MODULE ONE

INTRODUCTION TO THE APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Lesson Two

APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Contents
Applied linguistics definition
Relationship between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Applied Linguistics history
Objects of study of Applied Linguistics

Aims
Define linguistics
Explain the relationship between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Identify events in the history of applied Linguistics
Recognize the objects of study of Applied Linguistics

TASK ONE: Read the following definitions and with your own words answer what applied
linguistics is

Applied Linguistics Definition

1. Whenever knowledge about language is used to solve a basic language-related problem,

one may say that Applied Linguistics is being practiced. Applied Linguistics is a
technology which makes abstract ideas and research findings accessible and relevant
to the real world, it mediates between theory and practice (Bright, 1992:76).

2. Applied Linguistics is concerned with a) the study of language and linguistics in relation
to practical problems such as lexicography, translation etc.; b) the study of second and
foreign language learning and teaching. [This discipline] …uses information from
sociology, psychology …as well as from linguistics in order to develop its own
theoretical models of language and language use, and then uses this information and
theory in practical areas such as syllabus design, language planning etc. (Richards &
others, 1985:15).

3. Applied Linguistics is the application of linguistic theories, descriptions and methods

to the solution of language problems which have arisen in a range of human, cultural
and social contexts Carter (1993: 3). If linguistics reifies “language” one can say that
Applied Linguistics reifies more than language; it reifies “language practices”.
4. Applied linguistics is a field of study that looks at how linguistics can help understand
real-life problems in areas such as psychology, sociology and education. It can be
compared with theoretical linguistics, which looks at areas such as morphology,
phonology and lexis. Areas of applied linguistics of interest to teachers of languages
include language acquisition, corpus studies and sociolinguistics.

For example Linguistic anthropology is a field of applied linguistics that links

analysis of linguistics and socio-cultural issues. In the classroom: Studies in applied
linguistics which inform the ELT classroom include bilingualism, conversation and
discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, language assessment and language teaching itself.
(BBC, 2019)

5. Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and

offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields
related to applied linguistics are education ,psychology, communication
research, anthropology, and sociology. (Wikipedia, 2019)

TASK TWO: Read the three statements below and answer ”What is the relationship between
Linguistics and Applied Linguistics?”

Relationship between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

1. A very common perception of Linguistics is that it constitutes a discipline whose
purpose is the study of language with a view to understanding of how the linguistic
system –disconnected from its social context and its users– is structured into
meaningful patterns that reflect the operations of the mind. In case of this or
similar conceptions of Linguistics, there is a sharp divide between this discipline,
sometimes referred to as Theoretical (less often referred to as Autonomous)
Linguistics and the field of Applied Linguistics, which is perceived as the broad
field of language study and analysis that provides knowledge and information that
may be of “practical value” in that it facilitates understanding of social practices,
psychological or cognitive operations and pedagogic processes.

2. Linguistics, viewed as above, does not use the knowledge developed from linguistic
study for the solution of problems in human, social and cultural contexts (as does
Applied Linguistics). Moreover, it borrows no insights from other disciplines (as
does ‘Interdisciplinary’ Linguistics, including Cognitive Linguistics, Psycholinguistics
and Sociolinguistics). This is one reason why an alternative and perhaps more
correct name for Theoretical Linguistics is Autonomous Linguistics. The main
characteristic of this school of thought is that language is an autonomous meaning
system; i.e. that the meaning of linguistic signs is arbitrary.
 3. There are, however, other important schools of thought, which maintain that
language is socially situated and therefore must be studied in relation to the
sociocultural reality by which it is constructed and which it reproduces. Here,
linguistic meaning is not autonomous and language is not viewed or studied outside
of the social context which it helps to interpret. In this tradition, Linguistics, the
clear distinction between Theoretical, Applied and Interdisciplinary Linguistics
becomes blurred.

TASK THREE: Read and Identify events in the history of applied Linguistics

History of Applied Linguistics

On the basis of Tucker (2020)

The term 'applied linguistics' refers to a broad range of activities which involve
solving some language-related problem or addressing some language-related concern. It
appears as though applied linguistics, at least in North America, was first officially
recognized as an independent course at the University of Michigan in 1946. In those early
days, the term was used both in the United States and in Great Britain to refer to
applying a so-called 'scientific approach' to teaching foreign languages, including English
for nonnative speakers. Early work to improve the quality of foreign language teaching by
Professors Charles Fries (University of Michigan) and Robert Lado (University of
Michigan, then Georgetown University) helped to bring definition to the field as did the
1948 publication of a new journal, Language Learning: A Quarterly Journal of Applied
Linguistics

During the late 1950s and the early 1960s, the use of the term was gradually
broadened to include what was then referred to as 'automatic translation'. In 1964
following two years of preparatory work financed by the Council of Europe, the
Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée (the International Association of
Applied Linguistics usually referred to by the French acronym AILA) was founded and its
first international congress was held in Nancy, France. Papers for the congress were
solicited in two distinct strands—foreign language teaching and automatic translation.

In the United Kingdom, the first school of applied linguistics is thought to have
opened in 1957 at the University of Edinburgh with Ian Catford as Head. In the United
States, a nonprofit educational organization, the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), was
founded in 1959 with Charles Ferguson as its first Director. CAL's mission remains to
'promote the study of language and to assist people in achieving their educational,
occupational, and social goals through more effective communication'. The organization
carries out its mission by collecting and disseminating information through various
clearinghouses that it operates, by conducting practical research, by developing practical
materials and training individuals such as teachers, administrators, or other human
resource specialists to use these to reduce the barriers that limited language proficiency
can pose for culturally and linguistically diverse individuals as they seek full and effective
participation in educational or occupational opportunities.

On the basis of Wikipedia (2020)

The tradition of applied linguistics established itself in part as a response to the
narrowing of focus in linguistics with the advent in the late 1950s of generative linguistics,
and has always maintained a socially-accountable role, demonstrated by its central interest
in language problems. Although the field of applied linguistics started from Europe and
the United States, the field rapidly flourished in the international context.

Applied linguistics first concerned itself with principles and practices on the basis
of linguistics. In the early days, applied linguistics was thought as “linguistics-applied” at
least from the outside of the field. In the 1960s, however, applied linguistics was
expanded to include language assessment, language policy, and second language acquisition.
As early as the 1970s, applied linguistics became a problem-driven field rather
than theoretical linguistics, including the solution of language-related problems in the real
world. By the 1990s, applied linguistics had broadened including critical studies and
multilingualism. Research in applied linguistics was shifted to "the theoretical and empirical
investigation of real world problems in which language is a central issue."

In the United States, applied linguistics also began narrowly as the application of
insights from structural linguistics—first to the teaching of English in schools and
subsequently to second and foreign language teaching. The linguistics applied approach to
language teaching was promulgated most strenuously by Leonard Bloomfield, who developed
the foundation for the Army Specialized Training Program, and by Charles C. Fries, who
established the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Michigan in 1941. In
1946, applied linguistics became a recognized field of studies in the aforementioned
university. In 1948, the Research Club at Michigan established Language Learning: A
Journal of Applied Linguistics, the first journal to bear the term applied linguistics. In the
late 1960s, applied linguistics began to establish its own identity as an interdisciplinary
field of linguistics concerned with real-world language issues. The new identity was
solidified by the creation of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in 1977.

TASK FOUR: Read the next text and answer what is the field of Applied
linguistics concerned with?
Object of study of applied linguistics

If you tell someone you’re an applied linguist, they look at you with bafflement. If
you amplify – it’s to do with linguistics – they still look baffled. You know, linguistics the
science of language? Ah so you speak lots of languages? Well no, just English. So what do
you actually do? Well I look at how people acquire languages and how we can teach them
better. At last light begins to dawn and they tell you a story about how badly they were
taught French at school.

To some, applied linguistics is applying theoretical linguistics to actual data. Hence

the construction of dictionaries or the collection of ‘corpora’ of millions of words of
English are applied linguistics, as are the descriptions of social networks or of gender
differences (but not usually descriptions of grammar). Once applied linguistics seemed
boundless, including the study of first language acquisition and computational linguistics.
Now, many who call themselves applied linguists seldom attend general organisations such
as BAAL (British Association of Applied Linguistics) but go to more specialist conferences
such as EUROSLA (European Second Language Association) for second language acquisition
(SLA) or MATSDA (Materials Development Association) for materials construction.

To many, however, applied linguistics has become synonymous with SLA (though
never linked to first language acquisition). SLA research has had an enormous growth over
the past decades. It enters into all of the above debates. Some people are concerned with
classroom language acquisition because of its teaching implications, drawing mostly on
psychological models of language and language processing and on social models of
interaction and identity; others are concerned with SLA in natural settings. On another
dimension, SLA can be seen as providing data to test out linguistic theories rather than to
increase our knowledge of SLA itself; they are then more like linguists who happen to use
SLA data than investigators of SLA in its own right. On a third dimension the linguistic
world is more or less divided between those who see language as masses of things people
have said and those who see it as knowledge in people’s minds. Some SLA researchers
analyse large corpora of learner’s utterances or essays; others test their ideas against the
barest minimum of data; neither side really accept that the other has a valid point of view.

Applied Linguistics Today

Today the governing board of AILA (Association Internationale de Linguistique
Appliquée) describes applied linguistics 'as a means to help solve specific problems in
society…applied linguistics focuses on the numerous and complex areas in society in which
language plays a role.' * There appears to be consensus that the goal is to apply the
findings and the techniques from research in linguistics and related disciplines to solve
practical problems. To an observer, the most notable change in applied linguistics has been
its rapid growth as an interdisciplinary field. In addition to foreign language teaching and
machine translation, a partial sampling of issues considered central to the field of applied
linguistics today includes topics such as language for special purposes (e.g. language and
communication problems related to aviation, language disorders, law, medicine, science),
language policy and planning, and language and literacy issues. For example, following the
adoption of English as the working language for all international flight communication by
the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), some applied linguists concerned
themselves with understanding the kinds of linguistic problems that occur when pilots or
flight engineers from varying backgrounds communicate using a nonnative language and how
to better train them to communicate in English more effectively.

Some applied linguists are concerned with helping planners and legislators in
countries develop and implement a language policy (e.g. planners are working in South
Africa to specify and to further develop roles in education and government not only for
English and Afrikaans but also for the other nine indigenous languages) or in helping groups
develop scripts, materials, and literacy programs for previously unwritten languages (e.g.
for many of the 850+ indigenous languages of Papua New Guinea).

Other applied linguists have been concerned with developing the most effective
programs possible to help adult newcomers to the United States or other countries, many
of whom have limited if any prior education, develop literacy in the languages which they
will need for survival and for occupational purposes. Other topics currently of concern to
applied linguists are the broad issue of the optimal role of the mother tongue in the
education of culturally and linguistically diverse students, the language of persuasion and
politics, developing effective tools and programs for interpretation and translation, and
language testing and evaluation.

Today, computers are widely used in many areas of applied linguistics. Speech

synthesis and speech recognition use phonetic and phonemic knowledge to provide voice
interfaces to computers. Applications of computational linguistics in machine
translation, computer-assisted translation, and natural language processing are areas of
applied linguistics that have come to the forefront. Their influence has had an effect on
theories of syntax and semantics, as modeling syntactic and semantic theories on
computers constraints.

Linguistic analysis is a sub-discipline of applied linguistics used by many

governments to verify the claimed nationality of people seeking asylum who do not hold the
necessary documentation to prove their claim. This often takes the form of
an interview by personnel in an immigration department. Depending on the country, this
interview is conducted either in the asylum seeker's native language through
an interpreter or in an international lingua franca like English. Australia uses the former
method, while Germany employs the latter; the Netherlands uses either method depending
on the languages involved. Tape recordings of the interview then undergo language analysis,
which can be done either by private contractors or within a department of the
government. In this analysis, linguistic features of the asylum seeker are used by analysts
to make a determination about the speaker's nationality. The reported findings of the
linguistic analysis can play a critical role in the government's decision on the refugee
status of the asylum seeker.

Language and communication are a huge part of everyday life. They give us insights into
the minds of others—from how we decipher advertisements, to how we feel about
ourselves or how we speak with friends and family. 

Studying applied linguistics means increasing your understanding of how language works in
a wide range of personal, social and professional environments. It also encompasses how we
interact with each other and how we negotiate and establish identity.

With the knowledge of Applied Linguistics, you’ll learn how to express yourself effectively
in written and spoken modes, and how the way you communicate helps or hinders your
relationships. The knowledge in applied linguistics will touch on practical issues such as the
relationship between languages, cultures and societies; the acquisition of second and
foreign languages; the teaching and learning of languages; language policy; and cross-
cultural communication.

TASK FOUR: Define the following terms in visual organizors

Bilingualism, multilingualism, conversation analysis, contrastive linguistics, sign

linguistics, language assessment, literacies, discourse analysis, language pedagogy, second
language acquisition, language planning and policy, interlinguistics, stylistics, pragmatics,
forensic linguistics and translation.
References
BBC, (2019). Applied Linguistics. Retrieved from:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/applied-linguistics#:~:text=Applied
%20linguistics%20is%20a%20field,as%20psychology%2C%20sociology%20and
%20education.&text=Areas%20of%20applied%20linguistics%20of,acquisition%2C
%20corpus%20studies%20and%20sociolinguistics.

Bright, W. (1992).International Encyclopedia of Linguistics . Oxford University Press.

Campbell R.N. (1980). Towards a redefinition of applied linguistics. In Kaplan R.B. (ed.) On
the Scope of Applied Linguistics. Newbury House.

Carter, R. (1993). Introducing Applied Linguistics. Penguin.

Cook, G. (2003). Applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.

Johnson, K. (2001). An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching .

Longman/Pearson Education.

Richards J., Platt J. and Weber H. (1985). Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics .
Longman.

Sealey, A., & Carter, B. (2004). Applied linguistics as social science. A&C Black.

Tucker, G. R. (2020 ) Applied Linguistics in Linguistic Society of America. Retrieved from:

https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/applied-linguistics

Wikipedia (2020) Applied Linguistics . Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_linguistics#:~:text=Applied%20linguistics%20is%20an
%20interdisciplinary,research%2C%20anthropology%2C%20and%20sociology.