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. 189–191
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Epilogue
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
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.22.epilogue
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.22.epilogue
Abstract
The International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) was founded in 1964 in France as a global
association to promote the study and application of linguistics to real-world problems. Over the decades, AILA has expanded
into a worldwide network of national affiliates, organizing congresses, research networks, and publications that address
issues such as language education, multilingualism, linguistic discrimination, and language policy and planning. In recent
years, AILA has marked an important milestone: its diamond jubilee celebrating 60 years. The 20th World Congress was held in
Lyon, France in 2023 and the 21st World Congress took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2024. This epilogue gives a short
account of AILA’s origins, evolution, congresses and ongoing contributions to advancing applied linguistics as a dynamic and
socially responsive field.
Keywords: AILA, 60th anniversary, applied linguistics, linguistic diversity, SDGs, AILA 2023, AILA 2024
