For decades, the university-wide Department of Languages managed disciplines covering English, Filipino, Spanish, and Literature. But in 2010, English was spun off as an independent department under the Faculty of Arts and Letters for the purpose of laying the groundwork for the establishment of an academic program called Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies (BA-ELS) at the University of Santo Tomas. Corollary to this change, the Asian Journal of English Language Studies was established to create a platform for faculty members, and graduate and undergraduate students to publish their research papers. The publication was intended to support the development of a research culture and, at the same time, promote excellence among the faculty members and students under the Department of English.

The first volume of AJELS was released in October 2013, with Dr. Marilu Rañosa-Madrunio as the founding editor-in-chief. She was supported by the inaugural editorial board composed of Dr. Alejandro S. Bernardo, Mr. Roy Randy Y. Briones, Dr. Veronico N. Tarrayo, and Dr. Camilla J. Vizconde, who was then-chair of the UST Department of English. AJELS was conceptualized with the help of prolific researchers, including Dr. Allan B. De Guzman of UST and 13 scholars from international universities who served as the Journal’s advisory board. Among the supportive advisors of AJELS during its early years were Dr Resty M. Cena (formerly of University of Alberta, Canada), Dr Christopher Conlan (formerly of Curtin University, Western Australia), Dr Azirah Hashim (University of Malaya, Malaysia), Dr Paul Kei Matsuda (Arizona State University, USA), and Dr Ricardo Ma. D. Nolasco (University of the Philippines). With their valuable guidance and the vision and work of the founding editorial team, the journal was officially launched on February 10, 2014. At present, it has in its roster about 30 outstanding academics from reputable institutions around the globe who serve as peer reviewers.

From 2013 to 2017, AJELS was published in print. In 2018, the journal became fully online and open access. To accommodate more articles, AJELS started releasing issues biannually (June and December) in 2024. The shift to online, biannual publication was made possible through the University’s full support.

While the publication is based in the University of Santo Tomas, it welcomes contributions from across the globe, thereby appealing to a wide international readership in the field of linguistics and language education.