Alison Mackey

Knownfor

AwardsCondé Nast Award, Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences (2025)^[1], International Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Association's Distinguished Achievement award (2023),^[2] American Association for Applied Linguistics's Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award (2022),^[3] Georgetown University's Presidential Scholar-Teacher Award (2019),^[4] Georgetown's Provost’s Career Research Award (2019),^[5] Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize (2016)^[6]

DisciplineLinguist

Sub-discipline

Second language acquisition

Alison Mackey
Known for	Second language acquisition Task-based language learning Research Methodology
Awards	Condé Nast Award, Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences (2025)^[1], International Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Association's Distinguished Achievement award (2023),^[2] American Association for Applied Linguistics's Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award (2022),^[3] Georgetown University's Presidential Scholar-Teacher Award (2019),^[4] Georgetown's Provost’s Career Research Award (2019),^[5] Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize (2016)^[6]

Academic work
Discipline	Linguist
Sub-discipline	Second language acquisition
Institutions	Georgetown University Lancaster University (summer)

Website	Mackey on the website of Georgetown University

Alison Mackey is a linguist who specializes in applied linguistics, second language acquisition and research methodology and is one of the most highly cited scholars in the world in these areas. ^[7]^[8]

Work for a general audience

Since 1998, Alison Mackey has been a professor at Georgetown University.^[9] Since 2012 she has been a researcher during the summers in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University where she now holds the title of Distinguished Professor. Since 2020 Mackey has been Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown and co-Director of the grant-funded Assessment and Evaluation Language Research Center.

From 2014-2025, Alison Mackey was the Editor-in-Chief of the Cambridge University Press journal, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.^[10]

Since 2014, Mackey has been a co-founder of IRIS (the Instruments for Second Language Research digital repository).^[11]

Since 2000, Mackey has been a series editor of the Routledge Second Language Acquisition Research series and since 2015 of the accompanying Taylor and Francis Handbooks in SLA series.^[12]

Mackey has published two articles in The Guardian, one suggesting that different types and levels of motivation might be one key to second language learning, and a cognitively-oriented follow-up piece on What happens in the brain when you learn a language?.^[13]

Mackey has published a book for a general audience, The Bilingual Edge: Why, when and how to teach a child second language (HarperCollins, with Kendall King).

Research

Mackey's most cited book is "Second language research: methodology and design" (with Susan M. Gass)^[14] and her most cited journal article is Conversational Interaction and Second Language Development: Recasts, Responses, and Red Herrings? (with Jenefer Philp), published in The Modern Language Journal in 1998.^[15] One of her most important contributions to the research methodology area is her second most highly cited book "Stimulated recall methodology in second language research," which established this data collection approach as a key part of the second language research area.

Publications

Mackey has publications in all of the major applied linguistics research journals, including Studies in Second Language Acquisition, The Modern Language Journal, Language Teaching Research, Applied Linguistics, System, TESOL Quarterly, the AILA Review, Language Learning, and International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, amongst others. She has published books with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, Taylor and Francis, John Benjamins, Wiley-Blackwell and Lawrence Erlbaum.

Awards

2025: Condé Nast Award, Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences^[16].

2023: International Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning Association's Distinguished Achievement award^[17]
2022: American Association for Applied Linguistics's Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award^[18]
2019: Georgetown University's Presidential Scholar-Teacher Award^[19]
2019: Georgetown's Provost’s Career Research Award^[20]

2016: Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize (with Susan Gass)^[21]

Bibliography

Books

Bryfonski, L. & Mackey, A. (2024). The art and science of language teaching. Cambridge University Press
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (Eds.). (2023). Current approaches in second language acquisition research: A practical guide. Wiley Blackwell.
Mackey, A. & Gass, S. M. (2021) Second language research: Methodology and design (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Mackey, A. (2020). Interaction, Feedback and Task Research in L2 Learning: Methods and Design. Cambridge University Press.
Culpeper, J., Mackey, A. & Taguchi, N. (2018). Second language pragmatics: From theory to research. Routledge. (Nominated for the 2019 AAAL book award)
Gass, S.M., & Mackey, A. (2017). Stimulated Recall Methodology in Applied Linguistics and L2 Research. Routledge.
Mackey, A., & Marsden, E. (Eds.). (2016). Instruments for research into second language. Taylor and Francis.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design Second Edition. Routledge.
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2013). The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition. Routledge.
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2013). Second language interaction in diverse educational contexts. John Benjamins Publishing.
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2012). Research methods in second language acquisition: A practical guide 2nd edition. Wiley Blackwell.
Mackey, A. (2012). Input, interaction and corrective feedback in L2 classrooms. Oxford University Press.
Mackey, A., & Polio, C. (Eds.). (2008). Multiple perspectives on interaction in second language acquisition. Taylor and Francis.
Philp, J., Oliver, R., & Mackey, A. (Eds.). (2008). Second language acquisition and the young learner: Child’s play? John Benjamins.
Mackey, A. (Ed.). (2007). Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies. Oxford University Press.
Gass, S. M., & Mackey A. (2007). Data elicitation for second and foreign language research. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
King, K., & Mackey, A. (2007). The bilingual edge: The ultimate guide to how, when and why to teach your child a second language. HarperCollins.

Journal articles

Mackey, A., Bryfonski, L., Ku, Y. (2024). Research methods for IDs and TBLT: A methodological review.
Mackey, A., Cook, K. L., & Fell, E. (in press). Open Science and research materials. In L. Plonsky (Ed.), Open science in applied linguistics. John Benjamins.
Mackey, A. & Bryfonski, L. (2022). Output in language learning: Why it’s important and ways to promote it in person and online. Elements Journal.
Mackey, A., Fell, E., de Jesus, F., Hall, A., & Ku, Y. Y. (2022). Social justice in applied linguistics: Making space for new approaches and new voices. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 42, 1–10.
Mackey, A., Gass, S. M., Fell, E., & Sagdic, A. (2022). The interaction approach and individual differences factors in SLA. In S. Li (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and individual differences (pp. 13–14). Routledge.
Doughty, C. J. & Mackey, A. (2021). Language aptitude: Multiple perspectives. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 1–5.
Mackey, A. (2020) Navigating graduate school and academia: Key questions and answers. In L. Plonsky (Ed.), Professional development in applied linguistics: A guide to success for graduate students and early career faculty (pp. 21–40). John Benjamins.
Mackey, A. (2020). The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics at 40: Looking back and moving ahead. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 1–8.
Mackey, A., Bryfonski, L., Parlak, O., Pipes, A. Sagdic, A, Suh, B-R. (2020). Tools to measure feedback’s effectiveness. In H. Nassaji & E. Kartchava (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Language Learning and Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Ziegler, N. & Mackey A. (2020). Interactional research and corpora: The intersection of interaction and corpus research. In N. Tracy-Ventura & M. Paquot (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and corpora. Routledge.
Heift, T., Mackey, A., & Smith, B. (2019) History, pedagogy, data and new directions: An introduction to the educational technology issue. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 39, 1–7.
Abbuhl, R., Ziegler, N., Mackey, A., & Amoroso, L. (2018). Interaction and learning grammar. In J. I. Liontas (Ed.), The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. Wiley Blackwell.
Bryfonski, L. & Mackey, A. (2018). Interaction in study abroad settings. In C. Sanz & A. Morales-Front (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Study Abroad Research and Practice. Routledge.
Mackey, A. & Bryfonski, L. (2018) Mixed Methodology. In A. Phakiti, P. De Costa, L. Plonsky & S. Starfield (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology. Palgrave Macmillan.
Philp, J., Borowcyk, M. & Mackey, A. (2017). Exploring the Uniqueness of Child Second Language Acquisition (SLA): Learning, Teaching, Assessment, and Practice. The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 37, 1-13
King, K., & Mackey, A. (2016). Research methodology in second language studies: Trends, concerns and new directions. Article selected for The Modern Language Journal 100th Anniversary Edition, 209–227.
Bygate, M., Gass, S., Mackey, A., Oliver, R., & Robinson, P. (2016). Theory, empiricism and practice: Commentary on TBLT in ARAL 2016. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 1-9.
Mackey, A. (2015). Methodological practice and progression in second language research methods. AILA Review 7(1), 80–97.
McDonough, K., Crawford, W., & Mackey, A. (2015). Creativity and EFL students’ language use during a group problem-solving task. TESOL Quarterly.
Mackey, A. (2014). Exploring questions of balance in interaction research. In J, Hulstijn, R, Young, & L, Ortega (Eds.). Bridging the gap: Cognitive and social approaches to research in language learning and teaching. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36(3).
Goo, J., & Mackey, A. (2013). The case for methodological rigor. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 35.
Goo, J., & Mackey, A. (2013). The case against the case against recasts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(1), 127–165.
Mackey, A., & Sachs, R. (2012). Older learners in SLA research: A first look at working memory, feedback, and L2 development. Language Learning, 62(3), 704–740.
Mackey, A., Adams, R., Stafford, C., & Winke, P. (2010). Exploring the relationship between modified output and working memory capacity. Language Learning, 60, 501–533.
Fujii, A., & Mackey, A. (2009). Interactional feedback in learner-learner interactions in a task-based EFL classroom. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 47, 267–301.
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2008). Syntactic priming and ESL question development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 30(1), 31–47.
Mackey, A., Al-Khalil, M., Atanassova, G., Hama, M., Logan-Terry, A. & Nakatsukasa, K. (2007). Teachers’ intentions and learners’ perceptions about corrective feedback in the L2 classroom. Innovations in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 129–152.
Mackey, A., Kanganas, A., & Oliver, R. (2007). Task familiarity and interactional feedback in child ESL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 285–312.
Carpenter, H., Jeon, S., MacGregor, D., & Mackey, A. (2006). Learners’ interpretations of recasts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28(2), 209–236.
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2006). Input, interaction and output: An overview. AILA Review, 19, 3–17.
Mackey, A. (2006). Feedback, noticing and instructed second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 27 (3), 405–430. ∗ Cited over 500 times (Google Scholar)
Mackey, A. (2006). From introspections, brain scans, and memory tests to the role of social context: Advancing research on interaction and learning (Epilogue). Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28(2), 369–379.
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2006). Responses to recasts: Repetitions, primed production and linguistic development. Language Learning, 56(4) 693–720.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2006). Pushing the methodological boundaries in interaction research: An introduction to the special issue. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28 (2), 169–178.
Philp. J., Oliver, R., & Mackey, A. (2006). The impact of planning time on children's task-based interactions. System, 34(4), 547–565.
Gass, S. M., Mackey, A., & Ross-Feldman, L. (2005). Task-based interactions in classroom and laboratory settings. Language Learning, 55, 575–611.
Mackey, A., & Silver, R. (2005). Interactional tasks and English L2 learning by immigrant children in Singapore. System, 33(2), 239–360.
Mackey, A., Polio, C., & McDonough, K. (2004). The relationship between experience, edu- cation, and teachers’ use of incidental focus-on-form techniques. Language Teaching Research, 8(3), 301–327.
Mackey, A., Oliver, R., & Leeman, J. (2003). Interactional input and the incorporation of feedback: An exploration of NSNNS and NNSNNS adult and child dyads. Language Learning, 53(1), 35–66. ∗ Cited over 300 times (Google Scholar).
Mackey, A., Gass, S. M., & McDonough, K. (2000). How do learners perceive interactional feedback. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22(4), 471–497. ∗ Cited over 700 times (Google Scholar); 5th most highly cited article in SSLA history.
Mackey, A., & Philp, J. (1998). Conversational interaction and second language develop- ment: Recasts, responses, and red herrings?.The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 338–356. ∗ Cited over 1000 times (Google Scholar).

v t e Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University
Academics	Charles Alderson Paul Baker David Barton Martin Bygate Jonathan Culpeper Norman Fairclough Sylviane Granger Claire Hardaker Luke Harding Rosalind Ivanić Keith Johnson Francis Katamba Paul Kerswill Veronika Koller Judit Kormos Geoffrey Leech Alison Mackey Tony McEnery Marije Michel Greg Myers Jenefer Philp Geoffrey Sampson Elena Semino Anna Siewierska Mick Short Jane Sunderland Theo van Leeuwen Ruth Wodak
Alumni	Anthony Baxter Lilie Chouliaraki Ali Hajjaj Rami Hamdallah Ray Honeyford Karattuparambil Jayaseelan Majid KhosraviNik Alec McHoul Sarah Mercer Ahdaf Soueif Mary Talbot
Partner universities	Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Other	DIALANG Lancaster-Oslo-Bergen Corpus

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat
National	United States France BnF data Czech Republic Netherlands Norway Latvia Korea Israel Catalonia
Academics	CiNii ORCID Scopus
People	Trove DDB
Other	IdRef Yale LUX

Work for a general audience

Research

Publications

Awards

Bibliography

Books

Journal articles

References

External links

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