ReN Applications Report

Report by Grégory Miras as AILA ReN Coordinator

The AILA Research Networks (ReNs) are enshrined in the statutes and by-laws of the Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée - AILA as a lever for  promoting research on burning issues in applied linguistics arising from real-world problems.

Although the statutes specify a number of 15 ReNs for periods of 3 years, the wording was changed in 2012 to allow greater flexibility according to needs. For the previous period 2021-23, there were 20 ReNs plus a special ReCAL on Research Cultures in Applied Linguistics. During this special period, ReN convenors had the opportunity to organise symposia at the two jubilee congresses, AILA 2023 (Lyon, FRANCE) and AILA 2024 (Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA).

With the return to a three-year cycle, the call for ReNs for the period 2024-27 has focused on finding a balance between renewing ReNs that have demonstrated their impact on the scientific field and allowing new ones to emerge. The idea is to come close to the numbers of ReNs set out in the By-laws, while at the same time proposing a framework that will allow us to build on existing promotional tools (for example, the publication of news in the International Journal of Applied Linguistics) and also to propose new formats (a focus in the President's Newsletter).

The call for proposals was sent out on 9 September, with a deadline of 13 October 24, and projects could be submitted until 16 October, in accordance to the AILA statutes, which stipulate a deadline for submissions up to two months after the end of the AILA Congress, which took place from 11 to 16 August 2024. The submission consisted of filling in a template describing the ReN project. 

The ReN Committee is made up of 4 members, one of whom is a member of the Executive Committee and three of whom are members of the International Committee:

  • Prof. Dr. María Luisa Carrió-Pastor, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
  • Dr. Anitha Devi Pillai, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 
  • Dr. Doris Cristina Vicente da Silva Matos, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil
  • Dr. Caroline Tagg, The Open University, United Kingdom

The Committee met on 19 November 24 to consider each application according to the following criteria, as defined in the AILA by-laws:

  • at least 5 members
  • at least 1 new scholar
  • international team
  • produce a report on the previous year for renewals

but also on items such as :

  • the contribution of the topic to applied linguistics
  • a clear work programme for the period in question 
  • the strategic dimension of the theme for Applied Linguistics

In the end, 16 ReN proposals were accepted including 4 new projects and 12 renewals. They all present the diversity of approaches in applied linguistics.

in ReN: Applications Report / Research