Open scholarship in applied linguistics: What, why, and how

Abstract

In this report, we reviewed Open Scholarship in Applied Linguistics: What, Why, and How, a two-day online symposium held in June 2022. The symposium was the inaugural event of Open Applied Linguistics, a newly established AILA research network dedicated to the promotion of open scholarship in applied linguistics. We started with the background against which Open Applied Linguistics was founded and went on to introduce our understanding of open scholarship. We then summarised and reviewed selected talks and panels from the symposium, ranging from replication and registered reports to the Postprint Pledge. A common thread across our symposium is an ethos of openness, not merely in terms of research practices, but also in the open acknowledgement of and engagement with the many tensions and challenges regarding open scholarship in applied linguistics, from epistemological and cultural to psychological and practical. This, we believe, is the ethos that can truly build us up as a field. While our symposium represents only one of the initial steps in a long journey, we hope to inspire more aligned and sustained efforts across all levels to incrementally and effectively advance our field towards a more open future.

Whose open science are we talking about? From open science in psychology to open science in applied linguistics

“…The momentum for open science is on the rise in applied linguistics. In 2022 alone, there were already several exciting developments: Open Science in Applied Linguistics (Plonsky, in press), the first edited volume on this topic, was being prepared for publication, with several postprints shared online; Open Applied Linguistics (http://openappliedlinguistics.org/), a newly established research network affiliated with the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) held a two-day symposium to promote open science in applied linguistics (Liu et al, 2023); following the symposium, AILA officially endorsed the open science guidelines and example practices statement by Open Applied Linguistics (Liu & Chong, 2022), formally recognising open science's value to our field; the Postprint Pledge, an initiative calling for applied linguists to share accepted manuscripts online, was launched ; and two calls for papers were circulated: one by Studies in Second Language Acquisition on replication in second language research, one by Language Testing on open science practices in language testing and assessment. As we entered 2023, the momentum continued to grow: in April, Language Learning published a conceptual review along with open peer commentaries, examining whether and why open research practices are the future for the study of language learning; the 56th annual conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) is set for August, with a theme centred on "opening up applied linguistics".…”

Diamond is a scientist’s best friend

“…This model is also highly compatible with publishing replication studies, meta-analyses, and preregistered reports (cf. Liu et al, 2023, in In this model the running costs of journals are covered by contributions from national science foundations, institutional libraries -which save a lot of money once current read-and-publish agreements become less important -supported by academic societies. Within this model, there continues to be a wide variety of journals: those that are highly selective and those that have lower barriers; some that welcome contributions from a very specific subfield and/or theoretical framework, and others that provide venues for publication of interdisciplinary work.…”

(Why) Are Open Research Practices the Future for the Study of Language Learning?

“…is the primary concern. For example, researchers express the need for caution to ensure nonintimidating (Derksen & Field, 2022) and incremental (Liu et al, 2022) approaches to change. We agree that seismic change does not happen overnight, and only very few succumb to epiphanies.…”