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Contents
I.2. Linguistics
I.6. Definitions of AL
I.7. Aim of AL
I.8. Need of AL
I.10. Areas of AL
I.10. branches of AL
II.2. Structuralism
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II.4. Cognitive Psychology
II.4.1.1. Implications
II.4.4. Intelligence
II.4.4. Implications
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I.1. History of the term
- Language Learning Journal, published from University of Mechegan in 1948, was „the first
journal in the world to carry the term “applied linguistics” in its title‟ (Language Learning
1967:1).
- It was founded first at the University of Edinburgh School of Applied Linguistics in 1956.
- AL use was propagated by those who clearly wanted to be known as scientists and not as
humanists.
- The label „applied linguistics‟ was misleading as it exludes many disciplines bearing on
language teaching such as psychology and educational theories.
I.2. 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 deals with the study of particular languages, and the search for general properties
common to all languages or large groups of languages.
• 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 communicative contexts.
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Linguistics is essential to applied linguistics, but is not the only discipline that contributes to
it.
Pragmatic
s
Semantics Phonology
Linguistic
s
Sociolinguisti
Syntax cs
Morpholog
y
Interdisciplinary studies involve two or more academic disciplines that are considered
distinct. The most common interdisciplinary branches of Linguistics are: • Sociolinguistics, •
Psycholinguistics, • Ethnolinguistics or Anthropological Linguistics, • Computational
Linguistics, • Neurolinguistics.
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 linguistic 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 linguistics without excluding others. (Widdowson,
2000, p.5).
Davis and Elder (2006) believe that AL looks outwards beyond language in an attempt to
explain and solve social problems while linguistics applied looks inward not to solve language
problems in the real world, but to explicate and test theories about language itself. To them,
this means that LA uses language data to develop our linguistic knowledge about language
while AL studies a language problem with the intention of correcting them (2006, p. 09).
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I.5. Restricting the Scope
- The limitation of the scope of AL to language teaching mattered at this period because after
the 2nd World War the expansion of language teaching (especially of Eng) revealed that many
teachers and trainers and supervisors of teachers lacked knowledge about language.
At that time applied linguistics had been successful. Its dedication to language teaching had
been remarked in other areas of language use, especially institutional language use (Howatt
1984), leading to an explosion of applied linguistics training, methodology and, perhaps
above all, labelling in those other areas.
I.6. Definitions of AL
Applied linguistics does not lend itself to an easy definition, perhaps because, as Vivian Cook
remarks: „Applied Linguistics means many things to many people‟ (Cook 2006).
„The task of applied linguistics is to mediate‟ between linguistics and language use (Cook
2003: 20).
„The academic discipline concerned with the relation of knowledge about language to
decision making in the real world‟ (Cook 2003, p. 5).