AILA Newsletter – September 2025
What's on in Applied Linguistics ...
Newsletter
September 2025
Welcome to the third edition of the AILA newsletter in 2025. We invite all to read, share, subscribe and contribute to this vehicle to stay tuned with news from the AILA family.
AILA Europe
A special issue “European Junior Applied Linguists in a globalized world”, edited by Grégory Miras & Sin Wang Chong will be online published in the of “European Journal of Applied Linguistics” during autumn 2025. The issue will contain 10 papers presented at the European Junior Researcher Meetings 2022-2024.
The AILA-Europe Annual meeting 2025 will take place on 10 October 2025. Among the topics will be the organization of the next Junior Researcher Meetings as well as further development of AILA Europe network.
JAAL in JACET
Since joining AILA in 1984, the Japan Association of College English Teachers (JACET) has worked to promote applied linguistics research in Japan as JAAL in JACET. In the early years, the field of applied linguistics was still emerging in Japan, and even today, it would be difficult to say it has become fully established across the academic landscape. Nevertheless, JACET has consistently pursued its mission by fostering dialogue, encouraging collaboration, and keeping its doors open to other associations in the field of language education.
A major milestone in this effort came in 2018, when JACET launched the annual JAAL in JACET Research Exchange Meeting. These gatherings have provided an important platform for researchers, educators, and graduate students to exchange ideas and present their work. The seventh meeting, held in 2024, featured vigorous discussion through symposia on topics such as the politics of applied linguistics, inclusivity, and English language education, reflecting the diverse and evolving concerns of the discipline.
Looking ahead, JAAL in JACET is preparing to take a more active role in shaping the future of applied linguistics research in Japan. This year’s eighth Academic Exchange Meeting, to be held in December 2025, will expand its schedule to include more presentations, symposia, and networking opportunities. Additionally, at the 64th JACET International Convention in the summer of 2025, a dedicated JAAL in JACET session will be introduced to showcase interdisciplinary approaches to language education research. Through these initiatives, we aim not only to deepen academic exchange but also to strengthen ties with a broader range of language education organizations, both domestic and international.
An important part of this vision is the creation of a data commons for applied linguistics in Japan. With the rapid improvement of digital research infrastructure in recent years, we see a timely opportunity to establish a shared repository that will allow easy access to past and current research data. Such a resource will be invaluable for enabling smoother collaboration, avoiding duplication of effort, and accelerating progress in the field.
Finally, a note on AILA East Asia. Comprising JACET (Japan), CELEA (China), and ALAK (Korea), this regional body held its most recent meeting in Japan in 2024. Unfortunately, the timing coincided with the typhoon season, necessitating substantial schedule changes and the shift of the symposium to an on-demand online format. In September 2025, AILA East Asia will be hosted in Seoul, Korea. We look forward to continuing this rotation hosting system, which we believe will further strengthen the applied linguistics community and enhance scholarly exchange throughout East Asia.
Through these collective efforts, JAAL in JACET remains committed to fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and forward-looking applied linguistics community in Japan and beyond.
AIALA
The Iberoamerican Association of Applied Linguistics (AIALA) organized a symposium during the 14th national congress (CBLA) of the Brazilian Association of Applied Linguistics (ALAB), held in Aracaju, Brazil, between 14-18 July. The symposium, organized by AIALA Coordinator, Kyria Finardi, and ALAB President, Doris Matos, welcomed applied linguists from Brazil, Spain, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, United States and Switzerland showcasing 12 paper presentations in Spanish, Portuguese and English, the working languages of AIALA. To read a personal account of the symposium by AAAL representative in AIALA, Anne Marie Guerrettaz, click on the link below:
https://aila.info/aialacbla-by-anne-marie-guerrettaz/
ReNs (by Grégory Miras)
AILA continues to connect researchers, educators, and practitioners worldwide through its Research Networks (ReNs), fostering exchange and innovation in applied linguistics. The AILA ReN cycle aims to highlight and showcase the 16 Research Networks accepted for the 2025–2027 period. This promotional cycle offers a variety of formats to capture the dynamism of these networks, including written interviews with ReN convenors and webinars bringing together two ReNs to explore shared themes.
On 25 June 2025, the EMEVEDI ReN and the Inclusive Foreign Language Education ReN inaugurated the first AILA ReN joint webinar, Thinking Inclusivity in Applied Linguistics. The session invited ReN co-convenors to reflect on how equity, diversity, and inclusion—approached through a decolonial lens—are influencing current research and practice. Convenors Marina Orsini-Jones, Mirjam Hauck, Carlos Alberto Hildeblando Júnior, Luciana Cabrini Simões Calvo, Elena Gómez-Parra, and Joanna Pfingsthorn brought together voices from a wide range of cultural, institutional, and geographical contexts. In line with open science principles, the video recording is now accessible on the AILA YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/CcO5CIFdrLc.
The conversation continues this autumn with the upcoming webinar From Language Policy to Autonomy in Applied Linguistics, featuring the Learner Autonomy ReN (ReNLA) and the Language Policy Research Network (LPReN). Sarah C.K. Moore, David C. Johnson, and Christine O’Leary will lead this online discussion on 30 September 2025, from 5:00 to 6:00 pm CEST. Registration is now open at this link: https://u2l.fr/ailawebinar2.
The two most recent reports from the AILA ReN coordinator are available free to read in the INJAL journal – a partner of AILA:
April 2025 report: First written interview about ReN RECAL – Research & Educational Cultures in Applied Linguistics – with Paola Gamboa and Claire Kramsch
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijal.12752
July 2025 report: A short summary of the first AILA Joint Research Network Webinar on Thinking Inclusivity in Applied Linguistics
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijal.12808
ALAA
The Australian Applied Linguistics Association - ALAA - is excited to launch the first edition of the ALAA newsletter. Click here to view.
Upcoming Events
ICLHE Porto Alegre, Brazil 24-27 September
https://www.even3.com.br/8thiclhe/
ALTI Malang, Indonesia 8-10 October
The Indonesian Association of Applied Linguistics – ALTI –
https://teflin.org/2025/01/22/call-for-abstract-the-71st-teflin-international-conference/
MAAL 2025 KL, Malaysia November, 10-12
https://maalic.maal.org.my/
AITLA 2026 Bologna, Italy, Feb. 12-13
https://eventi.unibo.it/congresso-aitla-2026
AAAL 2026 Chicago, USA, March 21-24
https://www.aaal.org/2026-call-for-proposals
GERA Congress 2026 Disruptions, Munich, Germany, March 22-25
https://aila.info/gera-congress-2026-disruptions/
AAAL Virtual 2026, April 24th
https://www.aaal.org/aaal-2026-conference
LTRC 2026 Montreal, June 2-6 Call for Proposals
https://aila.info/ltrc-2026-montreal/
Publications
AILA Review
AILA Review is the official journal of AILA. The Journal publishes empirical and state-of-the-art research in applied linguistics. The first issue of AILA Review appeared in 1984. Up to Volume 15, the journal was published by AILA on its own platform. From Volume 16, AILA Review is published by John Benjamins. AILA Review is a Scopus-indexed journal with two issues published each year: a special issue and an open-themed issue. Free access to AILA Review is one of the benefits available to AILA members.
HOW TO ACCESS AILA REVIEW AS AN AILA MEMBER (NATIONAL AFFILIATE)
AILA Review can be accessed freely through the AILA App.
- Login to the AILA App at https://aila-net.app
No account: If you do not have an account, please register in the login page where the REGISTER tab is located and receive a link in your email inbox to confirm your email address. The AILA webmaster will verify your registration and it will be approved once your national affiliate has confirmed your membership. This is usually completed within 14 days.Retrieve forgotten password: Use the ‘Lost your password?’ link located at the bottom of the login form, to reset your password.Forgot email address I used to signup: Use the ‘Lost your password?’ link, located at the bottom of the login form. If the email exists in the system, it will send a new link to reset your password.
- Once logged in, click the AILA Review icon to get to the link to access the journal.
Special Issue AILA Review (forthcoming)
The founders of the research network EMEVEDI (https://aila.info/research/list-of-rens/english-as-a-medium-of-education-multilingualism-and-the-sdgs-equity-diversity-and-inclusion/) organized a themed issue to explore approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in applied linguistics focusing in particular on unequal relations of power manifested in language ideologies and practices in diverse educational and social contexts. The papers in the 38(2) special issue, which is expected to be published in October 2025, discuss the hegemony of English and Eurocentric norms from a decolonial perspective, providing examples of inclusive language education. The role of researchers, applied linguists and language educators in promoting a more critically informed, plural, and culturally rich environment for knowledge production and language teaching, learning and use is also discussed. In this issue the authors explore how applied linguistics can foster the development of EDI in multilingual approaches and contexts identifying, interrogating and/or interrupting the legacy of coloniality in language practices and views. The special issue titled Decolonial approaches to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Applied Linguistics – addressing local and global EDI challenges is guest edited by professors Kyria Finardi, Marina Orsini-Jones and Azirah Hashim. To view the titles of the papers, click here.
Mirhosseini, S. A., & De Costa, P. I. (Eds.). (2025). Critical English Medium Instruction in Higher Education. Cambridge University Press
This volume calls for an explicit and inclusive critical understanding and investigation of EMI, conceptualizing criticality as any attempt at addressing issues of ideology, policy, identity, social justice, and the politics of English. The book highlights the notion of ‘Critical EMI’, bringing together applied linguists to revisit EMI in higher education from critical sociocultural perspectives. Situating EMI within wider sociopolitical contexts of knowledge, it examines the theory, research, policy, and practice of EMI as necessarily situated within ideological relations shaped by language and society. The chapters are organized in three parts (‘Ideologies and educational policies’; ‘Identity and educational justice’; ‘The sociopolitics of English in education’) and overall problematize the neocolonial spread and dominance of English through EMI. Contributors’ affiliations and the contexts of their research and writing include a range of countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania.
DOI (CUP book webpage): https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009386456
A Book Review in ‘Applied Linguistics’ (OUP): https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amaf048
A related ‘Critical EMI’ paper by Editors: https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2024.2382260
Call for Special Issue Proposals on Generative AI and Multilingual Education
The Journal of Education for Multilingualism (JEM) is an international, peer-reviewed, and open-access scholarly journal that is devoted to the field of multilingual education. The online-only journal is primarily concerned with the education of multilingual individuals at various educational levels, beginning from kindergarten to higher education, and also focuses on workplace literacy settings. JEM encourages scholarship grounded in interdisciplinary frameworks that offer insights from related disciplines such as applied linguistics, school psychology, linguistic anthropology, and sociology of education. Although articles are written in English, the journal also invites original studies dealing with the learning and teaching of languages other than English.
JEM aims to foster, present, and disseminate current research, policies, and practices that focus on issues related to multilingualism in global educational spaces. The journal is committed to becoming a preeminent research platform for all multilingual education researchers, advocates, applied linguists, foreign/second language teachers, program administrators, and students of language teaching. JEM maintains a strong international outlook by employing a diverse editorial board and publishing studies based in various contexts. It has a mission to continue bridging the gap between theory and practice in multilingual education. The journal also articulates the role of advocacy in launching and implementing promising programs and practices.
JEM is seeking guest editors for Volume 3/Issue 2 to be published in December 2026. We especially welcome special issue proposals that explore the intersection of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and multilingual education. If you are interested in proposing a special issue that is aligned with the aims and scope of the journal, please send a special issue proposal to the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Huseyin Uysal, at by October 15, 2025. For the instructions for special issue proposals, please see JEM’s Submission Guidelines.
CFP - Special Issue: Rethinking Educational Practice with AI
Over the past decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has become more than a buzzword in education – it is now deeply embedded in teaching, learning, assessment, and governance. This special issue responds to the growing need to critically synthesize, compare, and expand our understanding of how AI transforms education. We aim to collect contributions that go above and beyond the logic of technological innovation and address how educational purposes, pedagogical practices, and institutional structures are being reconfigured through the integration of AI. For more information, click here.
Deadline for submissions: November 15th, 2025
Expected publication: October, 2026
Submission guidelines: https://vo.hse.ru/manuscript
Stay Tuned
To receive the AILA newsletter, register at https://aila.info/members/welcome/newsletter/ and please share it widely, keeping us up to date about relevant actions and events to be announced in the upcoming issues. We plan to publish newsletters in March, June, September and December every year and invite all affiliates to send us updates and news to include in them. To keep us up to date with news and contacts from your affiliate, please write to and .
Best wishes,
Kyria
Professor Kyria Finardi
President, AILA International Association of Applied Linguistics