21st AILA World Congress

The foundation of AILA was agreed upon at the International Colloquium of Applied Linguistics at the University of Nancy, France (hence AILA’s French name), 1964. This decision was a result of two years preparatory work and discussion, with the financial support of the Council of Europe. At that time, the clientele to be served by this new international association was restricted mainly to linguists and language teachers in Europe. The first president of AILA was Bernard Pottier, supported in organizational and administrative matters by Max Gorosch. The founding congress of AILA in Nancy was almost exclusively run in French, and the main strands into which the contributions were organized were automatic translation, language teaching and research cooperation in Europe.

Originally a European initiative, AILA has become truly global over the past 40 years, including now affiliates from Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America.

The AILA 60th Anniversary World Congresses is a trilogy of world congresses celebrating 60 years of AILA (1964 – 2024), starting with Lyon 20th AILA World Congress 2023, Kuala Lumpur 21st AILA World Congress 2024, and the 22nd AILA World Congress 2025 in another region to be announced soon. The objective of the trilogy of congresses is to explore novel hybrid conference formats which influences how we deal with content, traditions and change in the field.

The theme is expected to attract and bring together linguists, language experts and enthusiasts, and practicing communities to converge and share their experiences, ideas and discover new knowledge about how awareness and preservation of linguistic diversity can promote inclusion and sustainability.

The Congress is characterised by high level presentations and discussions on key issues in the field. Its format includes keynote addresses, plenary speeches by outstanding scholars, invited symposia, symposia, individual papers and poster presentations. Each congress is organised by a different national or regional affiliate. The congress sites alternate between different areas of the world to reflect the global character of AILA.