Alison J Mackey

Alison J. Mackey is Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, College of Arts and Sciences. She is a leading scholar in second language acquisition (SLA), with a focus on interaction, feedback, research methodology, and language learning across the lifespan.

Her research interests include second language acquisition, task-based language teaching, research methodology, interaction and corrective feedback, and language learning in children and adults. She has published extensively in top-tier journals and book series, shaping methodological standards in the field.

Her recent publications reflect a strong trend in methodological rigor, interactionist approaches, and practical applications of SLA research. Themes include data elicitation, stimulated recall, task design, and pragmatic development, spanning both theoretical and classroom-based inquiry.

• Mildenberg Prize (2012) for The Handbook of Second Language Acquisition
• American Association for Applied Linguistics Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award
• International Association of Task-based Language Learning and Teaching Distinguished Achievement Award
• CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title (2012)

Alison Mackey has advised numerous scholars through co-authorship and editorial leadership. She is Editor-in-Chief of Cambridge University Press Annual Review of Applied Linguistics and Editor of the Routledge Second Language Research series, guiding the publication of cutting-edge research. While specific grants are not listed, her editorial work and high citation count (>35,000) reflect significant research impact and funding support.

She leads and contributes to major research initiatives such as the IRIS Repository, promoting open-access research instruments in SLA. Her work fosters collaboration across institutions and supports methodological transparency and replication in the field.