This collection of papers reflects a new generation of junior researchers in the field of applied linguistics. They met at the international conference in January 2007 in Groningen (the Netherlands). The Dutch AILA affiliate, Anéla, published already ten papers from this conference in her periodical TTWiA. This book contains another ten papers. The papers demonstrate some new directions and issues within applied linguistics. Attention is paid to discursive and textual structures of the exposure to music, emotions in political posters, lingua franca in commercial brochures, classroom interaction, representations of Muslim cartoons in newspapers, metaphors in the lyrics of a teenage heavy metal band, and identity construction by interregional dialects and humorous talk. In sum, one could argue that the papers indicate that a focus on multilingualism is an extensive resource for the investigation of international relationships.
