Coming of Age in Applied Linguistics

I argue that further progress in applied linguistics and second language acquisition (SLA) will be achieved through collaboration with researchers in other fields. I give 3 examples of research problems that would profit from collaboration with applied linguists: the definition of language proficiency, the neural basis of language functioning, and the relation between cognitive and language abilities, especially in education. These issues are being investigated by specialists in other fields who lack the necessary expertise in bilingualism, SLA, and representation of multiple languages. I identify specific areas of expertise that applied linguists could bring to these research programmes.