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In:60 Years of Applied Linguistics: Toward more engaged research
Edited by Grégory Miras, Isabel Colón de Carvajal, Nathalie Blanc and Shona Whyte
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 22] 2026
► pp. 116–125

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Chapter 7
‘Real people’s concerns’

Paradigm shifts in Applied Linguistics through AILA

ORCiD logo with link | Université Côte d’Azur
ORCiD logo with link | University of Michigan
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 9 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.22.07why
Abstract
This article draws on written and oral exchanges between the authors in preparation for a video capsule series celebrating key figures in AILA history at the 2023 Lyon Congress. Diane Larsen-Freeman’s work on the nature of language and the learning and teaching of language needs no introduction: here we focus on three aspects of the field where her contribution has been particularly impactful. The first part of the chapter considers the ‘social turn’ in applied linguistics and Larsen-Freeman’s analysis of the important contribution to this new direction by Firth and Wagner (1996, 1997). Second, we examine the development of the domain of research known as complex dynamics systems theory (CDST) in collaboration between Larsen-Freeman and colleagues de Bot, Lowie, and Verspoor in the Netherlands. The final section of the chapter reflects Larsen-Freeman’s concern throughout her career for humanist aspects of aims and methods in applied linguistics and the relevance of this approach to questions of diversity and inclusiveness in today’s complex, interconnected world.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.The social turn in applied linguistics
  • 2.Complex Dynamic Systems Theory
  • 3.A humanist approach to Applied Linguistics
  • References
References (29)
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