Book Prize
BAAL Book Prize 2024-25 Call for nominations
BAAL offers an annual prize for an outstanding book in the field of Applied Linguistics. Books (monographs, textbooks, edited volumes, reference books etc.) in any field of applied linguistics are eligible for the prize. Eligibility is not restricted to books published in the United Kingdom.
Entries must bear a copyright notice for the calendar year prior to the year of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the prize is to be awarded (i.e., 2024 copyright for the AGM in 2025). New editions of previously published books are not eligible.
Nominations for the BAAL Book Prize are made by the publishers of the book and must be accompanied by an e-book or two sets of access codes for the nominated volume and an administration fee of £40 for each title submitted. Two print copies will be requested if the nominated volume is shortlisted.
For general queries, please contact admin@baal.org.uk
Submitting books for the prize
The closing date for nominations this year is 17th January 2025
A shortlist is generally drawn up before the end of June each year and the prize is awarded at the Annual Conference in September. Details of the forthcoming annual conference and its venue are posted on the BAAL website.
Judging of titles
(1) All entries to the BAAL Book Prize will be considered by a panel of expert reviewers. The panel will recommend titles for the shortlist. BAAL conflict of interest procedures will be strictly adhered to in all stages of the competition. While there is no separate category for the final winner, at least one of the short-listed entries will belong to the “first book” category. This category is created to give recognition of outstanding first books for the 2024-25 cycle. Please provide such information where applicable when submitting nominations.
(2) The shortlisted titles will be considered by a second panel of judges who are themselves experienced researchers and authors and well known in the field.
(3) Eligibility is not restricted to UK-based publishers/authors. We welcome nominations from publishers outside the UK. However, we request that nominating publishers be associated with BAAL (i.e., an associate member of BAAL) to encourage ongoing dialogues with our community. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis for emerging publishers or publishers based in OECD developing countries for whom the cost of affiliation can be challenging to meet. Please get in touch with the Publications Secretary if you wish to discuss such an exception.
(4) The process of selection and judging is designed to bring nominated titles to the attention of staff and students in a wide range of institutions. Even where nominations are not shortlisted, we publicise nominated titles through our newsletter, website announcements and on social media. Publishers are encouraged to coordinate their nominations as we ask publishers to limit the number of entries to 5 each year.
(5) The definition of ‘applied linguistics’ is to be interpreted in a wide sense. Please refer to What is applied linguistics on the BAAL website. If you are in doubt about the eligibility of a title, please contact the Publications Secretary (Sal Consoli).
(6) Judges are requested when making their decisions to take account of a range of criteria, including originality, potential contributions to the field (applied linguistics or a subfield), coverage (in terms of topics), rigour, the production quality of the book, readability and the style of presentation and language.
(7) Details of the short-listed titles are posted on the BAAL website before the AGM, along with selected extracts from the comments submitted by the reviewers.
(8) The publishers of the winning title may use the phrase ‘BAAL Book Prize + RELEVANT DATE’ or ‘Winner of the BAAL Book Prize + DATE’ in the publicity for the book. Publishers of short-listed titles may use the phrase ‘Short-listed for the BAAL Book Prize + DATE’ in their publicity.
Reviewing books
Please contact the Publications Secretary if you wish to review books for the prize.
Winner for 2024
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2024 award is Engaging Children in Applied Linguistics Research by Annamaria Pinter, Cambridge University Press:
The author brings together a massive amount of relevant literature from across disciplines which she synthesises in an original way to present a cogent and coherent account of how applied linguistics research with children might best be carried out. The sources and examples are wide-ranging (from education, health care, sociology, new childhood studies, inter alia) – a real strength – but the focus never strays from the core concern of language learning (mainly English language learning) for children. The author makes a very strong argument for the book at the outset, pointing to a burgeoning concern with English language learning globally, as well as a turn to child-centred or -oriented research.This is an inspiring book and one with the potential to influence a generation of research involving children. It’s a well-crafted and detailed manifesto for involving children more directly in research concerning them. There is much that future researchers will find helpful here – including notably the chapter on ethics – though the repeated assurances that this is an attempt to extend, rather than replace, existing research methods (on and about children) with research with and by children are welcome.
The runner-up of the 2024 award is Multilingual Families in a Digital Age: Mediational Repertoires and Transnational Practices by Kristin Vold Lexander and Jannis Androutsopoulos, Routledge:
This compelling study of four families negotiating a multilingual digital set of relationships deals with a very complex set of variables in a clear and rigorous way. It combines interactional sociolinguistic insights with investigation of multilingualism and draws on theoretical developments in the field.This is a study of a small number of families from migration backgrounds and their digital communicative practices. The work takes an ethnographic approach, and is remarkable in its detail and also in the range of topics that the authors include in their scope. It is superbly well-referenced, and is clearly the fruit of an immense amount of work. It covers many key themes in contemporary research in the sociolinguistics of migration (as well as in the area of digital communication): repertoire and the concept of polymedia repertoires, the notion of translocality, translanguaging & multilingualism, family language policy, language ideologies. It is well-written and authoritative, covering important ground with confidence. In many ways the work provides an idea model for anyone aspiring to carry out an in-depth qualitative study of communicative practice in an age of mobility and migration.
Warmest congratulations to the authors for their outstanding contributions to scholarship in Applied Linguistics.
Short list for 2024
- Engaging Children in Applied Linguistics Research, by Annamaria Pinter, Cambridge University Press
- Language, Discourse and Anxiety by Luke Collins and Paul Baker, Cambridge University Press
- Multilingual Families in a Digital Age: Mediational Repertoires and Trasnational Practices by Kristin Vold Lexander, Jannis Androutsopoulos, Routledge
- Political Activism in the Linguistic Landscape: Or, how to use Public Space as a Medium for Protest by Philip Seargeant, Korina Giaxoglou and Frank Monaghan, Multilingual Matters
- Social Justice and the Language Classroom: Reflection, Action, and Transformation by Deniz Ortaçtepe Hart, Edinburgh University Press
- The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights edited by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson, Wiley
Winner for 2023
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2023 award is Standards, Stigma, Surveillance: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and England’s Schools by Ian Cushing, Palgrave Macmillan.
This is a clear winner. It is critical, timely, and refreshing. Conceptually coherent, rich insightful analysis of evidence. Although it is focused on England only, the implications are wide ranging, for policy, practice, and theory. It presses all the buttons for me.
This book offers a study of language ideologies and language policies in British schools with a focus on “sonic surveillance.” The study locates language teaching within white supremacy, anti-Black racism, and conservative political rhetoric of the 2010s. The book will be welcomed by the flourishing raciolinguistics field.
The runners-up of the 2023 award are Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Concepts, Contexts and Challenges by Glenn Stockwell, Cambridge University Press:
This is a comprehensive overview of mobile assisted language learning. The topic is timely, and the book will be welcomed by researchers and practitioners alike. The book provides an overview of existing knowledge, identifies conceptual and practical challenges, and outlines new research agendas. This ensures wide appeal, and both newcomers to the topic as well as experts will benefit from the book. Combined with the urgency of the topic for learners and teachers alike, the book is likely to have significant impact across the breadth of the field.
, and Gender Diversity and Sexuality in English Language Education: New Transnational Voices edited by Darío Luis Banegas and Navan Govender, Bloomsbury.
A very interesting edited volume on sexuality in English language education. The intersection of gender/sexuality and migration/transnationality is really important. Overall quality is very good. It will have a good impact on policy and practice.
This edited volume brings together a variety of case studies of gender and sexual diversity in English language classrooms, many from underrepresented contexts. Highly topical. The book will be of interest not only to researchers in ELT and gender studies, but also teachers.
Warmest congratulations to the authors for their outstanding contributions to scholarship in Applied Linguistics.
Short list for 2023
- Antisocial Language Teaching: English and the Pervasive Pathology of Whiteness by JPB Gerald, Multilingual Matters
- The Inner World of Gatekeeping in Scholarly Publication edited by Pejman Habibie and Anna Kristina Hultgren, Palgrave Macmillan
- Implicit and Explicit Language Attitudes by Robert M. McKenzie, Andrew McNeill, Routledge
Winner for 2022
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022 award is Language as Symbolic Power by Claire Kramsch, Cambridge University Press.
“Language as symbolic power is an extremely well-written book by one of the most interesting scholars in applied linguistics over the past five decades. This is a work of some erudition, as Kramsch makes frequent forays into the world of literature while taking on diverse sub-sections of applied linguistics, from language teaching and learning research to discourse analysis (critical and uncritical).”
“This book is breathtaking. I started off just dipping in, to get a flavour of it, and I couldn’t stop reading. Language as Symbolic Power takes a deeply engaging look at the ‘hidden’ symbolic power within what we say and write. The rigour shines through – this author knows her stuff and is able to share this knowledge very effectively. Its significance derives from its accessibility and usability – this would certainly be the ‘go-to’ text that I would recommend to anyone entering this area of study.”
The runners-up of the 2022 award are Community, Solidarity and Multilingualism in a Transnational Social Movement by Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà, Routledge:
“Community, Solidarity and Multilingualism in a Transnational Social Movement is a monograph based on an extended piece of ethnographical research. It is ‘a critical sociolinguistic ethnography of the Emmaus movement’ (cover). It explores the discourse of solidarity within and across comparable communities, drawing out the effects of shared core identity on the one hand and localised perceptions and practices on the other. For me, it shines for its potential significance, in relation both to its specific topic focus and as an example of how to do this sort of work. You can imagine a researcher aiming to do a similar study on another organisation using this approach as a blueprint.”
“This book explores a world not often examined in sociolinguistics, that of social movements, and specifically, the solidarity movement Emmaus. It can, therefore, lay claim to a degree originality. It is an impressive piece of research.”
, and Language in a Globalised World: Social Justice Perspectives on Mobility and Contact by Khawla Badwan, Palgrave Macmillan.
“This is very well written book, something of a master class in clear writing which bends the academic genre to a great effect when the author introduces, at key junctures, autobiographical snippets which are relevant to, and add life to, the ongoing thread of her argument.”
“Language in a Globalised World is a remarkable piece of work that breaks new ground in its approach. A monograph that focusses on ideas, it is ‘a protest and a discussion’ (p.1). It is iconoclastic both in its engagement with current questions in the ‘new sociolinguistics’ of globalisation, which ‘has been undergoing major conceptualisations over the past two decades or so’ (p.1) and in its style of engagement with the reader. It is an opinion piece but anchored in evident scholarship as well as considerable personal reflection. It is engagingly written, which makes it accessible and interesting, and often touching. It is written from the heart.”
Warmest congratulations to the authors for their outstanding contributions to scholarship in Applied Linguistics.
Short list for 2022
- Linguistic Penalties and the Job Interview by Celia Roberts, Equinox
- The Routledge Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality by Jo Angouri and Judith Baxter, Routledge
- Transcultural Voices: Narrating Hip Hop Culture in Complex Delhi by Jaspal Naveel Singh, Multilingual Matters
Winner for 2021
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2021 award is The Dynamics of Dementia Communication by Alison Wray, Oxford University Press.
“This is an impressive volume which constructs a very wide-ranging umbrella framework for understanding dementia communication, an area of increasing importance in our society. The book presents some very big and bold questions about how best to communicate with people living with dementia from the very start, and as the work proceeds, these questions are answered in a detailed and meticulous way.”
The runner-up of the 2021 award is Academic Irregularities: Language and Neoliberalism in Higher Education by Liz Morrish & Helen Sauntson, Routledge.
“This volume presents studies into the highly relevant and timely topic of current higher education discourse in the UK and other anglophone countries. The results are eye-opening especially with regard to how academia has changed over the years, including the roles of academics. This book is important beyond applied linguistics; in fact, it is of relevance for the entire HE sector, especially in the UK. Apart from its clear academic merit, it is also of potential political value, offering arguments against the marketisation of universities, the audit culture of HE management and viewing students merely as ‘customers’.”
Warmest congratulations to the authors for their outstanding contributions to scholarship in Applied Linguistics.
Short list for 2021
- Academic Irregularities: Language and Neoliberalism in Higher Education by Liz Morrish & Helen Sauntson, Routledge
- Corpus, Discourse and Mental Health by Daniel Hunt and Gavin Brookes, Bloomsbury
- Innovations and Challenges in Applied Linguistics from the Global South by Alastair Pennycook and Sinfree Makoni, Routledge
- Ontologies of English: Conceptualising the Language for Learning, Teaching, and Assessment edited by Christopher J. Hall & Rachel Wicaksono, Cambridge University Press
- The Dynamics of Dementia Communication by Alison Wray, Oxford University Press.
For past winners, see the foot of this page.
Past winners
2020 – Gabrielle Hogan-Brun & Bernadette O’Rourke (2020) Palgrave Handbook of Minority Languages and Communities. Palgrave Macmillan.
2019 – James W. Tollefson & Miguel Pérez-Milans (Eds.) (2018) Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2018 – Alastair Pennycook (2017). Posthumanist Applied Linguistics Routledge.
2017 – Ingrid Piller (2016). Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice: An Introduction to Applied Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press.
2016 – Mario Saraceni (2015). World Englishes: A Critical Analysis (2015). Bloomsbury Academic.
2015 – Ofelia Garcia & Li Wei (2014). Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
2014 – Suresh Canagarajah (2013). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and Cosmopolitan Relations. Routledge.
2013 (joint winner) – Alastair Pennycook (2012). Language and Mobility: Unexpected Places, Multilingual Matters.
2013 (joint winner) – Andrea Tyler (2012). Cognitive linguistics and language learning: theoretical basics and experimental evidence. Routledge.
2012 – Graham Hall (2011). Exploring English Language Teaching: Language in Action. Routledge.
2011- Nikolas Coupland (Ed.) (2010). The Handbook of Language and Globalisation. Wiley-Blackwell.
2010 – Niko Besnier (2009). Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics. University of Hawaii Press.
2009 – Li Wei & Melissa G. Moyer (2008). The Blackwell Guide to Research Methods in Bilingualism and Multilingualism. Blackwel.
2008 – Alastair Pennycook (2007). Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows. Routledge.
2007 – Ben Rampton (2006). Language in Late Modernity. Cambridge University Press.
2006 – Aneta Pavlenko (2005). Emotions and Multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.
2005 – Viv Edwards (2004). Multilingualism in the English-speaking World. Blackwell.
2004 – Ron Scollon & Suzie Wong Scollon (2003). Discourses in Place: Language in the Material World. Routledge.
2003 – Alison Wray (2002). Formulaic Language and the Lexicon. Cambridge University Press.
2002 – Manfred Görlach (2001). A Dictionary of European Anglicisms. Oxford University Press.
2001 – Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine (2000). Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World’s Languages. Oxford University Press.
2000 – Rachel Sutton-Spence & Bencie Woll (1999). The Linguistics of British Sign Language: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
1996 – Deborah Cameron (1995). Verbal Hygiene. Routledge.
1995 – Alastair Pennycook (1994). The cultural politics of teaching English as an international language. Longman.
1994 – K. Richardson, (ed) (1993). Text, Discourse and Context: Representation of Poverty in Britain. Longman.
1987 – Michael Byram (1986). Minority Education and Ethnic Survival. Multilingual Matters.
1986 – Rod Ellis (1985). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.
