BAAL 2026

Call for Papers

The Conference Theme is Applied Linguistics in Transformation with a focus BAAL 2026

59th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Call for Papers for the 59th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL 2026) is now open!

Dates: Tuesday 1st – Thursday 3rd September 2026

Location: Aston University, Birmingham, UK

Theme: Applied Linguistics in Transformation

We invite scholars to reflect on the transformations in and of applied linguistics in all its forms: digital, methodological, and paradigmatic, as the field addresses the rapid changes and challenges of the present times.

The Conference Theme is Applied Linguistics in Transformation with a focus on:

  • Introducing transformations in paradigms in applied linguistics research
  • Addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by digital processes and artificial intelligence
  • Focusing on transformation in methods in applied linguistics research

We welcome submissions that engage with a wide range of applied linguistic issues across diverse social and professional contexts.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

  • Dr April Baker-Bell (University of Michigan)
  • Professor Jannis Androutsopoulos (University of Hamburg)
  • Professor Sarah Mercer (University of Graz) (Pit Corder Lecture)
  • Dr Sharese King (University of Chicago)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Abstracts should be submitted via https://www.conftool.org/baal2026/ by Friday 6th March 2026. The language of the conference is English. We especially encourage submission of abstracts from early-career researchers, including postgraduate research students and postdoctoral researchers.

CONTRIBUTION TYPES

BAAL 2026 welcomes submissions for the following contributions:

INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION

Individual presentations (20-minute presentation + 5 minutes for Q&A) are especially suitable for submissions that report on completed research, or research in progress for which at least some substantial results have been generated. Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words (not including list of references).

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (SIG) TRACK PRESENTATION

Authors may submit their individual presentation to a specific SIG track (all authors, whether or not SIG members, are eligible). Submitting your abstract to a SIG track has no impact on abstract acceptance to the overall conference; if your abstract is not accepted for the SIG track, it will be considered for acceptance to the main conference.

BAAL currently has 22 Special Interest Groups (SIGs):

  • Asian Language Education in Global Contexts (ALEG) SIG
  • Corpus Linguistics (CL) SIG
  • English-Medium Instruction (EMI) SIG
  • Health and Science Communication SIG
  • Humans, Machines, Language SIG (HuMaLa)
  • Intercultural Communication (IC-SIG)
  • Language and Education for Social Justice SIG (LESJ)
  • Language and New Media SIG
  • Language and Race SIG
  • Language Curriculum SIG
  • Language in Africa (LiASIG)
  • Language Policy (LP) SIG
  • Language, Gender and Sexuality (LGaS) SIG
  • Language, Learning and Teaching (LLT) SIG
  • Linguistic Ethnography Forum (LEF)
  • Linguistics and Knowledge about Language in Education (LKALE) SIG
  • Literacies SIG
  • Multilingualism SIG
  • Research Involving Children (RICH) SIG
  • Research Synthesis in Applied Linguistics (RSAL) SIG
  • Testing, Evaluation and Assessment (TEASIG)
  • Vocabulary (Vocab) SIG

POSTER PRESENTATION

Poster presentations are especially suitable for submissions that report on planned/early-stage/work-in-progress research for which substantive results may not have yet been generated. Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words (not including list of references).

COLLOQUIUM

A colloquium is an extended session comprising multiple papers that relate to a single coherent theme. To ensure synchronisation of the parallel sessions, a colloquium must be divided into 30-minute blocks (25 minutes + 5 minutes changeover). Submissions should include (1) a description of the overall motivation for the colloquium and the proposed colloquium structure (maximum 300 words), (2) an abstract (maximum 300 words) for each of the sub-papers proposed for the colloquium, and (3) a single list of references. Proposals are welcome for colloquia ranging from 1.5 hours (3 sub-papers) to 3 hours (6 sub-papers) in length.

LIGHTNING TALK

A lightning talk is a 5-minute presentation, especially suitable for short summaries of ongoing research, ideas for research or research reviews. Lightning talks will be organised into 25-minute sessions with 5 talks in each. Abstracts should be a maximum of 150 words (not including list of references).

ROUND TABLE

The format of round table discussion can be flexible but should involve multiple speakers discussing a specific theme with opportunities for audience participation. To ensure synchronisation of the parallel sessions, a round table discussion must be divided into 30-minute blocks (25 minutes + 5 minutes changeover). So, for example, a 2-block session could consist of 25 minutes panel discussion followed by 25 minutes of audience participation.

Submissions should take the form of a single abstract on behalf of all speakers in the round table discussion, detailing the overall motivation for the round table, individual participants and the proposed organisation. Proposals are welcome for roundtables of either 1 hour (2 blocks) or 1.5 hours (3 blocks); please specify the proposed length of your round table in the abstract. Abstracts should be a maximum of 1,000 words (not including list of references).

REVIEW PROCESS

All submissions will be subject to double-anonymous peer review by the BAAL 2026 programme committee. With the exception of Round Table submissions, authors must take reasonable steps to ensure the anonymity of abstracts; however, anonymisation/redaction of self-citations should be avoided.

KEY DATES

  • Submission deadline: Friday 6th March 2026, 11:59 PM (GMT)
  • Notification of review outcomes: by the end of April 2026
  • Conference dates: Tuesday 1st – Thursday 3rd September 2026

SCHOLARSHIPS

During the abstract submission process, you will be asked to indicate whether you want to apply for a scholarship. More information about available scholarships and eligibility can be found on the BAAL website.

ACCESSIBILITY

Conference Aston is a fully accessible venue. We also offer sign language interpretation where needed. Please indicate this and/or any additional needs at the point of submission.

LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE

BAAL 2026 is being hosted by the Department of Communication and Culture at Aston University. The local organising committee at Aston is:

  • Dr Stephen Pihlaja (Chair)
  • Dr Joyce Lim (Deputy Chair)
  • Dr Chloe Harrison
  • Prof Sue Garton
  • Dr Nur Kurtoglu-Hooton
  • Dr Robbie Love
  • Dr Polina Gavin

For further information, please visit the conference website at https://baal2026.com/ or write to the local organising committee at baal2026@aston.ac.uk