Some of my informants will be disappointed to see the two hour interview
reduced to two quotes. I have done my best to spread the number of cita-
tions over informants, but some of them simply said more or had more to
say than others, or their views coincided with those of others that made
listing separate names unnecessary. There were about one hundred informants
in this study so I had to be selective in the use of my quotes. Also, having
even more quotes would make the reading more cumbersome.
This book was not written with a specific readership in mind. It may serve
researchers to connect trends and see them in their historical perspective.
For students in programs on AL it may be a useful introduction with infor-
mation about the origins of thefield and what direction it is taking. It is not
written as a course book with assignments and recommended reading, but it
may well be used as such.^1
Finally, a note on my own position in thefield. This is a complex issue,
since it is difficult to be objective about oneself. I could have refrained from
referring to myself altogether, but informants mention my work and con-
tributions. I have simply added the informants’ comments and listings,
without further additions. Whether informants have mentioned my work to
please me or not, I will never know, it is not a question I asked. When I
express a view that is not based on comments from my informants, I have
added“in my view”. Otherwise, the views mentioned are based on the surveys
and interviews.
Note
1 One of the reviewers suggested a series of seminars that requires students to read
the top ten articles (see Chapter 5), discuss why they might have been chosen by
the participants in this study and reflect on the relevance of the articles to their
own experience of/career in AL.References
Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980)“Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to
second language teaching and testing”,Applied Linguistics, vol. 1, no. 1: 1–47.
Clark, H. and Clark, E. (1977)Psychology and Language: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics,
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Davies, A. (2007)An Introduction to Applied Linguistics, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.
Davies, A. and Elder, C. (2004)The Handbook of Applied Linguistics, Oxford: Blackwell.
de Bot, K., Lowie, W. and Verspoor, M. (2005)Second Language Acquisition: An
Advanced Resource Book, London: Routledge.
Dörnyei, Z. (2012)Motivation in Language Learning, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language
Education Press.
Hakuta, K. (1987)Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism, New York: Basic
Books.
Howatt, A. (1984)A History of English Language Teaching, Oxford: Oxford University
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6 Introduction