To accomplish this mission, AAAL
* creates opportunities for scholarly communication and professional networking by hosting meetings and sponsoring publications;
* raises public awareness of language-related issues by encouraging the dissemination of theoretical and research-informed insights to wider society; and
* promotes the status of applied linguistics in the academy and in soci
ety by providing leadership and resources for professional development. AAAL’s primary activity is a four-day annual conference, which typically takes place in March. Welcoming scholars from around the globe, the conference has a reputation as a comprehensive and stimulating professional event that offers thought-provoking plenary presentations, in-depth colloquia and paper sessions, excellent book exhibits, and plentiful opportunities for networking with applied linguists from North America and countries around the world. Organizationally, AAAL is the United States affiliate of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée, AILA). Applied Linguistics itself is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that addresses a broad range of language-related issues in order to improve the lives of individuals and conditions in society. It draws on a wide range of theoretical, methodological, and educational approaches from various disciplines–from the humanities to the social, cognitive, medical, and natural sciences–as it develops its own knowledge-base about language, its users and uses, and their underlying social and material conditions.
