with Michael Long served to define thefield of AL.”“Recently livening
things up with her promotion of complexity theory.”“She is a pioneer and
thinks outside the box.”“She triggered debates on the dynamic nature of inter-
languages.”“She is one of the few applied linguists who have worked on both
teaching practices and fundamental research.”“She bridges the gap between
theory and practice like nobody else.”“She is much more open minded than
many of her American colleagues; open to questioning her ownfindings.”
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997)“Chaos/complexity science and second language
acquisition”,Applied Linguistics, vol. 18, no. 2: 141–65.
Larsen-Freeman, D. and Long, M. (1991)An Introduction to Second Language
Acquisition Research, New York: Longman.
Michael Long
Michael Long’s work covers a wide range of topics related to focus on form/
forms, and the role of the linguistic environment. He has been a strong
defender of the critical period hypothesis. He was the symbol of the mod-
ernist/cognitive approach to SLA along with his colleagues in Hawaii for a
long time.
“Promoter of the interaction hypothesis and of research on instructed
language learning/‘focus on form’.”“Very productive and prolific in his
writings.”“Edited the influentialHandbook of Second Language Acquisition
with Catherine Doughty.”“Sometimes relentless in his views on other
applied linguists, but a source of inspiration for many.”
Long, M. (1983)“Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the
negotiation of comprehensible input”,Applied Linguistics, vol. 4, no. 2: 126–41.
Long,M.H.(1996)“The role of the linguistic environment in second language
acquisition”in: W.C. Ritchie and T.K. Bahtia (eds), Handbook of Second
Language Acquisition, New York: Academic Press, pp. 413–68. Reprinted
in L. Ortega (ed.),Second Language Acquisition: Critical Concepts in Linguistics,
London: Routledge.
Henry Widdowson
Henry Widdowson has been a highly influential contributor to the commu-
nicative language teaching movement through his promotion of functional
perspectives on language. He has had an impact on both sides of the Atlantic
and worked on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and English
for Special Purposes (ESP) well before it became fashionable.
“He is an independent thinker and a brilliant speaker in the British tradition.”
“Helped develop a coherent model of communicative language teaching.”“For
his theorizing of the discipline, his work on discourse analysis and stylistics,
his rigorous critiques, and his exposure of muddled thinking.”“A keyfigure
in communicative language teaching as well as critical discourse analysis, as
well as his considerations concerning global English.”“His writings go to the
42 The leaders