Introduction

The expansion of scope in applied linguistics has resulted in an increase in quantity and quality of applied linguistics research, and we are now at a time when applied linguistics research is growing at unprecedented rates. While more established fields have secured a firmer sense of their impact on knowledge, applied linguistics is just beginning to consider its current scope and future directions. This is evidenced by the emergence of a number of publications in recent years which aim to provide an overview of the field, bring greater clarity to what applied linguistics is, problematize the diminishing role of language teaching in applied linguistics research, and inform future directions of research within the field. The field has also expanded into complex and dynamic ways to explore established topics, which has necessitated the need for new research designs, data collection techniques and tools for analysis. Immersed within this golden age, it is now necessary to take stock of what it means to ‘do research’ within applied linguistics, and theorize our available approaches, designs, methods, and data analysis techniques – a central aim of this handbook.