• Tables, illustrations and figures must be numbered and included in the body of the text.
• Quotations of less than three lines must be included in the body of the text and marked with quotation marks. Quotations of three lines or more must appear indented on both sides and single-spaced.
• References cited in the text should include the author's surname and the year of publication. The page number(s) may follow this. (e.g. Légère 1999: 24).
• Footnotes should be indicated by superscript Arabic numerals and put at the end of the article.
• References should be listed alphabetically at the end of the article using the following format:

Books

Butler, C.S. 1985. Systemic Linguistics: theory and applications, London: Batsford.

Chapters in Books

Ventola, E. 1988. The logical relations in exchanges, In J.D. Benson & W.S. Greaves, Systemic Functional Approaches to Discourse, Norwood, N.J: Ablex, 51-72.

Journal Articles

Batibo, H.M. A Lexico-Statistical Survey of the Setswana Dialects spoken in Botswana. South African Journal of African Languages 19, (1), 2-11.

Theses/Dissertations

Sefako, P. 2000. A Socio-Semiotic Analysis of Native-English and Lesotho-English Kinship Terms. Honour's Dissertation, Department of English, National University of Lesotho.

Newspaper/Magazine Articles

Author, (year, Month, day). Title of article, Title of Newspaper/Magazine, Volume (if available), page numbers.

Websites

Author, A. (Year). Title of webpage. Retrieved Month day, year, from source.

e.g.

Hitchcock, R. & Biesele, R. (1988). San, Khwe, Basarwa, or Bushman? Terminology, Identity and Empowerment in Southern Africa. Retrieved 5 April, 2006, from http://www.kalaharipeoples.org/documents/San-term.htm