AILA President’s Vision 2024 – AILA
Dear colleagues and members of the AILA family,
At the end of the 2024 AILA World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, which celebrated AILA’s 60th anniversary and Diamond Jubilee, Azirah Hashim, the first President from Asia handed the baton of the AILA presidency over to me, the first President from Latin America. Though there had been other women presidents before us (Susan Gass from 2002 to 2008 and Claire Kramsch from 2014 to 2017), Azirah and I are the first ones from the Global South and together with our now almost 40 national affiliates spread in all continents, this is reason to celebrate with the maturity of a unique and truly global
organization like AILA.
2024 is an emblematic year for many reasons, one of which is the welcoming of Rwanda, our African affiliate into the AILA family. One of my favorite African proverbs states that ‘If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together’, and because I want AILA to go very far I want to thank those who walked before me as well as those who are walking with me starting with Azirah Hashim for her invaluable contributions during her term as President as well as all AILA officers that walked before me. I am also indebted to Laura Gurzynski-Weiss, Marlies Whitehouse, Glenda El Gamal, Low Ee Ling, Limin Jin, Tarja Nikula, Susanna Nocchi, Markus Bieswanger, María Luisa Carrió-Pastor, Avizia Long, Christina Gitsaki and Zahadin Omar, who served AILA in different rolesduring my term as Vice-President. I am also very excited to welcome those who will walk with me during my term as President: Vice-President Markus Bieswanger, Secretary General Glenda El Gamal, Treasurer Rasmus Steinkrauss, Past President Azirah Hashim; Research Networks Coordinator Grégory Miras, Publications Coordinators Susanna Nocchi and Chris Jenks, and Members-at-large Tarja Nikula, María Luisa Carrió-Pastor, Kendall King and Ee-Ling Low; as well as AILA Congress Coordinator Christina Gitsaki and
Webmaster Andre Duarte.
In Brazil we have a special category for people who are 60+, we call them the ‘the best age’ and they get priority treatment in all public spaces. As AILA reaches its maturity and ‘best age’, I am happy to look back and see that most of the priorities listed by past presidents have been addressed. We have strengthened our ties with UNESCO and raised awareness of social issues that permeate the work of applied linguists such as those listed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that include but are not limited to: peace building, the elimination of poverty and inequality, and the delivery of quality education. In so doing we are mindful of the importance of language and the work of applied linguists to create a more socially just, inclusive, equitable and diverse world with the possibility of collaboration towards a peaceful coexistence. While we celebrate these achievements, we look around and into the future and see a world still plagued by different crises stressing the need to continue with these efforts if we are to
reach those goals creating societal impact through our work.
The Brazilian patron of Education, Paulo Freire, used to say that the reading of ‘the world’ precedes the reading of the word. He also saw education as liberation and a way to change the world, not as a transference of knowledge but rather as the creation of opportunities for the creation of knowledge. Considering the role of languages in education and in the creation and expression of realities and knowledges (yes, in the plural!), I want to bear these ideals with me during my term as AILA President.Still looking back, I can see we have also strengthened ties with our national affiliatesand regional networks, but there is still room to leverage these networks by creating and expanding opportunities for applied linguists to work and network together. The shift of presidency to Asia and now to Latin America coupled with the presence of national affiliates in all continents is evidence of AILA’s capacity to adapt, expand and
include new voices and perspectives and this gives me hope for the future.
As I look ahead, I am humbled to accept the baton of President knowing that ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’ (Ubuntu), or as the Brazilian proverb says ‘nenhum de nós é tão bom quanto todos nós juntos’ – ‘none of us are as good as all of us together’ and it is in this spirit that I count on your support and look forward to working with all
of you in this journey.
Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 16th, 2024
Obrigada, Thank you!
Kyria Finardi