MOUTON EuJAL 2022; aop

Stephanie Risse*
From bud to fruit and back to the roots of the
European Journal of Applied Linguistics

https://doi.org/10.1515/eujal-2022-0037

Abstract: In this epilogue, the issues raised in the editorial are taken up and a
possible framework for future research in the field of applied linguistics in and
for Europe is outlined. It sketches in an essayist manner how and where important
impulses of approaches from the 1970 s can be (re)discovered with a “look back
 

ahead”, a “back to the roots”. In addition to a brief assessment of the current

status of Applied Linguistics, the questions posed by the young researchers at
AILA will be used to indicate the extent to which theoretical models of multilin-
gualism and institutional communication can be taken up and possibly analyti-
cally expanded. The approach of “southern multilingualisms” seems to be just as
fruitful here as the concept of “inclusive multilingualism”. Moreover, the epilogue
is to be understood as a plea to take the epithet “European” of the journal EuJAL
seriously.

Keywords: applied linguistics, multilingualism, Institutional Communication,

AILA Europe, EuJAL

Zusammenfassung: In diesem Epilog werden die im Editorial angesprochenen

Themen aufgegriffen und ein möglicher Rahmen für künftige Forschungen auf
dem Gebiet der Angewandten Linguistik in und für Europa abgesteckt. Essayistisch
wird skizziert, wie und wo mit einem „Blick zurück nach vorn“, einem „back to the
roots“ auch wichtige Impulse von Ansätzen aus den 1970er Jahren (neu)entdeckt
werden können. Neben einer kurzen Standortbestimmung mit den Themen der
Angewandten Linguistik werden die Fragen der Nachwuchswissenschaftler von
AILA dazu genutzt, um anzureißen, inwiefern theoretische Modelle von Mehrspra-
chigkeit und Institutioneller Kommunikation aufgegriffen und womöglich analy-
tisch erweitert werden können. Der Ansatz von „southern multilingualisms“
erscheint hierbei ebenso fruchtbringend wie das Aufgreifen des Konzepts der
„inklusiven Mehrsprachigkeit“. Der Epilog ist überdies als ein Plädoyer zu verste-
hen, das Epitheton „europäisch“ der Zeitschrift EuJAL ernst zu nehmen.

*Corresponding author: Professor Stephanie Risse, Free University of Bozen Bolzano –

Bressanone Site, Faculty of Education, Bressanone, Italy, E-Mail: stephanie.risse@unibz.it

Open Access. © 2022 Stephanie Risse, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2 Stephanie Risse MOUTON

Sintesi: In questo epilogo vengono ripresi i temi affrontati nell’editoriale e viene

delineato un possibile quadro di riferimento per la ricerca futura nel campo della
linguistica applicata in Europa e per l’Europa. In modo saggistico viene illustrato
come e dove si possono (ri)scoprire importanti impulsi degli approcci degli anni
‘70 con uno “sguardo al passato”, un “ritorno alle origini”. Oltre a una breve va-
lutazione della situazione attuale per quanto riguarda i temi della linguistica ap-
plicata, le domande poste dai giovani ricercatori dell’AILA serviranno a indicare
in che misura i modelli teorici del multilinguismo e della comunicazione istituzio-
nale possono essere ripresi ed eventualmente ampliati analiticamente. L’approc-
cio dei “multilinguismi meridionali” sembra essere altrettanto proficuo in questo
caso che riprendere il concetto di “multilinguismo inclusive”. Inoltre, l’epilogo va
inteso come un appello a prendere sul serio l’appellativo “europeo” della rivista
EuJAL.

“In days to come Jacob shall take root again, Israel shall flourish, and the earth
shall be filled with fruit.” So reads verse 27:6 from the Book of Isaiah, intoned by
Alexandra Gnach and Grégory Miras in the editorial of this special issue. They
describe the beginnings of Applied Linguistics in the 1960 s, refers to the clashes
 

of the “linguistic schools” in the 1970 s, followed by the gradual consolidation and
 

institutionalisation of Applied Linguistics at the end of the last millennium.

In 2006, largely at the instigation of Karlfried Knapp, a network of the var-
ious, mostly nationally organised specialist groups was founded. Moreover, this
took place in Bolzano, a place known for its highly complex legal form of institu-
tionalised multilingualism; apart from that, it is the adopted home of the author
of these lines. The form of multilingualism developed for and in the “Autonomous
Province of Bozen-Bolzano” since 1945 is a very good example of an attempt to
solve a problem: There was a violent conflict between two large language groups
in Europe, the Italian and the German, with the (“nationless”) language minority
of the Ladins with two written idioms wedged in between. It could be pacified –
inter alia – with the help of measures to protect languages and cultures. These
measures, which are cast in a legal form in a series of “implementing regulations”
within the framework of the Autonomy Statute of the Province (Risse 2013). It
could be interpreted as a classic case of Applied Linguistics if one follows a com-
mon idea according to which “Fundamental research” understands and describes
problems. Afterwards, it is left to the “Applied Sciences” to deal with and, in the
best case, solve practical problems.
In continuation of the editorial, this epilogue outlines thoughts on which
flowers will blossom from the buds – to stay in the image of Gnach and Miras –
and which linguistic fruits can enrich the scientific landscape in the future. Let’s
 MOUTON From bud to fruit and back to the roots 3

first take a look back, “back to the roots” so to speak, to the question of what
exactly Applied Linguistics has in focus and which expansions and shifts also
await the young generation as challenges.

1 Back to the roots

Without going into the entire discussion on the theory of science concerning an-
tagonism, synergism or the interdependencies of “basic” and “applied” science,
one could refer at least to two widespread patterns of thought in a simplified
manner: Linguistics investigates the structures and uses of languages with the
aim of demonstrating regularities and correlations in the structure and use of lan-
guages and using these findings to describe individual languages as well as for
general theories about the structure of languages, their variation in historical and
social contexts or human linguistic ability. As a rule, the focus is not on coping
with practical problems in life. It corresponds to a widespread pattern of thought
to generally make the applied sciences – in this case: Applied Linguistics – re-
sponsible for dealing with such problems in the sense of a disciplinary division of
labour. (Knapp 2011)
The application-oriented linguists, it is further argued, merely “consume” the
theory which they subsequently apply, preferably in the language classroom. This
leads, on the one hand, to a narrowing of the object of research and, on the other,
to a kind of “de-scientification” of the same. Applied Linguistics should not be
restricted to the classroom but has many institutional contexts to take into ac-
count such as governance, legal, commercial, health care, religious ecc.
But there is a problem. For, to put it simple: Wherever there are at least two
people, there is or are also language(s). Already in 1955, the sociologist Helmut
Schelsky described sexuality, language and tools as cultural achievements and ex-
istential requirements of human beings. It is therefore almost a ‘conditio sine qua
non’ that language can of course be studied theoretically as a system, but it never
takes place ‘in the wild’ under pure laboratory conditions. Language is mostly also
action; at the latest since Austin (1962), this view has been part of the core of a an
academic perspective on language. To let Karlfried Knapp have his say again: “To-
day, applied linguistics can generally be defined as a discipline that deals with the
description, explanation and solution of practical problems in life and society in
the areas of language and communication. These problems do not necessarily ad-
here to disciplinary boundaries; existing linguistic knowledge is not always suffi-
cient to deal with them. The quest for solutions to problems means that applied
linguistics often must go beyond the existing state of linguistic research. They have
to develop new methods and theoretical concepts related to the subject matter,
4 Stephanie Risse MOUTON

while also referring to other disciplines. The distinction between theoretical and
applied linguistics thus becomes obsolete” (Knapp ibid.). The perspective of appli-
cation is an integral part of linguistics understood in this way, which takes linguis-
tic practice and reality seriously as an object of research and, to a certain extent,
finds “evidence-based” solutions as it can enrich theoretical linguistics.
Accordingly, the core areas of Applied Linguistics naturally include all ques-
tions concerning the mediation of languages, if you will, from one’s first breath to
his last. The classical distinction between oral and written communication, be-
tween discourse and text (written discourse), seems to be still fundamental, with-
in media and communication studies this distinction is less fundamental than
before. Analyses and theories on new media show how oral structure enter writ-
ten discourse. As one result the theoretical categorization is being developed in
communication studies.
Beyond the topics of language-related computer applications, learner soft-
ware and hypermedia, communication via messenger services, which is predomi-
nantly conducted in written form and mostly has a discursive function, awaits
theoretical categorisation. There should be mentioned media applications and
analyses of fake news as well. Especially in this field, which is becoming increas-
ingly relevant, it is not only about analysing fake news but also about which com-
municative counterstrategies can be developed. Parallel to the “look back to the
future” outlined in this epilogue, it is also demanded here: “Only by taking a step
back can we examine the vulnerabilities these fake news narratives exploit.” (Ale-
manno 2018: 1)
Starting with the monitoring of language systems, the field of Applied Lin-
guistics also includes “working on language”: this involves language planning,
terminology work, standardisation of specialised languages and, beyond that, the
development and expansion of minority languages or official languages in devel-
oping countries. Applied linguistics extends far into the disciplines of medicine
and jurisprudence when linguists are consulted in the forensic field for example.
Here, the task is to identify text producers or speaker voices or to verify the
authenticity of messages, both written and oral. Likewise, linguists are sometimes
called upon in the diagnosis and therapy of speech disorders and speech loss, in
which case one speaks of clinical linguistics. Diagnostic competences in relation
to the language level of learners are now required by language teachers in and out
of school in our modern societies. The field of medical communication has been
continuously expanded in recent years within the framework of applied linguis-
tics, so that the analyses of doctor-patient communication can be regarded as ex-
emplary for lay-expert communication.
Worldwide events such as the Covid19 pandemic show once again how essen-
tial communication is in times of crisis, whether at the micro level (doctor-patient
 MOUTON From bud to fruit and back to the roots 5

communication) or at the macro level (public communication). Especially the im-

portance of serious journalistic and popular science communication came into
focus during the (currently still ongoing) pandemic. After all, it is important to
communicate complex contents to the public in a comprehensible way to ensure
that corresponding health policy measures are also accepted and not boycotted.
Equally relevant are interdisciplinary approaches such as those being devel-
oped within the framework of media linguistics. Researchers conduct on the inter-
play between language use and public communication conveyed through the
media. They investigate how digital technologies affect verbal and visual commu-
nication and how language, images, visualisations and design can be used most
effectively. This enables them to discover, for example, how social media are
changing the way organisations communicate and opinions are shaped in so-
ciety. This knowledge acts as a catalyst for advancing research because research-
er are developing solutions to the communicative challenges brought on by the
digital transformation. It also helps those in professional contexts and society to
understand how mediated public communication affects our perception of social
worlds and professional practices. Moreover, it is facilitating to understand digital
communication and multimodality. This new systematic approach to the study of
media language as part of Applied Linguistics has its roots in Europe and is
strongly linked to the fields of communication studies and journalism (Gnach et
al. 2022).
In retrospect, Applied Linguistics can be said to have set trends, to have had
its finger on the pulse of the times, especially with the growing interest in ana-
lyses of medical communication. The three foci of this special issue reflect a part
of the variety of Applied Linguistics which means embracing social responsibility
through research and understanding complex societal phenomena with linguistic
methodology. And off course not to forget the above discussed “classroom-per-
spective” with describing advancements in language teaching and learning.

2 From bud to fruit

Grégory Miras – who took over the coordination of AILA Europe in 2022 after a
short period of joint office with Aleksandra Gnach, coordinator since 2015 – also
refers in his editorial to the initially non-English-language name of the interna-
tional network of Applied Linguistics organisations: AILA is the acronym for the
“Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée”, which was founded as
early as 1964 on the fringes of a conference in Nancy, France. To make the close
connection to the international association visible, the European network, which
was founded in Bolzano in 2006, renamed itself “AILA Europe” two years later.
6 Stephanie Risse MOUTON

Graphically, it is not clear whether “Europe” should be French or English; only in

oral language would the difference be audible.
Pointing out that in most European languages the continent ends in “-a” may
seem like a petty nationalist gimmick. However, that would be too short-sighted,
because in the following two points are to be taken up where applied linguistics
and thus also a journal like EuJAL could once again become a trendsetter. And I
mean by this trendsetting via a movement of “back to the roots”, as has already
happened, with the above-mentioned expansion of research on medical and med-
ia communication in the narrower and broader sense.
In 2013, EuJAL – the European Journal of Applied Linguistics – was launched
as a kind of mouthpiece, in close connection with AILA Europe and the capillary-
organised affiliates. The layout of the journal, which appears twice a year, is ap-
propriately broad for the subject area, with the keywords Applied Linguistics, So-
ciolinguistics, Language Planning, Language Policy and Language Learning.
The last three keywords – Multilingualism, EU and Europe – should now be
considered more closely and the focus should be sharpened on what was the ori-
ginal idea, motivation and thus also inspirational for the thematic positioning of
the journal: EuJAL focuses on the particular concerns of applied linguistics in
European contexts, both by addressing problems that are typically relevant for
the linguistic situation in Europe, from those on the level of the EU as a pan-na-
tional body down to the level of the individual, and by examining topics broached
by or discussed in European applied linguistics in particular (e.g. European iden-
 

tity and identification). The call for papers is thematically open, but it states at the
beginning: EuJAL invites original contributions on issues of Applied Linguistics
both relevant for Europe and in Europe.
Topics focussing on Applied Linguistics for Europe will concentrate on ap-
plied linguistic responses to problems with language and communication that
affect Europe as a whole. This includes, but is not restricted to, the following to-
pics:
Language testing for citizenship
Language choice and mediation in EU institutions
The age factor: Rationale of the EU support of early foreign language teaching
Consequences of the supremacy of EU legislation for legal terminology in the lan-
guages of member states
Language contact in Europe Language policies on national and EU levels
Linguistic needs of migrants and minorities
Multilingualism at the workplace
Multilingual families and bilingual first language acquisition in Europe European
approaches to foreign language teaching, e.g. teaching objectives / CEFR...
 
 MOUTON From bud to fruit and back to the roots 7

Topics focussing on Applied Linguistics in Europe will concentrate on issues that

are dealt with by applied linguists in Europe in particular. These include, but are
not restricted to:
CLIL – Content Language Integrated Learning
Linguistic landscapes
Community interpreting
English medium instruction
Receptive multilingualism
Intercultural Communication
Routines and patterns in language learning and communication
Communication in organisational contexts...

The experience of the last few years has shown that the focus of linguistic re-
search is strongly concentrated on aspects of language learning and here espe-
cially on the learning of English. EFL – English as Lingua Franca seems to have
become a kind of magic word; even in the sciences there are topics that are some-
times more strongly, sometimes less strongly in the centre of interest. But this,
apparently, in a journal that has very consciously made multilingualism and thus
precisely the diversity of languages in and for Europe its theme, is rather surpris-
ing. Do the submitters not read the call for papers carefully or has “English only/
ELF” become such a self-evidently dominant theme in linguistic research that it
no longer needs to be questioned? An answer to this question must necessarily be
speculative if no statistical surveys are carried out.
It is welcome that two contributions in this Special Issue deal with the topic of
“Brexit”, since these analyses make clear how pronounced the socially divisive
effect of the “in-group” and “out-group” was via linguistic mediation in the med-
ia. However, a very important field of research, which is virtually imposing itself
in terms of language policy in the wake of Brexit, could be: What are the European
institutions and the citizens in Europe doing now? Will the oft-cited “Eurish” be-
come an independent English variety like US, Australian and New Zealand Eng-
lish have been for a long time? And will English remain the big winner in Europe
(Dorren 2018)? On a macro level, what is happening to the remaining major Eur-
opean national languages? The pressure on the European national languages is
unmistakable and cannot be ignored. English has long dominated ‘top down’ the
sciences, the financial and economic sectors and the political elites of the nation
states, and it has a far-reaching effect on European societies. On the other hand, a
strengthening of linguistic regionalisms can be observed, which expresses geo-
graphical affiliations as well as social affiliations. This has been putting the
high-level languages of Europe under pressure for some time. Not only the
science journalist Gaston Dorren (2018) suspects that we have already crossed a
8 Stephanie Risse MOUTON

threshold beyond which no other language has a chance of becoming the new
lingua franca. Although there are only estimated speaker numbers, it is reason-
able to assume that one in four of the earth’s inhabitants can speak English in
some form and at some level of competence (ibid.). This in turn has implications
for the language, the speakers and the other approximately 6,000 languages we
still find around the world.

3 Back to the roots to get a rich harvest

If we look at the 20 largest languages in the world (measured by the number of
speakers), we will find German, French, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish – or
should we say only – five more languages that have their genuine origins in the
old continent of the political West, i.e., in Europe. Spanish is the third largest
 

language in the world, with an estimated 575 million speakers. The gap to second
place, to Mandarin, is large. More than twice as many speakers speak the lan-
guage that is meant when we say “Chinese” in everyday language. And English
is now thought to have 1.5 billion speakers (Dorren ibid.).
The large field of “intercultural communication” is likely to get an accentu-
ated perspective with the advance of the “superpower English”, because the
equation: “one language = one culture” is as untenable as the equation of “one
language = one nation” was. In other words, even if we should all speak one lan-
guage, we can misunderstand each other if we do not share the same cultural and
socio-political context. This needs to be explored in more detail.
Another field of research could open, apart from the already trendy topic of
language learning, here too a “back to the roots” could be useful: linguistic study
of “communication in institutions”. For example, studies on “Eurish” in the insti-
tutions of the EU and beyond can be imagined, triangulated with studies on re-
ceptive multilingualism.
Backus et al. (2013) have published a fundamental paper on concepts,
modes and implications of inclusive multilingualism in the second issue of
EuJAL. They were departing from a critical discussion of the mother tongue
plus two languages- policy of the EU; a policy that was so important in the EU
at the time that a separate commissioner was appointed for it, Leon Orban was
appointed (2007–2010) who remained the only one as the post was re-merged
into the education and culture portfolio after that. Backus et al. pointed out
that five modes of multilingualism are well-researched constituents of inclu-
sive multilingualism. Those five modes include the use if English as a lingua
franca (sic!), lingue receptiva, codeswitching and translation as well as inter-
pretation. Finally, they outlined implications for a wider concept of communi-
 MOUTON From bud to fruit and back to the roots 9

cative competence and language teaching as well as perspectives for futures

research.

4 Meeting ‘southern multilingualisms’ and

‘institutional communication’
These approaches need to be re-readed and taken into account as well as another
critical approach has to be included if the epithet “European” is to be taken ser-
iously. It is about an arising approach and methodology that unites scholars from
English-speaking countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Africa, Asis as
well as non-English speaking Europe under the title ‘southern multilingualisms’.
For a representative example, see Heugh & Stroud (2019: 1): “We frame multilin-
gualisms through a growing interest in a linguistics and sociology of the ‘south’
and acknowledge earlier contributions of linguists in Africa, the Américas and
Asia who have engaged with human mobility, linguistic contact and consequen-
tial ecologies that alter over time and space. Recently, conversations of multilin-
gualism have drifted in two directions. Southern conversations have become in-
tertwined with ‘de-colonial theory’, and with ‘southern’ theory, thinking and epis-
temologies. In these, ‘southern’ is regarded as a metaphor for marginality,
coloniality and entanglements of the geopolitical north and south. Northern de-
bates that receive traction appear to focus on recent ‘re-awakenings’ in Europe
and North America that mis-remember southern experiences of linguistic diver-
sity. (...) In these, southern multilingualisms are revealed as phenomena, rather
than as a phenomenon defined usually in English. The intention is to suggest a
third direction of mutual advantage in rethinking the social imaginary in relation
to communality, entanglements and interconnectivities of both South and North.”
And it is worthwhile as well to “look back to the future” to focus another
important issue. Let us recapitulate why institutional research initiated the so-
called “pragmatic turn” in linguistics in the 1970 s and the “visual turn” in the late
 

1990 s. The increased importance of the visible led to the confrontation with “mul-
 

timodal” language. Multimodal communication can be found in all areas of life

and is to be re-examined in organisational contexts. Institutions are particularly
suitable for the analysis of concrete and empirical contexts of use. Forms and
conditions of linguistic action can be researched more easily than everyday dis-
course, usually with discourse-analytical methods, because the roles of the parti-
cipants are fixed, their possibilities for action are often standardised and the oc-
casions for communication are repeated. It enables comparability between differ-
ent languages and cultures. This “in turn” can enrich the discussion between the
10 Stephanie Risse MOUTON

individual positions of conversation research, in which Bührig/ten Thije (2005/

2022) propose “mediality”, “interactivity”, “institutionality” and “culturality” as
sub-areas of the definition of “communicative maximum units”.
And finally, one would also like to see a younger generation of researchers
critically self-reflect on the discipline: What is the state of multilingualism in ap-
plied linguistics and within the our association today? In the editorial of this vo-
lume, Miras and Gnach quotes a survey that Karlfried Knapp and Rick de Graaf
sent to 13 affiliates of AILA in 2008. The response revealed a “predominantly lib-
eral attitude towards the choice of languages used at the congresses”. But what
would the choice of languages look like today, almost two decades later? Would
the victory of the “English superpower” (Dorren 2018) be apparent even among
AILA’s affiliates?
In a few months, EuJAL magazine will celebrate its 10th birthday. Ontogen-
etically speaking, EuJAL is still a child, at the transition from primary to second-
ary school perhaps, depending on the European country in which it is institutio-
nalised. The junior researchers to whom this volume is dedicated have met regu-
larly during this period. May they continue to carry impulses into AILA and
EuJAL. And may EuJAL also continue to thrive, flourish, reap rich harvests and
not to forget its roots.

Acknowledgment: This work was supported by the Open Access Publishing Fund
of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.

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