Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication research, information science, natural language processing, anthropology, and sociology. Applied linguistics is a practical use of language.
Rod Ellis is a Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winning British linguist. He is currently a research professor in the School of Education, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is also a professor at Anaheim University, where he serves as the Vice president of academic affairs. Ellis is a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program and an emeritus professor of the University of Auckland. He has also been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Henry George Widdowson is a British linguist and an authority in the field of applied linguistics and language teaching, specifically English language learning and teaching.
The ELTons are international awards given annually by the British Council that recognise and celebrate innovation in the field of English language teaching. They reward educational resources that help English language learners and teachers to achieve their goals using innovative content, methods or media. The ELTons date from 2003 and the 2018 sponsors of the awards are Cambridge English Language Assessment and IELTS. Applications are submitted by the end of November each year and they are judged by an independent panel of ELT experts, using the Delphi Technique. The shortlist is published in March and the winners announced at a ceremony in London in June. The 2018 awards were held in a new venue, Savoy Place, Institute of Engineering and Technology, London, UK.
William Leap is an emeritus professor of anthropology at American University and an affiliate professor in the Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Florida Atlantic University. He works in the overlapping fields of language and sexuality studies and queer linguistics, and queer historical linguistics.
Zhù Huá (祝华), is Professor of Language Learning and Intercultural Communication at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London, and Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics. She was previously Chair of Educational Linguistics in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, and Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication at Birkbeck College, University of London. She was a member of the Education subpanel of the 2021 UK Research Excellence Framework (REF), member of the 2020 Hong Kong Research Assessment Exercise, and chairs the grant assessment panel for language and linguistics for the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. She is Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK, and the International Academy for Intercultural Research https://www.intercultural-academy.net/.
Li Wei is a British linguist, journal editor, and educator, of Manchu-Chinese heritage, who is currently the Director and Dean of the UCL Institute of Education, University College London. He is an elected Fellow of the British Academy, Member of Academia Europaea, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). Prior to his appointment as IOE's Director and Dean in March 2021, he held a Chair of Applied Linguistics, was Director of the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the UCL Institute of Education, and directed the ESRC UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership. Until the end of 2014, he was Pro-Vice-Master of Birkbeck College, University of London, where he was Chair of Applied Linguistics and Director of the Birkeck Graduate Research School. His research interests are in bilingualism and multilingualism. He founded a number of journals in linguistics and education.
Guy W. D. Cook is an applied linguist. As of 2023, he is Emeritus Professor of Language in Education at King's College London in the UK. He was Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics from 2009–2012 and Chair Mentor from 2012–2013. He teaches and writes about English language teaching, literary stylistics, discourse analysis, advertising, and the language of food politics.
Alison Wray FAcSS FLSW is a Research Professor in Language and Communication at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. She is known for her work on formulaic language.
Stephen Pit Corder was a professor of applied linguistics at Edinburgh University, known for his contribution to the study of error analysis. He was the first Chair of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, 1967–70, and was instrumental in developing the field of applied linguistics in the United Kingdom.
The International Association of Applied Linguistics, or AILA, was formed in 1964 as an association of various national organizations for applied linguistics. AILA has more than 8,000 members in more than 35 different applied linguistics associations around the world. AILA continues to grow, working with existing and emerging regional networks, such as AILA East Asia, AILA Europe, AILA Arabia, and AILA Latin America. Its most high-profile activity is the World Congress of Applied Linguistics, which takes place once every three years. It also has two publications, AILA News, a newsletter, and the AILA Review, an academic journal.
Suzanne Romaine is an American linguist known for work on historical linguistics and sociolinguistics. From 1984 to 2014 she was Merton Professor of English language at the University of Oxford.
Bethan Benwell, is a British linguist. She has been a senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics, for the Division of Literature and Languages, at the University of Stirling since 2008.
Judith Baxter was a British sociolinguist and Professor of Applied linguistics at Aston University where she specialised in Gender and Language, and Leadership Language. She served in editorial positions with several academic journals.
Bencie Woll FAAAS is an American–British linguist and scholar of sign language. She became the first professor of sign language in the United Kingdom when she was appointed Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies at City University, London in 1995. In 2005, she moved to University College London where she became Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies and Director of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL).
Jane Sunderland is a British linguist and playwright. She is currently an Honorary Reader in Gender and Discourse at the Department of Linguistics and English Language of Lancaster University, United Kingdom. Her research focuses on language and gender, Identity and language learning and critical discourse analysis.
Martin Bygate is a British linguist. He is currently an honorary professor at the Department of Linguistics and English Language of Lancaster University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on applied linguistics with a special focus on tandem language learning, pedagogical grammar and task-based language learning.
Keith Johnson is a British linguist. He is currently an emeritus professor at the Department of Linguistics and English Language of Lancaster University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on applied linguistics with a special focus on second language acquisition and language teaching.
Ingrid Piller is an Australian linguist, who specializes in intercultural communication, language learning, multilingualism, and bilingual education. Piller is Distinguished Professor at Macquarie University and an elected fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Piller serves as Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Multilingua and as founding editor of the research dissemination site Language on the Move. She is a member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts.
Athelstan Suresh Canagarajah is a Tamil-born Sri Lankan linguist and currently an Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied linguistics, English, and Asian studies at Pennsylvania State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2007. His research covers World Englishes and teaching English to speakers of other languages. He has published works on translingualism, translanguaging, linguistic imperialism, and social and political issues in language education. His book, Translingual Practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations, has won three nationally recognized best book awards.
