Applied Linguistics

An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

Saiqa Andleeb
 Main Concerns

 What is linguistics?
 What is the relation between linguistics and
applied linguistics? How do they differ?
 What is applied linguistics?
 When did applied linguistics develop as an
independent area of study?
 What are the main areas of concern of
applied linguistics?
 What is Linguistics
 Linguistics is the scientific study of
language. Linguists do work on
specific languages, but their primary
goal is to understand the nature of
Language in general.
 Linguistics is primarily concerned with
the nature of language and
communication. There are broadly three
aspects to the study, including
language form, language meaning,
and language use in discursive and
 What is Linguistics

 Linguistics deals with the study of

particular languages, and the search
for general properties common to all
languages or large groups of
languages.
Some questions linguistics
tries to answer
 What distinguishes human language from other
animal communication systems?
 What features are common to all human languages?
 How are the modes of linguistic communication
(speech, writing, sign language of the deaf) related
to each other?
Some questions linguistics
tries to answer
 How is language related to other types of human
behaviour?
 What is language and how is it organized?
 How is it analysed? How are its units discovered and
tested, etc.
Branches of linguistics

Pragma
tics
Semant Phonolo
ics gy
LINGUI
STICS
Phoneti
Syntax cs
Morph
ology
What is Interdisciplinary
Linguistics?
Interdisciplinary studies  Historical Linguistics,
involve two or more  Sociolinguistics,
academic disciplines
which are considered  Psycholinguistics,
distinct. The most  Anthropological
common interdisciplinary Linguistics,
branches of Linguistics
are:  Computational
Linguistics,
 Neurolinguistics.
Applied Linguistics:
When did it all begin? (1/2)
 The term Applied Linguistics (AL) is an Anglo-
American coinage.
 It was founded first at the University of
Edinburgh School of Applied Linguistics in
1956.
 Then at the Centre of Applied Linguistics in
Washington D.C. in 1957.
 Applied Linguistics:
When did it all begin? (2/2)
 The British Association of Applied Linguistics
(BAAL) was formally established in 1967,
with the following aims: “the advancement
of education by fostering and promoting, by
any lawful charitable means, the study of
language use, language acquisition and
language teaching and the fostering of inter-
disciplinary collaboration in this study”
(BAAL, 1994). It was largely taken for
granted in the 1960s and 1970s that applied
linguistics was about language teaching.
 What is Applied Linguistics?
 Applied Linguistics entails using what we
know about language, about how it is
used, and about how it is learned in order
to solve some problem in the real world.
 Applied Linguistics uses language-related
research in a wide variety of fields (e.g.
language acquisition, language teaching,
literacy, gender studies, language policy,
speech therapy, discourse analysis,
censorship, workplace communication,
media studies, translation, lexicography,
forensic linguistics).
 What is Applied Linguistics?

“AL is the utilisation of the

knowledge about the nature of
language achieved by linguistic
research for the improvement of
the efficiency of some practical
task in which language is a central
component.” (Corder, 1974, p. 24)
 What is Applied Linguistics?

“Applied Linguistics is using what we

know about (a) language, (b) how it is
learned, and (c) how it is used, in order
to achieve some purpose or solve some
problem in the real world” (Schmitt &
Celce-Murcia, 2002, p. 1).
What is Applied Linguistics?

“The focus of applied linguistics is on

trying to resolve language-based
problems that people encounter in the
real world, whether they be learners,
teachers, supervisors, academics,
lawyers, service providers, those who
need social services, test takers, policy
developers, dictionary makers,
translators, or a whole range of business
clients.” (Grabe, 2002, p. 9).
 Defining characteristics of
Applied Linguistics
 Autonomous, multidisciplinary and
problem solving: uses and draws on
theory from other related fields concerned
with language and generates its own
theory in order to find solutions to
language related problems and issues in
the real world.
 Practical concerns have an important role
in shaping the questions that AL will
address.
 Language related problems concern
What problems are related
to language?
Problems related to:  language assessment,
 language learning,  language use,
 language teaching,  language and
 technology,
literacy,
 translation and
 language contact
interpretation,
(language & culture),
 language pathology.
 language policy and
planning,
 A sample of questions
Applied Linguistics addresses
 How can we teach languages better?
 How can we diagnose speech
pathologies better?
 How can we improve the training of
translators?
 How can we develop valid language
examinations?
 A sample of questions
Applied Linguistics addresses
 How can we determine the literacy
levels of a population?
 What advice can we give the ministry
of education on proposals to introduce
a new teaching method?
 What advice can we give a defence
lawyer on the authenticity of a police
transcript of an interview with a
suspect?
 What is the relationship
between AL and other
language related disciplines?
 Applied linguistics occupies an intermediary,
mediating position between language
related disciplines (linguistics,
psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics) and
professional practice
 It uses theories/principles from language
related disciplines in order to understand
language related issues and to solve
language related problems.
The choice of which disciplines are involved
in applied linguistics matters depends on
What is the relationship
between AL and other
language related
disciplines?

 Applied linguistics conducts

research into professional
practice and on the basis of the
results develops theory.
 Theoretical, Interdisciplinary
and Applied Linguistics
Theoretical Interdisciplinar Applied
linguistics y linguistics linguistics
• Phonology, • Psycholinguistic • Applied
• Morphology s, linguistics to
, • Sociolinguistics, language
• Syntax and • Pragmatics, education,
structural • Discourse • Applied
grammar, analysis. linguistics to
• Semantics, • Computational foreign
• Historical and corpus language
linguistics. linguistics. education,
• Translation
studies,
• Lexicography.
 Linguistics and Applied
Linguistics
 Linguistics is primarily concerned with
language in itself and in findings ways of
analysing language and building theories
that describe language.
 Applied linguistics is concerned with the role
of language in peoples’ lives and problems
associated with language use in peoples’
lives.
 Linguistics is essential but not the only
feeder discipline.
Diagramme

Linguistics

Applied
Education
Linguistics
 Applied linguistics
Linguistics
and
related
(the sciences.
study of the nature, structure and variation of
Applied Linguistics

language).

Education (teaching, learning, acquisition,

assessment).

Sociology
(the scientific study of human behavior and the study
of society).
Psychology (the science of mind and behavior, and
the application of such knowledge of various spheres
of human activity).
Anthropology
(the scientific study of the origin and behavior of
man).
 Applied Linguistics or
linguistics applied?
Widdowson (2000, p. 5) presents the question in
terms of linguistics applied and applied linguistics:

“The differences between these modes of intervention

is that in the case of linguistics applied the
assumption is that the problem can be reformulated
by the direct and unilateral application of concepts
and terms deriving from linguistic enquiry itself. That
is to say, language problems are amenable to
linguistics solutions. In the case of applied linguistics,
intervention is crucially a matter of mediation . . .
applied linguistics . . . has to relate and reconcile
different representations of reality, including that of
 Subfields of Applied
Linguistics
Language and Language, Language,
education work and the information and
law effect
• First language • Workplace • Literary stylistics,
education, communication • Critical discourse
• Second • Language analysis,
language planning, • Translation and
education, • Forensic Interpretation,
• Foreign linguistics. • Information
language design,
education, • Lexicography.
• Clinical
linguistics,
• Language
testing.
 Applied Linguistics to foreign
language teaching and learning:
Related sub-fields
 Materials development  Language teacher training
and evaluation, and education,
 Syllabus design and  Research into second and
language curriculum foreign language learning,
development,  Language education policies
 Language testing, and language planning,
 Language teaching  Educational technology and
methods and techniques, language learning,
 Immersion education,
 Language education in
multilingual settings.
 Major Applied Linguistics
Organisations

 TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers

of Other Languages.
 IATEFL: International Association of
Teachers of English as a Foreign
Language.
 AAAL: American Association for
Applied Linguistics.
Focus of this course:
Foreign language didactics

What How
 How does one  How does one
select and organise the
organise the teaching/learning
content of what process?
is to be taught
 How does one
and learnt?
 What do you
develop knowledge
and skills?
teach?
 Issues discussed in the
course
 Methods in language teaching.
 Language theories and their effect on
foreign language teaching.
 Syllabus design and curriculum
development.
 Communicative competence.
 Communicative language teaching, task
based language teaching and intercultural
competence.
Issues discussed in the
course
 Theories of language learning
and their effect on foreign
language teaching/learning.
 Individual characteristics and
their effect on language learning.