From medicine to technology

The editorial team welcomes you to AILA Review's 1st issue of the 38th volume, which showcases the disciplinary breadth of our field.Although applied linguistic research has a history of diversity in theoretical perspectives and empirical foci, the field was in its early years predominately concerned with second language acquisition and classroom teaching and learning.This interest in pedagogy and language development can be found in AILA Review, which has a long track record of publishing work that examines what goes on in classrooms: for instance, special issues in the early years of the Journal were published on themes in second language acquisition (Bardovi-Harlig & Drnyei, 2006) and content-language instruction in higher education (Smit & Dafouz, 2010).The field, as well as AILA Review, has since evolved into a truly interdisciplinary body of work that draws from scholarship in allied fields, such as education, sociology, and anthropology.While such work reflects natural, if not obvious, interdisciplinary bridges, applied linguists have in recent years branched out to other areas of study, including biology, economics, law, and even physics.Such work is a testament to applied linguists' commitment to investigating social issues in which language is a central issue (Brumfit, 1995).This diversity in perspectives and interests is expected given how societies continue to mature into an interconnected global community dependent on technology, mutual political and economic interests, and human migration, to name a few.Interdisciplinarity is indeed core to applied linguistic research: this observation is most evident in the community outreach and transformational studies that have been published over the years.In such works, the needs of the research participants, exogenous theories, or disciplinary interests that exist outside of applied linguistics are used to guide the empirical process (see, for example, Pennycook's 2018 work in this journal).It can be said that applied linguistic research is most impactful when its empirical interests are aligned with, and evolve alongside, the individuals and communities that represent the foci of