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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS

Applied Linguistics: An Introduction

Sajdah Imtiaz Eng-17-01

Government Postgraduate College No.1 affiliated with AUST

Submitted to Ma’am Raquia

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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Assignment No.1

An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

Q1. What is Applied Linguistics?

Answer. According to Chris Brumfit applied linguistics is “the theoretical and empirical

investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central issue”. It is concerned with

practical issues involving language use in the real world.

For instance, The use of language in the workplace; language and migration; language policy;

multilingualism; language education; minority and endangered languages; identity issues; and

language and technology.

Q2. Give a brief account of the history of applied linguistics.

Answer. Applied Linguistics is an Anglo-American term. It has its history of origin and

development in both British and America. In America it started to develop in 1948. There was a

journal, which was founded in Michigan University, called Language Learning: A Journal of

Applied Linguistics. This journal was the first journal that carried the term-applied linguistics.

However, the term-applied linguistics meant the application of linguistics. In 1950s Leonardo

Bloomfield developed Army Specialized Training Program to promote applied linguistics.

During the 1960s and 1970s, it was taken for granted that applied linguistics was about language

teaching. This was important because there was a need for language teaching especially English

after the Second World War. This showed that a number of teachers, trainers and supervisors

lacked language knowledge. However in in 1977 American Association for Applied linguistics

was established which played a major role in recognizing and developing applied linguistics as a

separate field of study.

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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS
In 1956, the University of Edinburgh School of Applied Linguistics started which helped in the

development of this field in British. In 1960s and 1970s its scope broadened and in 1967 British

Association of Applied Linguistics was established with an aim to learn, use and teach language.

Q3. Explain the concept of first language acquisition.

Answer. First Language Acquisition according to many linguists is the process of acquiring a

language through exposure whilst young. First language is the primary language, not necessarily

mother tongue, which the speaker first acquires and use on a constant basis. According to

Lennenberg (1967) the language that one picks up during the critical period will generally be the

person’s first language. It can be defined as the unconscious learning or acquisition of one's

native language/es during the first 6 or 7 years of one's life; roughly from birth to the time one

starts his/her formal education.

Q4. Compare and contrast linguistics and applied linguistics.

Answer: Linguistics is the scientific study of language, its structure, and development and

involves sub-areas such as phonology, semantics, morphology, and pragmatics. It also includes

various branches, and applied linguistics is one such branch. It is a branch of linguistics that

focuses on practical applications of language studies; it involves the practical application of

linguistics-related concepts.

Linguistics is the scientific study of the structure and development of language in general or of

particular languages. In contrast, applied linguistics is the branch of linguistics focusing on the

practical applications of language studies. More importantly, while some branches of linguistics

such as historical linguistics and comparative linguistics are more concerned with theoretical

aspects of language, applied linguistics is concerned with the practical application of linguistics.
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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Moreover, linguistics basically focuses on the scientific study of language and its structure while

applied linguistics can identify, explore, and offer solutions to language-related problems.

Q5. Define the following terms:

i. First Language

ii. Second Language

iii. Mother language

iv. Native Language

Answer:

i. First Language: First language is the primary language, not necessarily mother tongue,

which the speaker first acquires and use on a constant basis. For example in the province

of Punjab in Pakistan the first of language of a child is mostly Punjabi.

ii. Second Language: Second language is a language that is learned in addition to the

language a person first learned as a young child. It is a language other than the mother

tongue that a person or community uses for public communication, especially in trade,

higher education, and administration. An illustration of this can be a child whose first

language is Punjabi but he leans his second language Urdu in school.

iii. Mother Language: Mother language is the language spoken by the family of a child

especially his/her parents. Mostly mother language and first language are same but

sometimes they can be different depending upon the social setting of a child. An example

of this is a child whose parents speak Urdu but teaches him English, since they live in a

foreign country or an area where native language is English.

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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS
iv. Native Language: Native language is the language of the country that someone is born in

or native to e.g. the native language of Pakistan is Urdu.

Q6. Differentiate between learning and acquisition.

The term acquisition is used to refer to the gradual development of ability in a language by using

it naturally in communicative situations with others who know the language. It is an unconscious

process in which a child learns his first language without any conscious effort. It normally takes

place without a teacher. Learning, however, is a more conscious process of accumulating

knowledge of the features of a language, such as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar,

typically in an institutional setting, with teachers. Many people learn their second language or

target language through this process.

For example, Mathematics is learned, not acquired.

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Assignment No.1: AN INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Sources

YULE, G. (2020). STUDY OF LANGUAGE: CAMBRIDGE UNIV Press.

O'Grady, W., & Archibald, J. (2011). Contemporary Linguistic Analysis: An Introduction (8th

ed.). Harlow: Longman.

Difference Between Linguistics and Applied Linguistics | Compare the Difference Between

Similar Terms. (2020). Retrieved 4 November 2020, from

https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-linguistics-and-applied-linguistics/

Applied Linguistics | Linguistic Society of America. (2020). Retrieved 4 November 2020, from

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

dara, R. (2020). Applied Linguistics: History and Definition Definitions. Retrieved 4 November

2020, from

https://www.academia.edu/8671809/Applied_Linguistics_History_and_Definition_Definitions