Concluding Thoughts

The present papers provide an instructive perspective on the emergence of the discipline of “applied linguistics.” First, and foremost, there is an underlying assumption that language is an important thread which runs, albeit often implicitly, through a variety of issues which are fundamental to national development and to public life (cf., Alatis & Tucker 1979). Second, there is an assumption that educational practices can be improved and social equity can be facilitated by applying knowledge gleaned from research conducted within the domain of the language sciences. Third, there is the assumption that scholars in diverse national settings want to become involved in improving access to opportunity--social, occupational or educational--in their own home settings. Fourth, there is an assumption that collaborative research is desirable, indeed increasingly necessary; and that the “Applied” Linguist may play a prominent role in helping to eliminate artificial disciplinary boundaries among anthropologists, educators, psychologists, sociologists, and others who are eager to utilize insights and data from research in the language sciences to ameliorate social and economic problems. Fifth, there is the assumption that the authors of the papers in this volume are investigating a common set of issues which despite their own geographical diversity, ethnolinguistic diversity, and disciplinary diversity can be better understood by examining the cumulative results of crossdisciplinary and cross-cultural research.