Given the proliferation of recent research on formulaic language, including several books, it seemed time to devote an issue of the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics to the topic. Empirical research focusing on chunks of language shows no signs of waning, and the topic has even made its way into the popular press, thanks to Ben Zimmer's column in the New York Times two years ago.
As with all issues, I have tried to approach the theme from a range of perspectives so as to interest scholars in a broad range of approaches to applied linguistics. In so doing, however, I did not restrict the definition of formulaic language and allowed the authors to use their own definitions. The invitation letter to the authors stated that by formulaic language, I meant “what has been called formulaic sequences, multi-word expressions, lexical bundles, interactional routines, language chunks, and so on.” Indeed, you will see that not all of the authors defined formulaic language in the same way. While this may be somewhat problematic in the long run (see Wray, this volume), this range of definitions reflects the current state of research.
As in the past, review articles in the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics tend to focus on recent research, but because the reviews need to be comprehensible to nonspecialists in the various areas, the authors often need to refer to older research to define terms and explain concepts or to set the context for more current research. The articles in this volume were invited, but all were reviewed by one or more of the editorial directors and/or outside reviewers. As always, I thank the editorial directors for their review work and for their input on the contents of the journal. In addition, I am grateful to the reviewers who gave their time and expertise. These reviewers include Asta Cekaite, Peggy Conner, Viviana Cortes, Scott Crossley, Phil Durrant, Debra Friedman, Aline Godfroid, Jung-Moon Hyun, Scott Jarvis, Nan Jiang, Istvan Kecskes, Batia Laufer, Kim McDonough, Loraine K. Obler, Patrick Rebuschat, Ute Römer, Naoko Taguchi, and one anonymous reviewer.
Putting together a volume on a topic in which one is not an expert requires assistance from those who are experts. In particular, I thank Norbert Schmitt for his help in shaping this volume and identifying authors. Alison Wray's help has been invaluable, and I cannot imagine an issue devoted to the topic of formulaic language without her input. I also thank Debra Friedman for her help on all matters qualitative. For all issues of ARAL, she has been my go-to colleague for qualitative and socially oriented research. Sally Behrenwald has again contributed her editing skills and APA expertise. Finally, from Cambridge University Press, I thank Morrell Gillette for his patience and Laura Etheredge for her hard work and enthusiasm in promoting the journal.
