AILA (International Association of Applied Linguistics) Research Network on
History of Language Learning and Teaching
To: Vice Chancellor Professor Jane Norman and other members of the University of Nottingham Council
1 December 2025
Dear Professor Norman and other Council members
We have signed this letter as leaders and members of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) Research Network on History of Language Learning and Teaching (http://hollt.net) to express our deep concern regarding the suspension and proposed closure of undergraduate Modern Languages degree programmes at the University of Nottingham.
Aside from the likely negative impact of this move on local, regional and national modern language studies, we would like to highlight the national and international importance of the research being carried in the Nottingham Department of Modern Languages and Cultures – research which now appears to be under threat.
Of particular relevance and concern to us is the possible fate of the world-leading research being carried out at Nottingham in the fields of History of Language Learning and Teaching and History of Linguistics. It is no exaggeration to say that without this research our network, which now numbers 381 members worldwide, would not have come into existence.
In 2012–14 an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) research network project led by Nicola McLelland, Professor of German and History of Linguistics, with Richard Smith, Professor of ELT and Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, supported organisation at Nottingham and Warwick of workshops which stimulated interest in the history of Modern Foreign Language Teaching in Britain and brought together hitherto disparate European researchers, Out of these workshops and an international conference organised at Nottingham in 2014, several important publications emerged, most notably the 3-volume publication The History of Language Learning and Teaching, edited by McLelland and Smith (2018, Legenda). These publications signalled the emergence of a newly recognisable interdisciplinary, plurilingual and intercultural field of research, the History of Language Learning and Teaching. It was at the 2014 Nottingham conference that plans were first made to form the scholarly association which is HoLLT.net, and, following the conference, this was officially established as a Research Network of the International Association of Applied Linguistics in 2015. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, HoLLTnet – with these roots in Nottingham modern languages research – has since stimulated a large number of scholarly publications (please see https://www.hollt.net/publications.html).
Nottingham research has also had direct impact on professional practice in the UK and beyond: Nicola McLelland’s extensive research in the history of language teaching led to a further AHRC-funded collaboration, this time with Dr Simon Coffey (PGCE Director at King’s College London), that resulted in a set of teacher education materials now used extensively on teacher training programmes across the country. The virtual materials Language Teaching: Learning from the Past - The University of Nottingham are currently housed on the University of Nottingham’s website.
Nicola McLelland and colleagues in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures including Dr Liv Walsh are also leaders in the field of History of Linguistics. Both are committee members of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas (https://www.henrysweet.org/) – indeed, the Society was led for many years by Professor McLelland. The University of Nottingham has had a strong international reputation in this field as a result of the involvement of Modern Languages researchers like McLelland and Walsh, one signal of which is the fact the annual colloquium of the Society is again due to be hald at Nottingham in September 2026. Along with HoLLTnet, the Henry Sweet Society collaborates with several European scholarly associations in the organisation of the International Conference on History of Language Learning and Teaching (ICHoLLT) every three years. The university’s current lack of support for Modern Languages at Nottingham is being viewed with great concern internationally by researchers such as ourselves who have benefitted greatly from Nottingham leadership in the fields of HoLLT and History of LInguistics over the years.
The University of Nottingham presents itself as a global University, with a vision to be a “university without borders”. Without modern languages degrees, the University instead seems to show a narrow vision and is facing a future of inability to embrace other languages and cultures.
We urge you to scrutinise carefully the negative impact this planned closure would have not only on the university, the city, region, and nation, but on world-leading research and the university’s international reputation, and to engage in meaningful discussion with all parties about viable alternatives.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Giovanni Iamartino, University of Milan, Italy
Professor Karène Summerer-Sanchez, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Professor Sabine Doff, University of Bremen, Germany
Dr Tim Giesler, University of Bremen, Germany
Professor Rachel Mairs, University of Reading
Dr Simon Coffey, King’s College London
Professor Richard Smith, University of Warwick
Professor Marc Debono, University of Tours, France
Professor Emeritus Michael Byram, University of Durham
Dr Gigliola Sulis, University of Leeds
Dr Emanuela Tenca, Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences in Rome, Italy
Professor Alessandra Vicentini, University of Insubria, Italy
Prof. em. Pierre Swiggers, University of Leuven (KU Leuven) & Université de Liège (ULiège), Belgium
Dr Christine Collière-Whiteside, Université Bourgogne-Europe, France
Professor Rita Queiroz de Barros, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Professor Raf Van Rooy, KU Leuven, Belgium
Antonio Giménez-Reíllo, University of Murcia, Spain
Professor Despina Provata, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Professor Daniela La Penna, University of Reading
Nick White, Teaching Fellow, University of Portsmouth
Sarah Connolly, University of Strathclyde & West Dunbartonshire Council, Scotland
Dr Vilma De Gasperin, University of Oxford
Professor Renato Oniga, University of Udine, Italy
Dr Jason Anderson, University of Warwick
Professor Emerita Friederike Klippel, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
Lucilla Lopriore, Roma Tre University, Italy (retired professor)
Ilias Vierendeels, Université de Namur, Belgium
Professor Martin Durrell, University of Manchester
Dr Raquel Criado, University of Murcia, Spain
Professor Carol Percy, University of Toronto, Canada
Professor Horst Simon, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Professor Mario Luis López-Barrios, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
Professor Ulrike Krampl, Université de Tours, France
Luciana Pedrazzini, Associate Professor, University of Milan, Italy
Professor Stefan Michael Newerkla, University of Vienna, Austria
Professor Meng Huat Chau, Zhejiang International Studies University, China
Francesco Michael Scaringella, University of Milan, Italy
Dr Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Professor Rory G. Critten, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Eva Codó, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Rachel Allan, Associate Professor, Mid-Sweden University, Sweden
Professor Ariane Ruyffelaert, University of Granada, Spain
Dr Wei Chen, University of Malta, Malta
Brindusa Grigoriu, Associate Professor, University Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iasi, Romania
Professor Gonçalo Fernandes, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Center for Studies in Letters, Portugal
Honorary Professor Stefania Nuccorini, Roma Tre University, Italy
Maria do Céu Fonseca, University of Évora, Center for Studies in Letters, Portugal
Irmina Kotlarska, University of Zielona Góra, Poland
Dr Alena Andrlová Fidlerová, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
Dr R. Vennela, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Telangana, India
Professor Emerita Karen Risager, Roskilde University, Denmark
Kate Gregson, NILE-University of Chichester
Prof. Dr. Dr. Helmut Glück, Universität Bamberg, Deutschland
Carla Ferreira de Castro, Assistant Professor, University of Évora, Portugal.
Liv Büchler, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany
Dr Gillian Peiser, Liverpool John Moores University
Elizaveta Zimont, Assistant Professor, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France
Paola Spazzali, Associate professor, University of Milan, Italy
Dr. phil. Doutor Rolf Kemmler, Agregado, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Director of the Center for Studies in Letters, Vila Real, Portugal
Dr. Marta Banducci Rahe, Associate Professor, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Professor Alicia Rodriguez-Alvarez, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Dr Andrea Nava, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Dr Ana Clara Birrento, Centre for the Studies of Letters, University of Évora, Portugal
Dr Michael Ashby, Hon. Associate Professor, University College London
Monica Lupetti, Associate professor, University of Pisa, Italy
Dr Rafael Nevado Gómez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Dr María Dolores Riveiro Lema, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Dr Eloi Bellés Boeta, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain
Professor María Martínez-Atienza, University of Córdoba, Spain
History of Language Learning and Teaching
To: Vice Chancellor Professor Jane Norman and other members of the University of Nottingham Council
1 December 2025
Dear Professor Norman and other Council members
We have signed this letter as leaders and members of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) Research Network on History of Language Learning and Teaching (http://hollt.net) to express our deep concern regarding the suspension and proposed closure of undergraduate Modern Languages degree programmes at the University of Nottingham.
Aside from the likely negative impact of this move on local, regional and national modern language studies, we would like to highlight the national and international importance of the research being carried in the Nottingham Department of Modern Languages and Cultures – research which now appears to be under threat.
Of particular relevance and concern to us is the possible fate of the world-leading research being carried out at Nottingham in the fields of History of Language Learning and Teaching and History of Linguistics. It is no exaggeration to say that without this research our network, which now numbers 381 members worldwide, would not have come into existence.
In 2012–14 an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) research network project led by Nicola McLelland, Professor of German and History of Linguistics, with Richard Smith, Professor of ELT and Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, supported organisation at Nottingham and Warwick of workshops which stimulated interest in the history of Modern Foreign Language Teaching in Britain and brought together hitherto disparate European researchers, Out of these workshops and an international conference organised at Nottingham in 2014, several important publications emerged, most notably the 3-volume publication The History of Language Learning and Teaching, edited by McLelland and Smith (2018, Legenda). These publications signalled the emergence of a newly recognisable interdisciplinary, plurilingual and intercultural field of research, the History of Language Learning and Teaching. It was at the 2014 Nottingham conference that plans were first made to form the scholarly association which is HoLLT.net, and, following the conference, this was officially established as a Research Network of the International Association of Applied Linguistics in 2015. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, HoLLTnet – with these roots in Nottingham modern languages research – has since stimulated a large number of scholarly publications (please see https://www.hollt.net/publications.html).
Nottingham research has also had direct impact on professional practice in the UK and beyond: Nicola McLelland’s extensive research in the history of language teaching led to a further AHRC-funded collaboration, this time with Dr Simon Coffey (PGCE Director at King’s College London), that resulted in a set of teacher education materials now used extensively on teacher training programmes across the country. The virtual materials Language Teaching: Learning from the Past - The University of Nottingham are currently housed on the University of Nottingham’s website.
Nicola McLelland and colleagues in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures including Dr Liv Walsh are also leaders in the field of History of Linguistics. Both are committee members of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas (https://www.henrysweet.org/) – indeed, the Society was led for many years by Professor McLelland. The University of Nottingham has had a strong international reputation in this field as a result of the involvement of Modern Languages researchers like McLelland and Walsh, one signal of which is the fact the annual colloquium of the Society is again due to be hald at Nottingham in September 2026. Along with HoLLTnet, the Henry Sweet Society collaborates with several European scholarly associations in the organisation of the International Conference on History of Language Learning and Teaching (ICHoLLT) every three years. The university’s current lack of support for Modern Languages at Nottingham is being viewed with great concern internationally by researchers such as ourselves who have benefitted greatly from Nottingham leadership in the fields of HoLLT and History of LInguistics over the years.
The University of Nottingham presents itself as a global University, with a vision to be a “university without borders”. Without modern languages degrees, the University instead seems to show a narrow vision and is facing a future of inability to embrace other languages and cultures.
We urge you to scrutinise carefully the negative impact this planned closure would have not only on the university, the city, region, and nation, but on world-leading research and the university’s international reputation, and to engage in meaningful discussion with all parties about viable alternatives.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Giovanni Iamartino, University of Milan, Italy
Professor Karène Summerer-Sanchez, University of Groningen, Netherlands
Professor Sabine Doff, University of Bremen, Germany
Dr Tim Giesler, University of Bremen, Germany
Professor Rachel Mairs, University of Reading
Dr Simon Coffey, King’s College London
Professor Richard Smith, University of Warwick
Professor Marc Debono, University of Tours, France
Professor Emeritus Michael Byram, University of Durham
Dr Gigliola Sulis, University of Leeds
Dr Emanuela Tenca, Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences in Rome, Italy
Professor Alessandra Vicentini, University of Insubria, Italy
Prof. em. Pierre Swiggers, University of Leuven (KU Leuven) & Université de Liège (ULiège), Belgium
Dr Christine Collière-Whiteside, Université Bourgogne-Europe, France
Professor Rita Queiroz de Barros, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Professor Raf Van Rooy, KU Leuven, Belgium
Antonio Giménez-Reíllo, University of Murcia, Spain
Professor Despina Provata, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Professor Daniela La Penna, University of Reading
Nick White, Teaching Fellow, University of Portsmouth
Sarah Connolly, University of Strathclyde & West Dunbartonshire Council, Scotland
Dr Vilma De Gasperin, University of Oxford
Professor Renato Oniga, University of Udine, Italy
Dr Jason Anderson, University of Warwick
Professor Emerita Friederike Klippel, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
Lucilla Lopriore, Roma Tre University, Italy (retired professor)
Ilias Vierendeels, Université de Namur, Belgium
Professor Martin Durrell, University of Manchester
Dr Raquel Criado, University of Murcia, Spain
Professor Carol Percy, University of Toronto, Canada
Professor Horst Simon, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Professor Mario Luis López-Barrios, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
Professor Ulrike Krampl, Université de Tours, France
Luciana Pedrazzini, Associate Professor, University of Milan, Italy
Professor Stefan Michael Newerkla, University of Vienna, Austria
Professor Meng Huat Chau, Zhejiang International Studies University, China
Francesco Michael Scaringella, University of Milan, Italy
Dr Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Professor Rory G. Critten, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Professor Eva Codó, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Rachel Allan, Associate Professor, Mid-Sweden University, Sweden
Professor Ariane Ruyffelaert, University of Granada, Spain
Dr Wei Chen, University of Malta, Malta
Brindusa Grigoriu, Associate Professor, University Alexandru Ioan Cuza of Iasi, Romania
Professor Gonçalo Fernandes, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Center for Studies in Letters, Portugal
Honorary Professor Stefania Nuccorini, Roma Tre University, Italy
Maria do Céu Fonseca, University of Évora, Center for Studies in Letters, Portugal
Irmina Kotlarska, University of Zielona Góra, Poland
Dr Alena Andrlová Fidlerová, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
Dr R. Vennela, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Telangana, India
Professor Emerita Karen Risager, Roskilde University, Denmark
Kate Gregson, NILE-University of Chichester
Prof. Dr. Dr. Helmut Glück, Universität Bamberg, Deutschland
Carla Ferreira de Castro, Assistant Professor, University of Évora, Portugal.
Liv Büchler, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Germany
Dr Gillian Peiser, Liverpool John Moores University
Elizaveta Zimont, Assistant Professor, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, France
Paola Spazzali, Associate professor, University of Milan, Italy
Dr. phil. Doutor Rolf Kemmler, Agregado, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Director of the Center for Studies in Letters, Vila Real, Portugal
Dr. Marta Banducci Rahe, Associate Professor, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
Professor Alicia Rodriguez-Alvarez, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Dr Andrea Nava, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Dr Ana Clara Birrento, Centre for the Studies of Letters, University of Évora, Portugal
Dr Michael Ashby, Hon. Associate Professor, University College London
Monica Lupetti, Associate professor, University of Pisa, Italy
Dr Rafael Nevado Gómez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain
Dr María Dolores Riveiro Lema, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
Dr Eloi Bellés Boeta, University of the Balearic Islands, Spain
Professor María Martínez-Atienza, University of Córdoba, Spain
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