Hayley Davis is a lecturer in the English Department at Golsmiths College. She has written numerous articles and chapters on standard English, lexicography, bad language and lay metalanguage. She is the author of Words:An Integrational Approach (Curzon 2001). Talbot Taylor is Lousie G.T. Cooley Professor of English and Lingusitics at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He has written widely in the fields of lanugage theory, discourse analysis, and the history of linguistic thought.

• Hayley Davis, Why rethink linguistics?'; Roy Harris, On redefining linguistics'; Nigel Love, Integrating languages'; Talbot J. Taylor, Reflexivity and linguistic form'; Talbot J. Taylor & Stuart Shanker, Growing up in language'; John Joseph, On redefining linguistic creativity'