In my talk, I foreground what I and my colleagues have learned about discourse in the numerous classrooms we observed in a four-year research study at an urban high school. While Jefferson High had a student body that was linguistically and culturally diverse, it was homogeneous socioeconomically, being labeled ‘low income’. Some of the research I address reveals how the classroom discourse both co-constructed and was influenced by these phenomena. Additionally, my survey of the research reveals that theoretical frameworks shape the research process and, ultimately, what we learn about classroom discourse.

This review highlights recent doctoral research in the United States completed between the spring of 2006 and the fall of 2007 in the areas of language teaching and language learning. Topics of particular interest included language policy, second/foreign language pragmatics, computer-mediated communication, non-native-speaking teachers, academic genre teaching and usage, applied learner corpus analysis, new approaches to corrective feedback, on-line corpora and reference tools, language ideologies, conversation analysis, task complexity, affordances and opportunities in language learning, phonological acquisition, U.S. resident L2 adolescents (sometimes referred to as Generation 1.5 students), language socialization, input processing and parsing, and reconceptualizations of private speech.

This paper reviews 20 representative Ph.D. dissertations on second language (L2) writing and technology completed in the USA over the past decade (2010–2019). These dissertations were selected using advanced search via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Five thematic categories were examined: (1) computer-mediated teacher/peer feedback; (2) automated writing evaluation; (3) computer-based collaborative writing; (4) technology-based writing instruction/assessment; and (5) digital composing/literacy. Each dissertation study was closely reviewed, with the presentation of illustrative tables. After analyzing and discussing the research designs, findings, and contributions of these studies, the authors identified the research trend and highlighted directions for future dissertation research in the field of L2 writing and technology.

This article presents selected research on applied linguistics published in New Zealand, following Language Teaching's commitment to showcase more broadly local research that would not otherwise be easily accessible to an international audience. It covers research conducted and published in New Zealand from 2013 to 2017, following on from Ker, Adams, and Skyrme (2013). It begins with an overview of the language situation in New Zealand, then summarises research into language learning, teaching and use which has appeared in the domestic applied linguistics literature in the period. The review indicates the continuing depth and breadth of research activity in New Zealand. Major themes include the maintenance of languages other than English, notably the official languages, te reo Māori (the Māori language) and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), and strategies to reverse dwindling enrolments in courses in additional languages against the background of growing linguistic diversity. There is interest in innovative methodology, and in processes of assessment and curriculum development to underpin teaching in formal educational settings. The prevalence of studies with a focus on small numbers of cases reflects the preponderance of practitioner-led research. There is, however, a parallel trend towards larger-scale studies indicating capacity to undertake larger, collaborative projects.

The aim of the one-day symposium was to bring together scholars in applied linguistics with an interest in the African languages for the launch of the new AILA Africa regional network. Contributions were in the form of invited research papers from several African countries. This report focuses on the South African contribution, which highlighted current research into the use and development of the African languages for academic purposes in response to the South African National Language Education Policy (South Africa, DoE 2002) with its focus on the development of multilingualism in the country.

Speakers of a second language (L2), regardless of proficiency level, communicate for specific purposes. For example, an L2 speaker of English may wish to build rapport with a co-worker by chatting about the weather. The speaker will draw on various resources to accomplish her communicative purposes. For instance, the speaker may say ‘falling ice’ if she has forgotten the word ‘hail’ or may repeat the last few words of her interlocutor's utterance to show that she is listening and engaged. The term communication strategies (CSs) refers to the strategic use of various resources (both linguistic and non-linguistic) for communicative purposes. While speakers also use CSs in their native languages (L1s), research on L2 CS use is particularly interesting because speakers’ L2 linguistic resources and the associated cognitive processes are typically less developed, compared to those in their L1. Therefore, for L2 users to accomplish their communicative purposes in the L2, it is important that they effectively use the resources available to them. This research timeline presents key developments in theoretical understanding and empirical research targeting L2 CSs, mainly in oral communication. The timeline places particular emphasis on the evolution of theoretical approaches to the study of CSs and the consequent expansion of research in terms of the nature of participants, speech samples, and analytical tools used.

From 2008, a new section of the journal will be dedicated to academic studies which use a replication approach. We invite submissions of previously unpublished articles based on literal, approximate or constructive replication of a previous study or studies of an aspect of L2 education. In keeping with the survey characteristics of Language Teaching, we also encourage submissions of meta-analyses which attempt to combine or synthesise a series of comparable research replications.

This presentation builds on the concept of orientations to languages other than English in the US first suggested by Ruíz (1984). Using examples from recent ethnographic, sociolinguistic, and policy-related investigations undertaken principally in North America, the discussion explores possible connections between individual and group language identities. It demonstrates that orientations to languages are dynamic inside and outside speech communities, varying across time and according to multiple contextual factors, including the history and size of local bilingual groups along with the impact of contemporary economic and political conditions. Often the conceptions of multiple languages reflected in policy and pedagogy oversimplify the complexity documented by research and raise questions for teaching practice.