Network of European Applied Linguists

The need for more regional cooperation among Applied Linguists is obvious in Europe in particular, where there always has been a vast amount and a wide variety of work in Applied Linguistics, but where cross-border cooperation so far takes place only on a smaller scale.

At a meeting hosted by the Free University of Bolzano, Italy, September 2006, to increase intra-European cooperation, a group of European AILA affiliates agreed with the then AILA Secretary General, Karlfried Knapp, to set up a Network of European Applied Linguists (NEAL).

NEAL has as its objectives to improve communication and cooperation among European Applied Linguists and for this purpose intends

• to inform on a website about latest publications, projects and congresses of the individual national AILA affiliates,
• to organize joint conferences or similar events that make it easier geographically for Applied Linguists from Europe to meet and to exchange ideas,
• to edit a European Journal of Applied Linguistics which focuses on European topics and research done by European scholars in particular and which publishes contributions in several European languages,
• to promote young researches by organizing an annual conference exclusively for junior researchers of Applied Linguistics from all over Europe where they can present their research findings,
• to conduct an annual meeting of representatives from European AILA affiliates where new issues of European concern, in particular with respect to multilingualism will be identified and where priorities for future cooperation will be set,
• to initiate and carry out joint projects to such Europe-related topics.
• to achieve consultative status with the EU and the Council of Europe, given the amount of competence on language policy related issues in Europe available among the European associations of Applied Linguistics.

The organization of NEAL is intended to be as lean as possible and is mainly restricted to a NEAL Coordinator. Until the next meeting of the representatives from the European AILA affiliates involved at the AILA World Congress 2008, NEAL is being coordinated by the AILA Secretary General.

At present, the national associations of Applied Linguistics from the following countries have joined NEAL:

Austria

Verband für Angewandte Linguistik (VERBAL)

Belgium

Association Belge de Linguistique Appliquée (ABLA)

Finland

Association Finlandaise de Linguistique Appliquée (AFinLA)

France

Association Française de Linguistique Appliquée (AFLA)

Germany

Gesellschaft für Angewandte Linguistik (GAL)

Italy

Associazione Italiana di Linguistica Applicata (AItLA)

Ireland

Irish Association for Applied Linguistics (IRAAL)

Netherlands

Association Néerlandaise de Linguistique Appliquée (ANéLA)

Switzerland

Association Suisse de Linguistique Appliquée (VALS/ASLA)

Spain

Asociación Española de Lingüística Aplicada (AEsLA)

Sweden

Association Suédoise de Linguistique Appliquée (ASLA)

United Kingdom

British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)

Current activities of NEAL

• In January 2007, the first “European Junior Researchers Congress of Applied Linguistics” took place at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. The next one will be held in Arhus, Danmark, 2009.
• In June 2007, the Second NEAL Meeting took place at the University of Erfurt, Germany, where members of special interest groups formed at the First NEAL Meeting in Bolzano made presentations on the problems of language testing for citizenship in EU member states, on multilingual literacy, and on the impact of lay theories of language and language acquisition on language policies.
• NEAL will be represented with a string of Europe related symposia at the 15th AILA World Congress in Essen, Germany, 2008.
• Mouton-de Gruyter Publishers, Berlin, is currently negotiating with the AILA Secretary General the founding of the European Journal of Applied Linguistics.
• The 3rd NEAL meeting will take place at the 15th AILA World Congress in Essen 2008, the 4th NEAL meeting will be organized jointly by the Finnish and the Swedish affiliate in autumn 2009.
• With the help of a questionnaire sent to all individual members of the European AILA Affiliates in spring 2008, NEAL will survey the fields of interest and preferred areas as well as ways of cross-border cooperation among European Applied Linguists.

Last Updated: 2008-08-28