Textual Concept Critical Analysis: Toward a Research Approach for Language Studies

When the International Society for Language Studies (ISLS) was founded in 2002 and the journal that is now Critical Inquiry in Language Studies (CILS) was in the planning stages, we recognized a need for an interdisciplinary, or perhaps even transdisciplinary (see Kaufman, Moss, & Osborn, 2003), venue for the publication of research on language issues that came from a variety of critical and power-based perspectives. At the same time, there was an intentionality about exploring the development of research methodologies that would be both rigorous and accessible. In the six volumes of CILS that have appeared since its founding, however, this latter goal has remained elusive. In this article, we seek to outline a protocol that we hope will begin a broader conversation to develop this important but still overlooked area.