Book – 60 Years of Applied Linguistics

Book – 60 Years of Applied Linguistics

2026.03.22.2026.03.22.

Dear Colleagues,

At the request of Foreign Affairs Secretary Katalin Fogarasi, we would like to inform you that the book 60 Years of Applied Linguistics: Toward more engaged research, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company, has been released.

Further information is available in the notice below.

Dear colleagues,

We are delighted to announce the publication of 60 Years of Applied Linguistics: Toward More Engaged Research, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company.

The volume echoes discussions from the anniversary lab congress of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (AILA) at the AILA World Congress 2023 in Lyon (France), marking 60 years of applied linguistics and reflecting on how the field can move toward more engaged research in response to today’s educational and societal challenges.

A meeting in 2017 with Isabel Colón de Carvajal and Nathalie Blanc began a very human journey that cannot be forgotten. This book, completed with Shona Whyte, symbolizes many hours of collaboration and work to promote applied linguistics. It also stands as a testimony to the role of the Association française de linguistique appliquée (AFLA) since 1964, created with AILA in Nancy (France).

The book is available in open access, in line with our commitment to open science: https://benjamins.com/catalog/aals.22?srsltid=AfmBOopXpOvJzMjuHZ2YuscGqpWNtn3rxE9JqpjLAH13twUmtPnkthVF

Thanks to the authors: Henry Widdowson, Claire J Kramsch, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Angela Creese, Azirah Hashim, Kyria Finardi, Virginia Yip, Annick De Houwer, Alexandre Duchêne, Jean-Paul Narcy-Combes, Georges Daniel Véronique, Eilika Fobbe, Burrows Alice, Luisa Fernanda Acosta Córdoba !

Table des matières – Applied Linguistics

Preface: Visible and invisible languages in Applied Linguistics

Claire Kramsch

Introduction: Towards more engagement (even after) 60 years of Applied Linguistics

Nathalie Blanc, Isabel Colón de Carvajal, Shona Whyte & Grégory Miras

The place of bilingualism in Applied Linguistics research

Chapter 1: Toward diversification of bilingual acquisition research – Insights from heritage bilingualism

Virginia Yip

Chapter 2: The importance of research-based outreach activities for supporting bilingual families

Annick De Houwer

New roles and identities for Applied Linguistics researchers

Chapter 3: An ethical-aesthetic account of giving an AILA keynote

Angela Creese

Chapter 4: Language as a trace – The challenges of Applying Linguistics in the legal sphere

Eilika Fobbe

Emerging discourses for social change

Chapter 5: Arturo Escobar’s „Pluriversality” paradigm – Key issues for Applied Linguistics facing the organic crisis of the 21st century

Luisa Fernanda Acosta Córdoba

Chapter 6: Research in language education, implications of present-day changes

Jean-Paul Narcy-Combes

Chapter 7: ‘Real people’s concerns’ – Paradigm shifts in Applied Linguistics through AILA

Shona Whyte & Diane Larsen-Freeman

Applied Linguistics: Current challenges and disputes

Chapter 8: Applied Linguistics and the emergence of Foreign Language Didactics in France (1958–1984)

Georges Daniel Véronique

Chapter 9: The French Association of Applied Linguistics and its pre-history – Political issues in the early emergence of a discipline

Alice Burrows

Chapter 10: Problems with problems and solutions in Applied Linguistics – Some considerations and propositions

Alexandre Duchêne

Chapter 11: Diversity in Applied Linguistics

Henry Widdowson

Azirah Hashim

Postface: Shining diamonds and invisible mines intertwined in the history of AILA

Kyria Finardi

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Grégory Miras

Professeur des Universités en Didactique des Langues / Full Professor of Applied Linguistics

Coordonnateur du groupe Langues de l’INSPE de Lorraine

Directeur de la Maison pour les langues en Lorraine

AILA Executive Board Member as Research Networks (ReN) Coordinator

Co-Editor-in-chief EUJAL – De Gruyter Brill