It was at a meeting of the Board of Language Teaching in 2005 that discussion began on how we might suitably commemorate our 40th year of publication. The late Chris Brumfit made the suggestion that it would be interesting to gather in nostalgia from a number of academics who had started their careers in one of the preceding four decades and ask them to comment on what appeared to them were the major new trends that represented best hopes for the future at that time. As the project grew, we extended the brief to include those who expressed a particular yearning to describe another decade although it did not see the launch of their careers as such. Sadly, Chris is no longer with us to see the fruits of his original idea, but the editors – and those who have here responded to his call – would like to dedicate these reflections to the memory of a man whose commitment to our field spanned all four decades, and more.