Professor Emerita Friederike Klippel, University of Munich 

 Most research in any field these days concentrates on clearly focused questions and limited areas. In language education and applied linguistics, this is partly due to the current preference for empirical research. With specialisation growing in all disciplines it becomes more and more difficult, however, to gain a general overview and see long-term research developments and changing emphases within a whole field.  In Germany, research into the teaching and learning of modern languages and language teacher preparation spans a period of more than a century. During that time we can distinguish different trends in relation to the following questions: What are the topics and areas of research? How is research conducted? Who are the researchers? Where does research happen? I report on trends and developments in the last 120 years and sketch the current state of research, also casting a look at its present blind spots.
 
 

Friederike Klippel is Professor Emerita of English Language Education (TEFL, TESOL) at LudwigMaximilians-University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. She has been active in English language teacher education for more than 40 years. Her research areas comprise the history of language teaching and learning, language teaching methodology, classroom research, intercultural education, teacher education and professional development.