Introduction

When we, the co-editors, think of applied linguistics, the term evokes various images, memories and felt experiences, which take us back to our graduate studies in Canada in the late 1990s at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). We were fortunate to learn directly from Merrill Swain through our coursework in the second language (L2) education program and to learn about her ongoing research through internal presentations. She made an indelible mark on us as individuals and as scholars in applied linguistics and L2 education. What we took away from our experiences with her was that we needed to grow continuously as scholars, which would require intellectual curiosity, persistent efforts, rigor and integrity in our academic pursuits and the courage to question our own theoretical and methodological assumptions.