Perspectives in applied linguistics: A North American view

This overview focuses on the work of Applied Linguistics in North America with an emphasis on publications in the past 6 years. Follow a brief interpretive section on the nature and status of Applied Linguistics, the article reviews a number of major areas of research in Applied Linguistics. These areas include second language acquisition (and its various sub-domains), L2 reading and writing research, language learning and teaching, language and culture, corpus linguistics, critical perspectives, language assessment, language policy and planning, language uses in professional contexts, and technology in Applied Linguistics. The overview closes with comments on seven possible areas for growth in Applied Linguistics in addition to the mainstream fields noted above.