The evolution of L2 education and research: An overview of paradigm shifts in applied linguistics

Abstract

The main aim of the article is to present and discuss the evolution of L2 education and research expressed in two major paradigm shifts that could be observed over the last century: from the modernist approach, through postmodernism and postmethod, to transmodernity. The article also offers an overview of new approaches and trends in L2 education and research that emerged as a result of those watershed changes, in particular: complexity theory, the ecological approach, transnational identity and translanguaging. The paper ends with a brief discussion on how these changes affected L2 researchers and educators and what implications can be grasped.