possibly been most influential through his role as book editor, which is
much underrated. He has also articulated an important position on AL in
relation to professional practices.
“A brilliant editor and as someone who spots promising people early, a
stimulator with a sense of development of what is emergent. Good antenna
for what is likely to be the next thing.”“He knows how to manage people in
different ways.”
He was president of AILA for six years.
Breen, M. and Candlin, C. (1980)“The essentials of a communicative
curriculum in language teaching”,Applied Linguistics, vol. 1, no. 2: 89–112.
Candlin, C. (2002)Research and Practice in Professional Discourse, Hong
Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.
Michael Halliday
Michael Halliday is the founder of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG),
which has had a substantial impact on AL, in particular in Australia, but
also in a number of universities in the United States and the UK. He argued
for a connection between social structures and language at a time when language
was mainly seen as a cognitive phenomenon.
Halliday, M. and Hasan, R. (2014)Cohesion in English, New York: Routledge.
Halliday, M. and Matthiesen, C. (2014) An Introduction to Functional
Grammar, New York: Routledge.
Lourdes Ortega
Lourdes Ortega is one of the upcoming researchers in AL. Her meta-analysis
(with John Norris) of form-focused instruction is one of the most important
studies in AL in the last decades. She also wrote an introductory text on
SLA. She is the main editor of the journalLanguage Learning.
“She is an excellent methodologist, promoter of systematic reviews, also
committed to steering AL toward a focus on multilingualism.”“As general
editor ofLanguage Learning she is very supportive of upcoming young
researchers.”“Few match her on knowledge of thefield, both historical and
current.”
Norris, J. and Ortega, L. (2000) “Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A
research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis”,Language Learning,vol.50,
no. 3: 417–528.
Ortega, L. (1999)“Planning and focus on form in L2 oral performance”,
Studies in Second Language Acquisition, vol. 21, no. 1: 109–48.
James Cummins
James Cummins is best known for his work on Cognitive Academic Lan-
guage Proficiency (CALP), Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)
The leaders 45