Future Research Directions for Applied Linguistics (Second Language Acquisition)

This edited volume provides an overview of current thinking and directions for further research in applied linguistics by bringing together in a single volume a range of perspectives regarding original research agendas and innovative methodological approaches. It focuses not only on the challenges that applied linguistics researchers have been facing in recent years but also on producing workable and productive research designs and on identifying ways of how alternatives to conventional research methodologies can be used. Discussions featured in the volume include the so-called ‘Bilingual Advantage’ in psycho- and neurolinguistics; the optimal starting age debate in foreign language learning; the growing interest among applied linguists in more nuanced and more complex (statistical) data analysis and the priority given to more descriptive and social approaches to linguistics rather than to theorising. The collection will be a useful reference and stimulus for students, researchers and professionals working in the areas of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, second language acquisition and second language education.

Simone E. Pfenninger is Assistant Professor at the University of Salzburg. Her principal research areas are multilingualism, psycholinguistics and individual differences (e.g. the age factor) in SLA, especially in regard to quantitative approaches and statistical methods and techniques for language application in education. Recent books include Beyond Age Effects in Instructional L2 Learning: Revisiting the Age Factor (2017, co-authored, Multilingual Matter), The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic Perspectives (2017, co-edited, CUP), and Future Research Directions for Applied Linguistics (2017, co-edited, Multilingual Matter). She is co-editor of the Second Language Acquisition book series for Multilingual Matters.

Judit Navracsics is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Her research interests are bi- and multilingual development in early childhood, the bilingual mental lexicon and bilingual processing.