Editorial : making methodology matter (Journal of applied linguistics)

The article comments on the methodological practices and their underlying principles associated with the broad field of applied linguistics. In the field of discourse studies, it is not always easy to disentangle methodology from theoretical and conceptual content. This is mainly because discourse and communication analysis is in itself a methodological act. The researcher outlines the basic components of what he terms sociocultural discourse analysis, emphasizing with this label the confluence of the description of language and discourse with explorations into modes of thinking collectively and into collaborative ways of constructing knowledge in interaction. This paper situates itself firmly in the context of language learning and teaching, its potential as a mode of inquiry and a methodology extends far beyond those educational sites.