BIL6024 ISSUES IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Week 1

Question

• What is your understanding of the term ‘linguistics’?

LINGUISTICS

• Widdowson (1996:3) cited in Davies (1999) says that ‘linguistics is the name given to the discipline which studies human language’.

• Its purpose is to identify some relatively stable linguistic knowledge which underlies language behaviour.

Question

• So, what is ‘applied linguistics’?

What is ‘applied’?

• The Shorter Oxford English Dictionaries (cited in Davies, 1999) defines ‘applied’ as ‘put to practical use; practical as opposed to abstract or theoretical’.

WHAT IS APPLIED LINGUISTICS?

• (1). According to Richards et al. (1985:16) cited in Davies (1999), applied linguistics is ‘…the study of language and linguistics in relation to practical problems.’

Applied linguistics uses information from sociology, psychology, anthropology, and information theory 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, speech therapy, language planning, stylistics etc.

• (2). According to Carter (1993)cited in Davies (1999), applied linguistics refers to the application of linguistics theories, descriptions and methods in the solution of language problems which have arisen in a range of human, cultural and social contexts.

• (3). According to Cook (2003), it is the academic discipline concerned with the relation of knowledge about language to decision making in the real world.

• Sets out to investigate problems in the world in which language is implicated – both educational and social problems.

Some Examples

• What language skills should children attain beyond basic literacy?

• Should children speaking a dialect be encouraged to maintain it or steered towards the standard form of a language?

• In communities with more than one language which ones should be used in schools?

Examples

• Should everyone learn foreign languages and, if so, which one or ones?

• Should every child study literature?• Should the growth of English as the

international lingua franca be welcomed or deplored?

• Is it better for people to learn each other’s languages or use translations?

BACKGROUND Applied linguistics started in Europe and the United States,

and developed internationally. Initially, it focused on the principles and practices on the

basis of linguistics, and was referred to as ‘linguistic-applied’ (applications of insights from structural linguistics).

The ‘linguistic-applied’ approach to language teaching was practiced by Leonard Bloomfield, through the US Army Specialized Training Program, and by Charles C. Fries at the University of Michigan (in the 1940s).

In 1948, the first journal to bear the term ‘applied linguistics’ – Language Learning: A Journal of Applied Linguistics – was published in Univ. of Michigan.

In 1950s, applied linguistics established itself as a response to the narrowing of focus in linguistics with the advent of generative linguistics, and maintain a socially accountable role, with interest in language problems (Davies, 1999).

In the 1960s, applied linguistics included second language acquisition, language planning and policy, and language assessment.

In the 1970s, it became more problem-driven field rather than theoretical-based linguistics, and included activities to identify, investigate and suggest solutions to language-related problems in the real world.

By 1990s onwards, applied linguistics has developed to include more interdisciplinary field of study that include, among others, critical studies and multilingualism.

Question

• What is the relationship between linguistics and applied linguistics?

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LINGUISTICS (L) AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS (AL)

Linguistics (L) – the academic discipline concerned with the study of language in general (Cook, 2003).

Looks for generalities underlying actual appearances.

Represents an abstract idealization of language rather than the way it is experienced in the real world.

There are different schools of linguistics to draw upon.

Idealization (example) Generative linguistics (Noam Chomsky’s view – 1950s onwards) - the proper subject matter of linguistics should be the

representation of language in the mind (competence), rather than the way in which people actually use language in everyday life (performance)(Cook, 2003).

- This internal language is essentially biological rather than social and is separate from outside experience.

- It is to be investigated not through the study of actual language use in context, but through the consideration of invented sentences intuitively felt to be acceptable instances of the language (Cook, 2003).

• However, Applied Linguistics (AL) is not simply a matter of matching up findings about language with pre-existing problems but of using findings to explore how the perception of problems might be changed.

• When problems are reformulated from a different point of view they become more amenable to solution (Cook, 2003).

The relationship?

• Thus, applied linguistics is a quest for common ground. It establishes a reciprocal relationship between experience and expertise, between professional concerns with language problems and linguistics (Cook, 2003).

Linguistic approaches more relevant to Applied Linguistics

• Sociolinguistics• - Focuses on the relation between language

and society. Endeavours to find systematic relationships between social groupings and contexts, and the variable ways in which languages are used (Cook, 2003).

Functional linguistics - Concerns with language as a means of

communication, the purposes it fulfils, and how people actually use their language (Cook, 2003).

Corpus linguistics - Vast databanks containing millions of words of actual

language in use can be searched within seconds to yield extensive information about word frequencies and combinations which is not revealed by intuition (Cook, 2003).

SCOPE OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS

• General conceptual areas (Cook, 2003):

• (1). Language and education• (2). Language, work and law• (3). Language, information and effect

(1). Language and Education

• First-language education• Second/foreign language education• Clinical linguistics – the study and treatment

of speech and communication impairments.• Language testing

(2). Language, Work and Law

• Workplace communication• Language planning• Forensic linguistics – the deployment of

linguistic evidence in criminal and other legal investigations.

(3). Language, Information and Effect

Literary stylistics – the study of the relationship between linguistic choices and effects in literature.

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) – the study of the relationship between linguistic choices and effects in persuasive uses of language.

Translation and interpretation Information design Lexicography – the planning and compiling of both

monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, etc.

Who are involved?

• View 1:• - Applied linguistics is a component of

linguistics. It is linguistics outside the study. All linguists can participate. And only linguists can participate.

• - Sees applied linguistics as an activity of linguistics, sheltering under the umbrella and drawing on it for inspiration and status (Davies, 1999).

View 2: - Applied linguistics does not belong with any

exclusivity to linguistics (Widdowson, 1980)(cited in Davies, 1999). The practitioners of applied linguistics are drawn from a wider pool (Rampton, 1997)(cited in Davies, 1999).

- Anyone can ‘do’ applied linguistics. - Is there a particular profession of applied

linguists?

View 3: - Applied linguists are really still linguists who happen

to be involved in applications, which they may label as applied linguistics (Davies, 1999).

- As their knowledge and skills are insufficient for those application, they need the cooperation of other professionals in relevant fields, such as educationists, psychologists, statisticians, sociologists, speech therapists, translators, literary critics, computer scientists, anthropologists, etc. (Davies, 1999).

Methodology of Applied LinguisticsComplex.It must refer to the findings and theories of linguistics,

choosing among the different schools and approaches, and making these theories relevant to the problem in hand.

At the same time, it must investigate and take into account the experience and needs of the people involved in the problem itself.

It must then seek to relate these two perspectives to each other, attempting to reformulate each. And it must undertake investigation and theorizing of its own (Cook, 2003)

Question

• How important is applied linguistics in the field of language education?

Applied Linguistics in Language Education

Mackey (1965:253)cited in Davies (1999) says that ‘…throughout the history of formal language teaching there has always been some sort of applied linguistics, as it is known today…..if there is one single source which has been responsible for stimulating innovation and activity (in language teaching), it is applied linguistics.’

R.H. Robbins (1987:147)cited in Davies (1999) states ‘…the teacher who understands and can make use of the methods of scientific linguistics will find the task of presenting a language to his pupils very much lightened and facilitated.'

According to Richards (1985:19)cited in Davies (1999), a role of applied linguistics is the study of second and foreign language learning and teaching.

Handout

• Read the article and discuss:

“What is applied linguistics?”- Vivian Cook, Newcastle University