Reflections on Transdisciplinarity in SLA studies

This chapter offers some reflections on transdisciplinarity and SLA. To do so, it first situates our field with reference to discussions around the numerous “turns” in applied linguistics and SLA, e.g., social-, multilingual-, and decolonial and racial- turn. While the time seems ripe for transdisciplinary SLA pursuits because of facilitative conditions created by the open science and the slow science movements for instance, there are also obstacles including the neo-liberal management structure in academia which can challenge such undertakings. The chapter provides some pointers for how transdisciplinary research can be conducted.

Reflecting on transdisciplinarity can stimulate the rethinking of a monolithic conceptualisation of language, the re-examination of the monolingual basis against which development and success are measured, and the interrogation of the nature of multilingual competence. Moreover, working transdisciplinarily can potentially help better serve the users we need to serve and mitigate against the misapplication or misinterpretation of our findings. Importantly, as a field that sits on and benefits from intersections (e.g., between languages, cultures, experiences), the chapter argues that SLA researchers have a moral and ethical duty to try to alleviate the plight and tackle injustice that some of our learners and participants are subject to in their contexts.