British Association for Applied Linguistics
British learned society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) is a learned society, based in the UK, which provides a forum for people interested in language and applied linguistics.
BAAL organises regular meetings of its members at various venues in the UK,[1] publishes conference proceedings, issues a regular newsletter and awards student scholarships.[2] There is an elected Executive Committee (EC) that represents the interests of members. The current chair is Professor Zhu Hua of UCL Institute of Education.
BAAL has an international membership of over 1200 members and is a registered charity in the UK (Charity number 246800).[3]
Activities
BAAL organises scientific meetings. It supports applied linguistics activity. It brings together the applied linguistics community viaBAALmail, its dedicated webmail list, through which members share and discuss applied linguistics-related news, achievements and opportunities.
BAAL is also officially represented on the advisory board of the journal Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press).
Annual Conference
Since 1967 BAAL has held an annual conference. At the conference three prizes are awarded: the annual Book Prize, the Richard Pemberton prize for the best postgraduate student paper and a prize for the best poster presentation.
Recent conferences and conference themes
- 52nd – 29–31 August 2019, Manchester Metropolitan University: 'Broadening the Horizons of Applied Linguistics'.
- 51st – 6–8 September 2018, York St John University: 'Taking risks in applied linguistics'.
- 50th – 31 August-2 September 2017, University of Leeds: 'Diversity in Applied Linguistics: Opportunities, challenges, questions'.
- 49th – 1–3 September 2016, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge: 'Taking stock of Applied Linguistics: Where are we now?'
- 48th – 3–5 September 2015, Aston University, Birmingham: 'Breaking Theory: New Directions'.
BAAL Book Prize winners, runners-up, and shortlists
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Migration, Adult Language Learning and Multilingualism | Anna-Elisabeth Holm | Routledge/Taylor & Francis | Won |
| Listening Without Borders: Creating Spaces for Encountering Difference | Magdalena Kubanyiova and Parinita Shetty | Multilingual Matters | Runner-up | |
| The Bloomsbury Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes | Robert Blackwood, Stefania Tufi and Will Amos | Bloomsbury Publishing | ||
| Monolingual Policies in Multilingual Schools | Jürgen Jaspers | Oxford University Press | Shortlisted | |
| 2024 | Engaging Children in Applied Linguistics Research | Annamaria Pinter | Cambridge University Press | Won |
| Multilingual Families in a Digital Age: Mediational Repertoires and Transnational Practices | Kristin Vold Lexander and Jannis Androutsopoulos | Routledge | Runner-up | |
| Language, Discourse and Anxiety | Luke Collins and Paul Baker | Cambridge University Press | Shortlisted | |
| Political Activism in the Linguistic Landscape: Or, how to use Public Space as a Medium for Protest | Philip Seargeant, Korina Giaxoglou and Frank Monaghan | Multilingual Matters | ||
| Social Justice and the Language Classroom: Reflection, Action, and Transformation | Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart | Edinburgh University Press | ||
| The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights | Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson | Wiley | ||
| 2023 | Standards, Stigma, Surveillance: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and England's Schools. | Ian Cushing | Palgrave | Won |
| Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Concepts, Contexts and Challenges | Glenn Stockwell | Cambridge University Press | Runner-up | |
| Gender Diversity and Sexuality in English Language Education: New Transnational Voices | Darío Luis Banegas and Navan Govender | Bloomsbury | ||
| Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness | JPB Gerald | Multilingual Matters | Shortlisted | |
| The Inner World of Gatekeeping in Scholarly Publication | Pejman Habibie and Anna Kristina Hultgren | Palgrave Macmillan | ||
| Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes | Robert M. McKenzie, Andrew McNeill | Routledge | ||
| 2022 | Language as Symbolic Power | Claire Kramsch | Cambridge University Press | Won |
| Community, Solidarity and Multilingualism in a Transnational Social Movement | Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà | Routledge | Runner-up | |
| Language in a Globalised World: Social Justice Perspectives on Mobility and Contact | Khawla Badwan | Palgrave Macmillan | ||
| Linguistic Penalties and the Job Interview | Celia Roberts | Equinox | Shortlisted | |
| The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality | Jo Angouri and Judith Baxter | Routledge | ||
| Transcultural Voices: Narrating Hip Hop Culture in Complex Delhi | Jaspal Naveel Singh | Multilingual Matters | ||
| 2021 | The Dynamics of Dementia Communication | Alison Wray | Oxford University Press | Won |
| Academic Irregularities: Language and Neoliberalism in Higher Education | Liz Morrish & Helen Sauntson | Routledge | Runner-up | |
| Corpus, Discourse and Mental Health | Daniel Hunt and Gavin Brookes | Bloomsbury | Shortlisted | |
| Innovations and Challenges in Applied Linguistics from the Global South | Alastair Pennycook and Sinfree Makoni | Routledge | ||
| Ontologies of English: Conceptualising the Language for Learning, Teaching, and Assessment | Christopher J. Hall & Rachel Wicaksono | Cambridge University Press | ||
| 2020 | Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities | Gabrielle Hogan-Brun & Bernadette O'Rourke (eds.) | Palgrave Macmillan | Won |
| 2019 | Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning | James W. Tollefson & Miguel Pérez-Milans (Eds.) | Oxford University Press | |
| 2018 | Posthumanist Applied Linguistics | Alastair Pennycook | Routledge | |
| 2017 | Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. | Ingrid Piller | Oxford University Press | |
| 2016 | World Englishes: A Critical Analysis. | Mario Saraceni | Bloomsbury Academic | |
| 2015 | Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. | O. Garcia & Li Wei | Palgrave Macmillan | |
| 2014 | Translingual practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations | Suresh Canagarajah | Routledge |
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
BAAL has a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which meet regularly and provide opportunities for researchers to share, promote and develop work within specific areas of applied linguistics.
The current SIGs are:
- Corpus Linguistics
- English as an Additional Language [EAL]
- Health and Science Communication
- Intercultural Communication
- Language, Gender and Sexuality
- Language and New Media
- Language in Africa
- Language Learning and Teaching
- Language Policy
- Linguistic Ethnography Forum
- Linguistics and Knowledge about Language in Education (LKALE)
- Multilingualism
- Professional, Academic and Work-based Literacies (PAWBL)
- Testing, Evaluation and Assessment
- Vocabulary Studies
History
BAAL was founded in the 1960s, as interest increased in the science of linguistics and its practical applications - for example, in language teaching and learning.
BAAL's creation was the result of a proposal by Peter Strevens, recently appointed to a new chair in Applied Linguistics at the University of Essex. At a preliminary meeting of interested parties at Birkbeck College in July 1965, a narrower remit was discussed than the wider set of issues that the Association would ultimately concern itself with. Initially, it was suggested that it might focus on language teaching and machine translation, but the first full meeting in 1967 at the University of Reading agreed to broaden the scope. BAAL emerged as the UK affiliate of AILA, with Pit Corder its first chair.
Membership was narrowly defined in the early years, but a feeling that the Association could afford to widen recruitment was apparent by the early 1970s. In 1985, a requirement for formal qualifications, already flexible, was dropped; and today anyone can join.
The BAAL Archive is housed in the Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick.