What is Applied linguistics and which is applied in applied linguistics?
THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF ZANZIBAR (SUZA)
SCHOOL OF KISWAHILI AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
COURSE CODE: EL 2102
COURSE TITLE: APPLIED
LINGUISTICS
LECTURER: MR. P.S.
MKUDE
YEAR OF STUDY: SECOND YEAR - 1ST
SEMESTER
TASK: TAKE
HOME ASSIGNMENT
PARTICIPANTS: ABDI NASSOR HAJI BAE/17/18/125/TZ
MADINA MOH’D NASSOR BAE/17/18/077/TZ
QUESTION: Is
“applied linguistics” linguistics applied. Explain why if answering YES or NO?
SUBMISSION DATE : 15/12/2019
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The
term ‘applied linguistics’ is quite controversial and somehow vague. There is
no specific definition concerning it and this is because of the scope that ‘applied linguistics’ deals with. It has
been defined by different linguistic scholars and every one come up with own
agreement and comments concerning it.
According
to Cook (1997) defined ‘applied
linguistics’ as “the academic discipline concerned with the relation of
knowledge about language to decision making in the real world”.
Hudson
‘applied linguistics’ is a synthesis
of research from a variety of disciplines, including linguistics.
Also,
it defined as the theoretical and empirical investigation to real world
problems in which language is a central issue (Brumfit 1997).
On the other hand ‘linguistics’ refers
to the scientific study
of language. It involves analyzing language form,
language meaning, and language in context. Linguists traditionally analyze
human language by observing interplay between sound and meaning.
The term ‘applied linguistics ‘ suggests that its concern is with the use of
findings from theoretical studies of language from the solution of problems of
one sort or another arising in different domain.
Terminological dissatisfaction led
some scholars to look for new avenues, Spolsky, for example, complained that “the
term applied linguistics is not a
happy one: in one way, it is too broad, failing to suggest what linguistics is
applied to. It suggests a level of practically that lacks the dignity of ‘pure linguistics” (Spolsky 1978). Then after
that he proposed educational linguistics
as an alternative to the issue.
Moreover, Van Lier (1994), in
supporting Spolsky started to that the linguistics in applied linguistics has
veered off in the direction of theory, leaving pedagogy to cope with the
practical said of things. ’Educational linguistics’ was as narrow (modern sense) as the
term applied
linguistics was broad (traditional sense) and according to Rajagopalan (2004)
‘ Educational linguistics left out too many important areas like translation, lexicography,
bilingualism, multilingualism, speech pathology, literacy, language planning,
language teacher education and so forth, which were available under the rubric of
applied linguistics.
Applied linguistics cannot be
separated from linguistics in terms of either subject matter or methodology.
The general aim of linguistics is to understand human language, and that of
applied linguistics to contribute to the solution of the problems arising in
the use of language in human societies.
Linguistic theories and
description cannot be deployed directly to solve the problems with which applied linguistics is concerned. One
important reason is the nature of the problems themselves. They, too like
models of linguistics, represent certain respective on reality. Applied
linguistics 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. It may be that when problems are formulated from different
point of view, they become more amenable to solution. This changed perception
may then, in turn have implications for linguistics ( Cook 2003 ).
Linguistics is said to be applied
to applied linguistics to the following
problems;
ü Language
assessment problem (validity,
reliability, usability, responsibility and fairness).
ü Language contact
problems (bilingualism, language shift,
language spread, and language loss, and language maintenance, social and
cultural interactions).
ü Language inequality
problems (ethnicity, class, region,
gender, and age).
ü Language learning
problems (emergence of skills,
awareness, rules, use, context, automaticity, attitudes, expertise).
ü Language pathology
problems (aphasias, dyslexia, physical
disabilities).
ü Language policy and
planning problems (status planning,
corpus planning, acquisition planning, ecology of language, multilingualism,
political factors).
ü Language teaching problems (resources, training, practice, interaction,
understanding, use, contexts, inequalities, motivations, outcomes).
ü Language and technology
problems (learning, assessment,
access, use).
ü Language translation
problems (access, effectiveness,
technologies).
ü Language use problems (dialects, registers, discourse communities, gatekeeping
situations, limited access to services and resources).
ü Literacy problems (orthography development, new scripts, resource
development, learning issues).
In general, these categories could be expanded
further, and themes in each category could be elaborated into full articles and
books in and of themselves. The key point, however, is to recognize that it is
the language-based problems in the world that drive applied linguistics. These
problems also lead applied linguists to use knowledge from other fields apart
from linguistics, and thereby impose the interdisciplinary that is a defining
aspect of the discipline.
REFERENCES
Bugarsiki, R. (1987). Applied Linguistics as Linguistics
Applied. Yugoslavia. University of Belgrade.
Widdowson, H. G. (1986). Explorations
in Applied Linguistics 2. Oxford University Press. Hong Kong
Basseti, B. (2012). Cook Vivian. In C.A.
Chapelleed. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp
1127-1131). Oxford, UK. Wiley-Blackwell.
Grabe, W. (2010). Applied Linguistics: A
Twenty-First-Century Discipline. Oxford. UK.
Assignment by Abby Fartoom is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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